Making a living from straw baskets

KENDAL, Manchester:

KENDAL, MANCHESTER, is a place known for its industries, which include the famous Pickapeppa factory and the Israeli-owned ISRATECH Company. However, there is another factory of its own sorts in Kendal, the Shanty Town Basket Factory.

The Shanty Town Basket Factory is operated by Glenville Bartley. He explained: "I chose to call it that because I have been making a variety of baskets for years, so this is my basket factory, the Shanty Town Basket Factory."

Bartley is originally from Denbigh, Clarendon, but went to live in Kendal at his family home from a very young age. In Shanty Town, Bartley's main activity is making straw baskets, an art which he has made a career of over the last 35 years.

"This is what I survive on, what I use to take care of my family and send my kids to school," he told The Gleaner.