Wilpshire Terminus 002

Blackburn Corporation Tramways, Wilpshire, 1916.rnIn the centre of the photo is Edith Knowles. Edith was sent to the cotton mill aged 11, working half-time, which meant school in the morning and the mill in the afternoon. The following week saw the timetable reversed.rnEdith was still at the mill working half-time when she was 14, the rest of her day being spent as a pupil teacher – still a scholar herself, but also helping the little ones with their 3Rs.rnrnEdith hated the mill, and when many of the men of Blackburn went off to fight in WW1, she applied for a job on the Blackburn trams, as a clippie (tram conductress). She was seventeen; supposed to be eighteen, but was economical with the truth when it came to her age, and was called for interview in August 1916.rnrn