The webisodes for The Mill, Series 2

2 July 2014

Live links available closer to TX.

These short documentaries are designed to reveal the impact of issues portrayed in The Mill on young people in the UK today, raising important questions about how society has progressed since the 1830s.

Each two-minute film focuses on one young person whose life is either affected by the legacy of a real event featured in The Mill, or who faces issues today that were met by The Mill’s characters.

Weaving together the lives of young people in Britain today with clips from the second series of The Mill, digitally-manipulated archive photos and fascinating background from history expert Emma Griffin, these fast-paced, music-led shorts place young lives in 21st century Britain in the context of The Mill, uncovering just how relevant the events the series portrays are to us right now and leaving viewers with big questions about how our society operates.

Below are brief synopses of each film.

UK Manufacturing

Central Question: With British manufacturing at an all time low, how do the lives of young factory workers today compare with those at Quarry Bank, which was also suffering low production in the 1830s and 40s?

Contemporary Story: A day in the life of a young, modern day UK cotton factory worker. They give us a tour of the huge, deafening, high-tech machines at Herbert Parkinson cotton mill near Blackburn. Each churns out tens of feet of cotton for John Lewis’ soft-furnishing department every day. Back at the worker’s home, we see the standard of living afforded by a cotton factory worker’s wage in 21st century Britain.

Clip from The Mill Series Two: Esther (Kerrie Hayes) receiving her first wage packet, containing less than she was expecting.

Historical Relevance: Emma Griffin explains why business was bad at Quarry Bank during the years of The Mill Series Two. Government policies that stopped the import of foreign foodstuffs were pushing up food prices meaning people had less disposable income to spend on cotton products. Today, years of modernisation policies have left UK manufacturing at the bottom of a steep decline that the government is keen to reverse. John Lewis’ decision to buy British from factories like Herbert Parkinson is one of the first signs that this is beginning to happen.

Photo Archive: Photos of 19th century workers in cotton mills.

Poor Law & Benefits

Central Question: Welfare reform today bears striking similarities to the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 that had big impacts on workers at Quarry Bank, so what are the impacts on young people today, and is this a case of history repeating itself?

Contemporary Story: Following a young Londoner who would be homeless if it wasn’t for Centre Point’s hostels. They explain their situation and what they stand to lose if Conservative plans to change housing benefit for the under 25s become law, and they’re no longer able to afford their hostel place.

Clip from The Mill Series Two: Tommy (Connor Dempsey) being freed from the workhouse, looking drawn and unhealthy.

Historical Relevance: Emma Griffin explains how the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 reformed Britain’s poverty relief system and reduced its cost. Parishes were put into Poor Law Unions and each established a workhouse which met the principle of less eligibility. This meant that conditions in workhouses had to be worse than conditions available outside so people were put off claiming poor relief. The belief was that low wage earners had no incentive to work if they could get handouts from the public purse. People would only be admitted to a workhouse if they could prove they were from a parish that was part of the Poor Law Union that ran it. This led to a surge in homelessness that’s being mirrored today as welfare reforms are rolled out.

Photo Archive: Photo of a 19th century workhouse

Economic Migrants

Central Question: What can we learn from today’s economic migrants in the UK about how the young people forced to move by the 1834’s Poor Law Amendment Act felt about their new lives?

Contemporary Story: We meet a young Eastern European builder who came to the UK to improve their situation. We see where they live, hear their experiences of integrating into the British way of life, find out what they’ve left behind, and see them on the job with co-workers.

Clip from The Mill Series Two: The Howletts (Mark Frost, Laura Main, Ewan Phillips and Joshua Isherwood) arriving at Quarry Bank.

Historical Relevance: Emma Griffin reveals how the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 fuelled economic migration from the South to the North of Britain. Rural workers left unemployed by new technology, a glut of labour and low prices for farm produce were supported by handouts under the Old Poor Law. When the New Poor Law took these payments away from the able-bodied, they were forced out of their homes to look for work. Many travelled to the mills and factories of the North, where they took jobs at lower rates than local workers . This created resentment that’s mirrored today by Eastern Europeans who’ve travelled to the UK to work hard for lower wages than natives.

Photo Archive: Image of 19th century farm technology.

Protest

Central Question: How did the actions of workers in the early 19th century give us the freedom to protest, and is that freedom being taken away?

Contemporary Story: We join a protestor as they prepare for Occupy London’s Mayday protest. We see their home life and them creating a placard, then follow them on the march.

Clip from The Mill Series Two: Daniel (Matthew McNulty) arriving to see the enormous crowd at Kersal Moor.

Historical Relevance: Emma Griffin reveals that The Mill depicts the largest of the Chartist meetings, held on Kersal Moor on 24 September 1838. It drew speakers from all over the country and a massive crowd. Estimates on attendance range wildly, some say 30,000, others 300,000. It represented a growing feeling among the working class in the early 19th century that their voice could be heard if represented in sufficient numbers. Today, there’s a growing feeling that our right to peaceful protest is being eroded by authorities with new powers over protestors.

Photo Archive: Photograph of 1848 Chartist rally on Kennington common.

Chartism & The Vote

Central Question: Why aren’t young people today interested in voting, when people at the time of The Mill were fighting so hard for it?

Contemporary Story: A Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) engagement officer meeting young people to register for the vote. We see them at a youth club, trying to drum up interest in politics in an apathetic crowd. Vox pops capture the general feeling. In an interview, the SYP volunteer describes what they’re up against.

Clip from The Mill Series Two: Daniel’s (Matthew McNulty) speech at Kersal Moor.

Historical Relevance: Emma Griffin explains that the Chartist movement is well underway in The Mill Series Two. This was a working-class campaign for political reform between 1838 and 1850 that paved the way for our freedom to vote in the 20th century. Demands in the People’s Charter seem utterly reasonable today, but they were turned down by government again and again. They were a vote for every sane man twenty-one or over, except convicts; secret ballot; no need to be rich to become an MP; pay for MPs; constituencies that each contained the same number of people; and annual parliament elections. Ultimately Chartism died out before its demands were met, but five of the six points were finally made law in the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

Photo Archive: 19th century photograph of the Houses of Parliament.

Unions & Strikes

Central Question: How did the actions of people nearly two centuries ago give us our rights and safety at work?

Contemporary Story: We follow a young worker who is taking part in strike action. We hear their reasons for striking, see their home life and them going out to join a picket.

Clip from The Mill Series Two: Esther (Kerrie Hayes) and the strikers facing down the ‘knobsticks’.

Historical Relevance: Emma Griffin explains how disputes over pay and working conditions across industrialised Britain came to a head in 1842 when a Chartist petition to government was rejected. Informed and motivated by their recently created and growing unions, over 500,000 workers walked out of coal mines, factories and mills everywhere from Dundee to Cornwall. This was Britain’s first General Strike and it set the precedent for industrial action today.

Photo Archive: 19th century drawing of clashes between striking workers and the authorities.