THE HOUSE MAGAZINE OF RANK XEROX MITOHELDEAN
ANOTHER TITLE FOR ESTELLE
Eighteen-year-old Estelle Davies is
looking forward to an unexpected
holiday on the Mediterranean later
this year. A voucher for £60 for a
holiday for herself and a friend, plus
£20 spending money, was her
splendid prize on being elected
‘Miss Rank Xerox, Mitcheldean’ at
our annual dance on March 9.
Throughout the contest and the
coronation, kindly performed by
Mrs Derek Portman, Estelle behaved
with all the assurance of a seasoned
beauty queen, which is hardly
surprising. Currently ‘Miss Ross’, she
reached the quarter finals of ‘Miss
ATV and the semi-finals of ‘Miss
Hereford’ last year and was also rally
queen for Ross Steam Engine Society.
In 1971 she won a ‘Miss Holiday
Princess’ contest at Butlin’s.
Amateur dramatics, vocalising with a
Ross band, playing the guitar, yoga
and cooking are the varied interests
of our new Miss Rank Xerox.
A former trainee secretary, Estelle
works in Group Facilities Planning.
We asked them what they thought
about the happening and the answer
came back : ‘The whole department
has now gone up a notch !’
‘It wasn’t easy making our decision,
but she seemed a natural,’ said the
judges, members of the Girling
Sports & Social Club committee
from Cwmbran.
A kiss for ttte rtew IVIiss Rank Xerox,
IVIitcfjeldean, from compere Roger l^orey.
See pages 10 and 11 for more pictures of
tfie contest.
TIME
FOR
CHANGE
It is just thirteen years since Fred
Wickstead, introducing the first issue
of the bi-monthly magazine ‘Vision’
in May 1960, wrote: ‘Now that we
have such a large family at
Mitcheldean, it is becoming
increasingly difficult to keep you all
advised of the activities of our
Organisation.’
The circulation was then around
1,000, and as you are well aware,
that ‘large family’ has grown to the
extent that it is now four times as
large. The site too has increased to
proportions undreamt of in those
days, and ‘Vision’ must grow also if
it is to help meet the communication
needs of Mitcheldean effectively.
Although it was made a monthly
publication in 1971, your editor
Myrtle Fowler has not been able to
place in ‘Vision’ all the news and
other material that have been
forthcoming. We have, therefore,
decided to introduce a larger format
with twelve pages for an
experimental period of three issues.
This will enable us not only to
incorporate more information, but
also to give that information a better
showing, and to up-date the
appearance of the magazine so that
it reflects more accurately the image
of our Company.
If the general feeling is favourable
towards the new format, we will
adopt it on a regular basis.
As the Mitcheldean site has grown,
so has our need to store and process
information quickly.
You may have been wondering why
the bungalow has been removed,
and why building activity is taking
place in the car park adjacent to
Building 44.
On March 15, within a few days of
receiving the necessary approval,
work started on preparing the site
for our new computer building —
Building 50.
It will, in fact, consist of two
single-storey blocks of 15,000 sq. ft.
each, built in a staggered format
across ‘C car park, towards
Engineering Building 38. It is
proposed that the new buildings and
our latest office block — Building
44 — will be interlinked at Brook
Street level.
Building 50 has been designed as a
two-block project for a good reason.
Obviously it takes less time to erect
a 15,000 sq. ft. block than a
30,000 sq. ft. block. By building one
first — that is the block nearer
Engineering — we can have the new
computer installed and in operation
with the least delay while work is
still proceeding on the second block.
The computer block is scheduled to
be complete by September, and the
second block is expected to be
ready to accommodate our systems
analysts and programmers by the
end of this year.
All this has necessitated considerable
re-arrangement of car parking
facilities, and I hope that by the time
this issue is published, much of the
preparatory site clearance work will
be finished.
As work proceeds, I shall endeavour
to up-date you with architects’
drawings and details of the new
computer itself.
GENERAL MANAGER, MITCHELDEAN PLANT
This photograph of our first front cover
shows cameraman Fred Brown (ToolRoom)
at work on the then current production of
the Cine Club’s 8mm skit on ‘Do It
Yourself activities. Directing the leading
lady, assembly worker Loretta Mills, is the
late Jim Wedderburn (then working in the
Tool Room) who also wrote the script. The
club has been in existence for some 20 years
and only last month held one of the biggest
and most important events in its history —
see page 12.
THIS
PENSION
SCHEME
HAS
EVERYTHING
‘You’d go a long way to find a
pension scheme as favourable as this
one,’ said Doug Green
enthusiastically. ‘I was talking to the
Burton Group people the other day,
and they were terribly impressed
with it. It really is forward thinking.’
We met the Rank Xerox Pensions
Manager when he, together with
Ron Lee, Pensions Co-ordinator,
spent a week at Mitcheldean in
March, explaining about the scheme
and answering innumerable
questions at sessions for both day
and night shifts, or at private
interviews, from 9 am until late at
night. ‘He couldn’t have explained it
better,’ said one questioner.
The new scheme sets out to try to
give as good and as comprehensive
a range of benefits as any to be found
in the most progressive schemes in
the country. These benefits are
integrated with the State pension —
if contributions to the State scheme
go up, then the contributions to the
Company scheme are reduced in
proportion.
Pensions are based on ‘final’ basic
salary (annual Basic Time Rate
during the 12 months before
retirement, when this is likely to be
at its highest), thus providing a
hedge against inflation.
Tailor-made for RX personnel, it was
first introduced for staff only on
July 1, 1971 ; its extension as from
April 1 this year to hourly-paid
personnel means that (subject to
age and service qualifications) this
is the pension scheme for all full-time
permanent employees and that it
replaces the Rank Organisation
Hourly Paid Pension Scheme.
‘It’s costing the Company a great
deal to provide this pension scheme,’
said Mr Green. In fact the Company
contributes at more than twice the
rate of contribution of the employee.
The operation of the scheme is in
the hands of RX Pensions Ltd based
at Rank Xerox House in London —
a new company formed to act as an
independent trustee company for
members of the pension scheme —
an arrangement now adopted by
most large companies.
The pensions company is not a
subsidiary of Rank Xerox Ltd; the
latter are involved only insofar as
they finance administration, salaries
of staff, etc. And the fund set up
cannot legally be drawn upon for
anything except payment of pensions
and benefits to pensioners.
A folder, distributed to everyone
concerned, sets out the highlights
of the scheme — a much higher
income at retirement than under the
previous scheme, plus liberal
provisions for a pension in case of
retirement for permanent ill-health,
benefit provisions for widows,
dependants and children, and in
case of termination of employment.
Mr Green told us that the majority
of questions he received concerned
commutation, as the insurance
fraternity put it — that is, the
optional forms of payment available
to people on reaching pensionable
age.
These included the taking of a tax
free lump sum cash payment in lieu
of part of the pension, which could
be reinvested — perhaps used to
buy another type of pension.
‘There will be advice available to
anyone who wants it, on this or any
other aspects of the scheme,’
promised Mr Green.
Here are a few of the varied
questions put by personnel at one
of the sessions:
Q. Supposing someone’s basic rate
dropped in the last years before
retirement because ill health or an
accident forced him to take a lower
paid position — would his pension
still be based on his reduced ‘final’
salary?
A. In a case like this, we would
check back and take the highest of
the last six, or, if more advantageous,
the average of his three highest
consecutive yearly basic salaries
during the last ten years.
Q. If you’ve been paying additional
contributions under the old scheme,
what happens under the new one?
A. You can continue the additional
payments, or you can stop them;
but in any case the additional
pension received will sit on top of
the RX pension and we will at least
guarantee the benefits originally
promised if contributions are
continued at the same rate.
Q. Can I opt out of the pension
scheme ?
A. While you remain a full-time
employee of the Company you will
remain a member of the pension
scheme. Should you leave the
Company, you will be advised of the
options available to you which will
include a return of contributions
plus interest.
Our picture shows (from the left) the
President of Xerox Corporation, Archie
R. h/lcCardell, chatting with Peter
Gordon, PED resident, Keith Burris,
Production Control resident, and Ron
league, task force leader. The
occasion was a cocktail party held
recently in the States to mark a
milestone in the development of a new
product.
3
GRASSCUTTING
NO, LEAVE THE MOWER IN THE SHED,
THIS IS NOT A GARDENING FEATURE!
Grasscutting is the expression used
by thousands of enthusiasts for what
is an increasingly popular form of
motor cycle sport — grass track
racing.
To the uninitiated it is speedway on
grass. If you’ve never seen it, you
can imagine the heightened
excitement, thrills and spills, when
not four riders, as in speedway, but an
average of 12 or more race round a
track, not on a smooth surface as in
speedway, but over grass — very
unpredictable, very slippery, and all
too frequently bumpy.
You may remember that, a few years
back, VISION carried an article on
Top : Dick Wright ‘powers’ out of a corner.
Below : The {almost totally) RX team — from
the left. Dick with Jim Saunders, Reg
Preece, Pete Collins and Keith Jones.
motor cycle sport featuring Jim ^
Saunders and Dick Wright of ‘ “^^^^
Engineering, Well, these two
stalwarts are still at it, trying hard to
ignore the ever increasing number of
candles appearing on their annual
cakes.
Jim Saunders, with his previous
speedway experience, concentrated
on grass track last year, and it paid
dividends, for he was selected to
compete in both the 250cc and
Jim Saunders at speed.
500cc British Championships —
quite an achievement. Jim rides
regularly most weekends, including
all the local meetings on his worksprepared
250cc and 500cc ‘Ansel’
machines (incidentally, these
machines are built locally at Newent).
Jim’s mechanic-cum-manager,
always in very close attendance, is
Reg Preece of 4000 Assembly. Who
knows, Reg may even start riding in
•73.
Dick Wright, who retired from
scrambling after a nasty accident
several years ago, just cannot be
kept down I Last year he appeared at
several local grass track meetings on
a combination (machine with
sidecar), a form of grass tracking
considered by many to be extremely
dangerous. Dick and his passenger,
local businessman Pete Collins (who,
says Dick, is the brave one ! ) , have
surprised many with their success on
their highly tuned 650cc BSA
outfit.
A newcomer to the ‘Rank line-up’ is
Keith Jones of Electrical
Maintenance. He completed his first
season’s sport last year in both \
250cc and 500cc classes; and
although he will have to go somewhat
to compete with Jim Saunders, he
always thrills the crowds with his
‘hairy’ leg-trailing riding technique.
The 1973 season starts this month
and runs through until October. Let’s
wish these lads good luck and safe
riding.
Keith Jones sliding — leg trailing — in
mid bend. photos: Lionel Fisher
HOME MARKET
wr A
SINGLE
PIPER
AN’ ALL
We were walking through the
Machine Shop one lunch break when
we heard it — the strains of ‘Scottish
Soldier’ echoing down the avenues
between the silent drills, mills and
lathes. Someone with a pretty loud
transistor, we thought.
And then we came upon him — the
Scottish soldier himself in Royal
Stewart kilt, doublet, plaid and feather
bonnet, playing to a group of
fascinated listeners.
Under the feather bonnet we
recognised the busily blowing
features of Tony Pritchard, QC
inspector at Mitcheldean for the past
eight years. He stopped his playing
for a moment to tell us about the
pipes he loves so much.
He learned to play in the Royal Scots
Fusiliers which he joined at 14 years
of age, eventually becoming company
piper. Though he left the army, he
lost none of his enthusiasm for
Scotland’s national instrument, and he
now belongs to the Cheltenham &
District Pipe Band.
‘You have got to be able to play them
before you can really appreciate them,’
said Tony. And to enable more
people to do just that, Tony is
planning to start classes in
Mitcheldean and so build up a band
— girl pipers and all.
It seems the pipes are not as difficult
to play as we’d thought. ‘It isn’t a
question of lung power,’ Tony told
us. ‘You need strong neck and mouth
muscles, but keenness to improve is
the most important thing.’
You start learning with a practice
chanter, which costs about £2 and is
something like a recorder, with a
reed inside.
Then you progress to the chanter on
the pipes proper, which have a
sheepskin bag to hold the air,
gradually adding the ‘drones’ or
supporting pipes which provide the
‘backing’ until you have the full
orchestration that stirs the Scottish
soul. ‘You can reach a reasonable
standard in about nine months,’
Tony assured us.
There are thousands of tunes you
can play on the pipes — even pop.
Tony recalls getting confined to
barracks for playing ‘Whistle while
you work’ many years ago, and
offending his fiercely traditional
Scottish CO.
Having no near neighbours in
Mitcheldean, he is able to practise
daily without disturbing anyone. If
you listen carefully as you approach
Barton Corner, you may one day
hear the skirl of the pipes.
And if you feel an answering call in
your veins, ring Tony on Drybrook
271 — he’ll be delighted to initiate
you into the art of playing the
bagpipes. You don’t have to be
Scottish, by the way.
For Sale
Attention Hillman Imp owners. Breaking
’64 Imp in good condition. All parts
available with exception of engine and
transaxle. Ian Thomas, Purchase Office,
tel. 265 int.
Two-bar electric reflector fire, £3. Qualcast
lawn mower, 12-inch cut with grass box, in
first class condition, £3, Super hardwood
step ladder, four treads plus platform, £2,
120ft de luxe Tidyspin (clothes line),
Mrs E, Stembridge, File Control, tel. 166 or
108 int.
Mains BSR record player, four speeds, all
size records, £12-50. Longhope 350.
Detached bungalow, three bedrooms,
central heating, double glazing, garage and
car port, freehold, £9,750, Mrs I. Powell,
Old Dean Road, Mitcheldean,
Full length white wedding dress, size 12;
short train, £1 0 o,n,o. S, Smyth, tel. 558 int.
3Kw Sunhouse electric fire, £9 ; Ascot gas
water heater, £5; Mothercare blue brushed
nylon pram toddler seat, carrycot, baby bath
and stand. Offers. Bob Carr, tel. 481 int.
Lovely Afghan puppies, ready now.
Tel. Blakeney 432 or 881 int.
Stamps — breaking collection of British and
Commonwealth. Contact Brian Pope, PED
(Electronics), tel. 675 int., for sample
booklets, first day covers and catalogues,
6ft billiard table with snooker balls. Also
Swan high pram, dark green and chrome
with chrome shopping tray. Offers for
either, tel. 317 int.
Towing bracket for a Maxi, unused. Also
workshop manual. Offers, Tel. 281 int.
Several Victorian parlour clocks, accurate
timepieces, £5 each ; also two gent’s bikes,
good condition, £10 each, M, J. Roberts,
tel. 507 int.
Wanted
Child’s tricycle (pneumatic), or bicycle with
stabiliser, to suit child aged 6. Mike Hirst,
tel. 721 int.
Embroidery stand. Mrs E, Thomas,
tel. 542 int.
Building plot with or without building
permission in the Forest area, K, Gristy,
tel. 503 int.
Any old cameras, the older the better.
Dennis Clark, 720 main line, tel. 449 int.
Called in Hospital
Which section leader was visiting a relative
in hospital when his ‘bleeper’ bleeped and
the nurses, convinced he was a consultant,
hastened to let him know where the
nearest ‘phone was I
Like to stretch your legs ?
Now that the spring is sprung, and the
weather should be getting warmer, Les Lane
of 4000 main line is offering once more to
lead lunchtime walks — a brisk 35 minutes
on any one of six variable scenic routes.
Shorts not obligatory. Get in touch with
him if you’re interested — no need to get
into training first, he assures us.
At work identifying and classifying the
non-routine data are [from the left) deputy
supervisor Sheila Reed, Marion Morris,
Gwynneth Hart, Kath Radge and
Elizabeth Hobbs.
VISION looks at the work of
International Communications where . . .
EYGE
ALL SORTED OUT
It’s like the GPO sorting office in a
way. But there’s a good deal more to
the work in International
Communications than just sorting and
speeding technical information on
its way to the far corners of the
Engineering activity at Xerox, Fuji
Xerox and Rank Xerox locations.
If you want to understand the work
this all-girl section of Drawing
Office Services carries out, you will
have to make the acquaintance of
their systems and procedures.
Systems are only as good as the
people operating them, and it
is a tribute to the efficiency of
International Communications that
the avalanche of paperwork — letters
through the post, large consignments
of microcards, drawings, manuals,
reports and so on — which passes
through their hands doesn’t engulf
them but is neatly channelled off
to its many destinations. That is,
after a series of checking,
cross-referencing, copying, listing,
classifying for distribution, and
redirecting.
Most of the formal technical
information received from Xerox
passes through the section, and the
fact that it amounts to some 1,0001b
weight of paper each month gives
you an idea of the quantity.
The basic product design
information (Engineering Orders
and drawing aperture cards, about
which we wrote last month) is
also distributed by them to four Rank
Xerox locations— Engineering and
PED here at Mitcheldean ;
Design Services and PED at
Welwyn; Engineering at Venray;
and Technical Publications at
Uxbridge.
All specifications, standards and
engineering manuals to support the
product engineering activity, or
the procedures controlling it, pass
through this section too.
Then there is all the technical
information relevant to each Rank
Xerox location’s product design/
manufacturing responsibility, such
as technical reports, product progress
reporting, QC, consumables and so
on. In short, the majority of the
Rank Xerox Engineering
documentation for distribution is
handled in International
Communications.
Should any of these items go astray
in transit, it could cause quite a bit
of trouble and in order to ensure
that this does not happen without
sender or recipient being aware of
it, and thus able to do something
about it, a kind of ‘early warning’
system has been developed.
The Material Receipt — a formal
document for the transfer of
information between companies —
was created over ten years ago at
Xerox, and has been adopted by
most Engineering Communication
Centres in Rank Xerox and Fuji
Xerox. At Mitcheldean the procedure
is used to cover the majority of the
technical data involved in the formal
interchange of information.
It is the cornerstone of the section’s
operations; without going into
too much detail, it provides a
double check on consignments
so that both sender and recipient
are alerted to the fact if a
consignment should go astray,
and efforts can be made to find out
what has happened with the
minimum delay.
This useful document doesn’t just
list the items being transmitted ;
it carries instructions as regards
distribution, the reason why the
information is being transmitted —
anything, in fact, that might be
useful to the receiving centre in
orientating the information and
meeting the intentions of the sender.
The register of outgoing and incoming
Material Receipts comes in very
useful too when the girls receive
Far left: Supervisor Dot Price, who joined us
in 1966, is in charge of the team of 12 girls.
Here she is looking at a h/laterial Receipt
which Sue Parry is typing. At the 3600
machine in the background is Heather
Llewellyn.
Centre : Rose Pick, Ruth Adshead and Rene
Hawkins in the section which handles
aperture cards, standards and specifications
— all items which have an established
distribution.
Left: Joyce Budrey normally does the
documentation for Customs. Here she
weighs a parcel going by Ferrymaster
Container Service so as to assess its
nominal value. Drawing prints and masters
are assessed at 1p and lOp each
respectively.
queries about the technical data,
its location and distribution.
The information received for
distribution falls into two main
categories: ‘mandatory or systems
related’ and ‘product support —
current awareness’.
The first category, which includes
RX Engineering standards and
specifications, EOs, etc, poses
no problems. For these the routine
is settled, the distribution
established by the issuing authority,
and the Communication Centre acts
only as post office, providing recorded
despatch and receipt facilities.
The second category for ‘current
awareness’ is a different matter.
‘This is where it gets complicated,’
supervisor Dot Price told us. (As
far as we were concerned, it had
got to that stage some way back.)
The section has a team of five
experienced girls whose job is to
classify this non-routine data on
what they call a ‘distribution factor’
basis. Although not technically
trained, they have developed an
ability to scan reports and identify
key words.
For example, are consumables
mentioned? Or reliability? If so,
those who are listed as being
interested in such subjects must
receive a copy — and not only at
Mitcheldean but also at other
locations.
The girls familiarise themselves with
each manager’s field of operations
and with the products. This task is
complicated by the fact that new
models have been known to undergo
name changes, and the girls have to
continued on page 8
7
T H E Y G E T IT A L L S O R T E D OUT
continued from page 7
be on the alert for a familiar model
with an unfamiliar name.
In short, they have to know who
needs to know what.
You might think that comprehensive
distribution lists would cut out a lot
of the classification work; in fact,
these could prove both expensive
and time-consuming.
International Communications have
found that their experience, plus the
aid of design management, enables
the compilation of individual
distribution lists that meet the ‘need
to know’ situation in a satisfactory
way. ‘We get very few complaints,’
said Dot Price.
What about the methods used for the
transmission of all this data ?
Engineering’s own private post office
doesn’t confine itself to GPO
services. It uses six different
methods: GPO air letter and ‘data
post’ special service (to Fuji
Xerox, Xerox and Venray); air
freight (to Fuji Xerox and Xerox);
Securicor Ltd, who contract to move
a certain poundage per month
(Welwyn); Ferrymaster Container
Service (Venray); and Internal
Transport (Uxbridge, Denham and
RX House).
Transit times for these different
methods vary from one to ten days,
and the instructions to be observed
as regards documentation, packaging
and so on read like a post office
manual. The Mail Room, Despatch,
Transport Department, Supply
Centre, and Spares Packing — any
one, or all of them, may be involved
at some stage in the operation.
Packaging varies not only according
to the type of data being transmitted
but also according to the method of
transmission.
Aperture cards travelling by
Ferrymaster, for example, are placed
in special lockable steel boxes
designed to hold 2,000 cards (they
need no additional protection);
master drawings are rolled and
packed in cardboard tubes and
sealed; all air parcel consignments
go in ‘Jiffy bags’ which are special
padded bags, staple closed with tear
strip for ease of opening and reseal
in case Customs wish to examine
the contents.
Lots of detail to remember in the
interchange of information. And we
forgot to mention that the
In the Mail Room, senior stationery mail
clerk Ray Carter takes a look at the data
post’; this arrives in the plastic zipped bags
which Jean Morgan is opening.
Communications girls themselves are
interchangeable — with the
exception of the classification
function.
As Harry Hunt, senior clerical
services supervisor, pointed out, ‘the
teamwork of this bunch of girls
certainly helps to keep our
Engineering departments on the
move.’
TO VENRAY
IN TULIPTIME
The tour operators may not know it,
but a highlight of one of their
‘Holland at Tuliptime’ tours this
spring includes an afternoon visit to
Venray.
It wasn’t the tulips the holidaymakers
had in mind originally; constantly
in touch with Venray, the girls in
International Communications thought
it would be nice to meet some of
the people they have come to know
so well, but only via the telex.
So Rose Pick, acting on their behalf,
investigated the possibilities.
‘We did think of chartering a ‘plane’,
she said, ‘but decided we’d do
better to go for one of Clarkson’s
packaged tours. What with husbands
and boy friends who wanted to come
along too, the number of would-be
participants soon swelled to include
8
people from other parts of the Plant.
By making up a coachload of 44
people, the party qualified for a
concession which will cover the cost
of transport to Bristol Airport on
April 25.
The itinerary includes visits to a
Blue Delft pottery. The Hague, a
diamond factory, Volendam where
traditional costume is still worn and
many other places of interest, plus
a canal boat-tour.
The visit to Venray, which comes on
the second day and replaces a visit
to Keukenhof Park, has been
arranged through the good offices
of Engineering Services Manager
Arthur Willitt; after the party have
toured the Plant they will be
entertained before returning to their
hotel.
Interest in the trip has been
mounting — so much so that Rose
says they are already thinking of
arranging more trips in the future,
going a bit further afield to Austria,
perhaps, or Norway.
Before going to Venray, the section
were pleased to be able to meet
personally with Dick McNamara,
Manager, International Technical
Services. He is the person Dot Price
contacts when she is seeking
technical information from Xerox
Corporation. Mr McNamara arrived
at Mitcheldean just as we went to
press.
Don’t lock up
your daughters—
INTERCHANGE
THEM!
Two 19-year-old Dutch girls —
Willy, daughter of Mr B. Moeskops
of Rank Xerox Venray, and her
friend — would like to visit England.
Mr Moeskops, who is a senior
executive in Management Services
& Planning, wondered whether we
have any Rank Xerox family who
would be interested in arranging an
interchange of daughters so that the
girls could see something of life in
each other’s country for just the cost
of fare and pocket money. If anyone
would like to follow this up, would
they please contact Mr Moeskops at
Pasoor Jansenstraat 1, Vierlingsbeek,
Holland.
FOOD FOR
THOUGHT
‘It was the most interesting project I have
ever had to work on,’ said Doug Tooze of
Plant Facilities. Carried out in consultation
with Personnel Department and the
Sutcliffe Catering Co., the redesign of the
catering facilities in the Canteen Building
occupied much of Doug’s working time
over the past year. He is pictured here in
the recently opened ground floor cafeteria
where new-style serving units, plus vending
machines, have had the hoped for result.
Every day the waiting time has been
reduced — the latest figure was 400 meals
cleared in nine minutes.
LETTER
7 don’t care if you won the Monte-Carlo ! Blow into this /’
A BATCH OF
TREASURE HUNTERS
Someone once said it is better
to travel hopefully than to arrive.
Those who took part in the recent
Small Batch treasure hunt-on-wheels
obviously enjoyed the travelling
every bit as much as getting back
to the finishing point. Even the chap
who was always seen travelling in
the opposite direction to the others
seemed to be having a whale of a
time I
The clues thought up by the
organisers, Tony Wilde and Mike Best,
weren’t all that easy, and competitors
had to keep their eyes peeled.
The route took (or was intended to
take) the 17 cars from Cinderford
via Speech House and Monmouth
to as far as Broadoak in Herefordshire,
returning via Kerne Bridge and
Ruardean to the starting point at the
Causeway Club. The course was
43 miles but some people managed
to clock up 70 or so.
Only one car had to admit defeat (and
that’s not counting that chap from
Spares Packing who heard about the
hunt afterwards, borrowed the clue
sheet to see how he would make out,
and landed up in Abergavenny I).
The first five vehicles were evenly
matched as regards clue points and
adjudication had to be based on
mileage loss. Small Batch Manager
Phil Cleal came in first and claimed
the bottle of whisky, while his
daughter Valerie (Drawing Office)
received the navigator’s prize of a
large box of chocolates. Mrs Cleal
also deserves a mention for a bit of
quick thinking — one of the
competitors took her for a local
inhabitant and asked her the way.
Resisting the temptation to misdirect
him, she told him she was a
stranger to the area.
Second place went to Bob Turner and
Peggy Matthews, tying with a guest
car, while Pete Pritchard and John
Buck tied for third place.
Comparing experiences over a
buffet tea at the Causeway Club,
everyone voted the hunt a marvellous
way to spend a Sunday afternoon
with the family. Said Tony Wilde :
‘We’ve been pestered to organise
another hunt ever since and we
are working on one round about
Easter.’
Sixteen 25-year-awards are due to be
presented at the annual dinner on
May 11 which, it is hoped, will be
attended by Chairman J. Maldwyn
Thomas (he enjoyed himself so much
last time, he said, he would love to
come again).
Among the veterans this time will be
Fred Wickstead, now Vice-President,
Manufacturing & Logistics, with
Xerox Corp. USA; three members of
the LSA committee; and a strong
contingent from the Machine Shop.
Their names are: Doris Barker
(Drawing Office Services) who is the
association’s secretary; Neville
Barnett, whose ill health has
prevented him from working for a
number of years; Bill Beech (Chief
Buyer); Ron Boakes (Assistant
Design Manager, 4000); Phil Davies,
Bill Gurney, Cliff Meek (Polishing &
Plating Shop); Eddie Fleming (Model
Shop); Horace Giles (Production
Control); and Tony Cale, Des
Hanman, June Lewis, Ted Matthews,
Alan Swordy and Bill Williams (all
Machine Shop).
The annual general meeting takes
place on May 7; business to be
transacted will include the election
of a new president following the
retirement of Bob Baker.
4000 Assembly chargehand Marjorie
Osborne, who has retired early
because of home commitments,
started 30 years ago as setter/
operator on a milling machine in
Small Batch. Promoted later to
chargehand on an assembly line, she
became our first female member of
supervision. Also retiring early last
month, on health grounds, was
C. W. ‘Ted’ Edwards, clerk in the
Supply Centre; he came to us in
1958. Both have our best wishes for
the future.
9
PUTTING
IN THE PICTURE
21st Birthday
Robert Rosser (4000 Assembly) on
March 7.
Engagement
Jayne West (Purchase) to David Davies on
February 14.
Lynne Hooton (currently secretary to J . Mills,
grading consultant) to Robert Parkinson
(Maintenance) on February 28.
Lynne James (secretary to Mr R.
Zjmmermann, 4000 Assembly) to Gordon
Hayward (4000 Progress Chaser) on
March 10.
Weddings
Susan Stephens (secretary to Paul Adcock,
Supply Centre) to Mike Cookes at Lydney
Register Office on February 24.
Roger Roberts (Remodelling) to Jane
McAdam at Ganarew Church on March 3.
Linda Walford (Purchase) to apprentice
Lloyd Hornchurch at Lydney Register
Office on March 24.
Births
Clare, a daughter for Gordon Fisher
(Machine Shop) and his wife Gillian, on
February 9.
Michael, a son for John Butt (Purchase)
and his wife Pat, on February 20.
Valerie Jean, a daughter for Chris Fitt
(Export/Import, Supply Centre) and his
wife Jean, on February 23.
Ian, a son for Elspeth Metcalfe (formerly
Accounts) and her husband Peter, on
February 26.
Susan Clair, a daughter for Ron Wilks
(4000 QC) and his wife Hazel (formerly
PED), on February 27.
Mark Leonard, a son for Terry Daunter
(Transport, Supply Centre) and his wife
Karen, on March 4.
10
Susan Stephens with her bridegroom,
Mike Cookes.
Andrew Kevin, a son for Brian Moore
(Work Study) and his wife Jillian (formerly
Progress Department), on March 4.
Catherine, a daughter for Jimmy Bake,
Information Officer, and his wife, Gillian, on
March 7.
Caroline, a daughter for Christine Gwilliam
(a former ‘Miss Rank Xerox’ who worked in
Accounts) and her husband Mike, on
March 10.
Retirements
Best wishes to the following who retired in
March :
Margaret Goulding (Central Records, PED)
who came to us nearly 14 years ago — she
has been unable to work for some time
owing to ill health; Dorothy Lewis (Print
Room) who joined us in July 1966, having
worked in the Canteen previous to that date;
Tom Dunn (4000 Assembly) with four and
a half years’ service; Albert Hodges (Small
Batch) who came in June 1970; and
Charles Meek (Supply Centre), with us
nearly seven years.
Silver Weddings
Congratulations to the following who have
recently celebrated their 25th wedding
anniversaries: Ralph Pepper (Machine Shop
foreman) and his wife Dawn on March 2 7;
Bruce Essex (Paint Shop) and his wife Ivy
also on March 2 7 ; and Ralph Kibble
(Maintenance) and his wife Brenda (Spares
& Sub-assembly) on March 29.
Percy Dowler
We regret to have to report the death on
March 22 of Percy Dowler, machinist in
Small Batch, at the age of 59.
SPORTS AND
SOCIAL CLUB
The new Miss Rank Xerox, Mitcheldean,
with her father and mother. Jack and Marge
Davies, and her elder brother Bruce, who
all work in 4000 Assembly.
DANCE FOR
DANCERS
Friday, May 4 — make a note of it in
your diary now. It’s the date fixed
for the special dance the Rank
Xerox Dancing Club are holding in
the Social Centre.
What’s special about it? Well,
topping the bill are Terry and Janet
Frowen from Bargoed, Welsh
ballroom dancing champions four
times over, who will be doing some
exhibition dancing.
Sharing the task of providing music
for general dancing will be John
Williams, the organist from Wormelow
(‘he’s great’ said Ira Griffin, club
chairman) and the George Graham
Band. Led by George Douglas
(Paint Shop) and Graham Beavan
(Production Control), this band has
earned itself a big reputation. Last
time they played for the Dancing
Club they covered no less than 16
different types of dance. Maybe
they’ll beat their own record on
May 4.
The dance will run from 8 pm to
1 am with bar extension. Tickets
cost 60p and can be obtained from
any member of the club committee
(their names were given in our
March issue). Numbers will be
limited to 300 so you’d better
quickstep to get your tickets.
CHARM ON PARADE
MORE PICTURES OF THE MISS RANK XEROX CONTEST
Mrs Portman, who kindly performed the
crowning ceremony, congratulates Estelle
on winning her latest title.
Second and third place went to two of the married contestants — Janice Hale of Production
Engineering and Pat Bonney of Design Records, Engineering (top picture, third from left and
second from right respectively). Jan, as she is known, won £25 and Pat £10, while all the
other entrants received a £1 shopping voucher. A big vote of thanks is due to the organisers
of the evening who put in a great deal of hard work, before and after the event.
ART CLUB
DRAWS THEM IN
The Art Club, an idea born out of the
‘Sell a Picture’ competition which
was held before Christmas, is now a
reality. Every Wednesday evening at
7.30 pm a group of artists meet in
the Training School cinema to study
and sketch, the experienced giving
their help and guidance to the
beginners.
After starting with still life, they have
progressed to sketching a real live
girl — Elaine Price of, appropriately
enough, the Drawing Office who had
kindly agreed to do some costume
modelling (that means she kept her
clothes on I)
As time goes on, and the number of
members increases, as seems to be
the trend, the range of activities will
probably be extended to cover other
aspects of art.
John Hutchins (Production Control),
who won first prize in the
competition, is the club’s chairman;
Davina Roberts (Engineering
Records) is combining the functions
of secretary and treasurer; and
Brian John (Spot Welding), Eric
Weeks and Dave Read (both
Drawing Office) make up the
committee.
WINTER
GOLF
Things have been very quiet in the
Golf Society over the past few
months, with most sensible golfers
hibernating during the cold weather.
A few hardy types have braved the
elements, like John Jones and
Ian Billson who, playing together in
the Monmouth Winter Competition,
finished second in their section and
fourth overall. A very good showing.
A few film shows were held in the
Social Centre with slightly fewer
turning up than we had hoped for,
but it was very nice to see how golf
should be played. Our thanks to
those who organised things.
Two dates for your diaries:
July 25 — a day’s golf at Stinchcombe;
and September 6 — a visit to Filton.
By the time this issue comes out,
I hope the Round Robin Competition
will be under way with the first
round being played.
The new golf ball being made by
Uniroyal, which is supposed to
carry further, is quite good. It
enables you to get much deeper in
the rough or out of bounds with no
more effort than before.
Pat Dulson
More Sports & Social Club news on p. 12
11
WE PIONEER
IN PEKING FILM FESTIVAL
Rank Xerox can claim to be one of
the first British companies to exhibit
in the People’s Republic of China.
The Company took a 150 square
metre stand at the British Industrial
Technology Exhibition in Peking,
which was sponsored by the
Department of Trade and Industry in
association with the Sino-British
Trade Council, and ran from
March 26 to April 5.
Said Chairman J. Maldwyn Thomas:
‘The Republic represents a very large
potential market, in which we
understand there is very little copying
equipment yet in use. We have a
wide range of copiers suitable for
both industry and commerce, and we
hope that our participation in the
Peking exhibition will be the
beginning of a long and mutually
profitable trade with the Republic’
The Rank Xerox copiers shown in
Peking ranged from the 660 to the
7000 and included the 1860 drawing
office printer. The 400 Telecopier
facsimile transceiver in particular
attracted a great deal of interest.
Transmitting and receiving documents
up to A4 size in four minutes over
ordinary telephone lines, it is of
particular advantage in countries with
extensive logographic alphabets,
where communication by teleprinter
is difficult.
SPORTS AND
SOCIAL CLUB
continued
Skittles Final Soon
Despite the large numbers of teams
involved, the Interdepartmental
Skittles Tournament has been
running well to schedule, thanks
to everyone’s co-operation.
Quarter finals were played at the
beginning of April and the semi-finals
round about publication time. The
final is expected to take place one
Saturday early in May.
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
The Film Festival, held in the Social
Centre on March 23, will go down
in the annals of the Cine & Photo
Club as its biggest and most
outstanding event to date.
It was honoured by the presence of
a civic party — the Mayoress of
Gloucester, Mrs H. A. T. Rich;
Mrs J. Robins, wife of the City High
Sheriff; and the Deputy Mayor,
Cllr W. W. W. Finch with Mrs Finch.
Attending with them was the
president of the Sports & Social
Club, General Manager Peter Salmon
and his wife.
A total audience of some 350 fulfilled
the club’s hopes and made all the
detailed organisation worth while.
Had the club’s own entry for the
Gloucester Cine Trophy and Vale
Sound Trophy competitions headed
the list of awards, we would all
have been even more pleased !
Nevertheless, our heartiest
congratulations to the Cotswold
Cine Club on winning both trophies
with their ‘Front Row Craftsman’,
a delightful cameo of Tony Davies,
pottery teacher at Gloucestershire
College of Art. It was the fourth
time the club had won the Cine
Trophy; they had also walked away
with some ten trophies at ‘The Best
in the West’ competition last year
so we were up against mighty stiff
opposition.
Congratulations too to the
Tewkesbury club on their amusing
spider film — ‘an experiment in
synchronising animated pipecleaner
models to music’ — which came
second, and to the Gloucester club
on their film which came third. This
latter was a tribute to the ‘Gloucester
Journal in its 250th year of
publication, and to its founder
Robert Raikes.’
Though our own club’s entry wasn’t
placed, it earned the distinction of
being the only ‘story’ film (we
described the plot in an earlier
issue). It certainly found its mark
among the audience and, in the
opinion of many, was the best the
club have made to date.
Produced and directed by club
chairman Jack Seal, it starred
Margaret Winch, Angela Powell
(club secretary) and former chairman
Robin Berks who is currently on an
assignment in the USA. Other club
members were recognisable among
the extras too.
There were ten 8mm films altogether,
shown by eight different societies.
Throughout the programme. Jack
and vice-president Don Elliott
provided a commentary explaining
some of the finer points of amateur
film-making for the benefit of
non-initiates among the audience.
The headmaster of Mitcheldean
School, John Holmes (‘I merely
added up the points awarded by the
judges’) announced the winners and
the trophies were kindly presented by
the Mayoress of Gloucester.
For most of the civic party it was a
return visit to the Plant; together
with the Mayor they came to
Mitcheldean last February and
Information Officer Jimmy Bake, who
conducted the presentation ceremony,
handed the Mayoress an album of
photographs taken on that occasion.
He expressed a vote of thanks to
Jack Seal, who in turn thanked all
who had helped make the evening
a success — secretary Angela, her
husband, ex-officio committee
member Cyril, Pat Jordan, David
Payne, Robin King, and the Company
itself. Win or lose, it’s the teamwork
that matters.
I t
12
Robin King
Top : The Mayoress of Gloucester hands
the trophies to ‘Citizen’ reporter Clifford
Smith, director of the Cotswold Club’s entry.
Above : Jack Seal, John Holmes (centre)
Mitcheldean School’s headmaster, and Pat
Jordan chat about the results.
Printed in England by Taylor, Young (Printers) Ltd.
