1. 1
The social impact of the Gretna munitions factory on
the city of Carlisle during its period of construction
August 1915- June 1916
HIS3020
Student No. 120193028
2. 2
Acknowledgements
I have found researching and writing this dissertation a surprisingly rewarding and fulfilling
experience onbothanacademicand personal level.Firstly I would like to thank my tutor Dr. Fergus
Campbell not only for his support and advice, but more so for his calmness and understanding
throughoutthe year,withoutwhichthisprocesswouldhave beenamuchmore unpleasantordeal.A
great deal of thanks must go to the staff at Carlisle library, where I conducted the majority of my
research, who went above and beyond the call of duty in aiding me with this project. Many thanks
must go to my uncle, Bim Tyson, who has been of great assistance to me throughout this
assignment, enthusiastically providing me with transport to and from numerous locations for
research purposes. Finally I would like to thank my good friend Matthew Sanderson (M.A) for his
assistance and for his own academic career being a shining example to myself.
4. 4
Introduction
Thisdissertationinvestigates the impact that the construction of the Gretna munitions factory had
on the nearby city of Carlisle, specifically during and as a consequence of the initial period of its
constructionfromthe autumn of 1915 to the followingsummer of 1916. My thesis is that it was this
period that the factory had its most significant social impact on Carlisle, mainly as a result of the
influx of navviesandotherunskilledlabourers involved in the early stages of its development who
came to reside andsocialiseinthe city. Itdescribesthe contextinwhichthe factory was built during
the First World War and the reasons for its geographic location, before analysing the social
compositionandthe motivationsof the construction workers. This work addresses the resentment
of the labourers and the factory by the local people and the impact the proximity of the factory to
Carlisle had on local trade, housing and public services. The nationalisation of the alcohol trade in
the regionisexplored,includingthe role played by the construction workers in its implementation
and the supposed reasons behind its success.
The primary sources I have used are predominantly local newspaper articles from the
period. My reasoning behind this choice is that these reports offer a wealth of information and a
variety of perspectives on the issues covered. Not only does the choice of topic being reported
provide aninsighttowhatwas viewedas being of interest to the local public at the time, but many
of the stories also offer viewpoints and quotations from the various parties involved. Not all the
sourcesI use are necessarilyfromthe exacttime frame Ihave specifiedinmytitle,howeverthey are
useful and relevant in that they relate to consequences resulting from events and processes that
occurred within the initial construction period. I accessed these sources from the newspaper
archives in Carlisle Library.
Althoughthere have beennumerousworksinrelation to the Gretna munitions factory such
as Gordon Routledge’s generalhistoryof the works, Gretna’sSecretWar,as well asthe work of Chris
5. 5
Brader onthe female munitionsworkers,asfaras I am aware there hasbeenno workwhich focuses
specifically onthe impactonCarlisle duringitsconstructionperiod.Iwill argue thatitwasthisperiod
that caused the most turmoil and left the more significant legacy on the city.
6. 6
Background
During the spring of 1915 in the midst of the First Word War and after limited success in the early
stages of the conflict, the British military command complained of a serious lack of high explosive
shells that had hindered the war effort since its outbreak the previous year. The British press
launched a critical campaign highlighting this munitions shortage in what became known as the
‘Shells Scandal’. This came at a time of political crisis in the British government following the
resignationof twoseniorcabinetfigures,contributingtothe collapse of the Liberal Government and
the resulting Coalition Government formed in its stead on 17 May.1
The ‘Shell Scandal’ stirred up public interest in the issue of munitions supply making the
importance of the shortage clear,thusenablingpopularenthusiasm to the solution which was soon
to follow.Itspublicity made the solution possible in creating an agreeable atmosphere to the new
Ministry of Munitions headed by future Prime Minister and leader of Liberal Party David Lloyd
George.The newdepartmentwastooversee andco-ordinate the productionanddistribution of the
munitions for the war effort. As part of the solution to address the munitions shortage it was
orderedthatnewfactoriesshouldbe builtentirelywithpublicmoneyandwouldremainproperty of
the State.
The site chosenforthe largestof these factorieswasastretch of countryflankingthe Solway
Firthon the English/Scottishborder.Thislocationwaschosenfornumerousreasons.Italreadyhad a
goodrailwayservice withmainlinelinksheadingnorthto Scotland and east to Newcastle, as well as
majorlinksto the south.Coal supplies could come by rail from Northumberland to the east or from
Wales by the sea. The River Esk provided a plentiful water supply and being on the west coast the
factorywouldbe more secure fromGerman sea,landand air attacks.The factorysite wasalso not in
too close proximitytoanylarge urbanarea which was important for an explosives factory, with the
1
Ralph James Q. Adams, Arms and the Wizard: Lloyd George and the Ministry of Munitions 1915-1916 (Cassell:
London, 1978),34-35.
7. 7
city of Carlisle being around eight miles away.2
In 1914 Carlisle was a placid cathedral city with a
population of 52,000. The city’s chief claims of modern commercial importance were its
convergence of railwaylineswhichgave itadegree of industrial fame and activity, containing a few
factories and foundries and markets supplied by the encircling belt of rich agricultural land.3
Althoughthe proximity of Carlisle was far enough away to keep it safe from any potential physical
danger,it was close enough serve as an urban hub for the large influx of construction workers that
were to come.
The construction of the Gretna Munitions Factory was to be a major undertaking, with the
factoryto be nine milesin length with an internal railway system of nearly 100 miles as well as the
creation of a new town to eventually provide for the housing, feeding and recreation of the
thousandsof munitionsworkers.Scoresof navviesandotherlabourersinvadedthe districttoenable
the rapid construction of this humongous site. Partaking in tough, hardworking labour and earning
high wages they sought their alcohol centred leisure in the evenings and weekends in Carlisle.4
2 Chris Brader, Timbertown Girls: Gretna Female Muntions Workers in World War I (University of Warwick,
February 2001).
3 Henry Carter, The Control of the Drink Trade: A Contribution to National Efficiency (Longman & Co: London,
1918),197-198.
4 Ibid.
8. 8
Chapter 1 – The Navvy Invasion
On June 26th
1915, after much rumour and speculation after sightings of surveyors around the
SolwayFirthinpreviousmonths,the new Ministerof MunitionsLloydGeorge gave the authority for
H.M Factory Gretna to be built. With a project of such importance to the international stage, time
was of the essence.The factoryneededtobe producingthe explosive cordite as soon as possible so
the work wasto be undertakendayandnight. Agreementswere made withvarious contractors and
constructionbeganinAugust. Messrs Pearson and Son (Pearsons) were responsible for the overall
managementandbuildingof the project, in accordance with the plans and designs of the technical
advisersof the Ministry.The factorysite was to be 9 milesinlengthandupto 3 mileswide inplaces.
Foundationsneededlaid,ditchesdugandstructureserected, not only for the factory site itself, but
also for the adjacent townships that were to be built to house a future 20,000 munitions workers.5
At a time just before the widespread use of mechanised machinery for construction
purposes, this initial work for the early stages of the development required scores of manpower.
Although the nearby settlements of Carlisle, Annan and Longtown as well as many other
neighbouring towns and villages provided some of the labour, the relatively sparsely populated
regioncouldnotbe expectedtodeliverthe manpowerrequiredforsuchadevelopment. An army of
unskilled labourers was required to hastily carry out this tough, physically demanding work. “And
whatan armytheywere,mostlynavviesof the roughesttype” anobserverfromthe time described.6
The typesof workerswhocame fromall over the British Isles to partake in the construction
of the factory are frequently described as ‘navvies’, with a reported number of 10,000 to 12,000
5 Gordon L. Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War (Bookcase: Carlisle,1999),6-11.
6
Eunice Evans, Through the Years with Romney (University of London Press: London, 1946),61.
9. 9
taking up provisional residence in Carlisle during this period, the population of which was only
52,000 prior to the navvies arrival. A further 2000 to 4000 living in temporary hutments at Gretna
but wouldflock to the city for their drinking rendezvous at the weekend.7
Navvy is a term which is
short for ‘navigator’, in reference to someone who dug canal and river navigations and came to
prominence duringthe ‘canal age’of the eighteenthcenturyandlaterprovidingmuchof the manual
labourin setting railway lines during the nineteenth century during Britain’s industrial revolution.
Althoughthe navvywaslivingonborrowedtime in the early decades of the twentieth century, the
construction of the Gretna munitions factory provided a welcome opportunity for navvy workers
with modern technological construction methods still in its infancy.
A navvywasunique toother unskilled labourers in numerous ways. A navvy did not simply
live in a house or cottage and go to work every day, but rather led a nomadic lifestyle travelling
wherever the work was. This first verse of the nineteenth century song Navvy on the Line gives an
insight into the key characteristic of navvy life:
I am a navvy bold, that’s trampled the country round, sir,
To get a job of work, where can be found sir.
I left my native home, my friends and relations,
To ramble up and down and work in various stations.8
Thisnomadiclifestyle alsosetnavviesapartinanotherway,these men worked hard and lived hard.
Anothernineteenthcenturysong, TheNavigators, gives a picture of the weekend socialising of the
navvies:
7 Rev. G. Bramwell Evens, The truth about direct control in Carlisle: as administered by the Central Control
Board (Liquor Traffic) (Carlisle,1917),4.
8 Roy Palmer (Ed), A Touch on the Times: Songs of Social Change 1770-1914 (Penguin Education:London,
1977).
10. 10
On Saturday night we receive our pay;
It’s then to the ale-house we go straightway,
And each sits his sweetheart upon his knee,
And we treat them well with the barley brew.
But when several months are gone and past,
Those pretty young girls got thick in the waist.
They run to buy candles, they learn lullabies,
And wish that they still had their dear banker boys.
Because theywere alwaysonthe move navvieslivedoutside of the restof societyand rarely stayed
in a single place long enough to integrate into the area, nor was their lifestyle or concern for
conventional morality in accordance to that which would be agreeable to the local community.
Consequentlythe arrival of navvies into an area was treated with suspicion and contempt by those
living more settled lives as this nineteenth century account suggests:
These banditti knowninmanypartsof Englandby the name of ‘Navies’ or ‘Navigators’,
and in others by that of ‘Bankers’, are generally the terror of the surrounding country;
they are completely a class by themselves as the Gipsies. Possessed of all the daring
recklessness of the Smuggler, without any of his redeeming qualities, their ferocious
behaviour can only be equalled by the brutality of their language…
From longbeingknowntoeachother,theyingeneral act inthe concert, and put in
defiance any local constabulary force; consequently crimes of the most atrocious
character are common, and robbery, without an attempt at concealment, has been an
everyday occurrence, wherever they have been congregated in large numbers.9
9 Peter Lecount, The History of the Railways connecting London and Birmingham (Simpkin and Marshall:
London, 1839).
11. 11
The contrasting conceptions of the navvy portrayed in these two folk songs – as a happy go
luckyhard working,funhavingfellow inthe formerandthe hostile xenophobic account in the latter
suggests,asisoftenthe case inhistory,thatthe truth probablyliessomewhere between the two in
relation to the character accounts of the navvies.10
The sources I came across during my research also suggested that the navvies were a class
whowere perceivedbythe localsasa jovial people,butatthe same time as a social groupwho were
viewed with suspicion and hostility. An account by Mrs Elizabeth Kirkup of Annan, who was
responsible forregisteringnew employeesinto the building company Pearsons, adds weight to the
claimthat the navvies’possessedajovial nature. She recalled a time when she was registering one
of the navviesandaskedthe manhisdate of birth.He respondedthathe knew the year but was not
aware of the specificdate andwhentoldthatshe neededtoputsomethingdown, he instructed her
to put Christmasbecause itseemedlikeajollyday.11
Additionally in some of the Cumberland News
reportsof navviesansweringcriminal charges, they would often reduce the courtroom to laughter.
For example one navvywhowasbeingchargedfor evading a Sunday drinking order and was told to
reveal where he hadpurchasedthe alcohol.He respondedsayingthat he had got it at a big house in
Carlisle but he was not going “to give a good thing away.” (Laughter.)12
However other first person
accounts andCarlisle newspaperreportsalsosupportthe ideaof the navvies being a resented class
of people. Descriptions of the navvies as “prepossessing”, a “class of men… most likely to spread
disease”and“a necessaryevil”in local accounts and newspaper reports suggest that the people of
Carlisle viewed the navvy class in a predominantly unfavourable light.
The work undertaken by navvies was very laborious and the wages on offer needed to be
high enough to give a man a better living than he could expect doing anything else. An unsettled
10 Burton, Navvies, 10.
11 Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War, 12.
12 Cumberland News (29 January 1916).
12. 12
lifestyle of hard labour was the price a navvy paid for his high wage.13
Mrs Elizabeth Kirkup again
recalledatime when a navvy, who was illiterate, asked if she would write a letter to his brother in
Ireland and tell him to get himself across to Dornock (one of the factory sites) as the wages were
approximately £7. It was rumoured at one stage during the war that some navvies were earning as
much as £20 per week.14
An incidentinvolvingtwoCarlisle police constables and a navvy working at Gretna suggests
that the navvies were earning substantial amounts of money. The two constables, James Sherwin
and Patrick McSweeney were charged with attacking a navvy, 62 year old Thomas Smith, after
findinghiminanintoxicatedstate onthe streets. The constables found the man a bed for the night
in an old tramcar at the station before robbing him of £11 10s (shillings). in an attack which nearly
blindedthe navvy.15
Aswellasevidencingthatthe influx of workersintoCarlisle were alsovictims as
well as perpetrators of crime in the city, this story hints that the navvies earned great amounts
working at the factory. Although we do not know the wage Thomas Smith earned, the fact that he
had such an amount of money on him in person, and this was after a substantial drinking session,
suggeststhatthe navviesmusthave beengettingpaidagreatdeal.These reportedhighwageswere
to have numerous knock on effects in relation to the impact of the factory on Carlisle.
Whenthe mainconstructionof the factorybeganinAugust 1915 there was initially minimal
disturbancesreportedinCarlisle,howeverasthe weeks wore on there was inevitably an increasing
numberof reportsinthe local papersof the effect of the proximity of such a large construction site
and the resulting influx of labourers were beginning to have on the city.
13Anthony Burton, History’s Most Dangerous Jobs: Navvies (The History Press:Stroud, 2012),10-23.
14 Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War, 12.
15 Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War, 13.
13. 13
Table 1
The overridingnature of the disturbancesinCarlisle duringthe period I have covered in this
workare alcohol related,predominantlynavviesandotherunskilledlabourers who were working at
Gretna being arrested and convicted for ‘drunkeness’ or which might today be described as being
‘drunk and disorderly’. There are few reports in the early months of construction (August,
September 1916) of the drunken disturbances that were to become so prominent and this is
supportedbythe above police statisticsinthe formof convictionsfordrunkennessin Carlisle during
the period. In the months of August and September 1915 the figures read at 11 and 15 which were
lower than the same period in 1914.17
However at the end of September 1915 the first report of
trouble appeared in The Cumberland News when two Gretna labourers, Charles Allen and William
16 The Evening News (31 December 1917).
17 Ibid (31 July 1918).
Official Statistics for The Convictions for Drunkenness in
Carlisle16
1914 1915 1916 1917
January 23 12 51 63
February 19 13 73 63
March 20 13 89 45
April 16 12 98 31
May 31 12 114 20
June 29 10 139 14
July 27 9 91 14
August 26 11 46 20
September 23 15 62 14
October 22 35 57 16
November 14 59 55 ---
December 20 76 78 ---
275 277 953 300*
14. 14
Hutchinson,were charged withbeingdrunkand disorderly on a Saturday night as well as Allen also
being charged with assaulting a police officer and Hutchinson facing further charges for obtaining
money by false pretences. The Mayor is reported to have said in relation to these cases that “the
Bench would not have this kind of conduct by men working at Gretna coming into the city and
upsetting the place this way on Saturday nights”18
. These were not isolated incidents but more an
indication of the disturbance that was to come.
A possible explanation for this initial period of calm is evident in newspaper reports of a
mass meeting in Carlisle of men employed at Gretna. This meeting was to discuss a number of
grievancesthe workmen had since arriving to the area and demands for improvement which were
formulated. The complaints included disputes over pay being lower than what was promised,
differentmenworkingondifferentrates depending on their time of arrival. The inefficiency of the
train service for men commuting from Carlisle to Gretna was also an issue in that workers would
often wait at Gretna station with no accommodation anywhere between 1 ½ to 3 hours, with this
grievance furtherfuelledbybrokenpromisesonworker’spayfor travel time. These complaints had
causedsome of the more skilledworkers,agroupof joinersfromGlasgow,to‘downtools’inprotest
witha numberof them returning home. One of the worker delegates, Mr Craig, complained of the
“high price of lodgings in Carlisle and the cost of maintaining homes elsewhere” in relation to the
dispute over pay.19
This provides a perception into the difficulties the workers faced in the early
stages of the factory development and that a shortage of pay (at least in the case of the Glasgow
joiners) andtime available hinderedthe workers drinking exploits in the city at this time. The issue
of the high rents in Carlisle also gives an early insight into the pressure the factory placed on the
housing situation in the city which will be examined in the next chapter.
As the end of the yearapproachedthere were anincreasingnumberof transgressions being
reported in the papers committed by those working at the factory, with monthly convictions for
drunkenness in Carlisle rising to numbers several times greater than the levels prior to the
18 The Cumberland News (25 September1915).
19 The Carlisle Journal (5 October 1915).
15. 15
commencementof the projectinAugust1915. Reportsof misdemeanours by the workers of Gretna
startedto appearwithgreaterfrequencythroughthe monthsof OctoberandNovember.The stories
would tell of a variety of delinquencies committed by the workers including; being drunk and
disorderly,assaultingapoliceman,obtainingmoney by false pretences, ‘very bad conduct’ towards
youngladieswhileunderthe influence of alcohol,theft, fighting with soldiers and being drunk on a
Sundaydespite restrictions.20
Itwasclearthat drunkenGretnaworkerswere becomingamajorissue
within the city.
If one investigates into the potential motives of the navvies in their use of leisure time a
recurring theme appears of boredom, loneliness and a lack of alternative activities available. In a
Cumberland News reportfrom27 November1915 ittellsof a chaotic weekendwhich was becoming
more typical as the weeks and months wore on following the commencement of the factory’s
construction.Itreportsthat there were 23 cases of drunkenness from the previous weekend which
were beingdealtwithinthe town hall the following Monday. Of the 23 who were charged it states
how 16 were men working at Gretna, in addition to four women and three local men. When
addressing one of the prisoners the Chairman comments on the further restrictions of the drink
trade that were beginning to be implemented (see Chapter 3). He stated that,
The Bench had hitherto been very lenient in regard to cases of drunkenness and
incapability, and as the new Order came into force to day they hoped it would have a
good effect. If this drunkenness was continued by the men working at Gretna, if they
continuedtocreate disturbances,theywouldfindthatdrinkwouldbe amore expensive
luxury that it had been in the past.21
One of the Gretnaworkers,WilliamBurke,commentedbefore being sentenced with a fine of 19
shillings and 6 pence that he had got drunk because he was “a stranger in a strange land”.22
20The Cumberland News, October, November and December 1915.
21 Ibid, 27 November 1915.
22 Ibid.
16. 16
Furtherinsightintothe motives behindthe Gretnaconstruction workers turning to drink
isprovidedinaneyewitnessaccountof life withinthe munitionsfactoryfollowingitscompletion,
writtenbythe ScottishwriterandphysicianSirArthurConanDoyle andprinted in the Annandale
ObserveronDecember 1st
1916. Although much of the factory and accompanying townships are
still beingconstructedatthispointthe factoryhas alreadystarteditsproductionof the explosive
cordite forthe war effort.Itispredominantlythe incoming female workers who are responsible
for thisproductionbutDoyle notes that the majority of the total workforce at the factory site at
this point, at least 25,000 according to him, are still mainly the male construction workers. He
states in a section entitled ‘The Drink Difficulty’, that the female factory workers have an
enormous advantage in relation to the drinking culture as their conditions are ‘regular and
comfortable’.Whereasamongstthe greatmassof outside workerswhoare under less discipline
(as opposed to the female munitions workers who were under the supervision of welfare
officers23
) and who live under less comfortable conditions that he claims cannot be blamed for
turning towards the ‘light and warmth and temporary exhilaration of the public houses’.24
A further view into the Gretna worker’s experiences while in Carlisle is evidenced by a
poem printed in a Carlisle paper at the time entitled The Gretna Navvy’s Dream;
As the Gretna Navvy lay tucked up in bed,
All sorts of quaint fancies came into his head,
He thought in his lodgings he never saw jam,
But salmon and halibut, sirloin and lamb,
He never had kippers but poached egg on toast,
With a prize every week for he who ate the most,
He was never expected to rush for the train,
23 Brader, Timbertown Girls, 54-65.
24 The AnnandaleObserver (1 December 1916).
17. 17
He was never allowed to work out in the rain.
To take him to work he’d a grand motor car,
He was wrapped in fur and smoked a cigar,
The Board of Control laid pipes to his digs,
Supplying strong ale-and forwarded cigs,
Cards and tobacco, matches and snuff,
Good rum and whisky-more than enough.
Whenever he took a tram-ride through the town,
Ladies jumped up to let him sit down,
Sidesmen in churches, minister too,
Pressed him to take the very best pew.
No “bumping and boring” for him in the street,
The police turned their lamp on, guiding his feet.
“I must be in Heaven” he thought with a smile,
“This can’t be the faddist’s Utopia Carlisle,
Where the pubs, close on Sundays and cinemas bright,
Are forbidden to give the people delight”.
Then a loud rusty voice, and the bell of a clock,
Ended his dream-he awoke with a shock,
Rushed into his clothes, seized his margarine grub,
Which with the best ‘Brawn’ had had a good ‘rub’.
He just caught the train (there was room on the rack,
With another chap’s feet sticking into his back).
Got off at Mossband and fell into a hole,
18. 18
Where he cursed the rain and train and the Board of Control.25
The sarcastic nature of the majority of the poem suggests numerous hardships of their lives in
Carlisle,suchaslowqualityfood,issueswiththeirtransportandjourneyto Gretna, poor working
conditions in wet weather and the negative reception they received from the locals in the city.
Despite the authorof the poembeingunknown,itisuseful in that it provides the reader with an
ideaof the experience of a navvy in Carlisle. The poor conditions and hardships experienced by
manyof the navvies,withthisview supportedbythe previousaccountsmentioned, supports the
claim that these workers tendency to drink to excess was not only due to social and cultural
inclinations but also as a method of comfort and escapism.
The issues analysed in this chapter include; what made the navvies unique, the high
wagestheyearnedas a result of them being unique, their drinking exploits in the city and their
motivationsbehindexcessive drinking. It was this excessive drinking that was to have the most
prominentand lasting impact on Carlisle, but the next chapter will explore in further detail the
housingissue inthe citywhicharguablywas partly responsible for the workers tendency to turn
to drink as well as identifying further issues Carlisle was experiencing as a consequence of the
nearby construction of the Gretna munitions factory.
25 Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War, 19.
19. 19
Chapter 2 – Pressures on Housing, Employers and Public Services
The proximity of Carlisle to the upcoming Gretna munitions factory was to have a great impact in
otheraspectsof citylife ratherthanbeingconfinedtothe influxof harddrinkingworkersfuellingthe
alcohol trade and filling the Monday morning courts after wreaking havoc on the city’s weekend
social life.The matterof Carlisle witnessinga twentypercent populationincreasewithinthe space of
a few months put huge pressures on an already significant housing shortage as well as public
services such as the fire brigade and hospitals. Not only this but the higher wages on offer at this
new giant works and the size of the labour force required served as an unwanted competitor for
local employers who would either have to face losing their own workers or offer higher wages
themselvesasadeterrent.There wasalsoto be a growingresentmentamongstlocalstowardsthose
who worked at the factory, for as the war waged on with an ever increasing number of casualties
and fatalities as Gretna was seen to be seen as a ‘haven for shirkers’.
The housingsituation in the majority of the industrial towns of Britain prior to the war was
an issue whichneededtobe addresseddue to the shortage of accommodation for the working and
artisan classes. However according to the The Cumberland News in August 1916 this was not the
case forCarlisle,mostlikelybecause there wasnotyetlarge scale industryin the city for there to be
these population pressures. This situation was to change when construction work began for the
Gretna munitions factory. Mr Ernest Lowthian, a member of the city council and a prominent
memberof the Unionof General Workershaddescribed the war-timehousingshortage inCarlisleas
a failure of private enterprise as well as a shortcoming of the council. There had been a housing
scheme prepared before the war but these plans had been postponed by the orders of the Local
Government Board. In response to Mr Lowthian’s criticism the paper’s correspondent argued that
“five years before the war the supply of houses in Carlisle greatly exceeded demand”26
, which
possibly may have been a motive behind the postponement of this pre-war housing project.
26 The Cumberland News (26 August 1916).
20. 20
However with the influx of workers arriving to work at Gretna, Carlisle was to suffer the same
housing troubles as their urban counterparts had done throughout Britain during the mass
industrialisation in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
As the monthsof 1916 wore on there were increasingreportsof ‘A House Famine’inCarlisle
as a result of the masses of workers flocking to the area due to the labour required to build the
factoryat Gretna.Everyavailable roominthe citywas takenas lodgingsbecame asdifficulttoobtain
as houses, with two labourers to a bed not being uncommon. There were reports of hundreds of
applicants for every empty dwelling, with some workers offering a £5 reward to anyone who had
information regarding houses which were to be vacated and knocking door to door in search of
rooms. A leading housing agent in the city at the time was interviewed and commented that,
Duringmy 33 years’experience of Carlisle Ihave neverknownanythinglike it.Inall that
time there has been nothing comparable to the present position, which to us a mild
term,islamentable.Respectable workingmenoverwhelm us with pathetic requests to
get them houses. At present there are many in single rooms, taking their meals in the
same room inwhichtheysleep….There islittleprospect,Ifear,of the presentcondition
being relieved.27
Thishousingshortage and consequentlythe workers living conditions made the idea of a warm,
welcomingpubmore appealingtothe thousandsof navviesandotherlabourersinthe region.There
are numberof accountswhichgive weighttothe ideathat Carlisle’shouse famine contributedtothe
incomingworker’sdrinking exploits. A local Carlisle vicar at the time, Rev. George Bramwell Evens
wholaterwas to findfame underthe pseudonym Romany asabroadcasterfor the BBC, commented
that,
At night these men were practically turned out onto the street until bed-time. Their
landladiesdidnotwanttheminside the house: their money was wanted, but not their
27 Ibid.
21. 21
company. Where then could they put their time in? The cafes and places of
entertainmentwere crowdedandafterthese there onlyremainedthe public-house asa
place of refuge. 28
His wife, Eunice Evens, also commented on the unenvious situation these incoming
navvies found themselves in:
They poured out of the trains onto the streets to find their own accommodation, and
were sleepinginrowsonthe floorsof some houses.One womantoldusher beds never
had time tocool; the men worked in three shifts and three men used each bed. Those
who failed to find lodgings slept in the huge drain pipes that line the new roads.29
An idea of the rate of pay these landladies could demand due to the housing shortage is
suggested by a report on a local court case in December 1916. The case is over a military appeal
against the exemption of a 20 year old from military service on the grounds of domestic hardship.
The male worked at Gretna factory for 35s. a week and is described as the main support for his
family,includinghismother and five younger brothers and sisters, since his father was away in the
army. The mother stated that she had two lodgers working at Gretna who paid 17s. a week each in
rent.30
The previous year the British Government had introduced the ‘Increase of Rent and
Mortgage Interest (War Restictions) Act 1915’. This Act fixes rents at pre-war levels (August 1914)
and was designed to prevent landlords from profiteering during the war years when demand for
housing exceeded supply. However the level of rent stated in the Carlisle case, 17s. a week per
person,seemstobe veryhighincomparison to rents in other areas at the time. For example a case
from London, Steel v Mahoney (1918), with regard to the Act shows that the defendant’s pre-war
28 Evens, The truth about direct control in Carlisle, 4.
29 Eunice Evens, Through the years with Romney, 61.
30 Cumberland News (16 Dec 1916).
22. 22
rentwas 9.s a weekbefore beingraisedto10s. a weekinSeptember1915.31
SimilarlyinManchester
in the W & H Sutton and Sons v Holleerton (1918) case the defendants pre-war rent was 8s 9d. a
week before being raised to 9s. 9d. (pence) a week in January 1918.32
Not only do these cases
suggestthat the level of rent in Carlisle was considerably high, close to double the rate in London,
but alsothat the wagesof the labourersandnavviescoming into Carlisle were higher than those of
the local population who also went to work in the construction of the Gretna site, considering a
week’s wage for the son of the landlady working at Gretna was almost the weekly rent of the two
lodgerscombined.Thisinitself suggeststwothings;eitherthe migrantlodgers were ignorant of the
1915 Act introduced to prevent landlord/landlady profiteering as it is highly unlikely that pre-war
weeklyrentinCarlislewas17s, or theyearnedenoughmoneyatGretnaforthe highlevel of rentnot
to be an issue, or even both to have been true is just as plausible.
The solution of simply building more houses in Carlisle during the war was not an option.
The Britishgovernment had imposed restrictions on all building work that was not essential to the
war effort. Local builders before the war had depended on local contracts to build, adapt or repair
houses,but this was affected by the war time prohibition on all private building work costing over
£500. The council, as well as private individuals, struggled to get much building work done to
address this issue of overpopulation. On numerous occasions the city council appealed to the
Munitions Board for the permission and funding to build more housing but they would not agree
than an increase was required nor that such a project would be ‘essential’ to the war effort. 33
A correspondent for the Cumberland News commented in August 1916 that even had the
government not imposed a prohibition on building work, then the city council would not have
attempted to tackle the shortages;
31 Gibson and Weldon, Increaseof Rent and Mortgage Interest (Retrictions) Acts 1915-1919.Fifth Edition. By
the Editiors of “Law Notes”. (“Law Notes” publishingoffices:Chancery Lane, London, 1919),15.
32 Ibid.
33 Carter, Carlisle in the Great War, 108, 144.
23. 23
“Even had the Government not put down its foot, we are persuaded that the
Corporationwouldnothave attempted to meet the existing demand for houses. They
wouldhave carriedouttheiroriginal scheme,whichwasdesignedtomeetthe needs of
the assurednative population; but we doubt they would have taken upon themselves
the responsibilityof accommodating the new population unless they had some better
assurance than they have at present that it is to be permanently resident.”34
The council may have been reluctant to act upon the shortage due to fiscally driven fears,
consideringthatinthe years before the war “the supply of houses in Carlisle greatly exceeded the
demand”35
, in which case building new houses would be an unwise investment.
A further pressure the influx of workers put on Carlisle was due to the Munitions Board’s
failure tobuildahospital atGretna to accommodate forthisnew population,much to the dismay of
the local HealthCommittee.The Chairmancommentedduringameetingof the committee that“It is
a veryremarkable thingthattheybuild picture palaces but do not provide hospitals”.36
There were
concerns over the wellbeing of the city during wartime, with the Health Committee meeting to
discussthe treatment and prevention of venereal disease. There were fears that the disruption of
communities and the mixing of young men and women in unusual social conditions which made
sexual contactmore available andconditionswere enablingdisease tospread.37
Inevitablythere was
social stigma attached to the migrant workers in regard to the spread of such illnesses and others.
The Chairmanof the HealthCommittee spoke of his concerns over the great influx of men working
at Gretna, with the paper reporting
The class of menwho were wanderingupanddownthe countrywere most susceptible
to disease and most likely to spread disease. They were not only considering the new
34 Cumberland News (26 August 1916).
35 Ibid.
36 Cumberland News (29 January 1916).
37 Carter, Carlisle in the Great War, 141,
24. 24
workers, but they were protecting the lives of the people of that Union. It would be a
serious thing if they had an epidemic of smallpox or typhoid.38
The proximity of the Gretna factory to Carlisle also started to take its toll on other public
services,aswell aslocal employersduringitsperiodof construction.There were reportsof alocal
fire brigade in the Carlisle district coming under pressure due to a shortage of staff during the
daytime owingtomengoing off to work at Gretna. Additionally in the same report it told of the
increase of vagrantsrelievedatthe Bramptonworkhouse.310 vagrantshad beenrelieved during
the month as opposed to 151 relieved during the corresponding month the previous year. The
Chairman of the Brampton board commented that “the increase of vagrants is no doubt due to
men going and coming back from Gretna”.39
Brampton’s location on the primary route
connectingCarlisle andthe surrounding area with the North-East of England suggests that many
made the journey west in search of work at Gretna.
Men were attractedfromall overthe countryto build the munitions factory, but
nowhere was this attraction of work and improved wages felt more so than Carlisle. Local men
whodidgo to work onthe constructionatGretna seemedtobe portrayedina more sympathetic
light to those who had migrated to the area to work, despite engaging in excessive drinking
themselves. The Cumberland News in June 1916 reports on the death of a 51 year old Carlisle
man,Jacob Morrison,whoworkedat Gretna whodrownedinthe River Eden after jumping in for
a swimwhilstdrunk.The article describeshow the manhadpreviouslyworkedasa hawkerin the
city and had lived on “scanty means”, earning £1 a week at the most and this story was the
saddestof a numbertheyhad heard recently owing to the “unfortunate proximity of this city to
Gretna”. It sympathises with the deceased man’s situation stating that he did not seem to be a
“prepossessingnavvy”,butthathe had gone to workat Gretna three weekspriortohisdeath.He
38 Cumberland News (29th January 1916).
39 Cumberland News (13th May 1916).
25. 25
succeededinearning£2 a week but when he got this money he did not know what to do with it
and “dissipated in the way one could expect from such men”.40
The proximityof Gretnagovernmentworks so close to Carlisle was much to the detriment of
local employers. With the city serving as an urban hub in what was predominantly a rural
agricultural region,there werenumerousnewspaperreportsof a shortage of farm labourers. On
Saturday October 16th
1915 there was a meeting held in Carlisle of the Agricultural Union to
address the issue of skilled farm labourers going to work at the Gretna munitions factory. The
Unionsenta resolutionpassedatthe meetingtothe Ministerof War,the MinisterforAgriculture
and the Minister of Munitions, David Lloyd George, which read as follows:
That thismeetingof farmersof NorthCumberland,andof Longtownand Gretna district
particularly, urgently requests that no skilled farm labour be taken on at munitions
works, as the work to be performed can be done by unskilled navvy labour, whereas
agricultural workcannot,and thatinstructionsbe givento the contractors immediately
to that effect, the work in the Border area be put on the same footing as the Army, so
far as the taking of skilled farm labour be concerned.41
Althoughconscription hadyettobe introducedatthispoint, the ‘Derby Scheme’ was underway.
Thisrequiredeligible men aged 18-41 to make a public declaration if they did not intend to list.
However those in ‘starred’ (essential) occupations were granted exemption and this included
skilledfarmlabourers.42
The unionwasrequestingthat leaving farm work for Gretna factory was
to be disallowedonthe same groundsas leavingfarm work for the army was. They received this
reply from the secretary of the Agricultural Minister:
40 The Cumberland News (3 June 1916).
41 Cumberland News (30 October 1915).
42 https://derbyscheme.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/derby-scheme/ (Accessed 15/04/2015),
26. 26
Sir – I am directed by the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to advert
to yourletterof the 20th
inst…withreference tothe employment of skilled agricultural
labour at the munitions works, and I am to say that Lord Selbourne has no power to
prevent a worker from taking his labour to what he considers to be the best market. I
am, however,topointoutthatif a skilledfarmhandwhoisonthe starred listleaveshis
employmentona farmin order to work at another trade the arrangement by which he
is exempt from being recruited for the Army will no longer apply… 43
It was this threat of military exemption being taken away that the farm employers had hope
would prevent an exodus of their workforce. However in the following months and after
conscriptionhadbeenintroduced,skilledfarmworkerswere notalwaysexemptfromthe military
call. A local newspaper story on the issue suggests that since the farm workers tended to be
young and single, along with increase of women taking on what was traditionally male work,
these skilled agricultural labourers were not always getting their exemption renewed.44
Additionallymanyof those goingto work at the Government Works at Gretna were now
being granted exemption as the factory site became known as a “Sanctuary”, a “Parade of
Cripples”anda “Havenfor Shirkers”.45
Menwhofelttheyshouldbe exemptfrommilitaryservice,
whetherbecause of poorhealth,family hardships or if they were conscientious objectors, were
required to be ‘badged’ to prove they were undertaking in work crucial to the war. This was
importantdue to the social pressures of the time, as much of society had neighbours, husbands
and sonsfightinganddyinginthe trenchesof Europe.46
Itappearsthat the Government Works at
Gretna wasseenas a ‘softtouch’whenitcame to the distributionof exemption badges, as many
menwouldgo and get badged at Gretna after initially having their applications turned down by
local tribunals.
43 Ibid.
44 Cumberland News (13 May 1916).
45 Cumberland News (1916).
46 https://derbyscheme.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/derby-scheme/ (Accessed 15/04/2015).
27. 27
In reaction to an agricultural labour shortage local farmers had little alternative but to
offer a level of pay that could at least compete with that on offer at Gretna. In May 1916 a local
farmerrevealedhowhe waspayinga19 yearoldthe equivalent of £2 a week during a hearing in
whichhe was applyingforhismilitaryexemption.He said “it was not a question of money but of
getting a man” and that the only other applicants for the job in question had been two boys of
16.47
A few months later in August 1916 it was reported that a Mr R. A. Holme, a local farmer,
was paying an Irishman £6 a week to labour on his farm and that he could not afford to lose his
son to military service as he would have to pay for another worker.48
The high wages earned by those working at Gretna not only attracted resentment from
the local population, but also resulted in calls by prominent local figures for the workers high
wagesto be used to contribute to the ‘greater good’. In June 1916 at a meeting of businessmen
at the Carlisle Chamber of Trade there were was a well-received demand for the workmen at
Gretna to pay a greater rate of tax.49
Additionally in November 1916 a local vicar named those
working at the “Gretna Gold Mine” as prime candidates for those who should invest in war
savings bonds and certificates.50
This campaign was conducted by the National War Savings
Committee andserveddual functions of raisingmoneyforthe wareffort along with encouraging
sectionsof the populationwho,forthe firsttime haddisposable income,tosave theirmoneyand
live more economically as opposed to wasting their money on frivolous spending.51
This chapter has identified numerous consequences of the Gretna factory on Carlisle
during its construction phase. The influx of navvies who took up or attempted to take up
residence inthe citycauseda greathousingshortage inthe city, resulting in inflated rental costs
despite governmentlegislation.Anyattemptstoaddressthishousingshortage were impeded by
47 Cumberland News (13 May 1916).
48 Cumberland News (12 August 1916).
49 Ibid (24 June 1916).
50 Ibid (11 November 1916).
51 http://www.rbsremembers.com/banking-in-wartime/supporting-the-nation/the-national-savings-
movement.html (Accessed 15/04/2015).
28. 28
governmentwartime buildingrestrictionsandthe conditionsexperienced by the Gretna workers
in the cities as a result of the shortage, such as those who were sleeping rough or those with
accommodationbeingmade tofeel unwelcome, made a visit to the public house and excessive
drinking a comforting experience. Additionally the factory’s proximity to Carlisle increased the
number of people reliant on local hospitals and nearby workhouses, as well as drawing local
employees away from their usual occupations due to the higher wages on offer and a better
chance to escape military conscription. These consequences further fuelled much local
resentmenttowardsthe factoryandthose whowere workingonitsconstruction.Howeverit was
the issue of the navvies’andotherunskilledlabourers’ drinking exploits in the city which was to
have the most significant and lasting impact on Carlisle.
29. 29
Chapter 3 – The State Management Scheme: Motives, Impact on the City and
Levels of Success
As a meansof addressingthe rate of drunkennessamongstthe Gretnaworkersinthe city,rendering
them less fit for national service in the form of building and working in the munitions factory, the
BritishGovernmentimposedthe State ManagementScheme inCarlisle on12 July1916. This Scheme
involvedthe purchase of the local alcohol trade bythe State,includingthe brewing,distribution and
sale of liquor, and the system remained in place in the city until the 1970s. This State control was
widely credited as being a success following a significant reduction in the convictions for
drunkennessinthe cityinthe subsequentmonthsafteritsintroduction.Thischapterwillidentify the
motivesbehindthe scheme andwhatitinvolved, before analysing its short term impact on the city
and investigate the reasons for the reductions of drunkenness convictions.
There had already been measures in place aimed at reducing the levels of drunkenness in
the city for the eight months prior to the introduction of direct state control. A drink-restriction
order came into force in Carlisle and the surrounding areas on 22 November 1915. This included
limitingthe hoursinwhich‘intoxicatingliquor’ couldbe soldona licensedpremisetobetween noon
and 2:30pm, and 6pm to 9pm, as well asadditional restrictionsonthe sale of spirits and a complete
ban on the sale of alcohol on a Sunday.52
However this method proved insufficient as a means of
dealingwiththe growingdrinkfuelledrowdiness within the city. Restricting the hours of sale was a
flawed method, as evidenced by a Sunday Chronicle journalist visiting the visiting the city in May
1916. He wrote,
A fewdaysago a Carlisle manconfessedtosevenpintsandtwoglassesof rumbetween
12 o’clock and 2:30 and the same amount between 6pm and 9pm… shortening hours
52 Evens, Rev. G. Bramwell, The Truth about Direct Control in Carlisle, 1917.
30. 30
alone may diminish the consumption of the moderate man, but for the extremist it
merely intensifies the evil. Something more is necessary.53
Another example of restrictive hours being a flawed method comes in the form of ‘the
nightof a thousandwhiskeys’tale,still knownamongsome localstoday.Workers would hurry to
be back in Carlisle before the 9pm deadline for alcohol sale and would bribe the train driver to
add another shovel of coal to get them there a few minutes sooner. On arriving in Carlisle they
would rush to the nearby Boustead’s bar where the owner would have four to five hundred
whiskies ready poured for the stampede to get drunk in five minutes flat.54
Furthermore, the
policy of Sunday closing, which was law on the Scottish side of the border and imposed on
Carlisle to prevent an exodus of workers from Gretna to the city on a Sunday, was frequently
ignored.55
On 16 July 1916, just overa yearbefore the Bolshevik led socialist revolution in Russia, the
drinks trade in Carlisle and the surrounding area was nationalised under order of the British
government.Thispolicywentdirectlyagainstthe laissez-faire economic ideology the British Empire
had been built on in the previous century, but is a local example of the effect the Great War was
having on government policy and a rethinking to the idea of the state’s responsibility. The
‘experiment’involvedall licensed premises in the designated region being purchased by the state,
withapproximatelyone thirdof the total beingpermanentlyclosed.The incentive to sell alcohol for
private gain was eliminated as the majority of the licensers were made managers of their former
premises,effectivelymakingthemcivilservantsastheywere now onfixedsalariesregardlessof how
much liquor they sold. Their primary job now was to make sure the states rules were enforced
within the pubs. Some of these rules included; a ban on the advertising of liquor in the premise, a
ban on the act of ‘mixingdrinks’,abanof the sale of spiritsonSaturdays, greater encouragement to
53 Evening News (18 May1916).
54 Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War, 14.
55 Cumberland News (4 December 1915), (19 January 1916).
31. 31
serve food with drink and promoting the sale of a weaker 2 percent beer fittingly nicknamed
‘Munition’, just to name a few.56
The State ManagementScheme wasnotimplemented overnight but rather it was a process
which took several weeks and months. During this period of transition the level of convictions for
drunkenness in the city were generally decreasing to the point where by the spring of 1917, the
levels were similar to those experienced before the construction of the Gretna factory had
commenced.57
The scheme washailed as a success due to this decrease of drunkenness in Carlisle.
However whether or not the primary reason for this reduction was due to the introduction of the
State control was a point of contention at the time and in the years that followed.
Two local religiousfiguresof the time hadopposingviewsonthe initial wartime ‘success’ of
the state management scheme. In 1917 Rev. George Bramwell Evens wrote a pamphlet named The
Truth aboutDirect Controlin Carlisle. Thispamphlet was in defence of Direct Control in Carlisle and
praised its success in returning order and efficiency to the city as a result of a reduction of alcohol
related disorder. This was in reaction to The Carlisle and Annan Experiment in State Purchase and
Liquor Nationalisation, written by Rev. Wilson Stuart who was critical of the regime of the Liquor
Control Board in Carlisle and its policy of state control.
Numerous aspects of the scheme and its impact are contested with varying degrees of
successfor bothsides;however an issue raised by Rev. Stuart which could be used to question the
scheme’sveryintroductionisof greatsignificance. Indeed I came to a similar view and came across
many of the same sources which support this opinion while conducting my own research before
even reading the arguments of Rev. Stuart. It is here that the features and character of the navvy
worker covered in chapter one is particularly relevant.
56 Evens, Rev. G. Bramwell, The Truth about Direct Control in Carlisle, 1917.
57 See Chapter 1.
32. 32
Generallythisworkhascoveredthe periodfromthe lastquarter of 1915 and the first half of
1916, the time during which there were 10,000 to 15,000 navvies employed in the early stages of
construction of the Gretna Factory site which involved the clearing and laying out of the area,
general hard, unskilled manual labour. However by mid-1916 the navvies were completing their
preparatoryworkand were replaced,firstbyskilled constructional workers and engineers, then by
the thousandsof munitions girls, many of whom were non-drinking and those that were were not
likely to drink such excess as the navvies and cause a great deal of disturbance.58
This change of
personnel was predicted and welcomed in the Cumberland News a month before it occurred.
Navvieshave astandardof theirown,which,happilyisnot the standard of this district;
but they are a necessary evil…. The rough constructional work upon which they are
engagedisreachinganend;and whenitis completedthe men who have disturbed our
streets for some months will disappear from our ken, and give place to a resident
populationof skilledoperativeswhom we will receive as a welcome – and profitable –
addition to our community.59
Furthermore there are reports at the end of July 1916 of an increase of men relieved at the
workhouse of Penrith, a town 20 miles south of Carlisle. The workhouse master said that “some of
the men had been paid off from Gretna and were making their way South.”60
Rev. Wilson Stuart
notedthat ina conversationhe hadwithnavvieswhoremainedinthe areaaroundJanuary/February
1917, theycommentedthatthere was“a migration”,asmany of their fellows had left to undertake
work at a big public works down at Bristol.61
The populationpressuresonCarlisle were not lifted as a result of this navvy ‘migration’ for
their numbers were replaces by the skilled construction workers and later many of the female
munitionsfactoryworkers.Howeveritwasthe type of workerandtheirlikelihoodtodrink to excess
58 Rev. Wilson Stuart, Drink Nationalisation in England and its results, 10-11.
59 Cumberland News (20 May 1916).
60 Ibid (29 July 1916).
61 Rev. Wilson Stuart, Drink Nationalisation in England and its results, 12.
33. 33
which is the significant factor in relation to the level of drunken disorder in the city. Eunice Evens,
wife of Rev. Bramwell Evens, herself concedes that the reduction of disorder in the city coincided
withthe change of workerpersonnel:“Thingscalmeddown.Thesemen(the navvies) departerd,and
theirplace was taken by electricians and joiners…”62
Sir Edgar Sanders, who was general manager
of the Carlisle experiment,speakingof workernumbersinareportconductedbythe Central Control
Board for year of 1916, said: “It is difficult to obtain any precise figures on this point, but upon
reliable authorityitappearsthatthe numberof menremainedpracticallythe same from June, 1916,
until the end of the year.”63
In August 1916, the Cumberland News writes at length explaining the situation and accurately
predicts the trend that will follow:
The necessity for the Control Board’s intervention is already passing. The navvy
population has been greatly diminished, and it will be steadily reduced as the
constructional workuponwhichtheyare engagednearscompletion.Artisanswiththeir
families are taking their place, and from what we have already seen of these men we
are satisfied that they will be as welcome members of the local community as those
whohave beenpavingthe wayfor themhave been objectionable. The situation which
has been seized upon to justify the Control Board’s action will thus, probably, have
ceasedto existbefore the Board’splans have fully matured. Ere long Carlisle will have
resumeditsusual decorumatSaturdaynights.The improvementinitsconditionwillnot
have flowed from the action of the Board, but from the passing from our midst of the
excessive drinkers which the State have brought into our midst; and it is well that this
should be borne clearly in mind when we come to appraise the lessons of the Carlisle
experiment.The greatdecrease inthe convictionsfordrunkennesswhichmaywell with
62 Eunice Evens, Through the years with Romany, 62.
63 Rev. Wilson Stuart, Drink Nationalisation in England and its results, 11.
34. 34
certainty be anticipated in the near future will not in itself prove the experiment, for
this decrease will assuredly follow the removal of men who had been convicted. 64
The overriding argument of this chapter is in support of the primary thesis of Rev Stuart’s
works, The Carlisle and Annan Experiment and Drink Nationalisation in England and its results. That
is the timing of the introduction of the State Management Scheme on alcohol sale coincided with
the migrationfromthe area of the majorityof those whohadbeen responsible for the high level of
drunkendisorderinCarlisle.The reductioninnumberof those convictedfordrunkenness in the city
shouldnotbe viewedasevidenceof the successof the state’sdirectcontrol of the alcohol trade,but
rather as evidence of the unskilled labourers and navvies leaving the area in search of work
elsewhere.The relativeconsistency of Gretna worker numbers in Carlisle up until 1918 is irrelevant
in relation to the cities liquor troubles, but it is rather a question of the character of the men and
their likelihood to drink to excess and cause trouble in the city.
64 Cumberland News (26 August 1916).
35. 35
Conclusion
A visitingjournalistfromthe YorkshirePostreportedthatwhathe hadseenonthe streetsof Carlisle
on Saturday nights would have caused “little bother in some of the big cities of the North”. He
concludedthatthisisthe experience of most large industrial centres at weekends.65
This may well
have been true but the fact of the matter is that Carlisle was not a ‘big city’ or a ‘large industrial
centre’. The large government works at Gretna had been imposed upon an area which was not
sufficientlyequippedtocope withthe numberof people that were required for the construction of
the factory site. It is true that townships at Gretna and Eastriggs were built to house, service and
entertain the munitions workers once they arrived, but these built at the same time as the factory
itself. No such sites were available to accommodate the tens of thousands of navvies and other
labourers during the construction stage of the project, so consequently it was the closest urban
settlementof Carlislethathadto attempt to bear this burden. However Carlisle was unprepared to
sufficientlycope with this new demographical pressure. The navvy lifestyle and culture, as well as
the housingshortage,contributedtodrinkfuelleddisturbances that were used as the questionable
justification for the nationalization of the drinks trade in the area. It was in the early stages of the
construction of the factory, from the autumn of 1915 to the summer of 1916, which had most
significant social impact on Carlisle. This was due to the introduction of the State Management
Scheme which I have argued was only introduced due to the excessive drinking and antics of the
navvyclassduring this period. By the time the Scheme was underway the majority of those whose
actions it might have restrained had already left the city. The rest of the consequences from this
period, such as the housing shortage, the strain on local employers and the resentment towards
those working at the factory were all a continuation from the period I have covered.
Prior to the autumn of 1915 Carlisle had been a relatively quiet and peaceful urban hub
servingwhatwaspredominantlyan agricultural region. The issues the city had to cope with for the
65 Cumberland News (26 August 1916).
36. 36
remainder of the war, but most significantly during the period of the Gretna site’s construction,
were due to massinterventionof the state in rapidly building this massive industrial complex. This
differed from a rather more gradual industrial process (in comparison) over a period of years and
decadesashad beenthe case in Britishtownsandcitiesduringthe industrial revolution, as opposed
to the weeksandmonthsduringwartime thatCarlisle anditslocal people hadtocome to termswith
industrial population pressures and subsequent issues. In more modern times governments and
non-governmental organisations are increasingly likely to run Social Impact Assessments prior to
large projects, such as building large industrial works. These are conducted in order to establish
likelyeffectsinadvance,forexample a rapid population increase and pressures on public services,
so that they can either be avoided or mitigation and contingency measures can be put in place.66
A point of further study could be using Carlisle during this period as a case study for the
topic of the increase of British state intervention during the early twentieth century. The British
industrial revolutioninthe nineteenth century and resulting Victorian sociey had been founded on
the economic and political philosophy laissez-faire, an early proponent of which was Adam Smith
whose work The Wealthof Nations (1776) arguedthat ideallythere should be no state intervention
in economic or social matters. However the coming of the Great War, the nature of which made it
the first‘total war’,made state interventionanecessityif onlyforthe cause of national survival. The
veryconstructionof the Gretna Factory - to make shells to fight the enemy, the housing shortage –
caused by a ban on private construction and increased urbanisation for the war effort, the ban on
rentincrease – to preventwartime social unrestandthe implementation of the State Management
Scheme – in order to increase national worker efficiency, all of these government actions which
were of great significancetoCarlisle andwere of greatsocial impacttothe area both at the time and
in the decades that followed.
66 C. J. Barrow, Social Impact Assessment: An Introduction (Arnold: London, 2000), 1, 137.
37. 37
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