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Newman Tonks - Newtown

Barr_Beacon

The Prodigal Brummie
This is a long shot but does anyone have any photographs of the Newman Tonks works around Bridge Street and Hospital Street from the 70's or 80's? I drove by and stopped there the other day and it brought back some happy memories of the time I worked there in the Repair Shop with Bill Jinks, Norman Carless, Fred Whitehouse, Peter Heron and, as they say, many more!
 
i have no photos ,but a question what did they make there ,i worked there for a short while, but for the life of me cannot remember what we did .harley.
 
1970
William Newman & Sons merged with William Tonks & Sons (established in Leeds in 1789) to become Newman Tonks. Manufacturing specialised brass fittings for the home, Newman Tonks became one of the principal industries in Birmingham in the 19th Century. Len.
 
i must have the wrong place as i thought it was making hinges although i was only in one small part of the place .we made hinges for all sorts of things so i have probably got thre wrong place in newtown, very interesting to read though ,thanks ,
 
Hello all, i worked at Newman- Tonks in Allesly st from 1973-79, befor that i worked at Tonks in Moseley st in the early 60,s for three years.

shardeen
 
Hi Shardeen, I was wondering if you knew my father, Fred Taylor. He worked in the offices at Newman Tonks. I remember when they were in Lower Tower Street, as I worked at Henry Corbetts from 1959 until 1967. My father left Newman Tonks in April 1974. Regards Carol T.
 
harley, The link tells you that you were making hinges, don`t become unhinged!, Ha!, Ha!. Len.
 
Carol:
Which part of Henry Corbetts did you work in?

I was their telephonist/receptionist in 1958-1959, working with Mrs Davies.
 
Hello Rowan, I worked in the accounts dept. on the accounting machine, then after a while I was doing all the accounts. I remember an Ann and an Elsie who worked in the reception/telephone office. I worked with Maurice Allen. Does this help. Regards Carol.
 
Hello, sorry Carol T, i didnt know your father i worked on the assembly, and the only time iwent to Hospital St was to collect a lorry when mine was in for maintainence. I drove for three years and then went back on the assembly

shardeen
 
Hello Shardeen, Thanks for your reply. I think my father started working for Bloore and Piller and they were bought by Newman Tonks. I believe they made brass door furniture. Thanks once again, regards Carol T.
 
I did my apprenticeship with Wiliam Newman and sons Ltd from 1964-1969. They produced achitectural iron mongery and this included hinges, panic bolts and latches,window opening gear, rubber doors, door closers (the Briton door closers can still be seen all over) as well as things like decorative door knobs, coat hangers and other sundry stuff. It was all top of the range quality stuff and was expensive even then. I bought a set of coat hooks for my parents to screw on the wall and they are still in use today. Over 40 years on and the satin chrome plating is still in good order with no signs of wear. I wonder where you would buy such quality these days. Newmans had factories at Hospital St (Head Office) Franchise St.(in Perry Barr),Bridge St. and Bescott Cresent(in Walsall) The chairman was col Newman and the MD was named Shed (his son in law). Philip Newman was also a director so it was still very much a family concern that dated back to 1751. I find it sad that the name has now been replaced by a couple of meaningless letters.
I was taught to file by hand to within a couple of thousands of an inch as well as turn and mill. My charge hand at the time was a guy called Arthur Morton and the skills he taught me have stayed with me all these years.
Although these days most of my work is done on a computer in an office I still use the talent Arthur gave me in my hobby as a model engineer. I still have the test pieces that I made under Arthur's instruction and when completed to his satisfaction he told me to call him Arthur now and not Mr Morton. That meant more to me than passing my HNC. He was a great influence on me and he will be remembered for his firm but fair manner as well as his incredible skill as a toolmaker and his tuition of one (at the time) very silly young man.
 
I went on a trip down memory lane last year.This part of Hospital Street looks much the same as it did in the 60s.
We used the gate as one goal,and a gate some 20 yards away on the other side as the other goal.We took it in turns to stand on the corner to keep a lookout for coppers coming out of Bridge Street police station.Moss.View attachment 62060
pencil.png
 
This is a long shot but does anyone have any photographs of the Newman Tonks works around Bridge Street and Hospital Street from the 70's or 80's? I drove by and stopped there the other day and it brought back some happy memories of the time I worked there in the Repair Shop with Bill Jinks, Norman Carless, Fred Whitehouse, Peter Heron and, as they say, many more!
I also worked there in the 70's and remember Bert Bolland and Howard Merricks, happy days
 
This is a long shot but does anyone have any photographs of the Newman Tonks works around Bridge Street and Hospital Street from the 70's or 80's? I drove by and stopped there the other day and it brought back some happy memories of the time I worked there in the Repair Shop with Bill Jinks, Norman Carless, Fred Whitehouse, Peter Heron and, as they say, many more!
 
Hi did yu know anyone who worked and was caretaker for William Newman's before it was taken over by Tonks . My Grandfather Denis Collett and his family lived on the premises! My mother told me she often went there and took my cousins there to explore the factory, and different areas! Its A kids adventure, their memories passed onto me! Kind regards Suzie Rushton
 
i started work at william newmans and sons started 7th january 1963. i worked with stan haywood (foreman) harry fowkes, ken wingfield , hodson brothers,clarke brothers, and more. i started as machine operater and then became a toolsetter , i set all the machines producing briton door closer parts. 1966 transfered to wallsall apprentice. was at walsall till 1999 was made redundant when ingersoll rand took over i was the works engineer
 
Hi Roger
You certainly stirred some memories for me! Harry Fowkes was my foreman (were they called supervisors in the late seventies?) when I worked in the Repair Shop on Hospital Street behind the canteen / social club. I remember Ken Wingfield (he was in charge the Spray Shop) and the Clarke brothers (they were Charge Hands, weren't they?). Horace Poole was the works manager and there was a Scottish chap called (Charlie?) McClean who was the Works Engineer at the time. My first job at NT was working as a labourer for George Rutter, taking the Briton casts up to the assembly floor I moved to the Repair Shop. The manager there was Barry Smith who shared the office with Richard and Sandra (apologies, I can't remember their surnames). I left the company in 1981 before it transferred to Walsall but I often have fond memories of my time there.
 
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when i started in jan 1963 i worked in the briton shop where all door closers were machined and assembled . stan haywood was the foreman harry fowkes was the charge hand, ken wingfield was a machine tool setter. i worked with ken as a trainee setter till i was moved to walsall in 1963. the clarke brothers(ron,jimmy,albert, there were 4 of them cant remember the other one) worked on the assembly line assembling T model closers the hodson brothers worked in the machine shop (cyril, harry,albert,and ray ) george rutter worked in the office with eric gardener who was the manager in the briton shop, i think eric gardener married some body related to the newman family.Charlie McClean was the maintenance foreman at hospital and when i became works enginner he worked for me. i remember norman carless he worked in the assembly shop, Horace Poole when i started worked on the assembly line assembling B200 door closers and was promoted to works manger of britton shop when the new bulding was built housing door closer assembly. other people who i remember were charlie hailing, len bakewell, harry jepcott , jackie rose, tony maskel plus many more. George cowley was the commisionaire oppersite his office was repair shop for door closers i used to go in there every afternoon to listen to the racing results
 
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