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Post Office Factory. Fordrough Lane

Hi Reg,
Thanks for your post. I well remember the privet arch. Not there now, though. Norman was from Fred's first marriage. He had a newsagents at some point. David was from the second marriage and is my father.
All the best.
Stan
 
Post Office Factory. Fordrough Lane, another view of the factory being reduced to rubble. Len.
 
I stumbled across this thread today. Strangely I had recently looked at Fordrough Lane on 'Google' and noticed it was being redeveloped (at the time of photographing).

My fist employment from school was at the POF, Fordrough Lane in the early 1950's. I was persuaded by parents that this was the up and coming profession to be in and to a degree that was true. However, I was not comfortable handling small screws and components and unknown to me 'piece work' was at the end of my training period. After six months I left and obtained new employment in a research department at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital but I did not like the work. Luckily my next employment was with Philip Harris of Edmund Street, who were in the pharmaceutical business - which was right up my street (metaphorically speaking). I was with them for a while until my relocation to Devon in 1954. Within the year I had joined the RAF which saw me out for the next few years.

One aspect of the POF employment which I did enjoy was the twice weekly trip, by an e-BCT double deck bus (AOP 753), to Bournville to the Day Continuation College. I liked Bournville and it surroundings; whilst I enjoyed trips into the city, which were usually exciting, I was not a natural city dweller.
 
Reg Neal said:
I worked at this Factory from the time I left school at the age of 14 years.Started in August 1940 and attended the in house Engineering School. Unfortunately this was cut short when the Blitz started in earnest, the factory was badly hit in November 19th and 21st. H Block was destroyed and so was G Block. I worked there until my call-up came in December 1944 and I finished up in the Artillery in the Far East. Came home in 1947 and went back to Garrison Lane Factory. Would love to hear from any contempories of those far off days.
In 1940 I worked in the Machine Shop, at one time on the Auto Capstans under the watchful eye of Bill Watts,at other times under Jack Daniels, The Shop Foreman was Jack Clark known as Nobby by the adults but addressed as MR CLARK by us boys. I was paid 3d an hour and worked a 48 hour week for 12/6d. There must be someone out there that knew some one
working there. Give us a shout please.
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I am researching my dad's history, and I would be grateful for any information about him that anyone has. His name was Frank Cotterell and he worked as an engineer at the Post Office in Fordrough Lane from about 1930 until he died in 1962. I know he signed the official secrets act when the WW2 started. I would really like to know what sort of work he might have been doing, especailly if it had anything to do with the Colossus machine which helped to break the Enigma code. Because he died at the early age of 49, I would also very appreciate finding out anything about him as a person - what he was like to work with etc. My children and grandchildren are also very keen to know more about the grandad they never knew.
 
Looking at the demolition photograph I notice a low brick building to the right. If I remember correctly this would be the 'gate house', or whatever it was called, where one collected or handed in the brass disks upon which we punched your factory number.

Elsewhere on this Forum, the buses section, there are posts about the ex City Transport bus which took trainees to Bournville twice a week. I travelled on the bus in 1953 which at that time was red and cream - the red being where the Corporation blue had been. There has bee a suggestion that the bus, or other buses used, were cream and GREEN (possible GPO olive).

There is at present some interest, by a local (to Birmingham) Museum about the history of this vehicle, and others, which sold to the GPO by the City transport in the early 1950's. Assuming ex-GPO Members read this thread and not the bus thread I have taken the liberty of posting here. I am pretty sure that Ernie Coggins (whom interestingly is the only name I remember from the 1953 intake of trainees, of which I was one) travelled on the bus and maybe due to his longer, than mine, service with the GPO might remember other facts.

As an aside I do recall that the GPO trainees worked upon the top floor of, what I believe was a seven storey building, which at the time was one of Birmingham's tallest buildings. The views from the windows up there was very interesting - you could see for miles.
 
This is a rack for use on Colossus made by workers of the Enigma site for exhibition, i worked on making these when i started work age 14yrs circa 1943 at Garrison Lane, Post Office Factory, John Bingham was the rack shop Foreman. Len.
 
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familysearch, Type in search "Garrison Lane". I posted this on the thread, Quote: We did all kinds of engineering work, press work, lathe work, milling, assembly work, the men worked on electric fittings, i was 14yrs old at the time, friends i remember Bill Lees, Ron Green, Jimmy Lewis, Des Dyer, Walter Scandrett, ? Kimberley, in 2008 we found out we were making parts for Colossus the computer which deciphered the German Enigma Code machine. Len.
 
Does anyone know if my father Frank Cotterell worked on Colossus? I amm researching my father's working life so if anyone has any information I would be delighted to hear from them
 
familysearch said:
I am researching my dad's history, and I would be grateful for any information about him that anyone has. His name was Frank Cotterell and he worked as an engineer at the Post Office in Fordrough Lane from about 1930 until he died in 1962. I know he signed the official secrets act when the WW2 started. I would really like to know what sort of work he might have been doing, especailly if it had anything to do with the Colossus machine which helped to break the Enigma code. Because he died at the early age of 49, I would also very appreciate finding out anything about him as a person - what he was like to work with etc. My children and grandchildren are also very keen to know more about the grandad they never knew.
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familysearch, I signed the Official Secrets Act, not that i or any of mates could tell any one Secrets because we were told the items we made were for walkie talkie radios & we kids believed what we were told, talk about naive or did not think they would lie to us, those of us who are still alive found out in 2008 we worked on parts for the Colosuss Code cracker. Len.
 
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Thank you Len. Which factory were you working in at the time. Do you remember my dad Frank Cotterell? Was he involved at all? I'd be really pleased if you could tell me anything that might help me to find out more about my father. My grandchildren are fascinated by what he might have been involved in during the war.
 
familysearch said:
Thank you Len. Which factory were you working in at the time. Do you remember my dad Frank Cotterell? Was he involved at all? I'd be really pleased if you could tell me anything that might help me to find out more about my father. My grandchildren are fascinated by what he might have been involved in during the war.
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I and my pals worked i the Garrison Lane factory circa 1943, i left in late 1946, did your Dad work there? because if he worked at the Fordrough Lane factory there were about 1,000+ workers and some sections would not know some workers from the next section, do you know what your Dad`s job was?, for example- Fitter, Turner, Miller, Carpenter, Electrician they made so many different products they even had Bicycle makers and repairers, Garrison Lane Lane only had approx 200 or less workers. Len.
 
This book tells a lot about the Colosuss Computer project, the authors worked on the project. Len. POST OFFICE/BRITISH TELECOM FACTORIES - 1870 - 1994 by Messrs K. Govier, D. Proctor, J. Spanton & C. Reynolds. - Priced at £7.00 plus £1.95 P&P from YPD-Books, 64 Hallfield Road, Layerthorpe, York, YO31 7ZQ.
- Also available online from https://www.ypd-books.co.uk/
 
My Dad worked at Fordrough Lane and Garrison Lane, His name was Ray Clinton, (d 1989) I remember him telling me he started there in 1943 (aged 14) until 47 when national service came calling, he came back in 49 and worked there until 1983 when he retired, names I can remember him talking about were - Johnny Morris, Roy Haddock, Ray Harrodine, Bob Crawley & Stan smelt, My mom also worked there during the 1950's (Gillian Bunford -then Clinton- still going strong !!) does anybody remember them?
 
Great finding this thread. Just discovered my Granddad worked at Fordrough Lane in 1921 as an Electrical Enginner. His name was Horace Watkiss and he was 17 then. I think he worked there for some years. Great to see pics of it. Thank you.
 
Here's a link to a Youtube video that explains how Colossus came about and the important part it played in WWII. The content is very techy to the point of being boring. Skip through the boring bits and after an hour a Post Office engineer called Thomas Harold Flowers is mentioned. If it wasn't for Thomas Harold Flowers, Post Office engineer, World War 2 would have had a very different ending.
Those of you who understand computer science will find the video interesting also.

 
I see what you mean about the boring bits. I vaguely understand what he was getting at, but anyway the whole film was very interesting. Thanks
 
I believe my dad Norman Ballinger must have started at Fordrough Lane in 1936. He left King Edward's Grammar School after 2 years as he 'had not made sufficient progress as a scholarship boy' but he did his electrical engineering HNCs and City and Guilds at the Central Technical College. He had started off work at Veritys in Plume St Aston age 14 at an assembly bench threading glass beads onto resistance pots for DC fans being exported to the Indian Raj then did a number of different factory jobs until he got the one with the Post Office, which he said was the first industrial premises where toilet paper was supplied in the lavatories! He always talked about his Communist friend Ted Bagley who also worked for the post office who was killed in a road accident in South Wales while doing cable test work. He and his friends used to cycle at weekends out of Birmingham and stay at youth hostels in the Cotswolds. It was quite a thing to get a post office job, his cousin Ted Fall from Berwick came down to join him, his sister Ruth Ballinger worked as a typist at Fordrough Lane, and when he lured my mum back to Birmingham she worked in the offices there too. I always got the impression the post office engineers were very bright working class young men who found their feet in telecommunications when tertiary education was only for the wealthy and privileged. He, born in a two up two down was very much at home there and a civil servant to boot.
I gather a stray dog wandered into the Fordrough Road canteen and dad brought it home and adopted it! So our first family pet 'Rover'
The post office telecommunications was a big part of my dad's life. He worked for the Post Office 1936-1978 although not always based in Birmingham, often away inspecting cables eg at the Cables Factory in Lydbrook, Forest of Dean, Standard Telephones in Leicester (where he met my mother calibrating electrical measuring instruments) He worked at Southampton on the Transatlantic Cable ships. When he was ill in hospital there seemed to be a lot of post office men on the wards, and my dad spent a good part of his time reminiscing with old work mates.
I have photos which I think is everyone lined up for a works photograph which may be Fordrough Lane, I will try and upload.
When my father died in 2004 I got in touch with The Veteran asking the editor to put in a few lines as people might remember him, but the editor a very young sounding fellow said if he put in obituaries in to the paper it would be just too depressing. A shame, I thought work colleagues would have remembered him kindly.
 
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