73 No 86 House Magazine of Rank Xerox Mitcheldean Plant
We meet the Mayor of Gloucester
We were pleased to welcome Mr Alf Rich, the
Mayor of Gloucester, to the Plant on February 16.
He came with the Mayoress, the City High
Sheriff of Gloucester, Mr J. Robins, and his wife,
and the Deputy Mayor, Mr W. W. W. Finch.
After being given a demonstration of our •machines
at a Manufacturing Group reception, the party
went on a tour of the Plant, taking in the Machine
Shop, 4000 Assembly, the Tool Room, Auto
Plating and Electrical Sub-Assembly. Following
lunch with members of management, the tour
continued in the Personnel area and Apprentices
Training School, and included a meeting with
Mitcheldean shop stewards. For the Mayor the
visit provided an opportunity to renew an old
acquaintance — he was a union representative at
WhitworthIGloster Aircraft Company when
Mr Lyes, Manager, Personnel—Manufacturing
Group, was personnel manager there. Our picture
shows the Mayor meeting Jim Blake, a blind
assembly operator on the 4000 floor. Making the
introduction is Ralph Zimmermann, 4000 Assembly
Manager.
Community Centre
The projected Community Centre for Mitcheldean
village was £1,000 nearer completion after a
reception for members of the Community
Association at the Plant on February 6.
A cheque for this sum was handed over by
General Manager Peter Salmon as a token of the
Company’s interest in the maintenance of a
healthy community spirit in Mitcheldean.
Commenting on the happy relationship which
existed between the Company and the village, and
the neighbourly way in which the latter had
accepted the occasional inconveniences of ‘having
a big enterprise on your doorstep’, Mr Salmon
said : ‘It is sometimes difficult to know just how
large the involvement of a company should be in
the life of the community. We don’t want to do a
“Big Brother” act. We view with great interest the
work of the Community Association and their
efforts to create a community centre in the village.
This is one area where we can help, and we hope
this cheque will perhaps help stimulate interest in
the project.’
From the Southern
Over here on a group tutorial organised by the
Industrial Society, of which our Company is a
member, a party of personnel officials paid a visit
to our Plant on February 6 to interchange ideas
and learn about our personnel policies. The course
members came from Zambia, India, Sierra Leone,
Kenya, Nepal, Swaziland, Barbados, Zaire (Congo)
and Hong Kong. Our approach to consultation
and negotiation was explained to them by
Royston Charles; he also talked about
communications, emphasising the importance of
relating information. Payment structure was the
subject of another talk by Bernard Morris, the
day’s programme also including a tour of the
Plant and lunch at the Manor House Hotel,
Longhope.
Mr Banda of Zambia, leader of the party,
introduces Mr Gopal of India (seated) to works
convenor Gordon Bourne and his deputy
Joe Burke.
2
gets £1,000 boost
Thanking the Company for their generosity,
association chairman Ray Davies enlarged on the
great need that existed for such a centre to cater
for the various organisations now that the village
had no hall. The association had been doing their
best to further the scheme; during the past year
they had raised £370 by their own efforts and
doubled their membership into the bargain.
A site had been offered to them on Mitcheldean
Playing Fields and plans and costings were being
prepared. (These fields, incidentally, were given
to the village by Mr Wintle of Wintle’s Brewery
which became the first production unit of the
Mitcheldean Plant.)
Guests at the reception included Aid. F. G. Little
(vice-chairman of Gloucestershire County Council),
Aid. E. Cooke (chairman of East Dean Rural
District Council), Mr K. W. Harris (clerk),
Mr R. E. Cadle (County Councillor for the area),
Mr J. C. Merry (chairman of Mitcheldean Parish
Council) and Mr G. Elcock (clerk).
Hemisphere
A team from Xerox Corporation’s plant at Resende
near Rio de Janeiro — where Don Presdee is
assisting in the setting up of a 660 manufacturing
capability — arrived on January 22 to spend a
month with us looking at our systems and
procedures with a view to adopting, or adapting,
them at Resende. After presentations on the 660
viewed from manufacturing, engineering,
production and quality control, and productivity
services aspects, each of our visitors spent the rest
of their stay studying specific areas of interest.
Engineering manager Durval Machado, tooling
engineer Henrique Filho, and production control
manager Cesar Borges were looked after by Bill
lies (Reconditioning Operations) and Frank
Edwards (Training) who ensured that they
received all the help they required.
Bill lies (far left) and Frank Edwards with our
visitors from Brazil during a tour of the Plant.
Ray Davies, ctiairman of the Community
Association, shows the £1,000 cheque to some
committee members of the association who worii
at the Plant. From the left are Phyl Christopher.
Clive Brain, Bob Young, Pamela Bolton, Harcourt
Davies and his daughter Rosemary who was
Mitcheldean’s carnival queen last August.
(Vice-chairman Harcourt and chairman Ray are
unrelated, by the way!)
The train now
leaving platform 8
is the ^Chester
Carlson^
Named ‘Chester Carlson’ after the inventor of the
xerography process, a specially-equipped Rank
Xerox train left Euston Station on February 13 for
a two-year tour of East Europe promoting our
range of copiers and copier-duplicators.
During its tour it will visit 63 towns in seven
countries, covering over 10,000 miles (16,550
kilometres). The seven countries are Rumania,
Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland Czechoslovakia
and the German Democratic Republic.
Negotiations are in process for a tour of the
USSR in 1975. At the request of Rank Xerox
Italy, the train will visit Novara, Alessandria,
Piacenza, Brescia and Udine en route to East
Europe.
Welcoming guests at the launching ceremony
from the seven East European countries which the
train will visit. Chairman J. Maldwyn Thomas
said, ‘I make no secret of the fact that I would like
to see our trade with Eastern Europe grow very
much faster than the rest of our business, so that
it becomes a larger percentage of the whole,
reflecting more accurately the size and importance
of Eastern Europe.’
Converted and fitted out at a cost of £60,000, the
five-coach train is made up of t w o showroom
coaches for machine demonstration, a service
Gordon Planner (left). General Manager, Rank
Xerox East European Operations, shows Lord
Limerick, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Trade, around the EEO promotional train. The
launching of the ‘Chester Carlson’ was performed
by Lord Limerick.
coach containing a kitchen, dining-room and
accommodation, a club car containing a visitor’s
lounge and conference room, and a storage coach
carrying motor generators. The interiors and
exteriors of the coaches have been specially
designed for our Company.
Visitors to the train will be able to see the full
range of Rank Xerox copiers and duplicators
marketed in East Europe, and discuss their needs
with specialist staff. Information covering the
Rank Xerox computer range and other products
will also be available.
3
New Appointments
Arthur Cooper (right) has now been joined by
Kevin Horrobin and the two assistant managers
worl< ‘in harness’ in 4000 Assembly, reporting to
Ralph Zimmermann. Arthur started in 1963 as an
operative on the 813 floor and within the year
had been promoted to main line chargehand. He
transferred to Remodelling as supervisor in 1968
and took up his present position last August. His
two daughters both work at the Plant, Helen in
Finance & Administration and Susan in
Reconditioning Operations. Off-duty Arthur
devotes much time to public work, being a member
of West Dean RDC and Lydbrook Parish Council
and a governor of Berry Hill Secondary Modern.
He is also chairman of Mushet United FC. One of
our youngest assistant managers, Kevin joined us
eight years ago as a technical apprentice. After
gaining his HNC, he worked as a production
trainee under Stan Scott, during which time he
became chargehand on 3600 Assembly,
subsequently being promoted to supervisor,
4000 Assembly, A keen rugby enthusiast he is
secretary of the Forest of Dean Rugby
Combination. His brother Keith also works at
Mitcheldean, in the Machine Shop.
Tliose Crushing Draughtsmen
The Inter-Design Skittles Knock-out Tournament
attracted 16 teams this year (many masquerading
under pseudonyms), and included three ladies’
teams. The ladies unfortunately fell at the first
hurdle but went down fighting. Giant-killers in
the first round were the Avengers, led by
Roy Barton, 10 pin winners over hotly tipped
Reliability, and Nondescripts, led by Don Jeffries,
26 pin winners over the Model Shop.
Avengers fell at the next hurdle but Nondescripts
continued their giant-killing ways by defeating
Ardrionians by 26 pins. Meanwhile, Draughting,
the favourites, were crushing all before them on a
relentless march to the final.
The most exciting game of the tournament was the
semi-final between Nondescripts and the
ever-confident Whopitupums. The by now
famous Nondescripts ‘KOP’ cheered and chanted
their team on and the game was evenly balanced
until the final leg. Some Cassius Clay-type
talking preceded the final in the Club House but
with Draughting firing on all eight cylinders and
setter Bernard Aubrey (45) in fine form, the
result soon became evident. Draughting running
out easy 32 pin winners.
The individual tankard for the highest score
during the tournament was a tie between Harry
Hale (Avengers) and Andrew Phillips
(Whopitupums) with 49 each. Andrew won the
bowl off on the finals night.
The tropies were presented to the winners by
Jack Timms, Drawing Office Services Manager.
Thanks are due to Richard Matthews who
organised the whole show. Derrick Kear
The triumphant Draughting team pose with their
newly won shield.
ANY NEWS FOR V I S I O N?
If you have, then please —
• let your departmental correspondent know,
• or leave it at any Gate House for
collection by me,
• or post it to me at Tree Tops, Plump Hill,
Mitcheldean,
• or ring me — it’s Drybrook 415.
Myrtle Fowler, Editor
4
John Court and Len Laken chat to VISION about their visit to London
ON GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Government Departments are the biggest of our UK customers. Our UK
Company’s Government Branch, which looks after their requirements, recently
invited some representatives from Mitcheldean to see their side of the business.
Here chatting over a copier with Co-ordinator Bobbie Warren and Manager
James Harrison {second and fourth from left) are Len Laken, Quality Control
Liaison Engineer, Reconditioning Group, Bob Baker (just retired), and John
Court, Manager. Component Manufacturing (Finishing).
J o h n : When we’ve taken parties of Government
Department print managers round the Plant,
our Government Branch people have often
talked about organising a return visit for us so
we could see what goes on at the other end.
Len: Even so, this invitation for February 1
came as a pleasant surprise.
John: At Rank Xerox House we met Bobbie
Warren and James Harrison of Government Branch.
Bobbie came with us to the Houses of Parliament,
our first call, where a guide showed us round.
Len: Yes, he was very good, wasn’t he? The
House of Commons wasn’t in session so he was
able to show us round the Chamber. Then we
went through to the House of Lords — they
were in session but they’d gone to lunch. Of
course, we didn’t go further than the bar. (The
bar? Can’t put that in VISION. But Len has
noted our editorial panic. .. .) There’s this
barrier, you see, and they only allow members
beyond that point.
J o h n : It was all incredibly beautiful —the
panelling, the paintings, the Robing Chamber.
Len: Especially the Chapel in the Crypt.
John: The part I found most interesting was
when we went out on the terrace and had a
drink in the Strangers’ Bar with the Chief
Accountant of the House of Commons, John
Wilkin. Oh, and we did see Ian Paisley, the
Ulster MP, using a 3600. Two of our machines
are installed there for the use of members. He
wasn’t using green paper though I
Len: After that we went to the Army & Navy
Club. Do you remember, John ? — we saw all
those rows of hat boxes on shelves. The porter
told us that club members keep their bowlers in
these boxes so that when they come up from
the country they can exchange their deerstalkers
or what-have-you for the correct head-gear.
J o h n : We went to New Scotland Yard after
lunch and walked round the Black Museum.
It isn’t open to the public, so that made it all the
more interesting. They’ve lots of gruesome relics
such as the bath the brides were murdered in,
various items from Leatherhead Farm, famous
forgeries and so on. We saw the Yard’s print room
too. They had a 3600 and a 7000 and some
competitors’ machines as well. It brought home
to us the sort of competition we are up against.
Len: We were staying the night in London, so
the evening was ours. Press Officer Paul
Shambrook from Rank Xerox House took us to
dine at Stone’s Chop House in the Haymarket.
Bob and I chose saddle of mutton and
they brought the whole saddle and carved it in
front of us — it was magnificent. (Len’s eyes
misted at the memory!) We went to a show
afterwards but we’d rather not elaborate on that.
J o h n : If you must mention it, you can say one
doesn’t find this sort of thing in the Forest I
Len: But quite apart from that, we found it a
very enjoyable trip and it was interesting to see
our machines in service.
J o h n : Yes, we’d like to thank everyone,
particularly Bobbie Warren, for looking after us
so well.
Top pictures: (left) Eva Thomas
came in 1963, has been Print
Room supervisor since 1965. Her
son and daughter-in-law work at
the Plant too. She is seen against
the background of the ‘silver’
collection — copies of everything
that has been microfilmed in the
department. Keeping the filing upto-
date is Margaret Chadd; (centre)
Phyllis Jones obtains a print off
a microcard on an 1824 while
Jo Phillips time-stamps the
requisition. Most of the prints are
made from microcards to minimise
wear of the original drawings;
(right, top) Eileen Buffin, deputy
supervisor, has been with us ten
years. The 1860 printer she is
operating was the first to come to
the UK from Xerox; (right, bottom)
Dorothy Lewis is so attached to
the Ozalid machine she’d like to
take it with her when she retires
at the end of March I Below:
Senior supervisor Harry Hunt
pictured with Punch Room girls
Joan Dixey (standing) and Jill
Smith who is mounting microfilm
on punched aperture cards
(microcards). Below right: A
section of the Punch Room where
some two million cards were
produced last year to support the
overall RX Engineering records
and microfilm systems.
I T ‘S AL
Like the Technical Library which we featured
recently, the Print Room and its neighbour the
Punch Room are part of Engineering’s Drawing
Office Services, managed by Jack Timms.
The Drawing Office is upstairs in Building 38, the
Print and Punch Rooms downstairs; staffed
almost entirely by women, the latter cater for the
insatiable appetite of our Engineering procedures,
producing endless meals of prints, films and
punched cards.
Put in more prosaic terms, the Print Room
provides a reproduction and reprographic service
for the whole Plant, but the bulk of its work is for
Engineering, and it assists the draughtsmen in the
creation of new master drawings which are
ON THE CARDS
produced in the course of Engineering Order
change and issue procedures.
For the benefit of the uninitiated, Engineering
Orders are the documents which authorise clianges
in the design of our machines. Senior supervisor
Harry Hunt (he co-ordinates the activities of the
Print and Punch Rooms, Engineering Records and
International Communications) reckons that it
takes more than a year to master the complexities
of the Engineering systems which control design
changes from the ideas stage to the publication of
authorised documents.
As many readers are aware, modifications to our
machines, not only those still on the drawing
board but also those in production, come in from
a variety of sources — engineers in the field,
customers, Xerox Corporation.
All EOs have to filter through Engineering Records
who ensure that changes are actioned in the
correct sequence, and who control the issue of
the new drawings involved. They distribute the
EG documents (known as ‘hard copies’) to File
Control for computer input and other departments
for action.
But records have to be kept, not only at
Mitcheldean but also at other Engineering
locations within Rank Xerox, and the Punch Room
provides the necessary data processing facility —
which is where the cards come into the picture.
Using a ‘slave deck’ of cards containing basic
information for every RX drawing (part number,
size of drawing, product involved), plus the EO
and other documents, a whole new family of
punched cards of varying types is generated in the
Punch Room by means of punching reproducing,
interpreting and collating machines.
For each new drawing introduced or each
drawing change, approximately 20 cards are
generated. Add to this another 14 cards needed
for each page of the issuing EO, and it’s no
surprise to find that the number of punched cards
produced last year amounted to around two
million, an enormous but necessary pack for the
control of drawing masters and records and the
housing of microfilmed documents raised by the
Welwyn, Venray and Mitcheldean Engineering
activity.
About half of that t w o million consisted of
aperture cards (microcards) on which film
exposures of drawings or EOs, produced by the
Print Room, were mounted.
Punch Room supervisor Clyde Phillips told us:
‘All microfilming is at present on “silver”, but the
volume of the work has grown so much that it
has been decided to introduce later this year an
automatic card duplication process.’ The Print
Room will then film only four exposures from each
EO or drawing (about 250,000 exposures each
continued on p. 8
Microfilming is done by trained operators working
to strict photographic dark room procedures. Here
Dot Parker (left) and Mary Roberts prepare to
‘shoot’ some drawings. Films are processed and
sealed in tins before going into the Punch Room
for mounting.
year) and the other ten exposures needed (about
750,000 each year) will be duplicated by the new
process.
The microfilming and processing is carried out by
a dark room team ; recently acquired equipment
now enables them to produce photographic
enlargements of drawings direct from microfilm.
In the main area the Print Room do a roaring
trade in printed copies of drawings or EOs, using
Rank Xerox 1824 printers, a Xerox 1860 with a
reducing capability (five sizes), and an Ozalid
machine for dyelines.
People bring their print requisitions to a serving
hatch. These are taken in strict rotation but in a
case of great emergency one is brought to the
front of the queue. The trouble is that everyone
is convinced that theirs is such a case I
Lena Adams updates card control. These drawing
control cards on revolving decks show the
whereabouts of every one of the 70,000 original
design drawings held by the Print Room, and
control the sequence of revisions made to them. In
the background Eva Matthews is filing master
drawings in raised storage cabinets.
Supervisor Eva Thomas told us: ‘It’s not unknown
for us to get as many as ten people waiting for
service and we try to be as helpful as we can. We
give three quick prints to enable the “customer” to
carry on with his work and he comes back later
for the rest.’
Eva’s department is staffed entirely by married
women — many with six or more years’ service
behind them. There is frequent switching of jobs
within the area to help make the work more
varied and ensure flexibility.
If you haven’t had a surfeit of statistics already,
you may like to know that in a typical five-week
period the Print Room turned out no less than
57,198 prints plus 109 microfilm reels, each
100 ft long — enough to reach from Mitcheldean
to Drybrook!
;^\jttingYOUinthe picture
Births
Lisa, a daughter for Gerald Ward (3600 Progress)
and his wife Sheila (formerly Canteen).
Neil, a son for Ken Jones (Autos, RX Cinderford)
and his wife Cynthia, on January 17.
Steven Ken a son for Ken Buffin (660 Spares
Assembly) and his wife. Sue on February 10.
Engagements
Jenny Ebert (secretary to Gordon Nicol,
Mr Salmon’s PA) to Adrian Powell on December 3 1 .
Pamela Ireland (4000 Assembly) to David Hodges
on February 10. Pamela celebrated her 21st
birthday the day before, so it was a momentous
weekend I
Weddings
Jennifer Trigg (Canteen) to Edward Sleeman
(4000 Stores) at Lydney Register Office on
December 23.
Pete Skelton (Press Shop, RX Cinderford) to
Linda Harris at Gloucester Register Office on
January 13.
Obituary
We regret to have to record the deaths of the
f o l l o w i n g : Alf Evans (Machine Shop labourer) on
January 23 at the age of 60; Dudley Fletcher
(progress chaser. Model Shop) on February 1,
aged 4 9 ; Greta Marfell (Spares & Sub-Assembly)
on February 1 5.
8
Ray lends a hand —
and a cave —
to ATV team
You have to look below the surface if you want to
exploit the potential of the Forest of Dean. And
TV film producers, camera crews and actors in
search of a story or a setting have been going
underground quite a bit in this area recently.
Last January the BBC2 ‘Look Stranger’ series
showed a film on freemining in the Forest. Then,
the same month, ATV started filming a new
children’s thriller serial in and around Clearwell
Caves, Coleford. Called ‘The Jensen Code’, it is
about a 16-year-old boy from one of the poorer
districts in Birmingham who accidentally stumbles
on a plan which threatens NATO defence.
Said producer Alan Coleman: ‘Although the story
is set in the Derbyshire Peak District, we were
looking for any locations which would provide a
ruined farmhouse, a ‘Ministry of Defence’
establishment, and some caves that would not be
too inaccessible for camera equipment.’
They found that the area around Clearwell Caves
was just the job, and Clearwell Farm with its long
drive was designated the ‘secret Government
establishment’. The erection of a forbidding
archway, a name board and a load of plastic
barbed wire so transformed the entrance that
some visiting cavers were completely taken
in — figuratively speaking !
Before they could use the caves themselves, the
TV people had to get in touch with a section
leader in our Engineering Drawing Office— Ray
Wright. The caves are old iron workings, and Ray
and his freeminer brother Alan, a drill operator in
the Machine Shop, work the mine from time to
time.
Best w i s h e s to:—
Olive Trafford (Goods Inwards office) who
retired in February. Olive had been with us for 20
years; a member of the LSA, she was given a
cheque by the association when she left us. Her
son Graham works in Progress, another aspect of
Production Control:
Harry Weston (Despatch, Production Control),
who had clocked up ten years’service: and
Don Meek (Sheet Metal Shop, RX Cinderford),
who had been seven years with the Company.
They also retired in February.
Actor Tony Wright, who plays a leading part
in the serial, was ‘a little apprehensive at the
thought of pot-holing’: but he looks happy
enough, pictured here in the caves with Ray
Wright and his son Jonathan. The occasion was a
candle-lit barbeque and Ray’s Rank Xerox
colleagues were there in force.
Ray’s other interest in them is that of a promoter
of events such as barbecues, exhibitions and so on.
(He told us he has plans for establishing a
mining museum in the caves and is restoring an
old Fielding 1924 oil engine which will be used
to generate the electricity needed.)
The caves consist of six caverns; by blasting the
floor with gelignite Ray has opened these up so
the TV production team, unlike the BBC2 people
we mentioned earlier, didn’t have to suffer from
bent backs.
Some did find it tough working underground,
nonetheless. But as a founder member of the
Forest of Dean Caving Club and a member of the
Gloucestershire Cave Rescue team, Ray was well
qualified to help, advising them on how to cope
with conditions, not to mention a f ew cases of
claustrophobia. He was also able to obtain for the
team specialised equipment, such as the 40 lamps
and helmets and rescue equipment they needed.
In return the Rescue people received a donation
from ATV.
The production unit consisted of about 75 people,
plus all the numerous pieces of equipment (about
£1 million worth) that go to make up a
television production, including six expensive
cameras which had to be manhandled into the
bowels of the earth.
Just how successful they were you can judge if
you can be home in time to see ‘The Jensen Code’,
being screened at 4.50 pm on Wednesdays (fully
networked). Ray’s three children are watching
each episode with particular interest, needless to
say.
9
SP®RTS & SOCIAL
CLUB
Beauties & Bonanzas
The annual dance takes place around the same
time as the publication of this issue. This year the
contestants for the ‘Miss Rank Xerox, Mitcheldean’
are not being featured beforehand in VISION.
The judges, by the way, will be three
representatives of the Girling Sports & Social Club,
Cwmbran.
The draw for the next Bonanza car prize will also
take place at the annual dance. The committee
are sorry to say that, in view of the difficulty in
acquiring major prizes for the draw, there is to be
no cash option in the case of the mini car prizes.
As regards the other major prizes (colour TVs,
etc.), these are going to be reviewed in the near
future and any necessary changes will be made in
the draw so as to ensure that members get the
best value for money.
Give your feet a treat
If you see any expert footwork on the dance floor
on March 9, it’s very likely the feet belong to
members of the Ballroom Dancing Club. And if
you wish yours could do likewise, why not take
them to the classes which started on February 2
under the instruction of Don Wilson of the
Barbara Pearce School at Stroud. Anyone
wishing to learn is welcome to join the beginners
class, and all who can dance are invited to join the
Rank Dancing Club, provided they hold a Sports &
Social Club card.
Latest club member achievement is that of
Mary Meek of Central Records and her husband
Ken who have now passed the Gold Modern and
also have their bronze in Latin American.
At the last AGM a new committee was formed
with members as follows: Chairman—Ira Griffin
(PED, BIdg 2 9 ) ; /’/•easwAe/-—Sadie Scott (Spares &
Sub-Assembly); Secretary—Violet Wenderling
(Remodelling); Eileen Newman (4000 Assy) and
A. Wenderling.
Questionnaire results
Members may be interested in the results of the
questionnaire, designed to obtain accurate
figures on the expected usage of a new Sports
& Social Club facility, which was circulated a
few weeks ago. Of the 4,000 or so forms
distributed, about 3,000 were returned completed.
It has been ascertained that 59-5 per cent of the
membership reckon they would use such a
facility occasionally, 27 per cent regularly, and
only 13-5 per cent not at all.
Said chairman Ray Mann: ‘It is hoped that
sometime in March a special members’ meeting
may be called to discuss the situation with regard
to new facilities’.
Roll up Sor the
Silm show
The Gloucester Cine Trophy Competition is one
of many organised throughout the country by
groups of clubs either independently of, or under
the auspices of, the Institute of Amateur
Cinematographers. This competition was
initiated by the Gloucester Cine Club in 1967,
and the trophy donated by them has been
competed for annually by clubs from
Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire,
each club organising the festival and acting as
host in turn.
Last year another trophy was included — the
Vale Sound Trophy — for the best use of sound.
The Rank Xerox Amateur Cine & Photographic
Club (one of the few remaining links with Bell 8-
Howell) is a founder member of the group and
this year acts as festival organiser and host for
the first time — the date March 23 and the time
7.30 pm. Each club is allowed to enter one or
two films, but is limited to a total screening time
of 15 minutes.
If past competitions are a guide, the films
entered will range through fantasy, farce,
documentary and original story, all with sound
on magnetic stripe or tape. Some people still
express surprise that excellent sound can be
achieved on 8 mm film ! The Rank Xerox club is
unique in that this year’s entry (an original story
written by a club member) was shot on Fuji film
and uses sound on both stripe and tape.
The Cine Club has the full support of both the
Sports &• Social Club and of the Company for
this great event. The committee hopes it will have
the support of Rank Xerox employees at
Mitcheldean. The competition has in past years
attracted an audience of 300-400, limited in
some instances only by hall capacity, and we
hope this year will not be an exception.
We are obliged by the rules of the Governing
Committee to charge for tickets (25p each), but
as this will include refreshments it will be a
truly cheap evening’s entertainment. Jack Seal
10
Chess is here to stay
The interest aroused by the Wictcstead Shield
interdepartmental chess competition and the
match between ourselves and the Ross-on-Wye
Chess Club (reported below) has resulted in a
revival of the Chess Club. A committee has been
formed and a successful application made for
affiliation to the Sports & Social Club. Chairman
is John Ireland (Production Control, BIdg. 23),
secretary John Johnson (Development Lab.),
treasurer Dave Taylor (Production Control
BIdg. 44), with Ralph Zimmermann (4000 Assy)
and Harry Helm (PED Electrical) as committee
members. Harry has been running the
interdepartmental competition singlehanded (the
final was due to be played as we went to press)
so he has particular reason for welcoming this
development.
Anyone interested in this fascinating pastime
should contact members of the new committee.
Rumour has it that young ladies have been
enquiring about playing chess — this should add
a bit of excitement to things, even if it doesn’t
affect the standard of play of the currently
all-male membership.
RXCC show potential
The Rank Xerox Chess Club played hosts to (and
havoc with) the Ross-on-Wye Chess Club on the
evening of February 7.
HOME MARKET
For Sale
Beautifully grained and finished yew coffee table
3in. thick, genuine turned yew legs to match, a
real gem to grace anyone’s lounge. Large or small
wine-making wooden tubs 3ft. 15in. diameter,
adaptable for shrubs or flowers. To view ring
Longhope 350.
1968 Cortina 1300, excellent condition, £460.
Alan Russ, tel. 861 int.
Good old-fashioned trunk with t w o internal trays,
£6 o.n.o. Barry Torrance, tel. 858 int. or
Cinderford 22950.
Semi-detached two-bedroom bungalow (freehold)
in Lydney overlooking Severn estuary, lovely view.
Hall, lounge, fitted kitchen, fitted bathroom/wc
(ceramic wall tiles), full central heating, fitted
carpets to all rooms. Large garden, garage and
two garden sheds — all fenced in. Many extras
included in price — must be seen. Can be sold
fully furnished. £10,000 o.n.o. ‘Phone Lydney 2905
after 6 pm or all day Saturday and Sunday.
One African grey parrot and cage, £30. Tel. 451
int. or Drybrook 565 evenings.
Playing over ten boards the RX team won five
games and lost four, Ross claiming the tenth
game by default. We understand that David Payne
of 0 8- M is seeking residence in the Outer
Hebrides. Harry Helm, captaining the home side,
is eager to assist him.
When one considers that the Ross team were
fielding three RX employees who accounted for
two of the four Ross victories, it indicates the
potential of the newly formed RX club.
All games were conducted in a friendly
atmosphere, supplemented by liquid and solid
refreshments, the home team being invited to a
return match at the Ross-on-Wye Club
headquarters on March 1.
For the record, the match results were as follows—
White being played on the odd-numbers boards.
R X C C Ross-on-Wye CC
1. D. Frazier 1 A. Hunt 0
2. D. Payne (abs.) 0 D. Stephens 1
3. J. Ireland 0 C. Cunningham 1
4. R. Zimmermann 1 D. Thomas 0
5. H. Helm 1 F. Baxter 0
6. R. Mason 0 M. Norris 1
7. L. Barrett 0 L. Humphries 1
8. J. Robertson 0 Dr Hudson 1
9 J. Coates 1 R. Hughes 0
10. J. Johnson 1 D. Taylor 0
‘ F o o l ‘ s Mate’
Pedigree spaniel puppies. B. Tinton, tel. 537 int.
Macauley 12v. battery, £4. D. Parker, tel. 467 int.
Creda electric cooker, one radiant ring, two
hotplates, large oven, storage drawer, good
condition. G. Beavan, tel. 731 int.
Konica C35 camera 35 mm automatic, coupled
rangefinder, as new, £25. Leitz Pradovit
automatic slide projector, excellent condition, £30.
Tony Palmer, Data Processing, tel. 447 int.
Three-bedroom detached house in Ross-on-Wye,
part central heating, integral garage, reasonable
garden, good views. Jim Hay, tel. 857 int.
19 in. Pye television two years old, BBC 1 and 2
and ITV, excellent condition, £25 o.n.o. Tel. 853
int. or Lea 321.
Pedigree border collie dog, seven months old.
Tel. 309 int.
Wanted
Any form of accommodation for lease or rent;
house or bungalow with 2 to 3 bedrooms
preferred. Cliff Tomaszewski, tel. 511 int.
B flat clarionet. D. Lowde, Education & Training
tel. 743 int.
Drum kit, condition immaterial, fair price given,
anything considered. M. Watson, tel. 197 int.
or evenings Lydney 2979.
11
We^ll miss you, Bob
Bob Baker arrived in Mitclieldean on a miserable
day in 1940. The old Wintle’s Brewery building,
which was to become a factory for British
Acoustic Films, looked grim and forbidding, and
as he glanced up at the barred windows he said
to himself: ‘Baker, are you going inside at last ?’
Retirement is a time when reminiscences come
flooding back, and Bob Baker, who reached this
milestone on January 31 last, has a fund of
similar anecdotes about his years with the
Company. He joined British Talking Pictures, later
merged into BAF, in 1933. The first of the
production staff to arrive here, he was expecting
to stay only a few months but they lengthened
into 33 years as BAF became Rank Precision
Industries and finally Rank Xerox.
The man the late Tommy Law used to call a rebel
had this to say about the past; ‘We had a lot to be
proud of. And it’s been exciting, continual
progress ever since. There have been problems
but they’ve made the job interesting. I’ve never
really had what I would call an unhappy day at
Mitcheldean. I’ve always got on well with the
people I was responsible to and I’ve had a
wonderful team responsible to me.’
Bob has been production manager, works
manager, and lately works superintendent, having
served on the Joint Works Committee since its
inception. A founder member of the LSA, he has
served as its chairman and latterly until his
retirement, as its president. He has also been
chairman of the Sports & Social Club, and he
captained the Mitcheldean Cricket Club at one
time. ‘We had an extremely good team in the
1950s,’ commented Bob. ‘We even played
Northamptonshire second eleven on one occasion.’
Though no longer a player, he is a member of
the West of Severn County Cricket Committee.
He is also secretary of the local Businessmen’s
Luncheon Club — which reminds us that gourmet
Bob is an artist in the kitchen, concocting his own
special dishes. We were startled to hear Bob had
plans for taking to water — but this turned out to
be in connection with a newly-acquired four-berth
cruiser moored on the Severn.
Bob will be missed greatly, but we shall probably
be seeing his Churchillian figure at the Plant from
time to time. He is being retained by the Company
to head a committee charged with special
responsibilities and we hope to publish more
about this shortly.
Over to Phil Cleal, who joined us at Mitcheldean
a few years after Bob, and who has worked
closely with him ever since: ‘It was a privilege to
work for, or as he would express it, witfi Bob.
Although a man who esteemed loyalty above all
Top: Vice-president Stan Pratt presented retiring
president Bob witti a cfieque, a barometer and
ciocl( for his boat, and a house barometer from the
LSA. At a dinner given him by h/litcheldean
management he received a watch, the balance of
the Plant-wide collection providing a sizeable
cheque which was handed over the following day
by Mr Portman in the Social Centre (above).
Managers, supervisors and the Joint Worl<s
Committee all helped to make this a lively social
time for Bob.
else, he never referred to it, and neither did he
have to, since he himself inspired a degree of
loyalty, respect and devotion amongst those
responsible to him, and those with whom he
associated, that remains an object lesson to us all.
‘I know many friends of his, and mine for that
matter— management and shop stewards alike —
who will join in saying God bless you. Bob!
Thanks for everything.’
12
Printed in England by Taylor, Young (Printers) Ltd.
