Description: The old Police Station is halfway down the road on the right, with Heath's mens hairdressers opposite on the left. The clock tower of the Co-operative Society building can be seen in the distance, on Main Street. On the right is one of the factories of Jones-Stroud. The origins of Jones Stroud go back to the year 1923. In the best English tradition, William and Horace Jones teamed up with A. E. Stroud to start up a textile company in Market Place, Long Eaton. These were difficult times. A London wholesaler mentioned that narrow braided elastic was in short supply and it would be worthwhile to start a business in this field. The inventive genius of Horace Jones designed a braiding machine in his grandfather's garage which, more importantly, could be cheaply built. This was to be made and used by the company in large numbers. It was not long before the first successes were being enjoyed because this was a completely new development in weaving machinery which made it possible to produce elastic and rigid narrow fabrics. More space was needed in order to meet the ever increasing demand for such speciality textiles and in 1927, larger premises were acquired in Long Eaton. The new factory was called Vida Mills - after the family bulldog Vida - and 'Vida' soon became an international trademark synonymous with quality high-grade narrow fabrics. Some 3,000 braiding machines were in service by 1930 and the annual production of elastic braid from these machines was about 52 million metres. A E Stroud died in 1940 and the shares were formally transferred to William and Horace Jones. The company continued to expand and the production of narrow glass tapes and woven glass fabrics for electrical and engineering applications was soon started up in new buildings in Long Eaton. This was to be the foundation stone for the manufacture of electrical insulation materials ; the company's main division today. In 1956/57 Philip Jones and David Jones - sons of William Jones - were appointed to the board of directors and in 1958 the company became public, being quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Jones Stroud purchased the Preston-based company of 'IST - Insulating Sleevings and Tapes' in 1962. IST was, at the time, one of the largest customers for Jones Stroud glass fabrics. These were used in the manufacture of IST mica products. The concentration in the field of manufacturing was already well advanced. The 'Queens Mill' textile factory in Long-ridge, near Preston, which was standing empty was purchased in 1965 in order to create a base for new production facilities with adequate room for further expansion. The braiding machines were moved from Long Eaton to Longridge in 1969. Once the new factory at Longridge was completed in 1972 the entire sleevings production was transferred to this site, though elastics and braiding continued to be manufactured in Long Eaton. Jones Stroud Insulations (JSI) was acquired in September 2000 by August Krempel Soehne GmbH + Co., a German company.