It was with a feeling of excitement and a
certain amount of apprehension that I left
London Airport recently, with a passport that
stated I was to study Inspection and Quality
Control techniques in the U.S.A.
I was met in New York by Stan Pratt, our
Chief Engineer, and in the short time
available we ‘did’ New York. What a tiring
but satisfying day that was! We saw Times
Square, Broadway, 42nd Street, Washington
Square, the Statue of Liberty, the
Manhattan skyline, the Rockefeller Centre,
Central Park, Greenwich Village and Wall
Street; we went up skyscrapers (102 storeys
high) and down the Subway, a fabulous city
full of contrasts and many interesting places.
Then Stan flew to Chicago on the late Sunday
afternoon and I to Rochester in the evening.
The whole of the following week was spent at
the Plant at Webster. I had one day in the
Design and Project Engineering Department,
followed by an extensive study of the Quality
Control and Inspection methods and procedures
adopted in the Receiving, Manufacturing and
Assembly Departments.
It was soon realised that what we had been
doing for the last few years at Mitcheldean
was basically correct but required
consolidating and expanding to meet the
demands of the huge expansion programme ahead.
I visited Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bell &
Howell Plant at Chicago, Illinois, and met
similar hospitality and friendliness. It was
a great pleasure to meet old friends such as
Ted Carlson, Art Thompson, Harold Peterson,
Ed Artwick, Arnold Zentz, and others who all
wish to be remembered to their friends at
Mitcheldean.
I have returned from my journey thrilled with
the experience and wishing to convey to all
in our Organisation that, in Webster, they are
confident of successful expansion; let us
march, possibly slightly behind, but with
them, to an equally bright period ahead.
– Chief Quality Control Engineer Elliggliga1
COVER PICTURE: Keeping in trim wider the lendership of Mrs. Ruby Phillips
(Comps. Section, Accounts) are some energetic girls you will recognise-all members
of Drybrook Ladies’ Keep Fit Class. Photo: c. BROOKS
2
ALL THE WINNERS!
* A Pride of Apprentices
WE can be very proud of our apprentices
this year. The Rank Precision Industries
Ltd. Cup, awarded annually at the Forest
of Dean Mining & Technical College to
the firm whose apprentices produce the
best collective record in course-work and
examinations, has been won by our very
own apprentices!
In addition, apprent ice Terence Hemms
has won the shield awarded annually to
the engineering student possessing the
best individual sessional and examination
record. The shield was presented to the
College by Mr. C. T. Allan and other
members of the South Wales Institute of
Engineers to perpetuate an appeal for
the education of young engineers made
by Mr. Allan in his presidential address
to the Institute.
Craft apprentices Terence Kavanagh
and Roland Giles have each been
awarded a Highly Commended certificate
in the Junior Apprentice Competition
organised by the Three Counties
Industrial Education Association. ‘hey
received their awards at Worcester on
June 7.
All the winning entries were exhibited
at the Three Counties Show at Malvern
on June 11. 12 and 13.
* Oscar for an Engineer
OSCARS are not awarded only to film
and theatrical personalities, we discovered
recently. Engineers can get
them, too.
The gleaming statuette awarded to our Chief
Engineer. C. BROOKS
.
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In April last, our Chief Engineer,
Mr. A. S. Pratt, was one of three sharing
an award in Class II of the Scientific
or Technical Awards made by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences in America. Mr. Pratt shares
the award with Mr. J. L. Wassell and
Mr. H. C. Wohlrab of the Bell & Howell
Company. Chicago, each of them receiving
a statuette like that pictured below.
The citation on it states it was awarded
to these gentlemen “for the design and
development of a new and improved
automatic motion picture additive colour
printer.-
The story behind this is that Mr. Pratt
went to Chicago for four months in
1959 to help with the production of a
colour printer, during which time he
completely redesigned the original control
system, enabling the subsequent
production of the winning machine.
* Bouquet for the Band
FOLLOWING the article on brass-banding
in our last issue, we are pleased to
report the successes of four Forest of
Dean Bands at the Annual West of
England Championships held on May 11
in the Colston Hall. Bristol.
Awards were made as follows: Berry
Hill Silver Band: First Prize. Third
Section (Conductor: H. Hartley, Polishing
and Plating Shop): Lydbrook Silver
Band: Second Prize. Second Section
(Conductor. N. Barnett of Service
Department): Drybrook and District
Band: Third Prize in the Championship
Section: Coleford Town Band: Fourth
Prize in the Fourth Section. (All these
bands have Mitcheldean people among
their members.)
The first three of these will appear in
the London Finals on October 19. and
Berry Hill will be promoted to the
Second Section for next year’s contest.
Incidentally, the piece which the latter
performed. ‘The Rivals’, was composed
by a Mr. Alfred Ashpole who subsequently
wrote to Mr. Hartley saying
that he was “very impressed with your
performance and the tonal qualities of
3
your band and the interpretation.”
And another complimentary letter came
from the Chairman of the Gloucester
Brass Band Association, in which he
offered his sincere congratulations to
the band “for adding prestige to the
Gloucester Association by your very
fine achievements.”
* Bang On!
IN our ‘Focus’ article about Frank
Sekinger of the Tool Room, published
some two years ago, we mentioned that,
of his three children, the middle one,
David, was most obviously a chip off
the old block, having won a life membership
to the National Rifle Association
at the age of 13.
We must amend this statement. There
are two obvious chips off the old block.
Eighteen-year-old daughter Rosemary
somewhat shook competitors at the
Gloucestershire County Rifle Association’s
first Prize Meeting of the season
recently when she won the aggregate
prize for the highest score of the day.
Her score was 97 out of 105, using a
.303 army rifle over 200, 500 and 600
yards. Her father, who is secretary of
the Dean Rifle Club, was one point
behind.
Rosemary is also quite handy with a
pistol. we hear. What a girl!
* Hens in a Hurry
IRA (R11.1-IN (Planning Department) is
going in for fast birds again. Don’t
misunderstand us-we mean that he is
taking up once more his former hobby
of racing pigeons. He has acquired
eight youngsters and will train them this
year and start racing them as yearlings.
Ira has quite a stack of awards won
in previous years. In May 1956 his
three-year-old hen, competing against
5,403 others, walked away (or should
we say, flew away) with first prize with
a velocity of 1,727 yards per minute
(almost a mile a minute) in a New North
Road Federation event. And the following
August, in the same Federation.
his youngster of four months won first
prize with a velocity of 1,424 y.p.m.
In 1954, a yearling hen of Ira’s came
third in the News of the World Championship.
Apart from these achievements,
Ira has certificates for seven firsts,
seven seconds and three thirds in club
racing.
4
THIE1111-10MA
(EXPERIMENTAL)
AN AMATEUR gardener of Tusculum
Estate, Mitcheldean, is hoping to grow
tomato-flavoured lettuce this summer.
For those who would also like to try
to raise this speciality, we give below
instructions for its cultivation:
Keep in cold frame, or gentle heat,
until tomato reaches 1.125 in. dia.
.002 in. This size must be held.
Transplant in open ground, making
sure there is plenty of earth in the
ground.
Hole for transplanting must be
1.375 in. .998 in. deep (check with
depth micrometer).
Lightly tap earth around hole with
rubber hammer (14 taps per minute).
Only water while rain is falling.
Leave for six weeks, then tie lettuce
leaves tightly at the top, making sure
no air can get at tomato.
Owing to the tomato ha% ing no air,
it will burst in 24 hours’ time. the juices
then soaking into the lettuce leaves.
When the red tint appears on the outside
of the lettuce leaves, the Lettu-toma
is ready for lifting.-Percy McWeed.
N.B.-Plants may be obtained from
Xerox Department at 10s. per halfdozen.
/// /
/1/ ///,
4
Z. B,COKS
Roy Barton gives us
THE LOW-DOWN ON JIM ALLEN
Resident Liaison Engineer, 813 Project
Jim was born some 37 years ago in
Ohio where his parents had moved
after farming at Savannah, Georgia.
At the ripe old age of 16 he joined
the U.S. Navy and for the unusual
period of three years, six months and
nine days he served in submarines in
the Pacific during World War II.
After being honourably discharged,
Jim went ‘back to school’ at Tri-State
College, Indiana, where in ’49 he was
awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree
in Electrical Engineering.
To further his education, Jim attended
Post Graduate Studies in Management
and Engineering at both the Universities
of Connecticut and Bridgeport.
Jim’s first job was with a firm called
Homelite who manufacture chain saws,
etc. In 1959 he went to the Xerox
Corporation as Assistant Supervisor,
Production Engineering, and was subsequently
transferred to Research and
Development in 1960. He is noN
Engineering Leader of Product Engineering.
Twelve years ago. Jim met his wife,
Alice, who was on vacation in Connecticut
and they were married two years
later. They now have two children-
James Peter, aged nine, and Kathleen,
aged six.
Prior to taking his post at Rank’s,
Jim’s family were about one month in
transit after flying over from Idlewild
to London Airport.
At present they are living in Cheltenham,
and James, who is at Whitefriars
Public School, has received no less than
32 letters from his classmates at Webster,
his home-town in the States. It
cost Dad (or is it Pa?) a fortune in
postage stamps and James enlisted his
new classmates’ assistance. Of course,
the postage stamps are much sought
after and the boys of Webster are studying
England in Geography, while the
Whitefriars boys are studying America.
They visualise doing each other’s homework
when the system works right!
Recently Jim took the family on a
motoring holiday to Ireland, visiting
Cork, Killarney, Galway and Lough
5
Allen. and finishing up in Belfast where
his wife was born.
Jim says that in politics he’s independent,
and back home in Webster he lives
in a typical American house and drives
a 1963 Pontiac. He lives two miles
from the “Plant” and works from
8 a.m. till 5 p.m. in conditions he
describes as “excellent”.
The weather over there is about as
unpredictable as ours was in 1961/62-
they had 170 inches of snow-phew!
The area around Webster is mainly
devoted to farming and you can drive
the 350 miles to New York all the way
on a dual carriageway.
One story Jim relates, in his attractive
American accent, is how he was
standing on the “sidewalk” in Cheltenham
High Street and “this bus hits this
car in the rear”. Jim says he rushed
down the sidewalk away from the
advancing car, and could feel the heat
from its radiator in his own rear!
During his stay Jim has played his
favourite sport, which is golf: he is also
keenly interested in ten pin bowling,
which is catching on in this country.
Jim’s wife Alice is an `ace’, as he calls
it, at ten pin bowling herself, and the
author wonders what the reason is
behind Mrs. A.A.’s taking up golf!
Holiday Memory
With Pay !
WTITH
our next issue, VISION comes of
V V age-and that is an ideal time to
make plans for the future.
The suggestions made in the completed
questionnaires as regards future
articles and other features in VISION
have been most useful and where possible
these will be put into effect.
A number of requests were made for
articles on local history. As it happens,
Mr. Neville Little (Carpentry Shop) has
been preparing an article for us about
Mitcheldean in days gone by, and we
hope that it will be appearing in our
21st issue.
Various people have asked for holiday
stories, while others have pleaded for
more articles written by readers themselves.
Both requests will, we hope, be
met by a new competition which is open
to all our Mitcheldean Plant employees.
We’re calling this our ‘Holiday
Memory’ contest. All you have to do
is write an interesting account of your
holiday (or part of it) this year, whether
spent at home or away. Choose what
style you like-make it amusing, or
fact-packed, or. if it was that sort of
holiday, dramatic!
The last date for receiving entries is
November 4 so make a note in your
diary now. There’s only one condition:
6
the articles should run to not more than
1,000 words and not less than 300.
The first prize of three guineas will
be awarded to the writer of the article
which, in the opinion of an independent
judge, makes most interesting reading.
The runner-up will win one guinea.
The winning entries will be published
in an issue of VISION early in 1964,
together with any suitable photographs
available-though these will make no
difference to the rating of the article.
How about it? It’s one way to help
recoup those holiday expenses. Your
articles can be handed to the Editor or
posted to her at: Fair View, Plump
Hill, Mitcheldean.
MOTORING MATTERS
by our Special Correspondent
WELL,
the fastest production car in
the factory has had a bash. Yes,
you’ve guessed-it’s Jack Turley’s Jag.
“I was driving up the Folly and about
to overtake this van, when all of a sudden
the silly so-and-so braked, and I had no
chance to avoid a smack,” were Jack’s
words.
The van driver, whose name I dare
not print, had braked to avoid one of
those objects we motorists meet in the
‘Forest’-none other than a sheep.
Talking new cars, I see Eric Faulkner
has a new Herald and apparently is now
the Works Chauffeur from King’s
Square.
Bob Greenman now drives a newish
A40 Farina around: probably copying
Malcolm Dunn who has the identical
model. But don’t argue with Malcolm
because, as one of his friends put it,
“He’s a puffed-up welterweight!”
Colin Pincombe has a new car,
namely, a Popular. He’s had a little
teething trouble-only a broken air
connection pipe from the carb to the
wiper reservoir. Still, even little
things can be awkward.
Some good news, though, for Rank
motorists is that a new entrance appears
to be taking shape by the canteen. I
have been told confidentially that in
fact this is F.W.’s exit to R.S.G.6,
Somewhere-in-Berks., in the event of
the Russians dropping a hydrogen bomb
and ruining the next Xerox project.
I hear Terry Morton, driving a Mini
flat out into the ‘Main Street’, Coleford,
has rather changed the blue colour it is
supposed to be to a scratched, burned
black. Still, not a bad camouflage, is it?
And who do you think is the first man
through the main gates every evening at
5.10 p.m., in what can only be described
as a massed start? Why, none other
than-
PTO
Don’t worry, the card will be turned
around in the next edition!
16 mm. instructional and information films play an important part in courses of advanced training
held at the Police College, Bramshill, Hants. Two Bell & Howell 642 sound projectors have been
installed in the projection room of the Assembly Hall and here one of the staff is seen adjusting a
projector by watching the screen through the viewing port on the extreme right of the picture.
PRESS OFFICE
7
HAVE you ever tried to clean your
own sooty chimney? 1 mean by a
home-concocted, do-it-yourself, or rather
do-it-your-own-way, method.
Well, ours had been sooted up for
weeks, and my mother had been intending
to write to our sweep. Mr. Dee-fickulty.
At least, that’s what we used to
call him, because he once remarked,
“That’s the dee-fick-ulty. mum, your
chimbly won’t let go of me brush,”
when it got caught in the bend. Funny
how the name stuck, like his brush.
“No, mother, no,” I said, when she
remarked “I must write to Mr. Deefick-
ulty about our sooty chimney.”
“No, 1 am going to clean it with a
do-it-yourself mixture 1 am going to
make.”
“Really, George, is it safe?” she asked
anxiously.
“Of course it’s safe. The book I got
it from swears by it-can’t possibly
cause any trouble, and your chimney
will be cleaner than Mr. D. can do it.
and what is more you won’t have another
brush stuck halfway up!”
Now don’t disappoint me,” I continued,
“I have already bought the necessary
chemicals: all I have to do is to
mix them, light a big fire and throw
them on, and in a few minutes the job
w ill be done.”
-Well, if you do it. don’t try it
today,” my mother said. -I have just
cleaned that room out: we had better
put some dust sheets over the furniture
tomorrow morning, and you can try it
then.”
‘Reckon they’ve a bad chimney fire there.”
8
A true story of one of
his youthful adventures
told and illustrated by
L. G. MILLER (Design D.0.)
THE D.
“Dust sheets!” I said indignantly.
“You won’t need ’em!”
First thing next morning, while my
mother was preparing breakfast, 1 lit
the front room fire, then I went outside
in the garden and prepared my concoction.
My father did not arise very early, and
was still in bed upstairs. This was
fortunate: I had no wish for him to
know what was going on.
I had made up a large sheet-iron cover
for the fireplace the day before. This
was to put over the front of it so that
the fire would draw up brightly. I
returned to the front room and saw the
fire was burning nicely. I’ll build up a
nice fire, I thought, as I shovelled on
plenty of coal: then I put the sheet of
iron in position to draw it up. I went
back to my mixture.
“What are you doing, George,” my
mother asked, “going in and out like
that? Your breakfast will be ready in
a minute!”
“All right, Ma,” I replied. “I’m just
about to clean the chimney. I’ll put
the mixture on in a minute, and it will
be doing the cleaning while we are
having breakfast.” But my mother was
busy with the bacon.
Little Extra for Luck
Giving the mixture a final stir, I
wondered whether I should put in a
little extra of each chemical, for I must
admit I had rather lost count of the
proportions of the various ingredients
I was mixing. However, I put in two
extra trowelsfull of each, for luck.
I picked up my pail of do-it-yourself
cleaner. and walked into the house, full
of pride. During my preoccupation
with the chemicals some little time had
SWE
elapsed. 1 reached the front room. 1
noticed the heat. I noticed the red-hot
sheet-iron. I also noticed the rumble,
as of distant thunder. Rushing hastily
forward, the cleaner dropping from my
hand, I grabbed the fire tongs and poker
and wrenched away the cover.
Never before have I seen such a fireexcept
on bonfire night-and then certainly
not in our grate, not in our front
room!
Rumble rumble! Roar roar! The
heat was terrific. Appalled, I fled into
the hall. A loud knock on the front
door broke through to my panic-stricken
consciousness. It was my friend Ralph,
who lived next door.
“What on earth is going on, George?
Your chimneys are nearly blotting out
the entire neighbourhood with sooty
smoke.”
“It’s the chimney, I was just trying to
clean it,” I said, my voice quavering.
Mother Overcome
He walked in, just as my mother came
into the hall from the kitchen. “Why,
hallo, Ralph . . .” she began, and then
both caught sight of the Inferno through
the front room door.
“Oh! George, what hare you been
doing?” She sank into our hall chair,
and promptly put both forefingers
tightly in her ears, closing her eyes, and
bowing her head nearly to her knees-a
characteristic attitude she adopted in
extreme anxiety. Ralph, his eyelids
drooping, his shoulders bowed, placed
one hand comfortingly on my mother’s
shoulder, at which she began to sway
from side to side. I raced into the
garden: anything to get away from that
horrific scene!
I ran to the end of our little garden.
and looked up at our familiar pots.
Small comfort. From the offender,
thick yellow smoke poured out. It
seemed the smoke was frantically struggling
out, as if to free itself from the
confines of that sooty flue. Once out,
it was rapidly spreading to form a
massive yellow cloud which was drifting
slowly down the road. Already the
High Street was affected: familiar landmarks
were being steadily blotted from
view.
I rushed along our side entrance to
the road, which 1 crossed, and stood
looking up at our chimney, trying to
convince myself that the smoke was
decreasing-but it wasn’t. Loud reports
and sharp cracks could now be heard, as
large pieces of brickwork flew from the
red-hot wall, and the chimney-pot disintegrated.
Sparks and flames could
now be seen as well.
“.4ddress?” the man snapped.
An old man, wheeling a bicycle.
walked up and stood beside me.
“Reckon they’ve a bad chimney fire
there.” His voice struck to the very
root of my panic. All along I had been
trying to console myself. “It’s not a
fire really: why, it’s nearly out: look,
the smoke is decreasing: it w ill be all
right.” The second opinion, however,
expressed by this elderly and no doubt
experienced spectator, caused my spirits
to sink to rock bottom. “It’s our
chimney,” I said, without pride.
“In that case there’s only one thing
you can do-get the Fire Brigade
quick!- he said.
The fire engine! Oh no, not that!
But there was no help for it. I turned
9
My father . . was looking out of the window
see where the fire could be.
to
automatically and walked in a daze
towards the Station just up our road.
“What do you do?” I wondered,
gazing at those massive, awesome doors.
“Press that big bell push marked
‘FIRE ? No, better have a quiet word
with one of the men first.”
I pulled back one of the large doors,
and entered the hall. Two engines were
standing there ready-gleaming, spotless.
1 caught sight of a door, vaguely
conscious of a man seated at a desk
writing. I approached him. “Oh,
er . . . good morning!” I began. He
gave me a quick glance, continuing his
writing the while. “I’ve a little difficulty
with a chimney-nothing serious, you
understand,” 1 said, trying to appear
unconcerned. “1 don’t want any
fuss.. .”
“Address?” the man snapped, as he
leaned forward and pressed a button.
Immediately a loud bell rang through
the building. “Address?” he repeated.
“No. 2, just down the road,” I shouted
above the din. Men were appearing
from everywhere, donning their coats as
they came. Others were climbing on to
one of the engines. My man repeated
the address to the driver. The great
doors slid open and with a roar the
giant vehicle lurched forward. Now
the ringing was taken up by a fireman
on the engine. as it turned in the direction
of our house. I followed slowly.
Already the firemen had reached the
scene of the conflagration. Already
they were springing off the engine, each
10
occupied with his particular job. Various
appliances could be seen as they were
rushed into our house.
When I entered the house once more
I saw that a large tarpaulin had been
spread over the floor, and the fire had
been raked out and deposited in the
garden. A fireman was busily pumping
water up the chimney flue.
“Anything I can do?”
“No, sir, it’s all under control, thank
you.” I thought perhaps I had done
enough already.
My father, hearing all the commotion,
had risen from his bed, and was looking
out of the \N indow to see where the fire
could be. lie turned in surprise as a
brawny fireman opened the door of the
bedroom and walked in.
“It’s all right, sir, don’t mind me,
just a routine check. I’m like that in
the morning myself,” he added with a
grin. It was only then my father realised
the fire was in our house!
Meanwhile yet another fireman had
found his way into the loft and was
thumping around on the ceilings, looking
for possible stray sparks which
might have entered through the roof.
Finally the fire was quelled. All was
safe.
“I’ll clear up,” I said, anxious to
make amends.
“Oh no, sir, that’s our job.” grinned
the Captain of the Brigade.
All Part of the Service
My mother, pacified, was preparing
tea for the men. Ralph had left. From
my father, strangely enough, there came
no sound. Perhaps he was too overcome
with surprise: after all, it isn’t every day
you have a fireman walk into your bedroom
unannounced! Just as the men
were leaving I asked the Captain
anxiously how much all this was going
to cost. “Nothing, sir, it all comes from
the rate your dad pays.”
Sometime later a brand new chimneypot
adorned our roof. My father was
heard to say that, well, it had turned
out satisfactorily after all. We had
since made a little donation to one of
the firemen’s funds and also sent a
letter of appreciation to their head office.
“Yes,” I said, “and we won’t need
Mr. Dee-fick-ulty for that chimney for
a long time.” I certainly had no intention
of ‘doing’ it again myself!
a
‘Dear old pals’-Tommy
Knight, Stan Richardson,
‘Taffy’ Morgan and
Jock Currie.
Photos : c. MALSOM
SIX AWARDS AT TENTH DINNER
Long Service Ladies-
Miss I. Stanton,
P. Bourne, Mrs. E.
Rodway, Mrs. R.
Cinderby and Mrs. G.
Martin.
PRESENTATIONS
were made by Mr.
T. A. Law, L.S.A. President, to six
people who had completed 25 years’
service with the Company at the recent
Tenth Annual Dinner of the Mitcheldean
Long Service Association. They
were: Mr. W. E. Blaich, Mr. H. S.
Phillips, Mr. S. G. Richardson, Mr. W.
Stearn, Mr. G. E. Weatherley and Mr.
R. W. Wrigglesworth. Mr. Phillips,
speaking for them all, thanked the
Company and the Long Service Association.
The dinner was held at the Chase
Hotel, Ross-on-Wye, and was very
much enjoyed by the 125 members and
guests present-among them representafives
from the L.S.A. groups of the Rank
Organisation from Leeds, Leicester,
Perivale, and London (Woodger Road).
After dinner music for dancing was
supplied by Mr. G. Douglas’ band,
with vocals by Mr. T. Knight.
At the Annual Meeting of the L.S.A.,
held in the Club House on May 6, the
following members were elected to the
Committee: Miss D. Barker, Mr. J.
Currie, Mr. F. J. Edwards, Mr. D.
Peates, Mr. H. S. Phillips, Miss S.
Powell and Mr. L. Tuffiey. The Chairman,
Mr. R. H. Camp, and Hon.
Treasurer, Mr. C. W. Bird. both hold
office for another year.
Award winners Messrs. Wrigglesworth, Phillips, Richardson, Stearn and Blaich pose with President
Mr. T. A. Law.
ODD MAN OUT
As they huddled together.
Each one shook his head.
“It’s easy to see-.
Every one of them said.
“It just CAN’T be done-
There just isn’t a doubt;
The whole thing’s imposs;
There’s not a way out.
We haven’t got this,
We haven’t got that.
How the heck could we tell
If the damned thing was flat?
And just look at these bends!
We’d need a new set of rolls
And a brand new jig-borer
To space out these holes.
To be fair to ourselves
Well. let’s get it straight.
All the tools we have here.
Well, they’re all out of date.
To tackle the job
Would be folly to try.
No! Can’t be done here;
Let’s tell the boss why.”
But one little fellow
Just listened and heard,
And sat there and thought
Without saying a word.
With hammer and chisel.
A file and a drill.
He emptied his pipe
And went out with a will.
Then he took off his coat.
Made a practical bid.
And what couldn’t be done-
He flipping -well did!
For the above poem we are indebted to the
Engineering Employer? West of England
csociation Department of Work Study
& Staff Training
NO ESCAPE
A FuN\\ thing happened to Philip
Davis (Plating Shop) while he was
holidaying in Holland at Easter-time.
He and his wife stopped overnight in
Antwerp, and what should be the very
first thing they saw in the cold morning
light but a Rank Xerox van pulling up
outside a shop opposite their hotel.
Said his wife: “We can’t get away from
it, can we?”
12
Fishing for Bait
FIVE members from the Mitcheldean
Angling Club went to Pembroke for the
day recently-and had the time of their
lives.
From the Pembroke Sea Angling
Club they received warm hospitality and
some valuable lessons on sea angling.
First they went ‘fishing’ for bait.
They dug for lugworms with forks and
learned how to salt out razor fish (a
kind of shellfish between three and seven
inches long). The salt is poured down
into their holes and they, fooled into
thinking the tide has come in, pop up
out of their hiding-places.
The group were then taken to Freshwater
West beach where they were
provided with tea and sandwiches by
the ladies.
The Pembroke Club provided the
necessary tackle and acted as guides.
offering the full benefit of their experience.
The new angling season started on
June 16 and secretary J. D. Williams
says that the programme will include
various contests with other clubs and
trips to new waters,
Chess Club Changes
THE Chess Club Committee, elected at a
recent meeting. is as follows: Organiser:
D. Parkinson (Tool Room); Treasurer:
P. Trollope (Machine Shop Progress):
Secretary: J. Wedderburn (Tool Room).
A vote of thanks was accorded to the
outgoing Committee for their efforts
during the last three years. and regret
expressed at the departure of Mr. J.
Clare. former Organiser, to London.
He takes with him a silver cup won in
the Club Championship (Individual).
The new Treasurer. Mr. Trollope. was
also presented with a cup as winner of
the League Championship (Individual).
Parting Gift
MR. J. HAMBREY, Works Manager at
Woodger Road, who is leaving the
Organisation to go into private
business, has been presented with an
eight-day clock by members of the Long
Service Association and friends at
Mitcheldean. Mr. Hambrey was for
many years Chief Inspector at Mitcheldean.
0
7 7 7 ANY ANSWERS 7 7 7
WHICH unfortunate husband gets dog meat for his supper?
WHICH bachelor is inviting the girls to view his “etchings”?
WHO ran to catch a works bus home, then remembered just as it was starting that
he had come to work in his own car?
WHICH engineer went one better-he got all the way home, by bus, had tea, decided
to go out and only then remembered he had gone to work in his car?
WHICH young lady washed her ‘smalls’ and hung them on the office radiator
to dry?
WHAT gentleman is losing weight over his romance?
WHO had the measles at an age when he ought to know better?
WHO went to the Stationery Room, found she was the only one there, then realised
later she was a day early?
WHICH gentleman had to enlarge his garage to accommodate his new and somess hat
larger car? Is it true he carries his old one in the boot of his new one?
WHO is believed to be setting up in the fish and chip business, having taken delivery
of a hundredweight of potatoes?
WHO tried to throw some light on the pole star with a torch?
WHO bought a pair of shoes and found he needed two left feet?
WHO, when asked to remove his braces for an X-ray, peeled off no less than three
pullovers?
WHICH assistant lost a brand-new stapling machine?
WHO put a brick under his van wheels because he had no hand-brake?
WHO was bashing away at 3 a.m. when he had his wind cut off?
WHO was it who borrowed boots to come to work and returned them to the
owner minus the laces?
WHICH big game hunter went out after pigeons and bagged a cuckoo?
WHO got all dressed up in motor-cycle gear-crash helmet, the lot-then travelled
by car?
WHO tried to solder N%itlimit her iron fixed on?
WHO thought the recent mass chest X-rays might reveal a missing vice?
WHICH football player helped a club out by playing for them until half-time, when
he suddenly left to go and play for his own club?
WHO unexpectedly volunteered to work overtime one day, after hearing that his
in-laws were paying a visit?
WHICH young and eligible bachelor is starting a ‘bottom drawer’, having acquired
two pillow-slips? (Unmarried girls, please note!)
WHICH male capstan operator put his ‘maiden name’ on his X-ray form?
WHO, after being on a diet for only a week, found his trousers fell down when he
coughed?
WHO brought one of his mates some Brussels sprouts plants crossed with a pickling
cabbage?
13
Your Club Gets a
NEW NAME NEW COLOURS NEW PROGRAMME
THE Annual General Meeting of the
Sports and Social Club took place on
April 27- somewhat later than usual
owing to the bad winter weather.
Twenty people attended, including seven
of the 14 Committee members.
In his report, the Chairman, Mr. R. H.
Camp, said that he hoped dances and
social evenings would be arranged to
take place when the new canteen building
was completed and that greater
efforts would be made to encourage
visits to and from other clubs and to
provide attractions that would make the
Club a real success. He thanked the
present Committee for their support
over the year, not forgetting the bar
steward and stewardess and the ladies
who had kindly helped with the refreshments
on social evenings.
GREEN AND WHITE
After the Treasurer’s and Secretary’s
reports had been presented, Mr. J. Clare
proposed that where subsections of the
Club, i.e. Angling, Chess, etc., had
definite proposals to make to the main
Committee, a representative of the subsection
concerned should be allowed to
attend the main meetings of the Committee.
It was unanimously agreed that
this should be incorporated in the rules.
The subject of renaming the Social
Club was brought up by Mr. D. Fisher.
Mr. Woods proposed that it should be
known as ‘The Rank Mitcheldean
Sports and Social Club’. Mr. Fisher
also asked if the Club colours could be
changed from black and amber to green
and white. Both proposals were agreed
by all present.
TEN PIN BOWLING
Mrs. J. Smith asked whether it would
be possible to have a Ten Pin Bowling
Alley installed on the premises. The
Chairman replied that this would prove
too expensive and the Secretary was
asked if he would arrange a visit to the
nearest such bowling alley if sufficient
employees were interested.
The question of whether tombola
evenings could take place on every
alternate Saturday was raised by Mr.
14
W. A. Gaylard; it was thought this
would be possible provided the Tombola
Section could guarantee over 30 members
taking part, and the matter was
left to be discussed at the next Committee
meeting.
ANNUAL SPORTS DAY?
Mr. W. Morgan asked if the Annual
Sports Day could be revived. The
Chairman stated that every effort had
been made to do this previously, but
the response had been negligible. However,
Mr. Morgan was asked to form a
committee to see if such an event could
be organised.
A Dance and Social for the Under-
Thirties was held on June 22 in the
Club House, following the very successful
event held for the Over-Thirties.
Improvements to the Club House
recently have included some attractive
murals which have greatly improved
the appearance of the place, and some
wall seating is now in process of being
installed.
COMMITTEE ELECTED
The following are the Committee
members for 1963/64 and the departments
they represent: Group I (Xerox
Assembly & Warehouse) Miss M.
Knight; Group 2 (Xerox Machine, Paint
& Sheet Metal Shop Inspection) Mr. G.
Bayliss; Group 3 (Bell & Howell
Assembly & inspection) Mr. D. Fisher:
Group 4 (Production Control, Progress
Dept., Warehouse) Miss E. Milford:
Group 5 (Engineering Depts., Executive
Floor) Mr. H. Fisher: Group 6 (Commercial
& Administrative Offices) Mrs.
S. Buckman: Group 7 (Tool Room,
Press, Autos, Small Batch, 550 Area.
Gate House, Inspection) Mr. D. Cook:
Group 8 (Bell & Howell M/C Shop.
Tool Stores, Paint Shop, Heat Treatment,
Met. Lab. Inspection) Mr. E.
Lark: Group 9 (Polishing, Plating, First
Aid, Canteen, Small Batch, Inspection)
Mr. W. A. Gaylard: Group 10 (Experimental,
Makings Bldg., Old Admin.
Block, Maintenance, Work Study) Mr.
F. Pritchard.
e
Putting YOU
in the Picture
New Appointments
At the end of April, the Tool Design
Department came under the control of
Mr. J. Tester, who is directly responsible
to the Chief Production Engineer, Mr.
E. Mason.
Mr. A. Jones has been appointed Senior
Planning Engineer. Bell & Howell
Products: he is taking over the duties
formerly performed by Mr. D. C.
Ashall who has resigned to take up a
position outside the Group.
Mr. W. Nivison has been appointed
Chief Time Study Engineer, following
the appointment of Mr. D. F. Griffiths
as head of the new ‘Forward Planning’
Department (about which we hope to
give details in our next issue).
Mr. C. R. Steward, Personnel Officer,
has been appointed Safety Officer for
the Plant. He will continue to act
as Chairman of the Safety Committee.
Newly Engaged
Winifred Harper (Xerox Assembly)
to Mr. R. Childs (Xerox Machine Shop)
on April 15.
Newly Married
Miss Betty Ruck (Paint Shop) on April
27 to Mr. G. Jones at St. Giles Church,
Goodrich.
Miss Josie Harris (formerly Purchase
Department) to Mr. J. Thomas on
May 25.
Miss Connie Waites (Wages) to Mr. R.
Williams at Ruardean Church, on
June 22.
Newly Born
Janet Ruth. a daughter for Mr. M.
hitson (Lister truck driver) on May 14.
21st Birthdays
Mr. John Harris (Tool Room) on
May 22.
Miss Dorothy Hemms (Assembly Office)
on May 24.
AUTUMN COMPETITIONS
OWING to difficulties over holidays, it
has been decided to leave the annual
table tennis and darts competitions
until the autumn.
Mr. and Mrs. G. Jones after their wedding
at St. Giles Church, Goodrich.
CINE SALE
A VERY successful Jumble Sale held by
the Cine Club at St. Michael’s Hall,
Mitcheldean, realised £8 for the club
funds.
Organiser was Miss Doris Barker of
Assembly, and the Committee wish to
thank her and all the lady helpers for
their good work.
Mr. C. Malsom (Tool Room) won
the raffle prim.
VITAL STATISTICS
APPROXIMAT I I 1 600 men and 200
women from the factory went for chest
X-rays when the mobile unit visited
Mitcheldean recently.
As one girl remarked: “It looks as
though the men are more concerned
about their chests than the women!”
HOME MARKET
Wanted-Second hand Model 605A
cine camera. Reply to: Mr. D. Manby,
Mechanical Laboratory.
For Sale-I955 Matchless Clubman
500 cc. Twin in good condition. MOT
Certificate. £40. Enquiries: 2 Church
Road, Cindcrford.
Pedigree mice (tame) for sale, 2s. each
or 30s. a dozen! Apply G. Ashford,
Work Study.
Printed by The Victor James Press Limited, Couisdon, Surrey
15
