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Turner Brothers Toolmakers

Hi Carolina, good to hear that, he must be an age now as I am 66 and he was a good few years older than me then. They were a good bunch always good for a laugh, usually at my expense.
 
canonvela said:
Does anyone know anything about Rowland Emett's time at Turner Brothers during WWII, or have a copy of the wartime souvenir brochure with the aircraft illustrations?
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Hi my grandad was George Barnes and worked on with others to copy the Jerrican at Turner Bros. He was awarded the MBE. I have a copy of the WW11 souvenir brochure with aircraft photos. Looking for any living employees/descendants who may have memories of him.
 

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proper brummie said:
any info would be welcome
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I know this is an old post but my late uncle and namesake worked there in late thirties before joining the Royal Air Force. Sadly he didn't make it through the war but I have a photo of Turner Brothers football team that was victorious in 1939. My uncle F.O Thomas Neale is the goalkeeper.sorry seems the file is too large to attach
 
Thomas Neale said:
I know this is an old post but my late uncle and namesake worked there in late thirties before joining the Royal Air Force. Sadly he didn't make it through the war but I have a photo of Turner Brothers football team that was victorious in 1939. My uncle F.O Thomas Neale is the goalkeeper.sorry seems the file is too large to attach
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Forum images have to be 1Mb or preferably smaller. If using Windows see the following ...
cookie273uk said:
I find the following way the easiest to 'down size' pics/files for uploading
(1) right click on selected pic
(2)click 'open with'
(3) click 'paint'
(4) press Control and letter W together, in the resulting box reduce from 100% to (say) 50%, click OK click 'x' in top right hand corner.
Eric
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Use 'Save As' with a different file name so you don't overwrite original.
 
HI from the USA. I just came across a document, it is my dads Deed of Apprenticeship with Turner Brothers, which i googled and that's how I landed on this forum.
The Deed states that my dad, Ralph McGuigan, became an apprentice Dec 1, 1954 at the age of 17
What I do remember from my childhood in Sutton Coldfield was that my dad had opened his own Tool & Die shop at some point, but due to non payment for the jobs he was unable to pay his employees and so it closed down. In 1977 my dad applied for a job he saw advertised for a company in the USA. He and 2 others were chosen to come here and work. So in 1977, the family emigrated to the USA in the deep deep South of Georgia. CULTURE SHOCK!!!!
He stayed with that company for about 3 years before going to work with his last and final company called Durel, which is a subsidiary of 3M. Moved to Arizona and during his employment with them he managed to get 11 Patents all having to do with electro luminescent lighting (Timex watches, Indiglo)
He passed away in 2008, I really miss him.
Thanks for reading =*)


Goffy said:
Hi, I started work at Turner Bros, straight from school, in 1958.
I was put into "K" Department, which was opposite the main building along a little bit. That department had recently moved from Weaman Street
Under the watchful eye of "Sandy Palmer", anyone remember him?, I began
my career in Press Toolmaking.
The Foreman in that department was Harry Oakley with Ernie Dudley as Chargehand. Other Toolmakers in there were, Winky Wells, Colin Aspinall,
Harry Poore (he was Australian) Dave Mullis, John King,to mention a few.
I can remember the machinists there with names of White, Corbet, Leach,
and so on.
From there I moved upstairs into "D" Department for the start of my machining training, I could reel off a string of names from up there if anyone is interested. That department eventually moved to and amalgamated with "G" shop at the far end of Cliveland Street.
I finally left Turner Brothers in 1965 to work for Timings Tools in Brownhills.
There begins another chapter of my life.
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McGuigan said:
HI from the USA. I just came across a document, it is my dads Deed of Apprenticeship with Turner Brothers, which i googled and that's how I landed on this forum.
The Deed states that my dad, Ralph McGuigan, became an apprentice Dec 1, 1954 at the age of 17
What I do remember from my childhood in Sutton Coldfield was that my dad had opened his own Tool & Die shop at some point, but due to non payment for the jobs he was unable to pay his employees and so it closed down. In 1977 my dad applied for a job he saw advertised for a company in the USA. He and 2 others were chosen to come here and work. So in 1977, the family emigrated to the USA in the deep deep South of Georgia. CULTURE SHOCK!!!!
He stayed with that company for about 3 years before going to work with his last and final company called Durel, which is a subsidiary of 3M. Moved to Arizona and during his employment with them he managed to get 11 Patents all having to do with electro luminescent lighting (Timex watches, Indiglo)
He passed away in 2008, I really miss him.
Thanks for reading =*)
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Hello to you all.
I have to say that this will officially my first posting as I have visited in the past, it was my older brother who was on a visit back to the UK with his daughter and son in-law from OZ, he pointed me in this forum's direction when he mentioned that there was a photo of the Turner Engineering's Football team, which included our dad Vic Drumm, in the front row second from the right and not a grey hair in sight. I suspect we kids gave him a few in those days.
Unfortunately neither my brother or I copied this photo then later found out that that a lot of photos had been either gone missing or destroyed. That was a sad blow for the person who posted the photo in the first place, also sad for myself and my brother. I can't recall who the original poster was but would like to have a copy of this photo if it's at all possible? so that I can send him a copy.
My Regards to All.
 
carolandsteve said:
Freddie Barlow is sitting downstairs eating piece of carrot and walnut cake at the moment. Dad has only seen this history of turners today and I am going to get him to relay some of the stories I've heard over the years. I would go with dad to work when he had to visit the night shift and spend time on the shop floor playing cricket with the men. They made a wooden cricket bat and for the ball removed one of the ball weights of the top of the fly press. Never hit it very far.
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Freddie Barlow was my first foreman after I left the apprentice section. Cyril Johnson and Fred Scarf were my mentors. Freddie Barlow had a red Ford Cortina and he took me to Warwick on a Saturday to try out a moulding die for a Swing pedal bin. Lovely man.
 
A.Willoughby said:
Proper Brummie
My sister worked for Turner Brothers from 1941 to 1946 in what was called the 'Progress Office' It was here she met her future husband who was a draughtsman. Apart from Turner's secretary she was one of the first women to be employed there.
She recalls Frank Dutton who at the time was either a charge hand or a foreman at the Hope Street Works. Didn't know him well but he had, during the course of the work, occasions to visit her office. She guesses, then, he was aged about 36 years as she was aged 20 years.
They used to have visiting sports personalities. One of which was Anne Heywood who became Anne Jones. She was a gifted table tennis player then but on marriage went onto to become better known as a lawn tennis player.
In 1944 Turner released all the younger men to join the services and took on more women to cover the posts. At the conclusion of the war he sacked all the married women so as to take the discharged men back on. My sister was one he was prepared to keep on.
The other names she does not recall.
Will.
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Ann Haydon, not Heywood.
 
Does anyone remember my dad, John Brown mostly called Jack. He was a very skilled lathe turner and was at Turner Brothers for most of his working life - from I think 1937 until retirement in 1985. He was a really knowledgeable chap from Nechells who also practiced first aid for the firm.
Some of his workmates I recall were Norman Sherman, Jack Smith, Reg Juckson, Cyril Watts.
My dad was in the home guard during the war as he had a fused leg and walked with an elegant limp, so couldn’t join the regular forces. He did shifts at work plus nightly guard duty and fire watching and was I think exhausted.
He died at the age of 96 and was very proud of the achievements of Turner Brothers. Be great to hear if anyone else has some recollections.
 
Graham Joinson said:
Does anyone know of the whereabouts of Jimmy Bath who worked at Turners in the 1940's but later moved to Cheltenham?
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Hi Graham, my dad Jim Bath was an apprentice at Turner Bros and on completion at 21 was conscripted in 1946. I think he went back to Turner's until he moved to Montal Watchstraps as a toolmaker circa 1952. Montal was originally based in Birmingham. I'd love to know what the connection was and can fill in background. My dad lived to a good age, 92, passing away in December 2016. I was reading this thread following research on a Spitfire that flew over our house today which was made in Castle Bromwich. Dad used to talk about tooling machines for aircraft manufacture. Seeing his name in your thread was such a surprise.
 
Paul Harding said:
That's very interesting I don't know if there was a connection. I wonder if your mother can help me. I know that during the war Turners were involved in jigs and fixtures for the war effort. I believe they were involved in the gun turrets for the Lancaster bomber but I can't verify this. Maybe your mother can remember. Of course this is a big ask but I would appreciate any information as to what was worked on in those war days.
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My dad, Jim Bath used to tell me as a child he made the tooling for the front gunners turret in the Lancaster Bomber!
 
Graham Joinson said:
Does anyone know of the whereabouts of Jimmy Bath who worked at Turners in the 1940's but later moved to Cheltenham?
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Hi Graham, I don't know if you're still on this forum, but my Dad was Jimmy Bath who moved to Cheltenham. What a shame not to see this until now - he sadly died in 2016 aged 93. Is your Dad still with us? My brother, Nigel Bath, found this reference today and may also try to get in touch. You mentioned photo's that were posted in the original thread, but they don't seem to be visible any more. Do you still have them? Or any others of the workers in the factory? I do hope this reaches you. It was such a surprise to see Dad's name on here. Gill Faragher nee Bath The photo is of my Mum & Dad on their wedding day in 1946
 

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unfortunately graham is now only a guest on the forum so unless he re joins will not be able to reply to you

lyn
 
Does anyone remember Derek Teale, he worked on the ground floor in between, the die cast shop and C department. Derek was the Bandsaw operator and would cut the steel to however you required. As I recall he was very good at his job. He was a giant of a man and I think his dad also a very big man Worked in J department. Derek was mad keen on the Villa and if us younger ones took the mickey he would grab you in a Bear hug which was very painful due to his size. He also drove a BM Mini which had been modified for his great size.
 
Trevorst said:
Does anyone remember my dad, John Brown mostly called Jack. He was a very skilled lathe turner and was at Turner Brothers for most of his working life - from I think 1937 until retirement in 1985. He was a really knowledgeable chap from Nechells who also practiced first aid for the firm.
Some of his workmates I recall were Norman Sherman, Jack Smith, Reg Juckson, Cyril Watts.
My dad was in the home guard during the war as he had a fused leg and walked with an elegant limp, so couldn’t join the regular forces. He did shifts at work plus nightly guard duty and fire watching and was I think exhausted.
He died at the age of 96 and was very proud of the achievements of Turner Brothers. Be great to hear if anyone else has some recollections.
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funny that my father worked at turners for 38 years and knew ezrard turner very well he was also in the home guard his name was albert clack electrician
 
Goffy said:
Hi, I started work at Turner Bros, straight from school, in 1958.
I was put into "K" Department, which was opposite the main building along a little bit. That department had recently moved from Weaman Street
Under the watchful eye of "Sandy Palmer", anyone remember him?, I began
my career in Press Toolmaking.
The Foreman in that department was Harry Oakley with Ernie Dudley as Chargehand. Other Toolmakers in there were, Winky Wells, Colin Aspinall,
Harry Poore (he was Australian) Dave Mullis, John King,to mention a few.
I can remember the machinists there with names of White, Corbet, Leach,
and so on.
From there I moved upstairs into "D" Department for the start of my machining training, I could reel off a string of names from up there if anyone is interested. That department eventually moved to and amalgamated with "G" shop at the far end of Cliveland Street.
I finally left Turner Brothers in 1965 to work for Timings Tools in Brownhills.
There begins another chapter of my life.
Click to expand...
hi my dad worked there for years he was electrician albert clack
 
canonvela said:
Does anyone know anything about Rowland Emett's time at Turner Brothers during WWII, or have a copy of the wartime souvenir brochure with the aircraft illustrations?
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i had one but sent it to carl chinn years ago. i still have my fathers token stamped turner bros he was there 38 years albert clack was his name
 
Hi All, just joined up - The Guvnor (alias Frank Turner) was my Grandad. I just found this photo of a TB fishing club (?) outing. I remember many of the faces but not the names. Is it interesting to anybody for me to post more photos. Does anybody remember Arthur Frederick Turner and his involvement with T.Bros ?
 

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clacky said:
i had one but sent it to carl chinn years ago. i still have my fathers token stamped turner bros he was there 38 years albert clack was his name
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Did you ever get any reply about Emett's time at TB - there's a guy trying to set up an Emett museum in Brum, I've got his name somewhere. Also, I've got a copy of said brochure.
 
Hi there, just found this forum after chatting with my dad about my grandfather John Whale-he was also known as Joe or Jack, he worked at Turner bros for a number of years and then moved down to South Wales when the Rover pressing plant opened in Dafen,Llanelli in the 1960’s.I never got to meet him sadly as he died when my dad Reg was only 18 himself, I’ve noticed his name has popped up several times in this forum and I don’t have any photos of him at all so it would be great if someone had any recollection of him or old pictures. My dad went on to be a toolmaker himself down here ,he’s 70 now and i’m 47 and we now spend most of our time together restoring old vintage British motorcycles- still using most of my grandfathers old tools too which is great! Any information or pictures would be greatly appreciated.Cheers Matthew Whale
 
tomhan said:
Thank you. I just spoke with my uncle yesterday, and I remember him saying that grandad was a "P..... clerk", and I can't remember what that "p" was for, although as I read through the posts earlier, something did ring a bell regarding that. If I find it again, I will let you know. I actually do have a photo of grandad somewhere, one of the only two pictures I have of him, and ironically enough, it is a photo of him at work - at Turners. Sad part is I have no idea where it is right now as it is in a "safe" spot, one of many that is too "safe" to find. When I find it, I will post it for sure, and it seems it might be of interest to others, simply having the photo of inside the factory.

Grandad was a gentle soul, one of the genuinely nice guys. He was a hard worker, and each morning, walked from Ladywood to work with his pac-a-mac under his arm, then home again at the end of the day. He sadly passed away in the early 70's, but I remember him vividly as a very special man.

Thank you.
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Sorry this is so many years late but not seen aloof the comments. I remember Charlie Moseley, he was a Progress clerk, chasing all of the jobs around the department. I remember once he was walking to work and got conned out of some money by a stranger, this person said he knew Charlie and talked him into gicing him all the right answers to his comments and then asked him to lend him the money. Due to his good nature he did then when at work realised that he had been conned. This was during my apprenticeship in C department. Having read some of the previous posts, when old Toolmakers passed away, their tools were often sold or raffled of to make some extra money for the dependents. I still have some tools from Albert Sharp and one of my priced possessions is my wooden toolbox, which Freddie Barlow, then shop foreman, procured for me from the family of Tommy Evans, who sadly passed away in an accident. That bbox came with me throughout my entire engineering career.
 
As apprentices, we all went to college, for me it was Matthew Boulton College first the for the last 3 years it was the Polytechnic at Perry Barr. At Perry Barr, the last lesson of the day 6:00 to 9:00 was drawing and we had a tutor that worked in the drawing office at Turners, his name was Frank, sorry cannot remember his last name, but this meant that we could never skip the last lesson as he would report us in the morning.
 
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