Fishing hooks, reels and tackle were manufactured along with needles. John James and Sons (formed in 1840) were making hand sewing needles, fishhooks and hardware needles at Victoria Works before transfer of the needle production over to Washord Mills after 1912. Victoria Works in Studley continued then to concentrate on the production of fishhooks.

Companies expanded and merged from the family businesses which were working side by side with other needle and tackle manufacturers across the area.

In some factories, works committees brought together the management and the shop floor, raising and resolving issues and concerns; All with the aim of making production run as smoothly as possible as the as the needlework supply industry grew.

There was much forward thinking in the developing industrial age. Educational trips by works committee members to other factories and even overseas kept the Redditch factories informed and moving onwards.

Part Four

Read Part One of  Memories of a Needlemaker