In the first phase of decline there were a dozen contributory factors, including the general effects of the post-war deflationary decade: but the underlying causes would appear to be, first, the breakdown of both custom and trade union protection; second, the total exposure of the weavers to the worst forms of wage-cutting; third, the overstocking of the trade by unemployed to whom it had become “the last refuge of the unsuccessful”.
Re: Weavers
