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Tubes: Night Time Noises

F

flowershopgirl

Guest
I lived on the Lichfield Road and at night, in some weather conditions, you could hear the most weird ghostly squealing noises. I always used to get frightened because it reall was an uneartly wailing and mom used to tell me it was the metal factory by Aston Cross. The hot metal was going through the rollers and making the screaming noise. Does anyone else remember this?

What with the smell from HP sauce and the buses vibrating the whole house it was certainly a feast for the senses living in Aston! :roll:
 
When attending my last year at school, we went to the Tubes factory in Rocky Lane, it was from here that you probably heard the squealing sounds. It was a very loud squealing sound that went right through you? I'm not an engineer by any stretch of the imagination, we saw machines making very long tubes drawing the metal to and fro through some sort of roller jaws? this might give you a rough idea of where the sound came from.
 
I think this has given me the idea for a fiction story competition I'm considering entering - Middle England: Stories of the Midlands. I think I can embroider that haunted :shock: factory theme. :wink:

Thanks flowershopgirl. :D
 
I was afraid to go down Rocky Lane after dark even though I knew where the noise came from. A feast for the senses was right - especially if you happened to be close to Ansells when they opened their steam vents about 10:00 p.m. most nights.
 
:D When I left school age 15 at the end of 62 it was a very cold and snowy winter that followed in 63 :( , so it was some time before I was able to trudge the streets of Brum looking for work.
My teachers in their wisdom had never recommended me to any employer because of my size and eyesight problem :? .
However the labour department in their wisdom :eek: not taking any of that into account sent me along with my mother :oops: to, you guessed it ‘Tubes in Rocky Lane’ for a job involving helping in one of the machine shops there.
The Gaffer took one look at me and after enquiring about my sight in his wisdom said
‘No way José ’ :roll:
 
Pomgolian said:
...The Gaffer took one look at me and after enquiring about my sight in his wisdom said
‘No way José ’ :roll:
Click to expand...

But why did he call you José when your name's Pomgolian? :shock: Wasn't his hearing up to much? Must've been all that noise. :lol:
 
:D Don't worry Paul I have been called a lot worse in my time :) and some names not very lady like, so José was quite mild considering what he really meant :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
:idea: However, it does raise the question, are you really small or is it merely you perception due to poor eye-sight? :?:
 
SEE Pom!! we HAVE got something in common.......... we both left school at 15 in 1962. It must be the refraction of the light that makes me look younger :)
 
Tubes

I certainly do remember that noise. I think it was caused by a proccess called cold extrusion or something. I can remember walking past there in the daytime and hearing it tooo. It must have been a lousy place to work.
 
:D Fran-my-man do you mean apart from both being BRUMMIES and moving to the other end of the earth :?: I think I look a lot younger than you 8) , or is it that YOU look a lot older than ME and it has nothing to do with the LIGHT :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Brummagen Noises

there was an old 78 by a guy called Reginald Gardener where he described railway noises .. diddle dum diddle dar , etc

One of his stories was about the arrival to Snow Hill station describing it as a " ting ting " noise , stating that it was a peice of metal that peopel were emplyed to bend each time a train went past.

I have been know do recitals of this once in a while ...


I now live next to the railway works In Wolverton bucks and occasionaly in the middle of the night we get a "Be bop" and once in a while it sounds like they have dropped a train onto the floor.

Otherwise noises are quite aprt form the cows and sheep ..

ho hum .
 
I read with interest the various recollections of the weird noises that used to come from the Tubes Ltd factory. I remember travelling on the No. 66 bus along Lichfield Road and often wondering what was causing these unearthly noises. A few years later, I found myself working at the Tubes site in Rocky Lane and, at last, I was able to discover the source of these noises. They came from the tube honing shop which was at the front of the site, facing on to the Lichfield Road. This was where steel tubes were polished (honed) to a mirror finish for subsequent use in hydraulic cylinders and rams. Ear protectors were required in the honing shop but, if the weather was particularly bad, I'd take a short cut through the honing shop on my way to the car park - but I always had my hands over my ears!
So, these strange noises which baffled many people were the result of a mechanical process and not souls in torment!
 
Welcome Rus good here ain't it. all I can add are you certain? you didn't work ther 24Hrs or did you:Aah:
 
Hi tubesRus. So another worker from Tubes Ltd. has found their way to our site. Glad to have you aboard. At present there are 2 of us members that used to work there too. One to look out for is Astonian, and then theres me. I will try to send you a PM about the two of us, and maybe you could throw in some more information to start the ball rolling agin. Nice to see you here anyway. Enjoy. Regaeds, Barry.
 
Good to know of other Tubes workers.

Yes, Alf - I'm absolutely sure that these noises came from the honing shop - I went in there enough times! I'm pretty sure that there was a night shift in the honing shop.:)
 
tubes at night

hi there tubesrus
how are you keeping just read you are one of us
and i see my friend bazzm as replyed to you telling you that we both worked there as well in time gone bye , yes we done our service there
we gave our blood sweat and blisters to turn out those tubes
tubesrus , i was just wondering what section was you on ,
can you recall any names ,do you recall the old chap whom used to be the errrand boy fetching our sandwiches , i think his name was ron ,or bill
he was a very little chap wore glasses used take our orders for our grub
we worked the shifts and he was on day work
it was okay in the winter months ,but the summer months was murder
i was no i crane driver in the forge but before that i worked as a slinger on the furnances amongest the fires and do you recall any of the open days
we used to have ,we had to put on our best suits when afew of us was selected to be guides to give the public a tour of the company
any way bazzm , and myself have got some old pics of the old place
should you want any ,that we can down load you
and i think bazzm as got more than me
well tubesrus just want to say welcome aboard the forum ,
there is some great people on this site full of knowledge and you won,t regret it best site around there aint one that could touch it believe me
look foreward to hearing from you best wishes astonian ;;;
 
Hi Astonian & BazzM,
thanks for welcoming me to the site. I've not had time yet to explore the site in any depth but I'm sure it contains many nuggets of information. Astonian, you asked me what section I worked on - well, I started at the Rocky Lane site in 1971 but not for Tubes as such. I worked in TI's Technical Information Department which was situated on the 2nd floor of the Rocky Lane offices (one floor below the canteen). I went on at least two tours of the works and was gobsmacked at how large the site was. I was always fascinated by the various tubemaking processes and had a respect for the men who worked in such demanding conditions. I had the fortune to visit several of the other tube companies (Accles & Pollack, TI Stainless, Desford, Reynolds) and see all the different types of tubemaking processes. I vividly remember watching a couple of guys standing legs astride and manhandling red hot billets. I have various memories of my time at Rocky Lane and the one I always recall is the tractors which used to pull trailers loaded with tubes - these trailers were loaded with tubes of varying sizes and were usually scattered around the Catherine Street car park. The department relocated to the Airport site at Aldridge in the late 1970's and I eventually left TI in 1979. Whenever I drive down Rocky Lane these days, I find it hard to believe that all the buildings, people and history that was Tubes Ltd have disappeared.:redface:
 
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