• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Lucas Great Hampton Street works

K

Kandor

Guest
Earning my gold watch at Lucas's

Um...now this is going to make me look real bad (especially if you read my Ansells posting)
I remember starting at Lucas's (in Gt Hampton Row was it?)
It was the night shift and they paid 40 pounds a week then, big money in 1931! (ok, it was 1973 but what the hell)..I remember starting at I think 9 pm..I watched the sun go down, the lights in the flats come on and as the night went on, slowly all go out (I think some bugger was up 'til about 4am, bone idle pervert!) I was doing Armature rewinds, each one took
1 minute 58 seconds..then as the buggers left the machine they fell into a basket and woke me up..It was like watching paint dry..I lasted one night, but guess what?
they paid me twice...only what I deserved of course.
Les Robinson.
PS...I never got that gold watch.
 
My Dad (Ken Woodhouse) was chief method's engineer at Great Hampton Street. I've got his 25 year clock. Did anyone of you guys or gal's know him?


Dave
 
Hi everyone, I'm new to this site but it all looks very interesting.
My aunt worked at Lucas, Gt Hampton St and I have her long service award and photos of Lucas. Is there any archive that might like this sort of thing>
jilly
 
Hello Jilly there is a thread on J .Lucas on the forum i,m sure they have there own site as well. Dek
 
Jilly, Post them on "Lucas Memories" type in search, webmistress Jackie Hill will pleased to have them. Len.
 
I served my 5 year apprenticeship at Great Hampton Street from 1961 to 1966 and then went to South Africa in 1969 to their Girling division in Johannesburg for two years. Finished up in Rhodesia in 1971 before returning to the UK in 1986.
 
I started working in the jewellery trade. To get to work I would walk in to Hall St. from Gt. Hampton St. with Lucus's factory on the right hand corner. Some mornings I noticed that on the flat roof of the factory the apprentices would be out, dressed in just P T shorts and vests doing exercises. Where can you find this attitude to workers welfare now. That was in the 1960's.
 
I was a Lucas apprentice from 1980-84 and I can tell you it hadn't changed much even then (the training school had moved to College Rd by then). Every morning down into the large loading bay to do "5BX" Canadian Air Force exercises. Then Wednesday afternoons up to Newtown sports centre under the watchful eye of Ted Brewer. Any mucking around or arguing with each other and he would stick a pair of boxing gloves on you and make you settle it that way. We'd play crazy games like a variation of volleyball with a medicine ball (I kid you not). I think he was an ex D-Day para so took no s*** from anyone!
Sometimes in summer we would have to go over to the Alexander stadium to do track and field.
Back at the training school there was a big sports kit box that still had fencing stuff in it but that was from years before - there was no-one to teach us which was probably just as well. There were pictures on the wall of Lucas apprentices on the roof of GHS doing 5BX in the snow - I think in the 50s. They bred 'em tough in those days!
 
davidkw said:
My Dad (Ken Woodhouse) was chief method's engineer at Great Hampton Street. I've got his 25 year clock. Did anyone of you guys or gal's know him?


Dave
Click to expand...
Hi Dave I worked with a Ken Woodhouse in Great Hampton Street for about 4 years. very nice man.
 
MikShe5283 said:
I served my 5 year apprenticeship at Great Hampton Street from 1961 to 1966 and then went to South Africa in 1969 to their Girling division in Johannesburg for two years. Finished up in Rhodesia in 1971 before returning to the UK in 1986.
Click to expand...
I too was an apprentice at he same time at the Engineering School in GHS during that time! Stayed an employee until 2001 in various positions and locations from GKS Central Toolroom to Sales and Marketing. GKS to Cranmore Boulevard to Advanced Engineering Centre Shirley to Holford Drive to Ystradgynlais when we took over Smiths Instrumentation, taken over by TRW back in 1995. Various roles mainly in Sales and Marketing.
 
No sorry I didn’t know your Dad. I was in the Engineering School which was quite separate to the factory. I do know and have contact with people that worked in the factory. Roy Tabony was in the Technical Engineering Department and my friend Fred Gething went into the main factory in Engineering after his Apprenticeship.
 
davidkw said:
My Dad (Ken Woodhouse) was chief method's engineer at Great Hampton Street. I've got his 25 year clock. Did anyone of you guys or gal's know him?


Dave
Click to expand...
Hi Dave, I worked in Production Engineers in Great Hampton Street. It had Methods engineers and more. I was the typist and Mr Woodhouse sat next to me . He told me a tale and I have never forgot it. He was a very nice man. That was in 1971-1976 when I left to have a baby. Mr Quinsey was there then.
 
lindym said:
Hi Dave, I worked in Production Engineers in Great Hampton Street. It had Methods engineers and more. I was the typist and Mr Woodhouse sat next to me . He told me a tale and I have never forgot it. He was a very nice man. That was in 1971-1976 when I left to have a baby. Mr Quinsey was there then.
Click to expand...
 
In the early 1980's, a large part of the top floor of Lucas Gt Hampton Street works was taken up with a large mainframe computer installation. The computer was a Univac 4183 - a ancient museum piece even then:-
1634547081283.png
1634546835678.png
1634546869244.png
1634546995906.png
This is what computers used to look like "back in the day". You will notice the absence of any electronic monitor screens anywhere - instead you used good old fashioned teletype consoles - like these:-
1634547127150.png
1634547167811.png
 
You could crash this computer simply by kicking the leg of the teletype console table. A reboot was then required - first you loaded a paper tape boot - this allowed you to load the card deck boot pack using this machine:-
1634547278323.png

This allowed you to load the magnetic tape boot using these machines:-
1634547343129.png
1634547373365.png

Which in turn allowed you to finalise the reboot using the 22-sided disc packs:-
1634547418712.png
The whole process took the best part of 30 minutes!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top