Mrs Lorene Walker oral history interview

Lourene Walker was born in Jamaica in 1936. After seeing an advert in a Jamaican newspaper calling on members of the empire to come and help the mother country (e.g. Britain) she got a passport and came to Britain. Lourene came to the UK on the 5 Nov 1960 and initially moved to Wolverhampton. She did not like this area so moved to London for a few months where she worked sewing swimming costumes before moving to Bolton. Her sister-in-law was living in Bolton and invited Lourene to visit. Lourene preferred the conditions in Bolton compared to London and decided to move to the area in 1962. In Bolton she obtained a job with Burtons clothing factory, Wapping Street off Halliwell Road. Burtons factory cut out, stitched and completed garments for Burtons menswear shops. Lourene worked in a number of departments at Burtons including overcoats, coats, vests, trousers, assembly and as a utility worker where she would alter garments that had not been completed correctly. She was made redundant from Burtons when the factory closed.