Hi All,
I served my apprenticeship with Harris and Sheldon Shopfitters Ltd, Perry Barr from when I left school in 1964 until they made us all redundant some years later. I could not have wished for a better apprenticeship as not only did I gain work experience in the many shop-floor departments eg. Joiners shop, veneer shop, machine shop, wood store, trim shop but was privileged to gain experience in the cost-office and the estimating department too. I still have my letter somewhere in my loft telling me that I had been offered an apprenticeship and to report to a shop foreman Mr Jack Clements and to bring with me a tea-mug and a clean White apron. My first job after being allocated a bench was to take the sharp corners of a trolley load of Teak edgings for some counters destined for Boots the chemist stores nationwide. It took me many days as collecting the teas for the other bench joiners and sweeping up etc. had to be worked in too. I was so bored after a couple of days and was so pleased when I thought that I had eventually finished my first task. Oh how naive I was, for on telling my foreman that I had finished I was led by my foreman to one of the main gangways where there was truck after truck after truck of the same edgings and oh how my heart dropped. Later i was told that I was just the man for a special job and told to report to the chief designer who was waiting in the loading bay of the factory. When I got there he was standing in front of an Apple tree that had been set up and I was told to start stripping off all of the bark. The following day I had worked logically starting with the trunk and progressed to some smaller branches which again had been a very tedious job. Imagine my despair then when the designer came back and drew chalk marks around the more substantial branches ready to be cut and rendering the tedious work invalid. That tree was painted White and was placed in the entrance of the then China Gardens Restaurant in the city centre. I was told that it was still there some years later when the Citizens Advice Bureau had taken the unit over. As I progressed I remember being led into the estimating department by the senior chief-estimator Bob Webb who wore a handlebar moustache and soared above me to the dizzy heights of 6-2 or more. My first task was to work through all of the drawings and take off a complete list of materials in order for him to submit a tender for fitting out The Corinthia Palace Hotel, San Anton, Malta and not only daunting for me but again tedious too. When this was complete I handed my lists to him and he duly completed and submitted the estimate. It was only a couple of weeks later when he came rushing into the office with a worried look on his face saying that the estimate had been accepted and he hoped that I had not missed anything out. Obviously to give an inexperienced youngster the job it was obvious that he never expected to win the job, lol. My credit rating jumped up a mile after he had checked my list and praised me for a job well done. Lots of memories, and there I learned how a large factory had so many wide and varied characters making up the close knit community and very sad indeed when I saw some of the older men, who had started off as apprentices at Stafford Street before the factory moved to the Perry Barr purpose-built factory, in tears after we had been told we were all to be made redundant. Another flashback before I end was a mental picture of bench joiner Jack Sermon who turned up every morning in a bowler hat and suit before changing into overalls for a days work and then changing again to travel home at the end of the day looking like a bank manager lol. That apprenticeship set me up for life and I have had a very rewarding innings because of it. So sad that the workforce have never bothered to keep in touch although a fellow apprentice and close friend died last year and we had socialised ever since our days at Harris and Sheldons. So many happy memories !
