Dec 28, 2024 · Wilson & Stafford were the last remaining felt hat makers in the UK until they went into liquidation in 1999. Nowadays the factory is largely stripped bare but has a brilliant character especially on the very windy day me and Flubs visited.

Working as a settler in the bumping shop of Wilson and Stafford, hat manufacturers

Feb 16, 2007 · Despite booms and troughs caused by fashion, the market remained on a downward trend. In the 1970s only three hat factories remained in Atherstone - Denham & Hargrave, Vero & Everitt and Wilson...

Apr 13, 2016 · I worked at Wilson and Staffords for nearly 20 years. I worked in the settling shop, rolling the felt up and putting in the water. Then I moved from there to ...

May 6, 2011 · In the 1970s only three hat factories remained in Atherstone – Denham & Hargrave, Vero & Everitt and Wilson & Stafford. In the 1980s as the market contracted further, Wilson & Stafford bought out the other two firms, but could not continue much longer.

Mar 5, 2009 · Wilson & Stafford was once the towns biggest employer and hat making continued at the Britannia works until it closed in 1999, at that time it was the last felt hat makers in the UK. Some of the buildings are listed and conversion work was supposed to start in 2008, however this work is still yet to start.

By 1900, there were seven hat factories in the town but a century later they had all closed. Two of the last to close were Vero & Everitt and Wilson & Stafford, with the latter’s derelict premises under threat of demolition in 2019. A rare survivor is (part of) Hatton’s hat factory, Long Street. Atherstone was not alone in the hat-making ...

I worked at Wilson and Staffords for nearly 20 years. I worked in the settling shop, rolling the felt up and putting in the water. Then I moved from there to where they cut the brims of the hats, then onto the box shop; this is where we put stitches into cardboard boxes for packing the hats.

Mar 17, 2018 · The hats produced here found themselves all over the world, producing "Billycock" hats often seen within the slave trade as well as military head wear and more common hats such as flat caps. With the decline of the industry the building now sat dormant.

Jan 6, 2015 · In the 17th century when the wearing of felt hats instead of caps became increasingly common, Atherstone became the West Midlands centre for the manufacture low cost hats. In the 1980s as the market contracted further, Wilson & Stafford bought out the other two firms, but could not continue much longer.