James Drive, close to where James North's clock now stands:
originally named Slack Mills.
The James North factory was the largest producer of
industrial protective equipment in the world. They patented
the PVC glove in 1947.
The factory buildings were demolished in November 1998.
The original clock dials, hands, bevels and dial motion-work
have been restored and fitted into the new clocktower
enclosure, which was erected in 2006.'
On 7 May 2005, MEN (Manchester Evening News) makes a comment on James North's business: 'The family concern - which began as a chamois leather dressing firm in Colne in 1868 - moved to Hyde in 1876. It started life in a disused stable in Robert Street but soon expansion into the glove making industry prompted an amalgamation with the Colne concern and they moved to bigger premises in Godley Mills.
Such was their good name they were commissioned to make gauntlet gloves for Sir Ernest Shackleton's great Antarctic expedition.'
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