worked at Bill Switchgear from 1960 to 1968 they moved to wellhead lane soon after I had left and were taken over by delta . They used a lot of asbestos not good stuff .They became part of Delta i believe.My dad worked for them in the 70s and 80s when they changed from Bill Switchgear.
The one on the right looks like a milking machineThere is an interesting (free) exhibition in the main hall at the Tate Britain at the moment, it is made up of old industrial machines that have been bought at auctions by the installation artist. Many of them are from Midlands factories, including the textile industry in Leicester and Nottingham.
I really love it and I know my father would have done
One of the machines was from H W Ward and co, Birmingham and on it was a fuse box with the Bill Switchgear logo, I recognised it immediately.
I did photograph it but unfortunately I can't resize them enough to fit onto the forum using my phone (I don't have a PC).
This is a photo from the Tate website, the machine is the one on the right.
View attachment 135124
I worked there for 8 years Ronnie Bill was the owner at the time . Good memories 1960 1968.Yes they were in Aston Lane, Perry Barr. The factory had a quite distinctive logo on the side and you see on all the fuse boxes they made. My dad worked for them for a short time I assumes just before he was called up in the war.
He said that at the gate there was this old man who would sit sharpening a circular saw blade with a file. As they walked past, they would wave to him. He would wave back to show most of his fingers were missing, apparently cut off in the saw.
Apparently, Bill Switchgear would buy up old railway sleepers, all covered in tar, oil and grit. This old guy would cut them up in his circular saw, as the wood inside would quite good wood, so was used to make the wood patress on the switch box. The tar, oil and grit would wreak havoc with the saw blade, hence him sharpening it every morning.
Just hope the old guy did not run out of fingers.
Mu dad said they were paid piecework, 1d per fuse box assembled. He said once you had done so many, the foreman would start sending them back with as faulty, this click of the switch not sounding quite right etc. He thought they just did not like the idea of paying out too much money.
I think that they are still trading as Bill Switchgear, but are owned by an American company, with their office down south now near London.
The one on the right looks like a milking machine
Sorry I put milking machine Milling machineI don't think it was!!
H Ward and Co were toolmakers
H. W. Ward and Co - Graces Guide
www.gracesguide.co.uk