Glossop Cotton Queens - From Miss Glossop to Miss England 1930

The Cotton Queens 

According to a recent survey over 18 million people attend music festivals here in the UK every year. Music, arts and film festivals are on the rise and now attracting global attention bringing in the biggest names. History festivals are now starting to crop up here and over thirty took place over the summer.

There have always been festivals in Glossop some festivals have survived the test of time and some have now faded. It was not up until recently that we celebrated the May Cotton Queens. This festival celebrated just one thing, cotton. This one day in May was dedicated to a huge, colourful parade throughout the town. It was not only to celebrate the towns industry but an advertisement! A huge competition would take place between all the mills in the valley to determine the best cotton queen. The mill owners would choose the fairest girl within their business to showcase their finest product, similar to the Miss World competitions today.

They would parade through the town on the back of rickshaws and flatbeds and later vans. Some would depict a moment in history and others would show fashion, similar to the floats we have today at carnivals. It would then be up to a panel of judges normally including the Mayor to announce and crown “Miss Glossop”.

Then later in June it would go National a massive competition to find the “Cotton Queen of England”. I have found a report in a 1930s National newspaper, a truly fascinating little piece of our history, how “Miss Glossop” got to the final.

Cotton Queen 1930 Miss Glossop to Miss England  

In May 1930 Cotton Queen Festivals took place all over the North West of the country. Glossop held one of the largest; over 60 queens were presented that year from far and wide. The competition was fierce; competitors came from Manchester, Hyde and Cheshire. The competition was won by Miss F. Lockett who came from Newton Moor Mills of Hyde, a weaver aged 20. Miss Lockett was crowned ‘Miss Glossop’ and was paraded through town and was done so with,  “full of delight and splendor” according to a local reporter.

In June following on from the regional events, the Nationals took place. As I mentioned last week, I have found a report in a National newspaper that covers the Final in 1930. The Grand final of the search for “Miss England” took place in the Tower Circus, Blackpool. A total of 40 queens made it to the final stage where they were put “on display” and asked to do a variety of task, properly just walking round!

The panel of judges cut the 40 queens down two and took time to select a winner. The two finalists were, “Miss Salford” Miss E. Knox a clerk from Ordsall Dye Works in Salford and “Miss Glossop”.

The winner was selected by the Mayoress of Blackpool and was crowned “Miss England”. The top prize was given to “Miss Glossop” and was put on the grand throne in the centre of a massive parade. According to the news article, “ over 400,000 people flocked to see the Cotton Queen of England, the storm clouds retreated and the glorious sun shone over the queen of queens and her people”.

More than 20,000 people lined the streets when Frances Lockett returned to Hyde after being crowned the first Cotton Queen of Great Britain. Such was the town’s pride that she was treated like a member of the Royal Family.

Yet Frances was actually a Derbyshire girl. At the time of her success she lived, quite aptly, on Queen Street, Hyde. But she was born at a house on Gladstone Street, Glossop, and spent her infancy there.

Indeed, because of the way the competition was organised by the Daily Dispatch (a newspaper which folded in 1955 and was ultimately absorbed by the Daily Mail she won her title as Miss Glossop and Hyde.

"The final took place at the Tower Circus, Blackpool, on 28th June, 1930. Frances, wearing an ivory-coloured ball sheen gown designed in the latest Parisian style by Kendal Milne of Manchester, was described as tall, slim and pretty. She certainly made her mark on the judges – the Marquis of Donegal, Lord Inverclyde and JW Tout MP – and there was a huge roar when it was announced that Miss Glossop and Hyde had beaten the other 17 entrants.

Before the crowning ceremony, Frances changed into a gown that was 50 per cent cotton and 50 per cent satin, with red Lancashire roses forming a line from the shoulder."

The train was white-edged with ermine, caught at the neck with golden cords. The lining was golden also.

Mrs GW Gath, the Mayoress of Blackpool, placed the crown on Frances’s head. Made of gold lined with red velvet, it was set with rubies and diamonds. She also received a portable gramophone, and a silver dressing case on behalf of Blackpool Corporation. The people of Hyde were ecstatic and thousands lined the streets for the victory parade, which began at Frances’s place of employment, J and J Ashton’s Mill, off Ashton Road.

Overnight, Frances went from mill girl to celebrity. A cotton queen waltz was written in her honour and her likeness appeared on specially produced Queenella handkerchiefs. However, she was much more than a clothes horse. As articulate as she was elegant, Frances wrote and delivered speeches promoting the value of cotton produced by British workers.Drawing huge crowds wherever she went, Frances spoke at West End theatres, the British Fashion Ball at Covent Garden and British Cotton Textile Exhibition at White City.

A Clip of 1936 Cotton Queen Final can be seen here: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/cotton-queen-aka-blackpool

By Matthew Cox

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Over Exposed on Higher Shelf Stones - Glossop

Over Exposed

Glossop is well known for the vast amount of plane wrecks that litter our surrounding moorland. It attracts many walkers, climbers’ historians and explorers from around the globe.  The subject has lured many photographers and film crews over the years and they have become the centre of legends.

There are over 50 wrecks in our area and every single one of them has their own story to tell. The most famous of them is the Boeing B29 Superfortress, “Over Exposed”, on Higher Shelf Stones.

The Superfortress was not a standard B29 heavy bomber; she was actually an RB-29, the photographic reconnaissance variant of the aircraft. Soon after the end of the war it became imperative for the western powers to monitor the build-up and deployment of Soviet troops. So photo missions were flown from the UK right up until the end of the Cold War. "Over Exposed" was one of three RB-29s which were tasked to assist with the deploying of the "Able" atomic bomb.

Results at Bikini Atoll

On July 1st 1946, B29 Superfortress "Dave's Dream", accompanied by "Over Exposed", took off from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands to take part in Operation Crossroads - the Atomic Bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. The B29 was to drop an atomic bomb which was to explode over Bikini Atoll Lagoon. It was then the job of "Over Exposed” and its 25 cameras to photograph 'Dave's Dream', the bomb being released and then to return a few days later, to record results.  The results were truly devastating although they evacuated everyone from the nearby island they sunk three destroyers and two aircraft carriers of their own. 

The Superfortress “Over Exposed” crashed on the 3^rd November 1948, killing all thirteen crew members. Apart from the crew the aircraft was carrying sacks of mail homeward bound to the USA, and a payroll of £7,000 for the staff at Burtonwood.

Sixty four years on, many of the major structural parts remain such as the undercarriage struts, pulley wheels for internal control cables, and even large sections of the fuselage, have survived the ravishes of the Bleaklow weather. The most instantly recognisable parts of the aeroplane are the four 18 cylinder Wright R-3350-23 engines, which are in a remarkable state of preservation.

One of the Wright R-3350-23 engines

A few years ago a gun turret from the RB-29 was found in near perfect condition. It was believed that it had been preserved near a river and was dislodged by recent flooding. It was brought off the moorland by some of the Glossop Mountain Rescue Team and put on display at the Glossop Heritage Centre for the 60^th Anniversary of the crash. 


 By Matthew Cox

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