Part of the prime industry in Runcorn for a century or so, the Highfield Tannery originally belonged to a Mr. Wright, and subsequently to a Mr. Lello. The business was then purchased by a Mr. Walker of Bolton in 1888, and Mr. R. H. Posnett was sent over as Managing Foreman.

Mr. Posnett had served his time at Penketh and at that time the tannery employed 16 men and processed 50 hides per week. Under the new Manager, the business was enhanced considerably and by 1914 the weekly processing figure had been increased to between 4,000 and 5,000 hides per week.

The warehouses and sheds were gutted by fire in 1916, this unfortunate catastrophe occurring just after the Camden Tannery, previously a soap works, had been purchased from Mr. Hazlehurst, a noted benefactor to the Free Churches of the district. In the true spirit of Highfield the business was rebuilt from the ashes and by 1939 the Tannery was capable of processing 7,500 hides per week and Camden Tannery of 5,000 per week.

The industry shared the misfortunes of the depression, and serious slackening of demand in 1921/22, 1929/30 and 1937/38 required skilful expertise in avoiding a crash. However, by 1939 the Highfield and Camden Tanneries were processing a total of 12,500 hides per week.

After the war years the onset of substitute materials in men’s and women’s soles and other developments in plastics and fibres led to a rapid decline in the demand for good-quality leather, and the Tannery was forced into diversification into the motor trade upholstery market with all its industrial strife and fluctuating demands in sympathy with the economic climate, the final blow being struck in the 1960’s when a persistent series of motor trade disputes caused a loss of 20 per cent of the tannery’s production for over three successive months.

The Highfield Recreation section, which had jurisdiction over the Choir (and Band – little of which is known other than it was in existence in 1916), had always been a flourishing concern. A bowling green existed inside the tannery at an early date, later being transferred to a plot adjacent to the football ground.

The only physical remnant of the Highfield Tannery is the former Recreation Club Institute, at the end of Canal Street where it is now cut off by the embankment carrying the Expressway. Most recently the Quayside Bar and Restaurant, it is currently out of use. The site of the Tannery is now occupied by a section of the Expressway, landscaping banks and a mixture of small factories and vacant land in the Astmoor Estate. Part of the site of the Camden Tannery is now occupied by The Brindley Arts Centre; the rest taken up by the adjoining series of car parks, surrounding which some of the walls can still be seen.

Mr. R. H. Posnett died in 1929 after leading a remarkably full life in local affairs and in the tanning industry, having been Chairman of Camden, Latchford, Guest Bros., Union Central, Vale Liverpool and P. & S. Evans (Bristol) tanneries, a Director of Penketh Tannery and Managing Director of Highfield. He served for 34 years in local government, latterly as a County Councillor and a JP.

Mr. C.C. Posnett succeeded his father in many of his roles, not only in the tanning industry but also in public life, not least as President of the Choir, which position he held for over 60 years, taking an active interest in the Choir right up to his death in 1990.

By 1985, there were only three former tannery workers still active members of the choir. Two of them were pictured together in 1937 snatching break at the Camden Tannery. On the left is Walter Hardley who worked at Camden for 30 years before transferring to Highfield for a further three. Joining in 1934, he served as Choir Secretary for many years, and remained a Choir member until his death in 1990. On the right is Len Rowe, who first worked in the tannery at the age of 15 in 1930. He was recruited into the Choir, also in 1934, by his uncle, J W Bazley (one of the original Choir of 1911), and remained an active chorister up to his death in 1998 – one of the longest serving in the Choir’s history.

They recalled that the work was hard but, that there was a great spirit of friendliness amongst the men, and they were happy days.

The last survivor of the three was George Woolley, whose career at the Highfield Tannery between 1933 and its closure in 1968 was interrupted by distinguished service as a Tank Commander in the Royal Armoured Corps in North Africa, where his unit was involved in the prized capture of the first German Tiger tank to be taken intact, and later in Italy.

Although he always had an interest in the Choir, it was only in 1983 that he actually became a member, saying after doing so that he wished he had joined years earlier.

George was the choir’s expert on Highfield’s history and formation, even claiming that he knew the three men on the choir logo personally, and could name them if needed! One sure way to upset George was to describe the three ‘bends’ of leather they carried as anything else.

He was a keen supporter of and advocate for the Choir, and soon became a Librarian and its first Archivist. His lasting legacy to the Choir is his collecting together into a single set of Archives, the Choir’s various minute books, programmes, certificates and press cuttings, which have been the source and basis for research into further details of all the historical information contained in this website.

It is therefore in recognition of this that the collection given to the Choir in his memory following his death in June 2006 is being used to cover the cost of updating, improving and maintaining this website, and we thus wish to record here our thanks to all his family and friends for their generous donations to this cause.

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