Industrial change
Student task 1
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You will need to work in a pair for this activity.
Spend a few minutes looking very carefully at the photograph below.
Discuss the photograph with your partner.
The Connor Hat Factory
© Reproduced by permission of English Heritage (NMR).
http://www.heritage-explorer.co.uk/web/he/searchdetail.aspx?id=11086
Consider the following:
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when the photograph might have been taken
where the photograph might have been taken
what might have been made at the factory
who might have worked there
why the factory was sited where it was
how the building/area might have changed since the photograph was taken
Record your thoughts.
Be prepared to share your ideas with the rest of the group/class.
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Industrial change
Student task 2
The photograph shows the Connor Hat Factory at 65-67 Bute Street in Luton,
Bedfordshire in 1928.
1.
Research this building. Does it still exist and if so, what is its current use?
A good starting point would be to use an internet search engine, such as Google by
typing Connor Hat Factory, 65-67 Bute Street, Luton, Bedfordshire into the search
box and to use Google Earth or Google Maps to investigate a street view of the
address.
The following web-links may prove particularly useful:
 http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/Co
mmunityArchives/Luton/InterestingbuildingsinLuton/TheHatFactory6567ButeStreetLuton.aspx
 http://www.lutonculture.com/hat-factory/about/
2.
What have you found out following your independent research?
Aim to sum up the findings of your research in no more than 150 words and use the
word cloud below to help ensure you include all the key points and your use of
topical vocabulary is accurate.
Source: http://www.wordle.net
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Industrial change
Extension tasks
1.
Hat making was originally a ‘cottage industry’ in Bedfordshire.
What is meant by the term ‘cottage industry’?
2.
All systems have inputs, outputs and processes. Hat making in Luton involved
processing raw materials to produce a semi-finished or finished product. A simple
version of the hat factory system would be raw materials go in (inputs), the raw
materials are processed and manufactured goods come out (outputs).
Draw a flow diagram to show the relationship between inputs, processes and
outputs. Include as many inputs as you can.
3.
Industry can be classified into four groups: primary, secondary, tertiary and
quaternary industries although the quaternary group is often included in the tertiary
sector.
Hat making is a secondary industry. What economic sector is the Connor Hat
Factory’s current use?
4.
The percentages of the population of a country working in the four different
industrial sectors will change as the country develops.
UK Industrial employment 1964-2005
Year
% employed in
primary sector
% employed in
secondary sector
% employed in
tertiary and
quaternary sectors
1964
5
47
48
1973
3
42
55
1981
3
35
62
1990
2
27
71
2005
1
17
82
a) Construct a graph to show the changes in industrial employment in the UK
between 1964 and 2005.
b) What effect do you think these changes in industrial structure have had on the
people in the UK?
5.
What do you think the building might be like in 50 years’ time? Will it look the
same? Will it be used for the same purpose?
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Industrial change
Teaching notes
The photograph was taken in 1928 and is of the Connor Hat Factory on Bute Street in
Luton, Bedfordshire in southern England. The back of the straw goods factory at 40
Guildford Street can be seen in the distance. Both of the factories in this photograph
made straw goods and hats.
The making of straw hats and bonnets was already established in Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire by the end of the 17th century. It was traditionally a cottage industry, with
girls and women plaiting the straw at home. Additional information on the plaiting and hat
making trade in Luton is available on the main English Heritage website at
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/people-and-places/womenshistory/womenhatplaitluton/.
In the later 19th and early 20th centuries, most of the Luton hat industry was concentrated
in factories in the Bute Street area. The location was close to the railway station with its
direct links to London. Straw hats called 'boaters' were popular in the Edwardian period.
The Google earth Street View below shows the area today. The building, called ‘the hat
factory’ is now a vibrant arts centre, which opened in 2003.
Bute Street, Luton 2009
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