William Newman & Sons Ltd., Hospital St., B’ham

[roger chandler]

Hi derek ,
Thanks for your reply regarding wm Newman’s, you would have been there at the same time as myself .
I can,t think what the personnel managers name was ,but I recall he had an interest in clocks. Thinking of names you would recall to name but a few .
polishing shop foreman Len Humphries, plating shop foreman Mason, alias Maggot ,can’t remember his first name. I would have met all of them in my time there through my various duties, having been chased by a few of them for being cheeky.
Do you remember the old chap who operated the lift, I think he was past retirement when I started there.
Did you ever taste the sausage cobs from the ground floor canteen .i would be in and out of there most of the day.
I used to live in Prestbury road off witton road in Aston.
We now live in Derbyshire and have done for the last 20 years.
happy days.
Dave ex briton worker

Personell manager was bushell

 

[Stroller]

Hello Paul, been a little while since I made a contribution to the forum and was pleased to receive your comments. I definitely remember the name of your father particularly because I spent a lot of my time in the Briton assembly shop chasing up customer orders with the manager Eric Garner and also with the Clark brothers and others when I was sorting out who was available for the companies football fixtures. Its been 44 years since I left the company and memories do fade but some people do leave lasting impressions. Your mother Betty was one of those people because I was also a frequent visitor to the lacquering shop when I had t arrange urgent deliveries for customers and she would always drop what she was doing to help me out. I seem to recall their was a youngish girl who worked with her and mother was often trying to get us fixed up together, something we could have a laugh about. I actually met my wife Violet at the company she lived in Gt Russel Street which was not that far away from the factory. Sadly she passed away at the end of July this year just a couple of months short of what would have been our 60th wedding anniversary. You mentioned Jimmy Clarke and it reminded me of a tale I have often told about Jimmy when we were warming up prior to the start of a football match a Penns Lane Sutton at the companies football ground. Someone kicked the ball into the adjoining fenced off field and Jimmy scaled the fence to retrieve it only to be chased round the field by a goat which he hadn't noticed, my abiding memory was seeing Jimmy trying to outpace it and you can imagine there was considerable laughter among his team mates. I played Football. Cricket and Snooker for the firm so no doubt George called me out for a few no balls during his umpiring stints, I think he was pretty dedicated to the sports section of the company and he was probably proud to have married Betty because my memories of her was that she was a lovely lady. Will catch up again next time Paul.
Best wishes. Derek.

Hi Derek,
Thanks for trip down memory lane, sorry to hear about your wife. It's strange how things seem to go full circle I did end up working at Newman Tonks in 1986 I worked at pitsford street if memory serves I worked in the R&D dept. developing brass door handles, locks and other door furniture. You also mention the sports ground at Penns lane its up shrubbery close off penns lane, I did go there with dad on a few occasions an strange as it seems my son played there a few times while at school .
I do Remember mom and dad taking me to the social club for dads snooker match one night and they lost me, one of dads friends found me slightly wet as I decided to try the shower handle and got more than I expected. I Am trying to sort some photos out and will post when I find some relevant ones. I did find these though hopefully they will appear ok.
Best wishes
Paul

 

[roger chandler]

Hi roger I will have a rummage through some old photos and post the newmans related ones

any chance of some photos if you have any, regards roger

 

[Astoness]

what great photos stroller...thanks for sharing them with us all

lyn

 

[Stroller]

any chance of some photos if you have any, regards roger

Will have a look tomorrow roger

 

[Stroller]

any chance of some photos if you have any, regards roger

Hi roger here's some photos of my mother Betty Fellows at work

 

[Astoness]

what wonderful photos of your mom at work stroller...you must be very proud to have them

lyn

 

[Stroller]

what wonderful photos of your mom at work stroller...you must be very proud to have them

lyn

Hi lyn thank you for comments, yes I was proud of both mom and dad it's strange when you see your parents at work it would have been nice to have worked along side them.
Paul

 

[Ex Briton worker]

I have just being reviewing the posts on William Newman in hospital street . I am paul Fellows and my father used to work in the Britain assembly shop his name was George Fellows commonly known as "stroller" he was a great friend of Jimmy Clarke. He is in one of the cricket photos, he is the umpire on one and sitting in the middle next to Jimmy Clarke on the other. He was there from 1930 to 1972.
He met my mother there Annie (Betty ) Wardell who was charge hand over the cellulose spraying dept, they married in 1939.

Hi Paul.
I have just been reading about your dad George Fellows ( STROLLER). this is the first time I have seen your dad mentioned, a wonderful man ,he always had time for me ,we used to joke about the man next to him on the Briton production line. He was Frank Brown ( NODDER ).i was working there from 1958 - 1963 .I worked on what was called the back benches doing odds and ends. I knew everyone on the Briton lines and we all had a good laugh.
Another man you mentioned was Jimmy Clark the youngest of the Clark bros,again who I knew very well.
If I can fill in any gaps for you Paul ,just let me know.
regards
Dave. EX Briton worker

 

[Astoness]

Hi Phil ,Dave.
Hopefully the photos will send this time.
Derek.

smashing photos....do you have a date for the football ones please...i have a friend who worked for william newman/tonks from a school leaver apprentice in 1969 to 2005

lyn

 

[roger chandler]

Hi roger I will have a rummage through some old photos and post the newmans related ones

thanks for the lovely photos
regards
roger

 

[Derek.R.Walker]

Hi Lyn,
I am completely puzzled as to what happened to my reply to your message dated august last year. I know I did respond but for some reason it did not send. I will make a point of trying to locate it among my now deleted messages and will be in touch again in due course.

Derek, Proper Brummie Kid Still Trying To Come To Terms With City's Table Position.

 

[Ceg75]

Hi Dave and thanks for your response. Mr H R Bushell was the personal manager and I found him a bit eccentric. I vividly remember being interviewed by him on the Friday morning before I started on the Monday 10th January 1955 and as it was close to lunchtime he asked me if I could come back again after lunch. I agreed to this and I had to wait quite a time before he was back because apparently he had left his car in Town and forgot where he had parked it. Despite this he was a nice old boy and he must have served the company well. I still remember the names of some of the foreman, as you said Len Humphries his daughter was a charge hand in the warehouse where all the shipping of finished products were dealt with. Edgar Seal taskmaster, Frank Mason, Tommy Collins, Bert Bolland, whos department manufactured the Pyx and Mini coin locks and Indicating bolts which were just a small part of the products produced in his department. George Raybould, Vic Garfield, Sgts Len Shilvock and G Cowley were time office personnel who sat adjacent to the lift and made sure they reserved it on the ground floor pending the colonels arrival. Harry Dangerfield was responsible for Floor Spring production. That only covers part of the production staff there were several others whos names escape me. Interesting that you lived off Witton Road in Aston although I was born in Erdington I grew up in Holland Road in Aston which was close to the cinema on Aston Cross later to become the Crossroads television studio. I went to Upper Thomas Street School which I have been catching up on recently, Spent most of my time playing sport or sitting on my own in a small room blowing up and dubbing footballs and also all the cricket and sporting gear which the various sports teams used, hence the reason I spent 4 years studying after leaving. Regarding breakfast eats I don't think I can remember the ground floor facility, we used to have a lady come round the office pushing a trolley with hot toast and cheese rolls which always went down well. Witton Road reminds me of Bert Pittaway the fishing tackle shop owner that I used to collect the maggots from for our fishing trips, happy days as you say. After I left the company I spent over 3 years selling all round the black country and then in 1978 moved to Cornwall to join my brother who also worked in the drawing office of the company, he was assistant to Bill Hartland the works manager and one of his projects was overseeing the installation of the Electrostatic spraying equipment in the Briton spraying shop.
Regards Derek.

Hi. I’m new to this group, but was interested to see my grandad’s name (Victor Garfield) when I did a search of our surname. I don’t know much about him as he died in 1991. (I was only 14 at the time and he had been ill with Parkinson’s disease for as long as I can remember). I know he worked at Newman Tonks though and was a cabinet maker, having made lots of furniture that my Nan and grandad had in their home. My dad will definitely have more information. Clare.

 

[Ceg75]

Hi Phil, Dave, It sounds like I might have to send the attachments separately, I will look at it again later and get back to you..
Derek

Hi, I’m interested to see my grandad’s name (Victor Garfield) in one of your photographs. Have you got any more information from the book you have taken a photo of? Thank you, Clare.

 

[Derek.R.Walker]

Hi, I’m interested to see my grandad’s name (Victor Garfield) in one of your photographs. Have you got any more information from the book you have taken a photo of? Thank you, Clare.

Hello Clare and my apology for not responding sooner. I joined Newman Tonks after leaving school in 1955 and we parted company in 1975. Because of the passage of time my memory is somewhat limited now, but despite that I can still remember the names and faces of some of the foremen of the various departments which was pretty extensive due to the size of the company. I still have the book I was given when I joined entitled 'Introduction to the Newman Group for staff and works' and your grandfather is listed with many others under the title Carpenter/Painter. I would be quite happy to drop this in the post to you if you could email your address ([email protected]) or my landline 01637 877452. Regarding the book which you also mentioned, this does make very interesting reading and on reflection if it's of interest and a keepsake, you can have both copies because it's unlikely that I will find any further use for them in the future.