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Tubes Limited

BazzM

BazzM

master brummie
Does anyone remember Tubes Ltd of Rocky Lane? When I left Loxton St school in 1964 my first job was in the Production Control office there. I left after nearly 7 years, then came back 10 months later and worked in the Forging Dept for another near 7 years, before moving to my present home in Scotland. My time living in Nechells and working in Aston where among the best days of my life. The times themselves, the atmosphere, the people, they were the best. There must be someone out there who recalls Tubes. I remember cycling from my then home in Chelmsley, to start work in the Forge at 6am. ( great times ) There were some great characters there in them days. When I worked in the offices I can recall myself and a lad called Fred Raybold, when as soon as dinner time came round, we would jump into his old Morris Minor and shoot off to Aston Park for a kick about, or up to Tubes snooker and games room ( my it was always freezing up there ). Fred and I where always being told off in the office for singing or whistling the hit tunes of the day. Happy days.
 
Hi,

I went to Tubes once in around 1966, it was on a school trip, (why they took us there I still havent worked out) though I think it was some careers related thing on reflection..
In my whole life I have never seen a more depressing place, it was dark, smoky, red hot and men were wearing protective aprons etc,
The other memory of it is the Firm laid on tea and biscuits for our class after the visit, while the Teacher (cant remember his name) thanked the guy in charge for showing us the place, we ate all the biscuits and drank all the tea,
I can clearly remember him crying because there was none left for him...Wuss...
 
Back again - I posted this yesterday, but it got lost when the site crashed; sorry about wrecking the website Rod :wink:

My Pa in Law, Charlie, worked at Tubes in Rocky Lane for ‘donkey’s ears’. :roll: He was a pickler this meant that he used to dip lengths of tube or whatever into acid vats. He was blind in one eye due to acid splashes (over the course of time).

My Ma in Law used to say that he had ‘one eye and a peppermint’ 8) Poor old Charlie was born too early because he would have been due for a nice little pick up these days - what with the Accident Help Lines and such. :roll:
 
Tubes

I went to Tubes, that was part of a school trip too, we were taken by our then Carrers/Maths schoolteacher Mr G. We looked around the factory, the noise in there was unbearably loud, they were using some sort of roller machine, which squeeled, it was ear pearcing. The place was as kandor says very dark, and had a dingy atmosphere. We wern't lucky enough to get a cuppa, it was straight back to school after!! Over the next weeks we visited several places, The Rover Training School, Concentrics, GKN........ what an exciting place that was!! watching screws being made :lol:
The very best, thing about it, was getting out of school for a few hours, and we soon found that if we made a pretence of being interested, we got to stay out longer!!
 
Managed to get a couple of pictures of the Forge at the old Tubes Ltd in Rocky Lane. Taken 9th Dec. 2006, on a flying visit. Place not the same now, only the Forge remains. Allthe rest, Offices, Works etc. replaced. Barry.
 
Which are as you know are taken almost directly opposite the Cafe and Pub, probably the only old remaining parts left of Rocky lane..
 
You,re not wrong there either Kandor. I was amazed when I visited Rocky Lane. The last time I was there was in 1977 when I finished my second spell of work at Tubes Ltd before moving here to Ayrshire. I spent a bit of money in that pub, both for myself and fetching stuff from there for the guys working on the furnaces etc. at work. Just where did all the houses go ? My Grand-parents used to live off Rocky Lane, in Stretton Road, which I found, has also disappeared. Still, time waits for no man, so they say, but it is sad that so much of my history has gone, but thats the good thing about this fabulous site. At least I can still remonice with the likes of yourself. Best wishes, Barry.
 
i was passing today and the door was open,took this picture of the forge but it was that dark and grim it hasnt come out verywell
 
this in the middle looking towards cheston st,had to leg it as someone was coming,i have worked in some rough places but today i thought not on your nelly in here
 
You would not have liked working at the coal face then, when working for C.A PARSONS at Witton it was my unfortunate task to inspect some of our under ground mining equipment, standing at the coal face in the ventilation shaft for 4 hours is not the best place to work.I take my hat of to the miners, its a tough job even today.
Regards ASTON
 
well done mate.i thought people wouldnt get to see them,not very good using camera in the dark(think they might tighten the security up now,
 
HI DOLLYFEET ,
THANKS FOR THOSE CRACKING PHOTO,S ,
I THINK YOU HAVE MADE A COUPLE OF BLOKES HAPPY ,
NAMELY BAZZ , AND MYSELF , WE HAVE BEEN AFTER THOSE FOR ALONG TIME , WE BOTH WORKED THERE AT THE SAME TIME , AND I KNOW BAZZ WENT DOWN NOT SO LONG AGO ,
BUT THE MAIN SHUTTERS WAS DOWN ,
SO YOU CREPT IN THE SIDE EXIT , NICE ONE ,
I WAS WONDERING WHAT TIME OF DAY WAS YOU DOWN THERE ,
IF NO-ONE SEEN YOU IT MUST HAVE BEEN SHIFTS CHANGE OVER
WHEN OPERATIONAL THAT PLACE GETS REALLY SMOKIE ,
I WAS THE OVER HEAD CRANE DRIVER NO .1 , DRIVER ,
THE BEAUTY OF IT ,IS IN THE WINTER GREAT , FOR WARM ,
BUT IN THE SUMMER WE WOULD SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY
IN THE HEN AND CHICKS , IF WORKING THE AFTER NOON SHIFT, OR NIGHT SHIFT
I NOTICE YOUR DAD WAS ON THE ANNEALING SECTION ,
WHAT YEAR WAS THAT , ? .
BECAUSE I WORKED ON THAT SECTION WHEN I FIRST STARTED
BEFORE GETTING MY LICENCE FOR THE OVER HEAD CRANE DRIVING ,
WHEN WE GOT A REDUNCYIES
I WENT TO BOXMAG RAPIDS IN CHESTER ST AND DROVE THERE OVER HEAD CRANES ,
IF MY MATE BAZZ AS SEEN THESE PICS ,
I KNOW HE WILL BE OVER THE MOON ,
AND WE HAVE TO SAY ABIG THANK YOU TO ASTON FOR LIGHTING THEM UP
BRILLIENT WORK TO BOTH OF YOU ,, ASTONIAN ,;;;;
 
i ,will keep stum on the time as hoping to get in there again(dont want em waiting for me in case they give me a job there :2funny:
 
HI DOLLY ,
MANY THANKS FOR ASERTAINING THOSE COULPE OF PICS
FOR THE FORUM , AND ESPECIALY FOR BAZZ AND MYSELF .
I,M SURE YOU WILL SCORE A HIT IF YOU GO BACK AGAIN AT 16 : 13 .
AND GET AFEW MORE PICS ON YOUR FUJIFILM FILM ..
BEST WISHES ASTONIAN ,,,;;;
 
Here you are Astonian, photo of Tubes stand at Bingley Hall trade show (dont know the date but I reckon before the war or just after)
 
thanks cromie my genius of a friend .
i recon that is after the war at old bingley hall
i,m gonna down load that , i wonder if my mate bazz as seen it yet ,
that will make is day as you have made mine ,
as you know we got some pics from dolly feet
yesterday , and i,ve asked them to try and get some more
they was taken inside the forge ,
it certainly brought those moments flooding back to me , i dare say bazz as well
seeing the red hot glow from one of the furnace s , tremondous .
it was always hot and dark in there smokey as well ,
but there was always a good work force there , great teams work with every body
no-one shirked there part , good comradship just like the war years ,
thanks again merlin , whoops i mean cromwell ,
take care your old mate ,, astonian ,;;;;
 
Dollyferret, Aston and Cromwell. What can I say. Thanks a bunch for the terrific photos. The ones inside the forge certainly bring it all back. You are right about the darkness, but as Astonian says, when it was in full swing, the whole place was full of thick black smoke, but you got used to it. Thanks to Aston for brightening up the pics, and thanks to Cromwell for the old exhibition photo. Its great knowing that there are other folk out there who keep their eyes open on my and Astonians behalf. Many, many thanks for making two guys very happy. Best wishes, Barry.
 
wanted to get a shot from up there,but i shouldnt have been there in the first place :2funny:
 
Dollyferret, you are really excelling yourself now. Thats just how I remember the over-head crane. And my mate Astonian obviously hasn,t seen this yet, because I know he will be over the moon seeing that crane again. The pics you have managed to get are fantastic, but I do worry about you getting into bother, going in there un-announced shall we say ? The floor under neath looks a bit of a mess. It was much tidier in our day. But still, its really great to see the sight again after 30 years. I cant keep thanking you enough for all your efforts on our behalf. As you can imagine, its a bit hard for me living in Scotland, never expecting to see these sights again. Best wishes to you and yours, Barry.
 
In l972 when I was back in England for a few months I worked in the office at
Tube Investments Ltd. I remember walking down Rocky Lane but much further long from Aston Cross. From the office window you could see some terrace houses with a back lane and behind that the railway lines(I think). Was that part of the same company as Tubes Ltd?
Here's something funny I read about Tube Investments...Another 'Oldie,' maybe apocryphal, non- politically correct story that I like, concerned Tube Investments, Birmingham. (now called Smith Group plc) It was said that (by way of introduction) their new American colleagues sent over an example of their own expert engineering - a tube so fine that you couldn't see the aperture with the naked eye. The apprentices at TI sent the tube back.

With a tube inside.
 
Ive got a piece of that tube and the one inside it. There is a wire through the smaller tube to prove that it is a tube. It was, at the time the finest drawn tube ever made.
Its mounted on a card with the explanation of what and why. When I can get into the loft I will scan the card .
 
This is now Heartlands Heat Treatments and quite a few blokes from the Tubes days are still there including Ian Tanner the owner I worked there for a week in Sept 2006 never worked in such a dirty place.

Does anybody remember the night shift being caught drinking in the Hen & Chickens? late 70's
 
Gary, I,m a bit surprised to hear that some of the old Tubes guys still work at the now called Heartland Heat Treatments. I wonder how many ( if any ), of my old colleagues are there. I worked there between 1971 - 1977, before moving up to Scotland. Barry.
 
Barry, You may remember my brother and my Father working at TI Tubes around then Eddy & Graham?? Ring any bells
 
Hi guys,
My grandfather and a number of his brothers had jobs as "tube bunchers" during the late 1920's and early 30's. Is there a good chance they could have been working at this tube factory? They lived in St. Marks street, Ladywood.

Just a hunch:)
 
Tubes Ltd.

Hi Merrell68. was the surname of Eddy and Graham Merrell or something else. I worked in the office in the Forge Dept. with the foremen between 1971-1977. Its quite possible I know them, but at the moment its hard to remember. What did they do, etc.? Barry.
 
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