Life continued in Sheffield and Ashford for all of them. Riversdale Hotel was doing modestly well as the word spread that it offered a comfortable stay and good food in beautiful surroundings. In the city, business was difficult and unemployment figures were still rising. ‘Let’s hope the building of the new City Hall will create some employment. They’re hoping to start work on it at long last and it’s going to be built of Darley Dale stone.’ Trip smiled at his wife. ‘You’ll be able to look at it and be reminded of home.’ Darley Dale was only a few miles from Ashford. ‘We all need something to give us a boost and inspire some confidence. How are things with you, Emily?’
‘We’re holding our own at the moment, though I still haven’t felt able to open up the first floor workshop in Broad Lane. What about you?’
His expression sobered. ‘I haven’t laid anyone off yet, but I feel it’s coming close. I’ll hate doing it, but I might have no choice. The orders just aren’t coming in any more.’
‘Don’t worry, Trip. I’m sure things will pick up soon.’
Sadly, Emily’s optimism was unfounded.
‘Have you heard the news?’ Trip called out the moment he arrived home one evening in late October the following year. ‘There’s been a crash on Wall Street in the States.’
Emily blinked. ‘I don’t understand what you mean. What sort of a crash?’
‘The New York Stock Exchange. Billions have been lost and Wall Street is in a panic. People are facing ruin. There have already been suicides because of it.’
Emily stared at him, wide-eyed. ‘How dreadful! Will it affect the ordinary man in the street?’
‘Of course. Firms will collapse and thousands of jobs will be lost. We have close ties with the US. It’ll be a downward spiral. Orders will decline, so businesses will struggle to survive. Then they’ll lay off employees and so orders will decline even more. Unemployment will rocket and folks will be plunged into poverty.’ He threw the newspaper onto the table in disgust. ‘What on earth is going to happen now, I just don’t know. We’ve struggled through the twenties and now it looks as if things are just going to get worse.’
‘You mean it’ll affect us?’
‘There could be a global slump.’
They stared at each other solemnly, feeling the responsibility for their employees weighing heavily upon their shoulders.
‘So much of our own business rests on exports now,’ Trip said.
‘And just as I thought things were starting to get better,’ Emily murmured. Their businesses, if not exactly growing over the last two years, had held their own, but this latest news could threaten everything they held dear.
That evening, after a dinner that they hardly touched, Emily and Trip sat together and read the day’s newspapers. As it began to grow dark, a soft knock came at their front door and Trip opened it to find both his mother and George standing there.
‘I know we’re too late for Lewis’s bedtime, but we just wanted to know if you’ve read the news.’
Trip opened the door wider. ‘Come in. Yes, we were just reading the papers.’
He ushered them into the front room and poured a drink for each of them.
‘I presume it might affect Trippets’, but what about you, Emily?’ George said. ‘Perhaps the smaller businesses, such as your buffing workshops, can survive.’
‘I really don’t know yet. The only thing that seems to be happening so far is that we’re getting more work, not less.’
‘I think,’ Trip said, as he handed round the drinks, ‘as firms find it harder and harder to keep men in full employment, they’ll lay them off and then, if work does come in, they’ll farm it out to little mesters or buffing businesses like Emily’s. Do you think it will affect the hotel?’
‘Most of our clientele are in the wealthier class, but of course, if they lose a lot of money on the stock exchange, we might start to suffer.’
‘How is Josh doing?’ Emily asked.
Constance smiled. ‘Wonderfully. He’s taken to it as if he was born to the trade. And your mother and Grace work very well under Mrs Froggatt’s direction.’
‘Mam doesn’t try to interfere with Josh, does she?’
Constance shook her head. ‘Not at all and, I have to admit, Emily, I am quite surprised.’
Emily laughed. ‘So am I! What about Amy?’
‘She helps out when she can, but, of course, she’s busy with the little ones and there’s your father and her own to care for too, but what she does in the home releases both Josh and Martha to work at Riversdale.’
‘And does Mr Clark work for you too, Mother?’ Trip asked.
‘Only part-time. His smithing business is picking up a little, I think.’ Her eyes twinkled as she added, ‘Some of the farmers tried to save money by doing their own repairs, but found it wasn’t as easy as they had thought, so they’re drifting back to patronize the village blacksmith again.’
‘So, all’s well in the countryside, is it?’
‘For the moment, but we’re not complacent. This latest disturbing news will eventually affect everyone.’