The day after I received an invitation to contribute
to this issue of ‘Vision’, I attended
a Press Preview of some of our new Industrial
films. The personality we had asked to introduce
them, described in his talk an incident
during a management training course he recently
organised. Following a visit to a factory,
one of the students approached him to say how
much he had enjoyed it. On being asked why in
particular, he said that the factory was his
own place of employment, and although he had
been there for many years it was the first
opportunity he had had to visit some of the
departments.
I can imagine that this sort of thing could
apply at Mitcheldean, and it certainly does as
between you at Mitcheldean and ourselves at
Perivale; this is one of the reasons why I
personally was very pleased when ‘Vision’ was
started, so that the barrier of distance
between us was to some extent bridged.
In the articles on the history of the Library,
it was mentioned that originally, in 1935, it
was started to help the sale of equipment.
This I think still applies, and although there
may seem to be very little relationship
between the production benches at Mitcheldean
and the film repair benches at Perivale, our
interests have much in common. After all,
without films there would be no need for projectors
and, conversely, without projectors
there would be no market for films.
Through ‘Vision’, therefore, I am glad to have
this opportunity of wishing you well since we
are all, whatever our job may be, making a
contribution to a common need – the prosperity
and continued success of Division II of Rank
Precision Industries.
2
General Manager
G.B. Film Library
1
TraFferft”-ZI-MESTagice’ ‘
. .
This aerial view of Mitcheldean. taken by Clive !kooks. Quality Control, shows the
recently completed XeroX Building alongside its ‘Big Brother’.
MITCHELDEAN’S Production Engineer. He left the com-
GENERAL MANAGER pang to take up the position of Factory
Manager with Byron Business Machines
of Nottingham. Prior to joining us, he
was Works Manager with the Brush
Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd., Loughborough.
He has now set up home for his wife
and two children-a boy aged 15 and a
girl of 13 -in Churchdown. His son has
also chosen engineering as his career and
is going to Cheltenham College for two
years: he is the cine enthusiast of the
family!
Mr. Mason himself is a keen golfer
and formerly played cricket with the
Central Lancs. League and in Nottingham.
NEWS of Mr. E. N. Masons appointment
as General Manager reached VISION
too late for more than a brief mention in
our last issue, but we can now remedy
this state of affairs.
A Lancastrian, Mr. Mason was
educated at Oldham High School and
Oldham Technical College. He served
his apprenticeship as tool maker with a
large engineering company. He was
selected for management training and at
the end of three years was made Assistant
Works Superintendent, then Chic!
(Left to right) Mr. D.R. Elliott. Chief Quality
Control Engineer Sir. Werner Sal:mann. rice-
President of the B4 II International Division and
Managing Director of Bell 4 Howell. S. 1.:
and Sir. E. N. ,Vfason. Gene, a! Manager at
Mitcheldean.
C. BROOKS
COVER PICTURE
Multi-coloured and very ornate. Has
eye-catching buihling in Red Square
is St. Basil’s Church, now used as a
museum. It seas photographed by
Mitcheldean’s Export Manager,
Derek Hopes. when lie visited Moscow
recently (see his article. page 8).
Home and Away-With so many Perivale
personalities on holiday, and
currently sunning themselves on Britain’s
beaches or the more exotic coasts of
Europe, there is little to report. Main
topic of conversation at the present time
is the depth of brown attained by this
person or that person. with a sly enquiry
every so often as to whether she (and it is
invariably a she) is like that all over!
On the social side there is equally little to
write about, although a lot of planning
is being done for forthcoming events.
Theatre Outing-The Social Club organised
a theatre trip to see ‘The Music Man’
on July 5. About 80 members and
friends took advantage of the arrangements.
Autumn Coach Trip-The usual end-ofsummer
seaside outing was fixed for
August 26. when Clacton was the venue.
Darts Championships-Visitors to the
Library between the hours of 12 and
2 p.m. have been known to look a little
perturbed at the cries of anguish and joy
coming from behind a certain closed
door. But it’s all much more innocent
than it sounds-the Annual Darts
Championships are in progress for the
trophies which will be presented at the
Annual Dinner and Dance.
‘Guess Who’ Competition-Noms-deplume
are the order of the day for the
teams competing in the Inter-departmental
Darts Competition. No prizes
are offered for guessing the identity of
the following teams (names at the end of
this ‘Piece):
The Boosters The Scrapers
The Pluggers The Indispensables
The Technical Itches
Twenty-One-Miss Joan Farrell, secretary
to Mr. Jack Latreille, Publicity
4
Manager, celebrated her twenty-first
birthday on July 5.
Engaged – Congratulations to Miss
Margaret Dymock. of Accounts Department,
who became engaged on July 22.
Worthy Cause-With weight reduction
the current craze, the scales in New
Stock Stores have been in regular use.
At a penny a time, nearly £2 has been
collected for the Carshalton Disabled
Children’s Home.
Hard-boiled Type! -What leading light
in the Booking Department had to have
time off during the afternoon because
she’d left a breakfast egg on the boil in
the morning?
New Social Club Secretary-He isn’t
really, for that stalwart of the Social
Club, Mr. Derek Moore. has once again
taken over the duties of Club Secretary.
Mr. Ron Edmonds. who recently transferred
to the Technical Department,
where his duties will leave him little time
to look after Club matters, felt that he
should tender his resignation from the
post, and Derek has taken over.
Tramps’ Dance-A variety of `get-ups’
are to be expected at the Oldfleld Hotel
on September 22, when the Library will
be holding a ‘Tramps’ Dance’. Idea
behind the arrangements will be to make
this a really novel affair and several
surprises will be in store. Tickets are
3s. each for guests; applications to
Mr. D. Moore. Needless to say, this
will not be a dress affair!
Answers to the Noms-de-Plume
The Boosters-Direct Mail ; The Scrapers
-One of the Exam. Room teams; The
Pluggers-Publicity Department; The
Indispensables-Maintenance Department;
The Technical Itches-Sound
Recording Department.
Miss Pat Flynn (Booking Department) became.
Mrs. Hohon on J 16. Here she is with her
MIDSUMMER
MOTORING
WHAT a gaggle of unfortunates we
V V have to bring to your notice this
issue! Big Ends first: one Charles
Pragnell (Electrical Laboratory) found
his in the drip tray, and Ray Dance
(Design) ran his 50 miles to make sure
it was really gone. Doug Sherry (T.E.D.)
has also been at it again. His big end
went through the crankcase when he was
off train-spotting at Wendover in
Hampshire. Now, besides having Spotitis,
it has got Big Enditis.
Ken Bunn (Cost Investigation) did an
excerpt from the Swan Lake Ballet at the
top of the Plump, and came unstuck
when completing a movement called the
pirouette. The dictionary says this is
‘spinning around on one’s toes’. Oh.
and did you hear, we have a car at R.P.I.
that loves to go down steps backwards.
It’s a white Dauphine-Ray Camp
(Mechanical Laboratory) does not think
this is funny-he had to lift it up three
steps for the second time not long ago.
The real news of interest in this
column is the renaming of the Ross Spur
Motorway. Mr. Marples is now calling
it the ‘Ross Spur Hemingway’. Rapt in
Higher Finances of R.P.L. Mr. Hemingway
proceeded to go in the wrong
direction down this now famous motorway.
‘Hayrick’ George, Fred Kelsey and
Austin Malsom (Accounts) think he was
listening to Elvis wriggling through that
THE
POINT
INN
piece called `Dreamin’ and this, they say,
is what ‘sent’ him.
On to the `Bashers’-County’ Mayo,
XeroX Department, had his Consul go
for a joy ride at night into the side of our
newest building, while Bobby Morse
(T.E.D.) went down Symonds Yat a
little too fast, and they had to tow the
other chap away.
Concocted by our Special
Correspondent ; cartooned
by Ray Wright, Design
Drawing Office
red Cann and Pete Carr (Home Sales)
were last seen without their ‘hosses’
proceeding towards the ‘double two’
Dog Inn at Over, after the works
‘covered wagon’ had hit the dust on the
Highnam Straight.
Another funny: Dennis Fisher (Assembly
removed a bulb from his indicator.
not realising that both arms would
operate as a result (electrical boffins,
please note). This move caused considerable
trouble at times, with one irate
driver asking Dennis if he was going to
‘ruddy well fly?’
Queer Quickies
. . . Noel Fry (Shipping Department)
does not like Bonnie Scotland after
breaking one of his springs.
. . . Brian Lewis (T.E.D.) jammed his
starter when making one of his frequent
5
OUR EQUIPMENT IN FAMOUS HANDS
ABOVE LEFT: Jack Train presents Mr. R. U
Tyrer of Southampton (left) with a Sportster /I ,
first prize in a photographic competition held by
Photo Coverage at the National Camping
Outdoor Life Exhibition held at Olympia in Januar:
ABOVE RIGHT: .4 Hi -Lyle 707 projector
screens colour slides to Roger Livesey and Michael
Rdgrave in the new film ‘No. My Darling
Daughter’, which tells the hilarious story of the
problems facing parents whose children have
problems.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Lord Morrison examines a
Sundial which I I -year-old Rebecca Crawford
won in the Odeon and Gaumont Boys’ and Girls’
Clubs contest called ‘ What ? Where? When ? Why?’
Dick Bentley presented the prizes and Lord
Morrison was one of the guests.
(v. R, °nice PHOTOGRAPHS)
Midsummer Motoring continued
quick getaways from his girl friend’s
father.
… Dennis Green (Assembly) thinks new
motorcycles stink-he had all the oil
drain from the clutch, which made it
permanently drive.
. . . Jack Baxter (Quality Control) tearfully
explains his bash in the door as ‘an
awful shame. Do you know. I was
parked at the time and this chap came
round the bend and hit my car for six,’
etc., etc., ad infinitum.
.. And the Works Ladies’ Chauffeur-
Denny Barnard (T.E.D.)-has got a
spanking new Austin.
We end on a sad note. Stan Cherry
(Tool Investigation) has had to sell his
motorcycle combination. Says Stan: ‘I
thought we would be four in family with
the new increase, but how was 1 to know
this last one would be a double-barrelled
effort ! ! !
Watch out for an announcement about
a Works Car Rall.
6
TOP OF THE FORM
OUR ne Sportster V tine camera
received an unexpected compliment
recently. It happened like this.
A Mr. Lockyer of Maesteg, Glamorgan,
visited The Lcys School, Cambridge.
which two of his boys attend, to
see the Queen Mother open the school’s
new West House. After he had used his
Sportster V for the actual unveiling of
the plaque and the opening of the
House, his 16-year-old son David asked
to use the camera to take some film of
the Royal visitor.
While she walked between parents
and boys from the House to the Pavilion,
David was busy using the Sportster.
To his pleasure and amazement, the
Queen Mother came straight up to him
and asked him if he were a keen photographer,
admired the compactness and
clean lines of the camera, and enquired
what make it was.
MA.) boys and girls develop a strong
dislike of maths at school which remains
with them all their lives. But ther.! are
always a few in each generation who
‘catch the bug’ and derive fun from
mathematical brain teasers. This column
is for them, and will welcome new problems
to encourage their continued
interest.
The problem we first present to you
here is a very old one and the writer has
wrestled with it for some 25 years!
However, one of the well-known daily
papers, who used to pose a Saturday
Problem for readers, happened to
include this particular one, and a request
was sent for a copy of the best answer
supplied. This proved to be from a
colonel in charge of an Officers’ Training
Unit and took three foolscap sheets of
considerably abbreviated algebra, using
cubic equations and concluding with
estimated results! Your ‘mad mathematician’
believes he has a better solution
than this and copies will be made available
to those interested.
“I he Problem: Two vertical posts, x
and y, are a certain distance apart. The
two diagonals which join the top of each
post to the base of the other are respectively
50 ft. and 30 ft. long, and the
point at which they cross is 6 ft. above
the horizontal line on which the posts
rest. What is the height of the posts?
-H. Hartley
Stan Imm (XeroX) flies to
Rochester, N.Y., and finds
IT’S A SMALL WORLD
THE journey to Rochester, taking 13
hours. was made by Boeing 707 to
ldlewild, by helicopter across New York
to La Guardia Airport, and by DC-6 the
remaining 300 miles to Rochester. The
journey went smoothly, except for the
helicopter flight (we took a taxi on the
return journey!), and the flight by DC-6
across America at comparatively low
altitude proved very interesting.
Rochester is a sprawling city of some
300.000 people, dominated by the Eastman
Kodak Company. employing 40,000
people. The XeroX Corporation, which,
due to its rapid expansion, is divided
into several groups throughout the city,
is being centralised at Webster on the
outskirts of the city, with the building of
manufacturing shops adjacent to the new
design and development centre. At the
moment it is a 25-minute car ride across
town between the two plants.
It really is a small world. I discovered,
when, at a baseball game, I discussed the
merits and demerits of American tea
with two elderly ladies who originated
from Bristol! And my embarrassment
at a departmental store lingerie counter
was somewhat eased on learning that the
assistant came from Cardiff !
The most impressive sight for me was
that of Niagara Falls, 70 miles from
Rochester, which we saw from the
Canadian side. Crossing into Canada is
a simple matter for Americans but not
quite so simple for British people, as we
ff)und after completing Customs and
Immigration formalities while our guide
sat in the car!
The whole visit was most informative
-and the hospitality overwhelming.
* * * * * * * * * * *
YOU MUST
* Keep Friday, October 20,
* free. That’s when we’re
holding our
* SECOND GRAND ANNUAL
* DANCE & REUNION
* at Cheltenham Town Hall
* * * * * * * * * *
AS VISION informed you in its last
edition, Thursday. May 11, saw the
intrepid export managers from Divisions
1 and II set off in the maze of London’s
rush-hour traffic on the first stage of a
1,800-mile drive to the capital of tne
Soviet Union. This first part of the
journey was undoubtedly the most
tedious-the 70 miles between London
and Harwich being covered at an
approximate average speed of 20 miles
per hour!
However, once over the Channel and
on to the excellent roads of Holland and
Germany, average speeds went up and
we were cruising most of the time at
70-75. Three and a half days’ motoring,
including half-day stops in Berlin and
Warsaw for business discussions, saw us
at the Polish/Russian border. Remarkably
courteous and pleasant Russian
Customs officers saw us through the
formalities in a very short time and off
we went, with a tank full of Russian
‘Super’ (93 octane), two hours lost as a
result of changing over to Central
Russian Time and 280 miles to go to
Minsk.
The road was reasonably wide and
well-surfaced, by-passing all towns and
villages and remarkably free of traffic,
considering that this is one of the few
good roads in the whole of the U.S.S.R.
The reason for the lack of traffic, as we
later realised, is that in the Soviet Paradise,
sensible people travel long distances
by air or by rail and only crazy ‘turisti’
go by car.
After being slowed down to 20 m.p.h.
for long stretches by fog in the Pripet
Marshes, we arrived at Minsk at 2 a.m.
8
There was a continual press of
people around the stand and
everyone. without fail, asked for a
leaflet.
MISSION TO
MOSCOW
These impressions of life in the Soviet Union
were gathered by Mitcheldean’s Russianspeaking
Export Manager Derek Hopes, when
he went to Moicow for the British Trade Fair
and tumbled gratefully into bed in our
respective little cells at the Hotel Minsk
(the only hotel in a town the size of
Manchester, so it must have made
naming it quite an easy task).
Rising at 7 a.m. the following day,
two very weary export managers pointed
an almost equally weary Consul towards
Moscow and faced the 440 miles between
Minsk and the capital. E.T.A. in
Moscow was 7.15 p.m. and at 7.20 p.m.
we arrived outside the Hotel Ukrainanot
quite Monte Carlo Rally standard,
but not too bad!
Moscow Menu
After we had recovered from finding
ourselves in a 2.000-room hotel, which
looked twice the size of St. Paul’s
Cathedral and was apparently from the
same architectural era, although only
ten years old, we repaired to the restaurant
and had the first of many meals
consisting of Moscow bortsch (beetroot
soup) and chicken Kiev. Appetising? –
yes, but not after the twenty-first identical
meal. . . .
The next two days saw great activity
on the stand, as all the exhibits were set
out, and then came opening day. May 19.
It was a great surprise and pleasure for
everyone that Mr. Khrushchev visited
the Fair and most of us saw him from
close quarters. Unfortunately, he did
not actually visit our stand, but we did
have a considerable number of visitors
from all parts of the Soviet Union, and
as one of our photographs shows, the
stand had a crowd around it from opening
day until closing day three weeks
later-twelve hours a day and seven days
a week!
There was the little lady carrying two
toy balloons, who looked like one of the
cleaners and turned out to be the chief
engineer of the Moscow ball-bearing
factory; the ‘qualified cinematographic
engineer’ who asked what sort of film
could be developed in the 640; and the
political type who asked how long one
had to queue in England to buy a cine
camera!
The Fair was by far the most tiringand
trying-that any of us had ever
attended. There was a continual press of
people around the stand, emphasised in
our casa as the Bell & Howell equipment
shown on ‘my’ part of the stand was the
only consumer product in that part of
the exhibition. Some people-a very few
-asked intelligent questions-most
wanted to know how much the cameras
cost in England, and some, the really
one-up types, asked questions like ‘What
A former palace of the Czars? No, it’s the
Ukraina Hotel, one of the many ‘poured out of a
mould’ huildingc in Moscow.
is the gauge of the wire used in the
windings on a 640 magnetic head?’ (!)
Everyone, without fail, asked for a leaflet,
and I am sure that until my dying day
there will be imprinted on my mind the
picture of hordes of the People’s People
holding out their arms as if for manna
from heaven and repeating incessantly
‘Prospekt, prospekt pozhalsta’.
Sokolniki Park, where the Fair was
held, was 30 minutes’ drive from our
hotel, and after a few days, the fuel
gauge of the Consul was approaching
the ‘E’ mark, so we decided to go off in
our lunch break to get some petrol-a
simple enough matter, one might think,
in the country of the Sputnik and Major
Gagarin. But no-three hours, twelve
militiamen and three visits to lntourist
later, we succeeded in finding a solitary
little pump at the back of the Hotel
Metropole where we filled up with 70
octane -the sort of stuff which makes
the engine pink in anticipation even
before you’ve switched on!
Post-Revolutionary Flamboyant
We saw a great deal more of Moscow
on this little excursion than on our usual
daily trip from the hotel to the Fair.
There are some very beautiful old pre-
Revolutionary buildings left, including
even some little wooden houses in the
centre of the city, but the majority are
after the pattern of the Ukraina Hotelstandard-
looking buildings which seem
as though they have been poured out of
a mould. ‘Post-Revolutionary Flamboyant’
was the term with which I
christened this particular style.
The exteriors are strongly reminiscent
of a wedding cake-the interiors are
indescribably gloomy-great vaulted
halls with no natural light, heavy velvet
curtains at every doorway, enormous
marble pillars-even brass pillars smothered
in Red Stars and sheaves of corn!
Our floor at the Ukraina, the 18th,
was currently the holder of ‘The Banner
of success in Socialist competition in the
collective of the Hotel Ukraina’; whether
they won this for encouraging guests to
stay, or for discouraging them 1 do not
know, but I suspect the latter!
The main streets of Moscow are
extremely wide-so wide that there is
room for a ‘sacred strip’ down the middle
which is reserved for ambulances and
Mr. Khrushchev, and on either side of
this there are two lanes for the purpose
9
Shooting
inside the
Kremlin
A British Television
camera. fitted with a
Taylor-Hobson zoom
lens, in use within the
walls of the Kremlin.
Operating it is the chill
cameraman of Moscow
Television.
of making U-turns in the road. It being
forbidden to turn left in Moscow, the
form is to turn right, make a U-turn and
nip smartly back over the intersection.
having, in effect, turned to the left.
The taxi-drivers in Moscow love a
‘burn-up’ and we frequently found ourselves
doing 65 between traffic lights-
1.7 litres of Consul is more than enough
for 5 litres of ZIM!
Car Excursion
There is %et.) little variety in the cars
which one secs on the streets of Moscow,
although there arc numerous colours
available now, unlike the trucks, which
are all khaki. The smallest car available
is the new 700 c.c. V4 Zaporozhets with
all-independent suspension-very akin
to the Fiat 600. Next is the Moskvitch
407-a 11-litre four-seater which still
betrays its Opel ancestry; it is built in the
plant which the Russians took from
Germany as reparations.
The Pobeda, although out of production,
is still seen in large numbers; this is
the 2-litre side-valve four, very similar to
the Vanguard in appearance. The replacement
for this is the Volga, a very
tough 21-litre four, very akin to the old
Hudson, but slightly smaller. Moving
up the scale there is the old ZIS, a straight
copy of the famous model 120 Packard,
replaced in the middle ’50’s by the ZIM,
modelled on the 1950 Cadillac V8 and
having a side-valve six-cylinder engine of
S litres.
The very latest model is the most
attractive Chaika, not obviously copied
from anything, with a 5-litre O.H.V. V8
engine and automatic transmissionstrictly
reserved at the moment for top
Party officials.
I trust that lady readers of VISION will
forgive this short excursion into technical
l0
realms, and I do hope that the motoring
enthusiasts amongst the readership will
find these fo% notes of interest.
Incidentally, there are some very
interesting political undertones to this
car-naming business-ZIS stands for
Zavod imyeni Stalina- ‘Factory named
after Stalin’ so after the notorious 20th
Party Congress the name was changed to
ZIM (M for Molotov). When Molotov
fell from favour they had to choose
another name, so this time, to be safe,
they chose a non-political one-the
former general manager of the factory,
now dead, ‘Likhachev’, so it is now
‘ZIL’. This name adorns some very
advanced-looking ‘buses which may be
seen in Moscow.
Country of Contrasts
As you will realise, Russia is a country
of enormous contrasts-contrasts which
were evident to us when comparing
Moscow, their ‘show place’, with the
little Ukrainian villages we passed on
the way: Moscow with its wide boulevards
which are watered every day, the
villages with rough tracks serving as
main roads-Moscow airport with a
profusion of TU-104 jet planes and
enormous TU-114 turbo props, fork-lift
trucks and miniature passenger buses,
and the countryside with horse-drawn
wagons and roads kept under repair by
old women scattering stones from their
aprons, as if they were sowing corn.
It is certainly a fascinating country,
but after three weeks one tires of the
drabness and uniformity and the apparent
impossibility of ever ‘getting through’
to a nation of 214 million people who
have for 40 years been cut off from contact
with the West, and fed constantly
for so long with ridiculous (to us) propaganda
about the ‘wicked Capitalist West’,
Before you have that next film
developed, read about the
RANK TEMPO COLOUR SERVICE
just over 12 months’ operation at
I Park Royal-in what was formerly an
Ilford factory-Rank Tempo Laboratories
has established itself as the
largest, most comprehensive colour
finishing station in the country. It is
here that many, if not most, photographic
dealers and chemists send their Kodacolor,
Gevacolor, Agfacolor and Ektacolor
negative film for developing and
positive print making. More recently,
extensive new equipment has been
installed for the processing of Ektachrome
and Ferraniacolor reversal film,
i.e. the making of colour transparencies.
Automation, in fact, is the keynote
throughout the Laboratories, bringing
about quicker service, reliable quality
and lower charges.
And Rank Tempo has been able to
draw upon the vast experience in colour
cine processing at its parent laboratory
-the Rank Laboratories at Denham.
rOld’VVV e’VL,A.”./1. VN.rn.14
The latter’s pioneer work led to the
introduction earlier this year of Rank
Tempo’s ‘Transprint’ service-an exclusive
new method for making good
quality prints from any type of colour
transparency (except 8 mm. and 16 mm.
cine frames).
Like all photofinishers, Rank Tempo
are obliged to confine their services to
the retail photographic trade-meaning
that all amateur work must be placed
through a dealer. But you still have a
choice in who shall handle your colour
film.
So, to make use of a familiar television
catchline, ‘Don’t ask for Blank’s-ask
for Rank Tempo Colour Service!’
If you would like to know more about
Rank Tempo services and prices, a fullcolour
brochure can be obtained from
Mr. R. Fowler, Sales Promotion Manager,
Mitcheldean.
WATCH THE BIRDIE !
TEMPTATION comes to everyone, as I’ve so often heard,
And many’s the time when I have seen chaps larking with a bird.
Now, we’ve some pretty birds here, that everyone agrees,
But it only took a small one to bring Moger to his knees.
This isn’t petty gossip and I’ve no wish to alarm,
But he really had a corker hanging on his arm
When suddenly he clutched his breast, and crouched down rather low.
We thought he’d had a heart attack, or suffered from a blow.
We quickly went to help him-Jack Baxter got there first-
We hoped that things would be O.K. but feared the very worst.
He said: ‘What’s happened, laddie; just tell me in a ord.’
And Bunny murmured hoarsely: ‘I got the bloomin’ bird.’
We others stood and giggled at the capers that he cut
While Bunny writhed and wriggled and nearly ‘did his nut’.
.4t last they got it front him, a perky little bird,
Though how he’d got it up his arm, we must accept his word.
He said he’d had it in his hand, it fluttered up his sleeve.
No other explanation serves, so that we nuts: believe.
It isn’t very sanitary to rear birds on one’s chest,
(There’s no truth in the rumour that it had built a nest).
A bird in hand beats two in any bush, so we have heard,
But don’t tell Mr. Moger-or you, too, may get the bird!
Culpritc-47 Department
1
C. BROOKS
What a score! Their skill at darts has enabled
champions Eric Knight and Bert Hale to clean up
quite a few valuables.
THREE TIMES A CHAMPION
FOR the third year running, Eric Knight
(635 Line, Assembly) won the Darts
Singles Championship when he beat
M. Bullock (634 Line). This is some
achievement when you consider that 66
people entered for the competition, and
the Mitcheldean Sports & Social Club
have recognised the occasion by giving
him a special gift this year-an electric
clock.
He also received a tankard for winning,
together with another 635 Liner, Bert
Hale, the Interdepartmental Doubles
Championship. They beat the Tool
Room, represented by Ralph Taylor and
Roy Jones, by two games to one.
MUSIC WHILE IT WORKS
WHAT a disillusionment! One chap who
sent a note to the Personnel Department
recently was under the impression that
he was working for Rank Percussion
Industries.
We mustn’t be surprised if any of our
dealers complain that every time anyone
presses the starter button on some of our
cameras there is a clash of cymbals!
OUR MAN IN ABOUKIR
THE Company was recently asked by the
Southern Province of the United Arab
Republic (Egypt) to quote for kits of
parts from which they could assemble
sound projectors, using a certain amount
12
SHORT
TAKES
of local material. We were successful in
securing the contract, one of the items
in which was that two engineers should
be sent over here to be trained in the
assembling and testing of our projectors,
and that subsequently we would send
one of our engineers over there to supervise
the final stages of the assembly
operation in their own factory.
Ted Hagger was selected for this project,
and he acted as host to the two
U.A.R. representatives, Messrs. Hamada
(Tony) and El Shahali (Mac), during
their training at Mitcheldean. He and
his wife showed them all the tourist
‘musts’ in this part of the country and
they were able to attend Ruardean
Carnival where they judged the fancy
dress competition (they spoke very good
English). Shopping expeditions were a
great success; most popular among their
purchases, reports Ted, were woollen
goods and suiting lengths, electrical
mixers and fruit juicing machines, footballs
and table tennis bats!
They returned home on June 15 and
on July 26 Ted flew out to Cairo en route
for Aboukir, near Alexandria. He
should have a good story about his experiences
for the next issue of VISION.
ANGLING CLUB REFORMED
MI rCHELDEAN facto’) has an .Angling
Club once more, thanks to the efforts of
Mr. Howard Holmes (XeroX). Facilities
for fishing in the Wye at Symonds Yat
(approximately two miles, both banks)
for 17s. 6d. a year have been accorded
the club for the next 12 months.
Mr. Holmes told VISION that he had
arranged a fishing contest for the last
Saturday in August, to start the club off,
and that this would be followed by a
general meeting for the appointment of
officers and committee, etc. Plans include
a fishing contest once a month and
matches with other clubs.
At the time of writing Mr. Holmes had
1
received assurances of interest from at
least 40 R.P.I. fishermen, so look out,
.almon !
NEW ANGLE FOR AUTOSET
‘HERE must have been keen competition
among the anglers on Brighton Pier recently
and considerable argument as to
what particular bait to use.
According to one of our London
stockists, Messrs. Camera Craft (Cine
Department), a customer of theirs
dropped an Autoset off the end of the
pier into the sea. Far from being ruined,
it was satisfactorily repaired by us and is
still going strong.
It must be the only cine-camera in
existence which can boast of having had
an electric eye view of Brighton Pier
foundations!
WELFARE WRITERS
LAST September, Sister Townroe, together
with her cousin, 73-year-old Miss
I. Richards, who is an associate member
of the Mitcheldean Sports & Social Club,
went to Zagreb and, while there, studied
the welfare services of Yugoslavia. On
their return they set to work on a joint
article and this has now been published
in the July/August issue of Journal for
Industrial Nurses.
AN APPRECIATION
THE transfer of Gordon Fisher from the
Electrical Laboratory back to Woodger
Road has left a gap not easily filled.
When he first came to Mitcheldean in
1941/2 from Woodger Road, he was put
in joint control of the coil winding
section that in those days existed to cope
with certain war work. With the introduction
of the Bell & Howell range of
equipment, he was made jointly responsible
for the inspection of the finished
products. Later, with the introduction
of the manufacture of cine cameras, he
specialised in this field and often was
responsible for the piloting of some of
our earlier ranges of cameras. He was
subsequently transferred to the Design/
Engineering Department, and when the
Electrical Laboratory was set up more
recently, he was, in view of his earlier
experience, transferred to this department.
His engineering activities did not,
however, stop at work. Having bought
a cottage at Linton he practically pulled
it to pieces and rebuilt it, installing his
own lighting and water system. At one
time, when water was not available at
his home, he could be seen every night
leaving the gentlemen’s lavatory bearing
earthenware jars filled with drinking
water. As this went on for a period of
years he must have carried away hundreds
of gallons! Not content with
rebuilding a house, he completely
rebuilt a Hillman car for his own use,
even to the extent of stove-enamelling it.
And he made several attempts to install
a windmill at his home with which he
hoped to generate electricity.
A 25-year member of the Long Service
Association, Gordon was quite a character,
and we miss both him and his wife,
who worked in our Home Sales
Department.
MAKING A MOVE
SINCE our last issue came out, XeroX
Department have taken up residence in
the new XeroX Building. Working in
these much improved conditions will
mean that production can be stepped up
considerably, says Mr. R. T. Walding,
Manager of the Department. And with
the taking on of more staff the output
will, of course, rise still more.
Into the space vacated by XeroX
have moved a section from Small Batch,
transforming what was formerly an allmale
preserve into an all-female department.
Makes the place seem more
decorative somehow!
CLEAN-UP AT MORTIMER HOUSE
MORI INILR House has put on a new face.
Following a washing-down and painting,
the exterior looks as clean as Mitcheldean’s
new buildings. But, alas, the
effect will only last a comparatively
short while-until London’s grime
climbs on to it again.
HOME MARKET
For Sale-22 ft. Berkeley residential
caravan, four-berth, fully electrically
wired. Enquiries to Mr. A. W. Thorpe,
Tool Design.
Lady’s Shoes-One pair black leather
strap, hardly worn (Cost 79s. 6d.), one
pair navy suede, good condition. Size 5
or 51, suit older person. 25s. each. Box
No. 14.
Replies to Box Nos. should be addressed-
The Editor, vistorg, Fair View, Plump Hill,
Mitcheldean. Gloucestershire.
13
In this happy picture taken
at the wedding of Brenda
Merry are ( far right) Mr. J.
Akrry (Warehouse) and his
wife and (jar left) bridesmaid
Sheila Slade (Home Sales).
R. EVANS
Putting YOU in the Picture
MITCHELDEAN
Mr. L. Davies, Chief Metallurgist, has
been made directly responsible to Mr.
E. Mason, General Manager, as Technical
Adviser in all matters referring to
Metallurgy and Chemical Research.
The duties formerly carried out by Mr.
H. Saunders as Superintendent of Piece
Part Manufacturing have now been
added to those undertaken by Mr.
S. Scott as Superintendent of Assembly
and Finishing Department.
Mr. L. Bell, a Long Service member, has
returned to work in the Service Department
after being on the sick list for four
months.
When Mr. Israr Quraishy, a trainee
from Karachi. Pakistan, left on Jul) 14
he was presented with a travelling case
and an illuminated address by the Service
Department. He will be spending some
time in London and then Switzerland
before returning to his home country to
work in his brother’s business of Bell &
Howell distributors.
Miss K. Fisher, formerly secretary to
Mr. E. Cann, Deputy Home Sales
Manager, is now working as assistant to
Mr. C. R. Steward, Personnel Officer;
she replaces Mrs. S. Lightman.
Mr. G. Kidd has been appointed to
replace Mr. R. Reed in Production
Control. Mr. A. Matthews has returned
to the Department after a nine months’
absence. Mr. W. J. Stansfield has left us.
Mr. P. I. Trollope has joined the Company
as a progress chaser (Press & Sheet
14
Metal Shop). He previously worked in
London and has now moved his family
down to join him.
Miss Julie Stallard, who left us to take a
secretarial course, has returned to her
old department-Accounts.
Mr. Griffiths, better styled Wally the
Wanderer, left Service Repair at the end
of July. He is paying a visit to Germany.
and perhaps a return visit to us, before
starting on his long overland journey
back to Australia after Christmas.
Newcomers in Home Sales include Miss
Irene Morgan.
Miss Betty Brown and Miss Jackie
Hawker. Miss Iris Chappell has been
made Vistem Operator in Mr. G. Gray’s
section.
Mrs. Rosemary Malsom (Telephone
Exchange) left at the end of August to
prepare for a ‘happy event’. Father-tobe
Reg works in Accounts.
Miss D. Weyman and Mrs. C. Pritchard
have joined the Case Shop.
Mr. P. Pattinson and Miss A. Verry have
joined Central Progress.
Apprentice news: Bruce Powell has
moved from Work Study to the Plant
Engineer’s Office; John Court recently
attended a course of instruction on
finishing with Messrs. Paripan Ltd. of
Egham. Surrey; Ray Dance has gone to
Messrs. Taylor. Taylor & Hobson of
Leicester on a four-month training
course on the design and manufacture of
optical lens. In recent weeks, visits have
been exchanged between M itcheldean and
the Apprentice Associations of Smiths of
Cheltenham and Wiggins of Hereford.
1
4
They’re 21
Now fully qualified adults are Miss P.
Munden (Machine Shop Office, July 12),
Mr. Barrie Izatt (Assembly. July 29),
and Miss Gillian Phelps (Design Drawing
Office. August 6).
They’re Engaged
Miss Sheila Sollars (Telephone Exchange)
and Mr. F. Weyman became
engaged on June 26. Another engagcmcnt
to report is that of Miss Carol
Trigg (Assembly) to Mr. B. Weaving.
Wedded . . .
Mr. D. Meek (XeroX) and Miss J. Smith
on Junc 24 at Lydncy Registry Office.
Miss Pearl Watkins (Inspection) and Mr.
H. Marfell-July I was a great day for
her, it was also her 21st birthday!
Miss Janet Worsell (formerly in Accounts
Department (Comps.)), and
Mr. A. Baldwin on July 22 at St.
Ethelbert’s, Littledean. She was given
away by her father, Mr. E. J. Worsell,
Midlands and Eastern Area Controller,
Home Sales. Mr. G. Gray, Area
Controller for the North and Scotland,
took a colour film of the wedding with
a Sportster V, kindly lent by the
Company for the occasion. Miss Jean
Morgan (Comps.) was one of the
bridesmaids.
Miss Maureen King (Time Clerk, Case
Shop) and Mr. B. Cook at Ross Registry
Office on July 29.
Miss Loretta Mills (Assembly) and Mr.
D. Marsh on August 12 at St. John’s,
Cinderford.
Miss Brenda Merry (Home Sales), who
left recently to become Mrs. T. Jackson,
at Mitcheldean Church. She was given
away by her father, Mr. J. Merry (Warehouse),
and Miss Sheila Slade (Home
Sales) was one of her attendant bridesmaids.
. . And to be Wed
Mr. Clive Brookes and Miss J. Pritchard
on September 2 at the Forest Church.
Both work in Assembly.
Miss Brenda Knight, secretary to our
Export Manager, and Mr. G. Scott at
St. Michael’s, Mitcheldean, on September
23. Brenda celebrated her 21st
birthday on August 15.
Miss C. Drew (Paint Shop Office), who
will become Mrs. C. Leighton on
September 30 at Lydbrook Church.
Printed by The Victor lames Press Limited,
Coulsdon, Surrey
New Arrivals
Susan Deborah. first child for Mr. J.
James (Auto Shop) and Mrs. June
James (formerly Filing Department),
born on May 29, weighing 6 lb. 5 oz.
Alison. baby daughter for Mr. D. Cook
(Tool Room). arrived May 31, weight
7 lb. precise!).
Malcolm, a 7 lb. 7 oz. son for Mr. J.
Dickson (XeroX), born July 8.
Geraldine, baby daughter weighing
7 lb. 12 oz. for Mrs. D. Morgan, who
used to work in Assembly. She arrived
on July 10.
Anne, a baby girl of 8 lb., born to
Mrs. Joy Jackson on July 22. Joy
formerly worked in Home Sales.
Unnamed as yet-five daughters for
Topsy, pedigree English springer spaniel,
belonging to Mr. E. Parsons. We can’t
record their weights at birth because Mr.
Parsons has forgotten them. Neither do
we know the name of the happy fatherhe’s
probably forgotten the whole atTair
anyway.
LONDON
Mr. J. Reynolds, who formerly handled
customer enquiries, has taken over the
administration of London Emergency
Service matters. Mr. A. Dowley has left
the Company.
Mortimer House staff seem to be getting
about the world a lot recently. Those
who have been, or are, bound for
interesting overseas destinations include:
Mr. F. Jessup, General Sales Managerto
the South of France; Mr. B. J.
Clifton, Audio-Visual Department-
Germany for the Munich Opera Festival;
M. L. E. Tomkins, Maritime Department-
Germany and Belgium; Mr.
D. V. Dutton, P.R. Officer-Turkey and
Cyprus; Mr. G. E. A. Perutz, Marketing
Manager-United States.
Eb Worsell arrives at the church to glee his
daughter Janet away. R EVANS
The G.B. Film Library
at Perivole, Middlesex
Rank Precision Industries Ltd.
offices of 37 41 Mortimer Street,
London, W.1
The Bell & Howell shop
in Hanover Square, London
he main building of
ank Precision industries Ltd,
tcheldean. Gloucestershire
aata.
aCriP, 0,2r:4e
– nem 4’01 11
IMID111111111 itt
11-4 r Minn nip
