Tom Holden’s account of how his family established and ran Rockcliffe and Havelock Mills in Blackburn provides a unique story of commitment and survival. These weaving mills were two of over 100 in Blackburn at the peak of the cotton industry in 1913. They were two of 28 to survive the brutal decline in the 1930s.  Tom writes a personal memoir  in the context of a British economy where cotton, for a short period, was the engine of the country’s growth but which subsequently suffered dramatically from overseas competition. His son, Richard, edits and embellishes his father’s story with additional family research, illustrations pertinent to the two mills, additional economic data and a select bibliography.