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Lucas Great Hampton Street works

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.
 
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 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.
 
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.
 
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:-
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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:-
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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:-
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This allowed you to load the magnetic tape boot using these machines:-
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Which in turn allowed you to finalise the reboot using the 22-sided disc packs:-
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The whole process took the best part of 30 minutes!
 
I worked in the computer section 1962 - 1970, as a Computer Operator, Programmer and Snr Programmer. The first computer was a NCR/Elliott 405, NCR 315 and Univac 418. Many happy memories and fun times.
 
I I worked in the computer section 1962 - 1970, as a Computer Operator, Programmer and Snr Programmer. The first computer was a NCR/Elliott 405, NCR 315 and Univac 418. Many happy memories and fun times.
I worked GHS 1962/68. Top floor typing pool, the guys in the computer room used to wear covers over their shoes.
The girls working the punch card machines were very glamorous, the entrance to the staff canteen was opposite your glass computer room . Do you remember the suggestion box we used to check monthly to see if we had won any money.
 
I worked GHS 1962/68. Top floor typing pool, the guys in the computer room used to wear covers over their shoes.
The girls working the punch card machines were very glamorous, the entrance to the staff canteen was opposite your glass computer room . Do you remember the suggestion box we used to check monthly to see if we had won any money.
In 1962, I was a Computer Operator and operated the NCR/Elliott 405 computer. However, I didn't have to wear covers over my shoes but had to wear a suit. I had a girl friend Elaine Ingram who work in the accounts area and operated and accounting machine. Yes, the punch girls were good lookers however there boss (Ida Ludlow?) was very tough. My boss was Paddy Brazier, very temperamental and OK to work for but depended on his mood. Had another girl friend in your area Jenny Smart, can't remember what work she did. She had sister who also work in the top floor office. Happy days.
 
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