I am often reminded in some way that it is a "small world" in which we live! Your post and the following one were a blast from my past, as my father, Gethin Davies, also worked at Ellisons, (I'm guessing, at about the same time!), but is was an unlikely meeting with George Ellison himself which got him the job! Dad was a teenager, originally from an isolated small village, and later, a slightly larger town, in the Conwy valley in North Wales, but was well known as a brilliant young footballer as he played away matches all over North Wales. During one such match, at about the same time as he was due to leave school, he was noticed by a scout for Stockport County football club, and a subsequent offer was made for him to join the team. His father had much to say, along the lines of the fact that footballing careers often finished early due to injury (no physios in the early 1930s) and the need for a steady job to fall back on....... A solution was eventually found however, since my grandfather had connections within the electrical engineering industry - his grandfather and uncles had been instrumental in the development of hydro electric power in North Wales, and he had served an apprenticeship at "Metro Vicks" in Manchester, before returning home to work in the family business, The North Wales Power and Traction Company. Dad was duly taken on as an apprentice at "Metro Vicks" and was able to board with an uncle in Manchester. A while later, an offer followed to play for Everton, which was where Mr. Ellison, who was a director (chairman?) on the board of Aston Villa Football club, came to watch his team playing an away match. Very quickly came the offer to join the team in Birmingham, but again my grandfather stepped in to say that it was unviable as Dad hadn't finished his apprenticeship....... Back came a response from Mr. Ellison: the apprenticeship could be completed at Ellisons, Dad could play for Aston Villa (and the Ellison Switchgear football team) and suitable accommodation could be found with a Welsh family in Perry Barr. Within a very short time, Dad had packed his bags and headed for Birmingham, where he finished his apprenticeship and threw himself into football and city life, but it wasn't to last long: during a home match, Dad was injured and tore ligaments in his knee, for which there was no effective treatment at the time. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life, but kept his job in the test department, becoming Chargehand, and travelling all over the country to supervise new installations of Ellison equipment. Over this weekend, the horrendous weather reminded me of the week (I think in the early 1960s) he'd set off, by train, for Scotland to check an installation, which should have taken 3 or 4 days, and ended up stranded by the snow in a 4* hotel for 3 weeks, with all expenses paid! Meanwhile, my Mum was fretting at home that Dad wouldn't have sufficient clothes and she wouldn't have any housekeeping money, but Ellison's sorted both problems for her! Likewise, when Dad's friends from North Wales came for a city weekend and wanted to see the Villa play, Ellison's sorted it! Co-incidentally, my Mum, Betty Aston, also worked for Ellison's, as a bookkeeper in the offices, and she hated having to go down to the factory floor, because there was a chap in the test room who "wolf whistled" after her - I dare say that's not allowed these days! When he caught the same bus as her, travelling to Handsworth, every night for months, she eventually discovered he lived in the opposite direction! A couple of years later, she married Gethin from the Test Room!
Another post to follow about how Dad, with help from Ellisons, in the 1970s, renovated the wartime switchgear and wiring in Manod Quarry, Ffestiniog - the place where all the art treasures from the National Gallery were stored to protect them from bomb damage during the Second World War.
to know Ellisons!
