• 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

School visits to factories

P

Peter Walker

gone but not forgotten
Although it's a long time ago (nearly sixty years now), I do remember the optional visits every other Wednesday to a factory or other big employer in Brum. I was very keen, because it was in place of rugby football or cricket, neither of which appealed to me very much. I well remember the ICI rolling mills at Witton, I forget the name of the similar firm in Thimble Mill Lane. We also visited Avery's at Soho.
They always had someone from their personnel office to chat us up, invite questions and what these days are called 'expressions of interest'. It was obviously cheaper for the firms than advertising, and a talent scout could spot a winner for the price of a cup of tea and a cake or two.
Looking back, I think the great thing was not only that we saw (perhaps not exactly) what working life was like in those factories, but we also got some feel for manufacturing industry - its nature and its importance. So sad we have lost so much of it today.
Peter
 
Yes Peter it’s a flat world and without restraint industry moves to the lowest denominator. Multinational companies see to that. There are pros and cons though and seeing the high pollution level in China brings to mind one of the features of industry that is not missed. The migration of industry is happening in all of the developed countries though, certainly in Canada and the US just as much as in the UK. Except for some pockets like Ireland maybe. The auto industry in north America is in serious decline much in the same vein as the ill fated British Leyland. Asian suppliers make volume GM vehicles now and most of the GM profits come from finance sources. What keeps Canada afloat is it’s abundance of energy and other resources; fish not being one of the latter any more.
I believe that industry in Birmingham was in decline before any of us was born. I think that the population level of Brum has diminished since 1950. Many who post here including yourself don’t live in the city anymore. Which makes sense if retired not having to go to a job every day. Service industries have taken over from manufacturing now. Whether or not this feature will sustain us in the long run is open to question. The trouble is, IMO, that accompanying the flight of industry will be the research and development, that was sustained by it and which I think will be a greater loss.
I am sure that there are think tanks around who study minutiae in great detail and advise governments on courses of action to take vis. the above. I hope they get it right.
 
Peter Walker said:
I do remember the optional visits every other Wednesday to a factory or other big employer in Brum.
Click to expand...


That's interersting, Peter. I never realised such policies existed within Birmingham schools. What an enlightened sort of cooperation between the school and manufacturing industry in which a proportion of the pupils would have ended up.

You say "every other Wednesday afternoon". Presumably this would have been in one school year only. Even so, it must have added up to a fair number of outings. And for what ages of pupil - 15 or 16? Did many schools do this, do you think? Or was yours particularly forward thinking? I assume boys only doing the visits - or was it?

(The only way for me to get out of the dreaded rugby was cross-country running, and that wasn't much of an improvement. Factory visits sound much more interesting. It's a pity the Pensions Service doesn't organise something similar now - trouble is, it would have to be charter flights instead of a chara!)

Chris
 
We visited Hercules, and the factory on Kingsbury Road I think they were something to do with Jaguar, remember the Press shop because of the size of the presses:)
 
Alf, was the factory on the Kingsbury Rd Fisher and Ludlow.Later to be Pressed Steel Fisher. ????
 
Printing Works.

My visit was to Dalton Street printing works ( cannot remember the name of the Birmingham newspaper that was printed there.) I was amazed at the hugh rolls of paper they used, and the way they made up the lead letters for the printing blocks.
 
GER22VAN said:
My visit was to Dalton Street printing works ( cannot remember the name of the Birmingham newspaper that was printed there.) I was amazed at the hugh rolls of paper they used, and the way they made up the lead letters for the printing blocks.
Click to expand...

I know that the Birminham Post is Printed there looking it up, but we went to the Birmingham Mail when I was at school Barry Jackson the reporter came from our school Hastings Road Perry Common.
 
I remember going on a few factory visits when I was at school, but I don't think it was for the personnel departments to scout for potential recruits as we were too young.

I remember going to The Evening Despatch offices, would that have been the one in Dalton Street?

We also went to Cadburys, and to a glass making factory somewhere near Park Road, Hockley, can't remember the name of the firm, but I found it fascinating, one operation which stands out in my mind was the frosting the men were putting on glass lamp shades.

When I worked at Atkinsons Brewery we used to get parties round on a regular basis, they were all adults and came from various Working Mens Clubs, or their local pubs got a coach party up, I think they were more interested in sampling the beer than seeing how it was made!!!
 
I visited Cadburys and they gave each one of us a very nice painted metal box full of chocolate. I've still got the box but the chocolate's long gone.
I also went to Fort Dunlop when Britain used to make its own tyres.
 
I went to the Round Oak steel works, down the pit at Kingsbury Colliery, The BSA bicycle works and the power station at Hams Hall from Peckham Road secondary modern. E.
 
I remember visiting telephone exchange and wondered how they worked those plug in things. They crossed over one another and the telephonists were so quick. Made my mind up there and then that was not the job for me. Another visit was to Walls ice cream on Aston Cross. I enjoyed that one. My neighbour Mrs Wragg showed us round. Then again it wasn't for me. Bye for now. Jean.
 
I remember working away merrily in Machine Tool Dept Dunlop, I looked up and a load kids where watching me, Frightening !!
 
hi in 1949/50s school visits to factory were the norm at Aldridge rd school in the 4th yr prior to leaving school we went to Cadburys nicked stacks of sweets from the conveyor belt prior to the chocolate process moved on to the chocolate biscuit process and of cause there was quite a few missing just before the packing process everyone claimed it wasnt them (hiding chocolate fingers0 and wiping chocolate from the corners of their mouths
on a visit o the bus depot at tyburn rd(i think)the teachers were late arriving one of them was a Mr Cox of 4P ( i had never been in his class )who knew my name off by heart for some reason or other anyway being left on our own for nearly 30mins some clot noticed a bell mounted in the railings most of the class proceeded to puss the bell most were in agreement it didnt work me being a knockup ginger expert called for quiet i then kept my finger on the bell for quite a long time someone further down the pavement said they could hear a bell ringing then everybody wanted to have a go when the teachers arrived and went to the office he came flying back lined us up and red us the riot act about falsely ringing a FIRE BELL he threatened to cancel the visit unless the culprits owned up after about 5mins (it seemed much longer)you could almost see the steam coming from his ears,i didnt fancy the visit anyway not with him anyway and i knew others would join me i stepped forward and in an outstanding show of solidarity and comradeship NOBODY else did so xmas had come early for mrCox he sent me back to school to report to Mr Locker the headmaster (having played for the school at every year won me a few bonus points) having lectured me about the importance of these visits to give us insight to factory life he then went onto talk about a game he played as a youngster he called it chasing ginger ,i told him we called it knock up ginger he liked our name better i was told to behave better in future visits and shook my hand fo not naming names yes i remember Cadburys i am a recovering chocaholick
 
We went to the Swallow Raincoat Factory.I remember the cutting room huge layers of fabrics, it looked like a giant jig-saw puzzle.Malta.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
elizabeth1 said:
My Grandad used to work at Fisher and Ludlow - does anybody know what they did by any chance?
Click to expand...
My Dad worked at Fisher & Ludlows factory in WW2 and they built Spitfires which were taken across the road to Castle Bromwich airfield for testing. I remember watching them. They also built a few aircraft called Defiants which had a gun turret which he used to tell me would not always work properly. Probably an 'official secret' at the time !
Cheers
oldmohawk
 
Thank you for that - how interesting that is.

I was only talking to my mum a few days ago and asking about my Grandad and she mentioned he'd worked at Fisher & Ludlows for as long as she could remember - but she wasn't sure what they did - mum thought engine parts or something engineering ish. So she wasn't terribly wrong it was plane engines.
I will try google the internet to see if there is any information about this company.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Much earlier in this thread I mentioned I was in a group visit to Cadburys in the early '50s and they gave each of us a metal box full of chocolates. Today I came across that box in my garage. It contained some drafting instruments. The box is a bit battered now but I cannot remember whether the factory was in a garden as stated and shown on the tin.
Cadbury_Tin.jpg
 
I remember in the mid 70s. I was working away merrily at my bench in the Machine Tool Department Fort Dunlop, I looked up and staring back me was was about 2 dozen snotty nose kids, what a scare that was.
 
I came here looking for references to Hamstead Coal mine (Anyone direct me?) and spotted oldMohawk's Cadbury's tin. Snap! I keep drawing instruments in mine too. Must have visited Bournville in '51 or'52 from Beeches Sec. Mod. 'cos it held my springbows and dividers for the Tec'. Original contents: chocolate fingers, a real luxury then. The factory seems to look much the same as the picture on the tin to-day.
 
diamond said:
I came here looking for references to Hamstead Coal mine (Anyone direct me?) .
Click to expand...
Hi, Diamond - If you hit the search button and type Hamstead in it and hit 'posts', you will see some references to the coal mine, also Perry Hall park which you probably visited. There are also interesting early photos of the Gt Barr area on the Digital Handsworth site although they are not easy to find.
oldmohawk
icon7.gif
 
Can't remember the factories our school took us to {Dulwich Road Sec Mod] but remember we visited a place that made Ladies Powder Compacts [Straton, I think] and we were allowed to place a transfer [maybe] on the face of it. Miriam.
 
elizabeth1 said:
My Grandad used to work at Fisher and Ludlow - does anybody know what they did by any chance?
Click to expand...

I know that war time they produced/assembled Spitfires which were pushed across Chester Rd ont the Castle Bromwich Aerodrome (Cast Vale) for their test flights. As their later name suggests they were involved in 'pressing steel' i.e. pressed car/truck bodies, which is why it became a Jaguar Body Plant..
 
They also produced vehicles for BMC (A35 Vans and A40 saloons) up to (I think) the point at which the engine and running gear was fitted. They also built the Austin Metropolitan cars for BMC. Another part produced Bendix washing machines under license(?) and they made stainless seel sinks.

I used to visit the Chief Quality Inspector there a super guy Ralph Inglis - a short guy with a booming voice.

Eventually became part of Pressed Steel Fisher.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top