Penny Soames
Penny was a WORK Records volunteer researching the Robinson and Sons archive at Derbyshire Record Office. Recently retired, Penny worked at Ashgate Hospice as a Visual Display Manager for 12 years. With an interest in social history and textile art, Penny has a link to Robinson and Sons through her maternal grandmother, Vera Ida Hunt, who worked for the company in the 1960s. Penny lives in Chesterfield.
As a child in the 1960s I had no recollection of my Nana, Vera Ida Hunt, working with Robinsons but coincidentally, only a few weeks before I became involved WORK Records, my Mum and I had been looking through old family photographs and came across a collection of pictures of my Nana at various Robinsons’ events: Christmas parties, retirement gatherings etc.
This sparked a conversation about my Nana’s life outside the home and I realised that, as a child, I hadn’t recognised that my grandparents had a life that didn’t involve myself and my siblings; they were always ‘just there’, a consistent, loving presence whenever I popped to their house after school or visited them for days out. I was keen to find out more and WORK Records seemed the perfect place to start.
On my first visit to Derbyshire Record Office, where much of the Robinsons and Sons collection is held, I met archivist Karen and Martyn, one of my fellow volunteers, for the first time. Karen introduced us to some of the research methods used in the archives, before calling up some records and taking us on a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour. What an insight this was into how archives work, how they store historical documents and what a huge volume of material they contain. I found the map room and archive storage systems particularly interesting.
With a few angles to explore from project artist Kate, I was let loose to start digging through the vast Robinson and Sons’ collection. For the first few visits, I was unsure of how and where to begin, but with reassurance from the friendly archive staff, I soon realised this was all quite normal when starting out on new research. Sometimes I would pull up items feeling I had something of interest, only to discover a dry document minuting a long-ago meeting with no context as to what it was about or the names of those attending. As I became more familiar with the collection, however, I soon began unearthing more interesting things.
The first item I found of real interest was a document from the 1960s, logging suggestions from Robinsons’ employees for efficiency improvements to systems and products. Workers were encouraged to submit their ideas, which were considered by management and either accepted or rejected, with a monetary award granted for ideas put into action. The rewards were substantial for those days - ranging from £1 up to £5 or £10 if the idea saved the company money - and it was fascinating to see how the company involved its staff to innovate. I was hooked.
Moving on to research the company’s staff magazine, ‘The Link’, I was fascinated to uncover all sorts of stories from my Nana’s time with Robinsons including a souvenir copy, from 1963, of the Royal Visit of HRH Princess Margaret - would I spot my Nana in these pages? Sadly not, but it was a great read with some fabulous photos; it must have been an important moment for the workforce at the time.
The WORK Records project has been full of stories, and it has been great to discover these not only through the archives, but also through meeting former workers themselves. In November 2025, we all set off to Robinsons’ HQ in Chesterfield for a round table discussion with retired and current employees - what a great afternoon to chat and hear everyone share stories of their working lives.
It’s been fascinating to learn more about Robinson and Sons where my Nana worked for some years, and great to connect and share experiences with other members of the project team who’ve been researching the company archives of Stewarts & Lloyds in Corby and John Smedley near Matlock.
Penny's research for WORK Records prompted her to explore the former Robinson's sites in Chesterfield, and in turn, this has inspired her own textile art works. Read more and see some of Penny's artwork here.
