‘I always like coming
here/ says
chairman
Invited to Mitcheldean to be chief
guest at the Long Service
Association’s annual dinner on Friday,
15 May, Rank Xerox chairman Hamish
Orr-Ewing nnade the most of the
opportunity to meet and talk w i t h as
many as possible of the workforce at
all levels.
On his way here, he stopped off to
visit Severn Sound, the Gloucestershire
independent radio station, and
had an informal discussion and tour
w i t h the managing director.
From Gloucester he made his way to
Clearwell for lunch with some 24
people representing a cross-section of
engineering group staff, and he
expressed thanks to even/one who
had participated in recent successes.
Then it w a s on to Lydney to tour the
2300 facility in t he company of director
Ron Morfee, Roy Powell, Mitcheldean
assembly manager, and Mike Carter,
2300 assembly manager.
‘I thought it most impressive’, he
t o ld us after^A/ards.
Arriving at Mitcheldean site later in
t h e afternoon, he saw, at his particular
request, something of the work
expenence project for unemployed
youngsters being carried out on site by
training department.
Most of t h em w e r e at tech. but the
chairman was able to see several in
their work locations and he had a f ew
words w i t h each.
Finally there was an informal
discussion and tea w i t h members of
Mitcheldean operations committee
before Mr Orr-Ewing attended the
dinner where he met long-serving
employees and presented 25-year
awards to 15 of t h em (see pp 6/7).
Asked if he had enjoyed his time
w i t h us, he replied: ‘Oh yes, I always
like coming to Mitcheldean.’
T h e c h a i r m a n l u n c h e d w i t h e n g i n e e r i n g s t a f f , t h e n t o u r e d t h e L y d n e y p l a n t w h e r e he is s e en
c h a t t i n g w i t h a g r o u p d u r i n g t h e i r t e a – b r e a k . I
Site success story
G e t t i n g a X e r o x m a c h i n e t h r o u g h t h e s t r i n g e n t J a p a n e s e ‘ D e n t o r i ‘ safety test — t h e f i r s t t i m e t h i s has e v e r been d o n e — w a s a m a j or
a c h i e v e m e n t a n d t h e s e p i c t u r e s m a r k t h e m o m e n t o f s u c c e s s . S e e n above left a r e TSPIVI IVIike W e a v i n g , Y. Sasaki (FX p r o d u c t s a f e t y m a n a g e r ),
RX a n d FX s a f e t y e n g i n e e r s T e d L e w i s a n d H. T a k e d a , a n d t h e FX r e s i d e n t manager at IVlitcheldean, T a k a s h i I t o h ; above right t h e t w o J E T
l a b o r a t o r i e s i n s p e c t o r s w i t h Nigel Bayliss ( c o m p o n e n t e n g i n e e r i n g ) , Fred Meek (technical assurance) a n d D o n B o u c h e r ( c o m p o n e nt
e n g i n e e r i n g ) .
The FX9500 sets the pace
A recent rallying cry at Mitcheldean has
been ‘If Japan can do it — so can we!’
And we have — with the FX9500, which
was announced by Fuji Xerox in May.
Some two and a half months ahead of
schedule — quality standards some 30 per
cent higher — all performance goals met to
date — costs within original estimates. No
wonder the programme is being hailed as a
major success story for the site.
It all began a f ew years ago when Fuji
Xerox requested a feasibility study on a
redesign of the Xerox 9400 to suit the
needs and requirements of the Japanese.
In the main, modifications were required
to enable the handling of the B4 paper
more commonly used by the Japanese; the
use of lightweight paper for both copy
paper and documents; and the meeting of
stringent Japanese safety standards.
The feasibility study was carried out at
Rochester and, after careful consideration
of all the available options, Mitcheldean
was chosen as the site for both the design
and manufacture of the machine.
The information generated, and hardware
built, during the study at Xerox were
then transferred to us, and the programme
was commenced towards the end of 1978,
Fuji Xerox financing the whole operation.
It was classified as a New Culture
programme, and the first and perhaps most
significant result was the arrival in
engineering of the manufacturing
engineering and material management
staff whose involvement included working
closely with the design engineers.
‘The co-operation within the teams has
been superb’, says Malcolm Dickson,
technical programme manager, ‘and it has
undoubtedly been a major factor contributing
to the success of the programme.’
Design challenges
The major changes required to suit the
Japanese market set considerable design
challenges and involved around 1,000 new
drawings.
For example, design modifications
enabling the use of the larger, lighter
sheets required changes to the document
handler in order to control jam rates and
prevent damage to documents; to this end,
2 r
changes on feeders and transports were
also required.
Further changes that had to be made in
the paper path concerned the re-stack tray
(for duplex running), the inverter, and the
new catch tray.
Because of the different size of paper
used in Japan where B4 is the standard
size, a dual speed operation had to be
introduced — one for A4 sized paper and
the other a slower throughput for the larger
84 size.
This particular change was made
possible by a control and software redesign
— the first major software task conducted
by Mitcheldean — and five full-time writers
were required to write programmes and
furnish software before the major systems
test.
First t i m e test
Another significant prerequisite was the
necessity to meet Japanese electrical
safety regulations or ‘Dentori’ which
means, literally, ‘electrical regulations’.
These are even more stringent than any
European regulations and hitherto no Xerox
machine had ever been put through this
test.
The FX9500 team had to produce two
versions of the machine in order to comply
with both the 50 and 60Hz power supplies
that operate in different parts of Japan. The
50Hz power supply is used in Northern
Japan (eg Tokyo) while the 60Hz is used in
the south (eg Osaka).
The safety regulations also necessitated
major changes to the 9500 power supplies,
motors, blowers, and connectors in order
to add greater clearance distances
between live and other parts.
Environmental factors
The main difficulty encountered by the
team occurred during tests of the
prototype when the machine had to be
tested at environmental extremes. This
was necessan/ because Japan experiences
a climate which is both hotter and wetter,
and drier and colder, than that of the USA
and Europe.
The effect of such conditions on paper is
dramatic, and even the xerographies tend
to be unstable at these extremes.
A concern at Fuji Xerox was the noise
level of the machine. In the generally
smaller, more crowded Japanese offices,
the noise created by the older 9200
machines had become a major cause of
complaint, and we were asked to
investigate the possibility of noise
reduction.
Discussing measures to reduce noise levels i n v o l v i n g t h e u s e o f acoustic foam a r e ( f r om left)
M a r k S m i t h ( c o n f i g u r a t i o n c o n t r o l ) , Geoff W i l l i a m s ( e n g i n e e r i n g ) , C h r i s J o n e s ( c o m m o d i ty
o p e r a t i o n s ) , J o h n H a y n e s ( e n g i n e e r i n g ) a n d Des E l l w a y (MED).
ft. i
W o r k i n g t o g e t h e r t o s o r t o u t a p r o b l e m o n t h e e l e v a t o r s u b s y s t e m are ( f r om left) J o hn
B i l t o n ( e n g i n e e r i n g ) . Bill W h i t f i e l d (MED), A l a n P a r s o n s ( q u a l i t y e n g i n e e r i n g ) , Fred Saben
( M E D e l e c t r i c a l ) a n d J o h n M o r g a n (MED).
This imposed an additional task on the
programme — and incidentally provided a
classic example of early vendor involvement,
which is part of the New Culture
philosophy. Said Sam Phillips, who led
the manufacturing engineering/assembly
team: ‘We had the supplier of the acoustic
foam required on site without delay before
any marks were made on the drawing
board.’
Efforts met with success and a considerable
reduction in noise has been
achieved which is particularly evident when
the machine is in standby.
As this activity was only approved in
June 1980, to have these parts designed,
developed and built into machines
produced in February 1981 represented a
‘titanic effort’, as Sam put it, on the part of
the integrated design/manufacturing
teams, supported by their departmental
colleagues.
A preliminary batch of production
machines, designated BO machines, was
built and four of these were subjected to a
customer simulation test (qualification test)
at Mitcheldean under the watchful eye of a
Fuji Xerox OA representative.
The test set aggressive targets on
service calls and paper handling shutdown
rates, and, after a nerve-racking start, the
machines met all their major targets.
No less than four of the BO machines
(two 50Hz, two 60Hz) were prepared for
the safety certification tests run by the
Japanese JET laboratones, who sent two
inspectors to Mitcheldean.
Formula for success
At a workshop held last October, the
question was asked ‘How has this product
managed to meet its objectives?’
The answer is simple and includes no
magic element: by means of —
• good planning;
• good communications — largely the
result of having a strong FX resident team
led by Takashi Itoh;
• team spirit — and here manufacturing
engineers sitting beside designers was a
significant factor;
• determination by everyone on the
programme to make it a success.
R a y m o n d J o n e s c a r r i e s o u t i n – l i n e r e p a i r s t o t h e m a i n e l e v a t o r o f t h e FX9500; o n t h e r i g h t a re
B a r r i e H a w k i n s (QA) a n d G o r d o n D a v i s (MED).
Over the previous months it had become
clear that obtaining Dentori approval is
almost a programme itself — and costs
nearly as much.
Fortunately the efforts paid off, and
certification was granted.
Spearheading quality drive
The first batch of customer machines (B1)
has been built and shipped out to Japan.
These have been used by manufacturing to
spearhead a drive on quality at Mitcheldean
and are regarded as the best machines to
come out of Mitcheldean so far.
A selection of the new arrivals were
being re-audited at Ebina factory at the
time of writing. To ensure that, after their
five-week journey at sea, they sailed
through the test, OA engineering manager
Paul Richards and Dave Smith of group
quality audit flew to Japan at the beginning
of May to assist with interpretation of any
problems and enable speedy corrective
action.
The next major milestone is the launch
decision; for that we need to complete a
second qualification test on B1 machines,
and to find out through the Japanese IMO
(initial machine order) data just how good
the machine really is.
Meanwhile, there is always room to
improve the quality and reliability still
further. . .
A valuable achievement
The contract w i t h Fu]i Xerox is w o r t h some £20
m i l l i o n , including spares and technical back-up, and
t h e requirement for the machines will last t w o to
t h r e e years.
C o m m e n t s director Ron M o r f e e : ‘The w i n n i n g of
t h i s c o n t r a c t is a great achievement by t h e people at
M i t c h e l d e a n w h o have been involved. It is a
t r e m e n d o u s success w h e n o n e c o n s i d e r s t h e levels
of reliability and quality that are n o w synonymous
w i t h J a p a n ‘ s o w n industrial o u t p u t.
‘ T o have d o n e this w i t h a m a c h i n e as c o m p l e x and
u s i n g so m u c h advanced technology as t h e 9500
w a s a great challenge and proves that British
i n d u s t r y can p e r f o rm e x c e l l e n t l y w h e n there is a w i l l
t o d o so.
‘ W e have learned a great deal from doing
business w i t h our Japanese colleagues, and certain
m a c h i n e i m p r o v e m e n t s w h i c h have been required
by t h e m w i l l n o w b e incorporated into s o m e of our
o t h e r p r o d u c t s .’
3
The safety situation
M e m b e r s o f t h e s a f e t y o r g a n i z a t i o n at t h e m e e t i n g . There’s room for improvement
The launching of an energetic corporate
safety enhancement programme, which
will add muscle to safety efforts on site,
was announced by director Ron Morfee at
the annual meeting of the safety
organization on 3 April.
A questionnaire held last year revealed
that there was room for improvement in a l l ‘
areas of environmental and occupational
safety within the company.
These findings, plus increasing worldwide
legislation, and employee awareness
on health and safety, pointed to the need
for a greater management commitment to
action and the programme was duly
launched in January this year.
As a measure of how far we had to go,
Mr Morfee reminded the audience that
‘accidents don’t just happen, they are
caused, and in 1980 we caused 1,000
accidents in EMSD, 138 of them at
Mitcheldean. In the division we have had
five fires and we have growing special
concerns over noise, toxic problems, fire
and explosion risks, and emission and
discharge control.’
Sites malie decision
The enhancement programme consists of
27 separate programmes covering the five
areas of: occupational health, occupational
safety, industrial hygiene, pollution control,
and personnel and property protection.
While the programme is designed to
tackle all these areas, individual site needs
differ, and each site will decide which of the
programmes they will work on, what
resources will be made available, and how
their action plan is to be phased.
The first such programme has already
been issued under the heading of
occupational safety and industrial hygiene;
at the time of writing, an audit was being
prepared to establish whether we at
Mitcheldean are conforming to its
requirements.
Plans for the carrying out of any actions
identified as necessan/ will be developed
by the site safety function and progress will
be reported on a regular basis.
‘With greater management commitment
and a planned health and safety
programme given priority on a par with that
of production, cost control and quality, we
intend to maintain Mitcheldean’s leadership
in industrial safety’, said Mr Morfee.
Successes and failures
Reviewing the current situation, Chris
Wood, chairman of the main safety
committee, commented that the safety
}
Di; u L i w i Hon M o r f e e t a l k i n g w i t h ( f r om left) Dr C h r i s Luck, C h r i s W o o d , R o y s t o n C h a r l e s , J o hn
S p r a t l e y a n d D a v e Higman b e f o r e t h e p r o c e e d i n g s.
organization ‘has carried out its duties
adequately; some sub-committees could
make a greater contribution.’
In view of the fact that meetings/audits
made a big contribution to our overall
safety performance, he urged all subcommittee
chairmen and safety
representatives to ensure that during 1981
these were held within the agreed
schedule.
The factory inspector had, he said, made
three visits during July last year and 29
actions were placed upon us, 23 of which
had been cleared while six were in process
of completion.
Mr Wood instanced some successes
and failures (two of which were serious)
and underlined the need to adhere to
proper procedures.
He asked safety representatives to
‘Please continue and even increase your
efforts to get involved, to make your
colleagues aware of the risks to
themselves and to other people — even if it
means being thought to be a busybody!’
Dunng the latter half of 1980 more
effective procedures were put into practice
with the result that the backlog of
maintenance requests was kept at a very
low level, while site job requests had been
reduced from 42 to ten in some six or
seven months.
Reviewing accidents over the past year,
safety officer Dave Higman said that these
had dropped from 170 to 138 — a
substantial reduction of approximately 19
per cent over 1979 — and were now well
below the national average for our type of
industry.
Production time lost had been reduced
from 1,216 days to 915 — a reduction of
nearly 25 per cent which was most
encouraging.
An analysis of accidents showed that
injuries to eyes had increased (of the eight
injuries sustained, five occurred in areas
where eye protection was provided but not
worn), and efforts to encourage the use of
such protection must be doubled if this
trend were to be reversed.
Despite the improvement in numbers of
injuries to backs, arms, hands and fingers,
these nevertheless amounted to 58 per
cent of all injuries and were caused, in the
mam, by the incorrect handling of
materials.
Target for ’81
‘We have set a target for 1981 of 25 per
cent reduction in accidents, based on a
trend analysis over four years. Despite a
rise in February due to bad weather
conditions, we are now back on line to
achieve this’, said Dave, and he
emphasized again the need for
improvement in safety in the areas of
manual handling skills, stacking/storage,
and use of eye protection.
Guest speaker at the meeting was Dr
Chris Luck, chairman of the Rank Xerox
international safety committee. He talked
about safety legislation throughout the
Rank Xerox world and the company’s aim
to bring all their operations up to a
comparable level as faras health and safety
were concerned.
In his closing remarks, Mr Morfee said: ‘I
think we have done as well as anybody in
the whole company but we can do a lot
more.
‘Our prime problem is not a lack of
money for safe equipment, it is winning the
interest of people. That is the key to the
whole thing.
‘While management have responsibility
to provide safe systems, safe equipment,
individuals have a moral and legal
responsibility, a “duty to care”.
‘There is’, he said, ‘a place for slogans,
and one which sticks in my mind is: “There
is no way of doing an unsafe thing safely”.’
An engineer’s view of Japan by Hhid Goddard
Clean, precise and
professional
All of us to some degree have a view on
Japan, mainly due to the number of
consumer items in every shop window that
cam/ a Japanese trade name. Our attitudes
vary wildly from downright opposition to
enthusiastic acceptance of the wide variety
of goodies that seem to be swamping our
manufacturers’ best efforts to compete
with them on the open market.
To the enquiring mind the Land of the
Rising Sun is still an enigma that has to be
examined at first hand, if any impression at
all is to be formed; and, if like me, you get
that opportunity, the impressions you are
left with are not easily fitted into our
western way of life. Yet they could so easily
become as natural to our business and
social life as they are to a native of Tokyo.
The underlying needs, restrictions,
values, rewards are all the same; maybe in
the final analysis it’s only our attitude that is
different.
Perhaps my first impression was of the
cleanliness of everything.
The bus that picked us up from spickand-
span Narita airport, where even the
ashtrays have a regular cleaner, was
spotless. The seat headrests were covered
in freshly laundered white linen, the
uniformed driver was wearing white
gloves, the luggage was loaded by gloved,
uniformed porters (no tipping), and the
vehicle itself was quiet, smooth and fitted
with all the electronic goodies available.
The large digital clock was at precisely
the right time and a cassette tape provided
a welcome in both Japanese and English.
Even to the jet-lagged traveller, the
precision of the rice paddies, the green of
the countryside and the engineering
achievement of the elevated expressway
were impressive. Here were people who
knew what they were about; whether it
was planting rice in precise rows or
engineering a three-level expressway over
the Imperial Palace moat, the end result
was the same — satisfying, precisely
correct and beautiful.
The taxis are just as impressive. The
doors open automatically, the seats are
covered in spotless white cloth, the driver
wears gloves and, in my experience, is a
direct descendant of a kamikaze pilot. But,
nevertheless, he gets you there as quickly
as possible in his superbly engineered
Japanese motor car without spoiling its
immaculately clean extenor.
The mam mass transportation system in
Tokyo is undoubtedly the railway. The huge
network of subways, main and branch lines
can get you just about everywhere. At the
bottom end of the scale the subway can be
compared to the London underground,
except that it is spotlessly clean, runs to a
very precise and frequent timetable, and
probably carries infinitely more passengers
in the course of a day. At peak periods it
must be one of the wonders of the world.
The main lines have both local trains and
expresses that share the same tracks to a
ven/ precisely-orchestrated timetable, no
doubt programmed by a central computer
somewhere. The stop/ of the visitor who
got off at the right station by using his
watch IS true — if you can’t read the kanji
characters, you can absolutely rely on the
train reaching your station at the right time.
At the end of every run the carriages are
cleaned and dusted, even though to our
western eyes they do not need it. By the
way, the seats are covered in velvet (when
you can find one) and the guard announces
even/ station along the route (if you can
understand him).
There is a complete absence of graffiti
everywhere and the overall impression is
one of great care to make the environment
attractive to the eye and easy on the ear.
Noise fences on the expressways, and
embankments on the railways, are planted
with greener/ and flowers — no plain eyejarnng
concrete and steel here.
Little things delighted and impressed me
in their simplicity, usefulness and good
taste.
The cars had a melodious little tinger that
reminded you that you were exceeding the
speed limit, the time signals in the factory
were bell chimes similar to the ones in a
modern jet aircraft and even the indexing
production line was preceded by a peal of
chimes quite different to the raucous
klaxon that we use.
So what were my overriding impressions?
The quiet efficiency of the factory floor,
the technology that always seemed
precisely right and in harmony with its
human partner, nothing dramatically new
or surprising but exactly matched to the job
in hand.
The relaxed attitudes of operators and
engineers, bus dnvers and railway cleaners
who knew exactly what had to be done and
had precisely the right tools for the job. The
sheer professionalism of everyone, no
matter what their job or position. That was
what came across so strongly.
Just now they are building some super
high-rise buildings in the middle of Tokyo.
It struck me that in an area subject to
regular earthquakes this was taking an
unnecessar/ risk. But I was assured that
they had the solution to this problem and
that they would be perfectly safe.
Now there’s an engineering problem for
you. How do you earthquake-proof a
skyscraper?
Engineering Report ’81
T o n y B u r k e , G o r d o n B u t l e r a n d K e n Fox at t h e R X EG p r e s e n t a t i o n.
All of the engineering group personnel on site gathered at the
Chase Hotel, Ross-on-Wye, on 28 April for a presentation of
‘Engineenng Report ‘ 8 1 ‘ .
In the unavoidable absence of group director Don L.
Stephenson, the presentation was made by Tony Burke,
manager engineering operations, and Gordon Butler, now
director of engineering technical operations.
Much of what was disclosed must, of necessity, remain
secret, but essentially the report covered engineering group
activities and the challenges for the coming months.
Mitcheldean engineering staff got particular pats on the back
for the successful work done on the FX9500 and the Xerox 8200.
Visual displays covered topics such as safety, business
effectivity and information systems, and there were examples of
hardware, including the FX9500.
A similar event was also staged for engineering staff at Venray
and one at Welwyn is to follow.
5
Letter
Rank X e r o x c h a i r m a n H a m i sh
O r r – E w i n g p r o p o s e s a t o a s t to
t h e L o n g S e r v i c e A s s o c i a t i o n.
E n j o y i n g a t r a d i t i o n al
meal of r o a s t beef a nd
Y o r k s h i r e p u d d i n g.
L u c k y t r i o at t a b l e 2 — B o b H o w e l l s , h i s w i f e Eileen
( w h o u s e d t o w o r k in t h e s e r v i ce
d e p a r t m e n t in Bell & Howell
d a y s ) , a n d P h y l l i s C h r i s t o p h er
all w o n p r i z e s in
t h e g r a n d d r a w.
P i c t u r e d w i t h t h e c h a i r m a n after r e c e i v i n g t h e i r 25-year av
Dave Nash, J o h n Haggar, Roy P o w e l l , Ken S m a r t , Vera C
w a s not at t h e d i n n e r .) The 28th dim
A very good meal at a pleasant venue
(the Chase Hotel, Ross-on-Wye), a
good attendance (there were around
200), and a well-organized programme
(it w e n t ven/ smoothly) all contributed
to the undoubted success of the LSA
annual dinner on 15 May.
Previous annual dinners have not •
been lacking in liveliness, but t he 28th
event seemed to have some extra
special ‘sparkle’.
Rank Xerox chairman Hamish Orr-
Ewing, who was chief guest,
commented: ‘ I t ‘s like being a member
of a family — there’s such a
tremendous atmosphere on these
occasions.’
In toasting the association, he
touched bnefly on the current
difficulties facing not just our
company, or our countn/, but the
w h o l e of w e s t e r n society.
‘Traditional industnes are being
ovenA/helmed everywhere by
D o n W e b b , w h o o f t e n t o o k part in Rank Xerox
r e v u e s h e l d in d a y s g o n e by, s e e n p l a y i n g a n ew
r o l e at t h e k e y b o a r d.
25-Year Awards
Dennis Barnard (MED), Mike Brain
(machine shop), Ray Byett (spares
packing QA), Harold Carpenter (works
engineering), Ted Chadd (MED), Vere
Christopher (systems test engineering),
Ken Cook (works engineering), Ray
Dance (engineering), John George
(MED), John Haggar (industrial
engineering). Bob Howells (systems
test engineenng), Dave Nash (machine
shop), Ewart Nelmes (works
engineenng), Roy Powell (assembly).
Ken Scrivens (stock control). Ken Smart
(machine shop). Ken Townsend (MED).
irds are ( f r om left) Ken Cook, Ray Byett, J o h n George, Ray Dance, Ewart Nelmes, M i k e B r a i n , Ken S c r i v e n s,
ristopher. Bob Howells, Ted Chadd and Dennis Barnard. ( M i s s i n g f r om t h e l i n e – u p is Ken T o w n s e n d w h o
er is a sparkling occasion
products fronn countries which, 30
years ago, w e never regarded as being
industrially powerful or competitive to
our o w n industnes.’
Refernng to the company’s position
as the largest employers in t he Forest,
he said: ‘We are deeply conscious of
our responsibilities as a business to
this community, and w e will strive to
treat even/body, particularly those
w h o have served for a long pehod, in a
manner which is both honourable,
generous and compassionate.’
On the encouraging side, he said
that a number of Xerox products of t he
ven/ latest technology were coming
along to join the population of
copiers/duplicators that continued to
f o rm the backbone of our business.
‘We do have a v e r / assured future
when compared with many other
companies today in less happy
circumstances.’
This was not a matter of luck but
‘because people like those in this room
have worked so unstintingly and
w i l l i n g ly over so long a period’, he said.
Guests and new boys
LSA secretan/ Dennis Barnard then
proposed the toast to the guests who
included representatives of Rank
Xerox, Welwyn Garden City; Rank
Audio Visual, Brentford; Rank Radio
International, Chiswick; and Rank
Taylor Hobson, Leicester; while from
senior management at Mitcheldean
w e r e director Ron Morfee, Ron
Barnett, personnel director (EMSD),
and personnel manager Derek Knibbs.
Ron Barnett, replying for t he guests,
commented that ‘the LSA must be one
of the most exclusive clubs in Great
Britain. A f e w years ago I thought I w a s
going to become a member, then you
changed the qualification rules!
‘Your chairman joined the company
in 1965 and many people here at
Mitcheldean will be tempted to think
Id C a r p e n t e r r e c e i v e d his 25-year a w a r d s o m e w h a t e a r l i e r w h e n he r e t i r e d at t h e e n d of A p r i l . He has
;ed all t h a t t i m e in t h e c a r p e n t r y s h o p — n o t , a s y o u m i g h t s u p p o s e , as a ‘ c h i p p y ‘ b u t a s a b u i l d e r . In f a c t,
rst task at M i t c h e l d e a n w a s t o put u p b i d 5 t o h o u s e t h e heat t r e a t m e n t f a c i l i t y w h i c h w a s m a k i n g do
a nissen h u t . H a r o l d has e a r n e d h i m s e l f a r e p u t a t i o n f o r a l w a y s b e i n g f i r s t t o a r r i v e in t h e m o r n i n g a nd
not l i k e l y t o be g e t t i n g u p a n y l a t e r n o w h e h a s r e t i r e d , s a y s h i s s o n S t e v e ( f a c i l i t i e s p l a n n i n g ) w h o came
3 to t h e f a r e w e l l p r e s e n t a t i o n . But h e ‘ l l d o u b t l e s s e n j o y k e e p i n g an e y e o n t h e h a n d s o m e c l o c k w h i ch
s e n g i n e e r i n g m a n a g e r G r a h a m Bunt g a v e h i m o n b e h a l f o f f r i e n d s a n d c o l l e a g u e s . A f u r t h e r ‘ g o i ng
‘ ‘ g i f t o f a c h e q u e w a s h a n d e d o v e r f r o m t h e L S A b y c h a i r m a n Jack W o o d s .
of h im as a ” n e w b o y ” .
‘Those of you who qualified for
membership this year, after 20 years’
service, will have joined the company
w h e n the 914 machine was entenng
t h e market. It w a s a good thing for this
company, and this area, that you were
able to prove adaptable to the change
that w a s needed then.
‘In doing so, you brought
tremendous wealth to this area; the
intervening years have been
tumultuous ones.
‘It was possibly easier to adapt to
change during a t i m e of expansion. But
It is really impossible to f o l l ow a star of
everlasting expansion.
‘However, you have continued to
s h o w the adaptability that is part of t he
success of Mitcheldean, and of this
company — one of the most
successful businesses in Great Britain
and indeed in t he world.
‘We are successful not only in the
business sense but also in the way w e
treat each other — w i t h respect.
‘You faced up to difficult decisions in
t h e past and I am sure you are going to
face up to t h em now and in t he future.
‘I hope that in 20 years’ t i me you will
still be inviting ” n e w boys”. Your
e f f o r t s and service over the years are
an example to those who have not
q u i te made it y e t ! ‘
After the presentation of 25-year
awards to 15 people by Mr Orr-Ewing,
Dennis briskly conducted a ‘grand
draw’ in which £100-worth of pnzes
w e r e given away.
After that, the tables were cleared
and the evening given over to
socializing, w i t h dancing to the music
of a totally non-political group called
‘Shades of Blue’.
7
Letter
T h i s s p r i n g G e o r g e S o l o g u b a n d h i s w i f e J o a n r e t i r e d w i t h i n a f e w w e e k s of o n e a n o t h er
( o u r p i c t u r e s h o w s t h e m r e c e i v i n g a g i f t f r o m f r i e n d s a n d c o l l e a g u e s at a d o u b l e f a r e w e ll
p a r t y in t h e c l u b h o u s e ) . J o a n j o i n e d us s o m e 13 y e a r s a g o a n d w o r k e d m a i n l y o n t he
m a t e r i a l s s i d e , m o s t r e c e n t l y in c o n f i g u r a t i o n c o n t r o l . G e o r g e ( w h o s e P o l i s h accent has
r e m a i n e d u n a f f e c t e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e w h o l e of h i s 2 4 o r s o y e a r s at M i t c h e l d e a n ! ) s t a r t e d in
t h e m a c h i n e s h o p a n d b e c a m e a s e t t e r / o p e r a t o r ; t h e n a b o u t f i v e y e a r s a g o he t r a n s f e r r ed
t o q u a l i t y f u n c t i o n as a n i n s p e c t o r in C B A a s s e m b l y . T h e i r s o n J a n w o r k s in s m a l l b a t c h a nd
b o t h t h e i r o t h e r t w o s o n s h a v e w o r k e d o n s i t e in past years.
They’ve brought the
rules uito line
Changing circumstances are obliging clubs
and associations to take a long, hard look at
their finances and the relevant rules. The
Long Service Association is no exception
and the main business at their annual
general meeting, held on 18 May, was
concerned with rule changes.
These came under three basic headings:
Wind-up of association — Many years
ago when the association and its funds
were on a modest scale, it was decreed
that, in the event of the association winding
up, its funds should be shared between
two charities.
Now that the membership is over the
300 mark and the money involved
correspondingly greater, the LSA has
‘changed its will’ to the effect that, in the
event of a wind-up, the funds should be
distributed to members proportionate to
their years of membership.
Retirement fund — The existing
retirement/leaving company entitlement
rules, which have been based primarily on
years of company service, have produced
situations where retiring members can
leave the association with funds out of
proportion to contributions made.
The entitlement is now being aligned
instead to years of membership of the LSA,
the number of years being multiplied by a
factor (initially £3) which will be reviewed
annually.
Subscriptions — Payments made to
members leaving the association, together
with the cost of improving the standard of
social functions and the Christmas draw
(which themselves are becoming
increasingly expensive), have had their
effect on funds and have made it necessan/
to increase subscnptions.
These, which have remained unaltered
at 15p for eight years, have now been
raised to 25p per week.
The relevant rule has been altered to
allow more flexibility in future in fixing the
subscription and the proportional allocation
to retirement and general funds.
A further rule change concerned gifts to
members on sick leave.
During the past year the LSA committee
continued its policy of tr/ing to improve
benefits to members and its various
achievements have been reported in the
association’s newsletter.
New officers
Vic Buhlmann and Marion Cornwall were
re-elected as president and vice-president
respectively, and Tony Cale was elected a
vice-president.
Following last year’s committee
election, Joan Turley and Dennis Clarke
were co-opted to cover the representation
gaps in bids 41/42 and 40 respectively.
Similarly, Ken Taylor has been co-opted to
take the post of treasurer in place of
George Turner who retires this June.
June also sees the retirement of our
longest serving employee — Les Tuff ley —
who has clocked up 40 years with the
company.
By the time this issue appears, the
summer outing for retired members to
Swansea and Mumbles will have taken
place (17 June) and we hope to give an
account of this in our next issue.
Harold Milliner
We were sorr/ to learn of the death on 25
.April of Harold Milliner at the age of 70. He
worked in the tool room and retired in 1975
after 23 years’ service. Our sympathy goes
to members of his family.
BASICally for beginners
Do you want to avoid a row with your
partner— or boss? Would you like to know
when best to tackle that heavy work in the
garden, or a particularly tricky report at
work?
Then a home computer — plus a new
paperback which is out this June — will
guide you.
The latter will tell you how, using a
simple-to-understand computer language
called BASIC, you can program the
computer to reveal your ‘biorhythms’.
You then feed in your birth date and it will
print out the pattern of your emotional,
intellectual and physical ups and downs
during the next 30 days.
We picked up this tip on self-knowledge
from Steve Daly, who is the latest to join
the list of Mitcheldean authors.
As a systems test engineer, Steve has to
process large quantities of machine test
data using the Xerox computer centre at
Rochester via a link-up. He also has a
microcomputer at home for personal use.
Having gone through the process of
teaching himself the language, it occurred
to him that there was a need for a teachyourself
book for beginners.
‘The books currently available on BASIC
seemed to be mostly in the higher-price
bracket and were written for people who
already knew about computers’, he said,
‘so I aimed to fill the gap’.
He wrote a sample chapter and sent it to
Babani Books, who commissioned him to
go ahead.
It took Steve some three months to put it
together in his spare time, and the resultant
work — a 128-page paperback entitled ‘An
Introduction to BASIC Programming
Techniques’ — makes its appearance this
June, pnce£1-95.
It includes a libran/ of programs, written
and run by Steve, which are suitable for
mini and microcomputers and can be used
as exercises.
Apart from the biorhythms mentioned
earlier, graph plotting, standard deviation,
regression and other mathematical
mysteries are catered for, and there are
also programs for a card game and for
‘generating a musical note sequence’
(based on the theop/ that music notes
follow a mathematical progression).
Learning that Steve plays an electronic
organ and guitar, and is interested in pop
music, we asked him what were the
chances of his getting a small computer to
come up with a melody that might make
the charts.
Steve wasn’t optimistic. ‘You see, it
knows the rules but it doesn’t know a good
tune from a bad one.’
A N Y N E W S F O R V I S I ON a
If y o u h a v e , t h e n p l e a s e —
m a i l it t o m e c / o C o r p o r a t e A f f a i r s , B i d 5 1 / 4 ,
o r l e a v e it at a n y G a t e H o u s e f or
c o l l e c t i o n b y m e ,
o r p o s t it t o m e at T r e e T o p s , P l u m p H i l l,
M i t c h e l d e a n ,
o r r i n g m e — ext 566 o r Dean 542415.
Myrtle Fowler, Editor
8
Crawling for charity
1 Jill!!:”
F i v e o n all f o u r s — Robert S m i t h , Noel J u r y , R i c h a r d Lee, T o n y D a v i s a n d v e t e r a n Les L a n e s t a r t o f f f r o m B r a d l e y C o u r t g a t e.
Backing t h e m u p are m a r s h a l s J i m R o b e r t s a n d D o n C r i t c h l ey
Down-to-earth approach brings in the cash
To walk the five or so miles from
Mitcheldean to the centre of Cinderford
would be a real slog for many people.
To crawl the same distance on hands and
knees was obviously too gruelling to
contemplate. For Les Lane, the man who
dreamed up this latest and craziest fundraising
effort, was unable to find more than
two people on site to ‘have a go’
Second-year apprentices Noel Jury and
Richard Lee (both 18 years old) and Les (61
years young) who works in CBA assembly,
loined forces with outsiders Robert Smith
and Tony Davis (both 23) for the ‘incredible
journey’.
The sponsored crawl was in aid of five
local hospitals — and one couldn’t help
wondering if the participants were going to
end up in one or other establishment.
A further crawler — Andrew Bruce of
Staverton — had originally planned to take
part. He had intended to include the ‘short’
trip in an attempt on the world crawling
record which stands at 25 miles! But
unfortunately (or luckily) he injured his leg
in a motor-cycling accident some days
before the event and had to postpone the
attempt.
Protected only by kneepads, shoes with
metal toecaps, and tough gloves or
wooden hand supports, the five crawlers
moved off. Marshals Jim Roberts (service
operator) and Don Critchley of CBA
assembly saw them safely through the
fairly deserted streets of Mitcheldean and
swooped on anyone who happened to be
about, rattling their collecting boxes.
First stop for the RX trio was by the Lamb
Inn, then they started struggling up Plump
Hill. Motorists stared in amazement; so did
the sheep who must have wondered what
new breed of quadruped this was.
By 10.45am our lot had reached the top
of the hill. Tony and Robert had shot ahead
disregarding speed limits, but they were
obliged to stop near the Forest Church
while Tony, who had lost some skin off his
legs, got first-aid treatment.
‘It won’t hurt so much when it gets
through to the bone!’ said his co-crawler
helpfully.
By lunchtime the rain came down
heavily, but ‘it helped take my mind off my
knees,’ said Noel.
Dangerous stretch
At Steam Mills, Margaret Elias (business
planning & control) and her husband were
waiting to escort the crawlers through the
most dangerous stretch — Cinderford’s
long high street.
There was a stop near the Rank Xerox
plant to enable them to regroup, then the
last lap up to the Triangle began.
On their knees, figuratively as well as
literally, they crawled one by one to the
finishing point where they were warmly
applauded by lookers-on.
Calloused, blistered hands reached for a
drink of orangeade and sore legs were
attended to at the chemist’s just across the
road — all free of charge!
Les was the fourth to arrive (well, he
would keep stopping to chat to people) and
he took the scenic route right round the
Tnangle before coming to a halt just after
4pm.
Apart from pink knees, he looked as fit as
when he had started eight hours earlier.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it!’ said an
onlooker.
Noel, though suffering somewhat, got
within 300 yards of the Triangle before he
had to pack it in, having been loyally
supported by his brother, 1st year
apprentice Dominic, right from the start.
But all were back at work, none the
worse for their ordeal, on the following
Monday and the job of getting in the
sponsorship money began.
At the time of going to press it was
hoped that this, plus the street collection of
over £71.50, would produce around £1,000
for the Dilke, Lydbrook, Lydney, Ross and
Gloucester hospitals.
‘And for your next trick?’ we asked Les,
who only last September took part in a
100-mile sponsored cycle ride for the
Stoke Mandeville appeal.
‘No comment,’ was his guarded reply.
‘ W e m a d e i t ! ‘ V i c t o r y s a l u t e f r o m Les o n a r r i v i n g at t h e T r i a n g l e.
Clubs
It’s been a
difficult year
The Sports & Social Club is a business, and,
like many businesses today, is having to
seek ways to cut costs.
Membership levels have been dropping,
and the balance between income and
expenditure is having to be carefully
controlled.
Looking back over the past 12 months at
the annual general meeting held on 1 April,
chairman Mike Cooper reflected that it had
been a very difficult year for the club.
The committee had been elected in unfortunate
circumstances at the beginning
of June at a special AGM; they had had to
cope with some difficult problems while
gaining experience and had, he admitted,
made mistakes (the committee were
criticised over the sale of a house originally
purchased for the use of a steward and a
full explanation was offered).
But overall they had worked well as a
team, and he thanked them, and the club
house staff, for their support and hard
work, with special mention of the efficient
manner in which the newly appointed
steward and stewardess had approached
their new job.
There were still a lot of problems to be
faced, and he felt that the incoming
committee’s main priority must be the
staff/pay structure within the club house.
It had been the aim of the retiring
committee to review the entertainment
and the general running of the club to allow
young families to use it on a more regular
basis.
‘It is probably not widely known that
members may bring in their children from
the age of five upwards during the week’,
he said. (They are not allowed in the lounge
bar and only those of 14 upwards can be
allowed into the Friday night discos).
Secretan/ Harlene Denning spoke from
the heart when she said, ‘After serving as
secretary now for approximately eight
months, my eyes have really been opened
to the facts of running a business; I don’t
think people generally realize what’s
involved.’
She reminded members, ‘It’s not professionals
who are tn/ing to run the club but
people like you, tn/ing to do their best.
‘The way to help the new committee is
to put any suggestions, requests, or advice
down on paper and forward it on.’
More businesslike
Since the treasurer appointed at the June
AGM had subsequently resigned, Mike
Keen had kindly taken on the job in an
‘acting’ capacity.
He was able to report that the club had
now been put on a more businesslike
footing, and stricter controls were being
enforced, although they had not been able
to achieve all that they would have wished
in the time available.
But despite some large bills, it had still
been found possible to make a surplus for
the year of £9,030.
The employment of temporan/ staff to
10
D e r e k B a t e y w i t h t h e c o m p e t i t o r s ( f r om left) D u d l e y a n d Gail Bevan, J o a n Davies, Peggy
Grindle, B o y o D a v i e s a n d K e n G r i n d l e .
^Mr and Mrs’ at Mitcheldean
How well do you know your partner in life? Three Mitcheldean couples found out just
how well when Derek Batey, host of the popular ITV programme ‘Mr and Mrs’, quizzed
them in a special version of the show at the club house on Saturday, 9 May.
The names of the chosen couples were drawn out of a hat and Jackie Smith, one of
our pensioners, kindly acted as hostess.
With 27 years of married life behind them. Ken Grindle (CMSA inspector) and his
wife Peggy (assembly) got all six questions right, while Boyo Davies (small batch) and
his wife Joan (Lydney) tied with Dudley Bevan (refurbishing) and his wife Gail (cleaning)
in getting four correct answers each.
But all six participants agreed on their bonus question, which won them a bottle of
bubbly each. And the full capacity audience were in agreement that it was one of the
most enjoyable evenings they had ever had at the club.
cover the period June to September before
the appointment of the new steward and
stewardess had added considerably to the
wages bill; accountancy charges had risen
while a considerable amount had been
spent in strengthening the security of the
club house, and its redecoration and repair
as well as the provision of new tills, glass
washing machines and other equipment.
Social activities showed an increase of
almost £2,000. ‘Our main cabaret nights
and Saturday “live” entertainment have
barely paid their way but profit has come
from discos which amounted to £1,900.
‘Video machines recently introduced into
the club and the fruit machines have
brought welcome revenue. Subscriptions
and the bonanza draw, on the other hand,
have dropped and the downward trend will
continue in 1981’, he warned.
Bar revenue had slightly increased, but
the kitchen account had given rise to
concern and stricter controls on stock and
purchases had been made.
The building loan from the company had
been reduced from £127,762 to £87,760,
payment of £40,000 having been made
after the committee took office in June.
New committee
Mike Cooper was re-elected chairman,
with Brian Rhoades vice-chairman, while
secretan/ Harlene Denning remains in
office for a further two years.
Other officers and committee were
elected as follows: trustee — Ken Cook
(his fellow trustees being Bill Jones and
George Cooper); treasurer—Tony Sharpe
(who nobly agreed to take the post for a trial
period of three months); committee
members — Margaret Cale, Joan Davies,
Betty Ellway, Brian Jones, Mike Keen,
Graham Meek, Dave Palmer and Sid
Rhoades.
Concern was expressed about the
number of members whose money had
helped to set the club up in its present state
and who were losing out on their
‘shareholding’ in the club on their
retirement. The newly elected committee
promised to look into the possibility of their
retaining full membership and eligibility to
sit on the committee.
A number of changes to the rules were
necessary and the new committee undertook
to come back with recommendations
in a few months’ time. They will also
consider changes to the Saturday night
entertainment provided.
Another task the new committee undertook
was to decide on the amount to be
allocated to affiliated sections annually.
Bridge by invitation
Some 88 players from 11 local bridge clubs
descended on the club house on 28 April
for the third RX Invitation Teams Trophy
tournament.
The RX team of Mike Churchward and
John Johnson (MED), Brian Charmley (IS),
Ron Watkins (QA), Bnan Bowen and Wilf
Jones (lED), Jim Vivian-Griffiths (finance)
and Ron Carter (small batch MED) were
tn/ing for ‘third time lucky’, having finished
third and second in the previous two
competitions.
At half time there was an air of
confidence as Rank Xerox led by 19 pts.
But, alas, following an excellent buffet
(prepared by the club house staff — many
thanks!) the team’s concentration lapsed,
and allowed Shaftesbur/ BC (Cheltenham)
to cam/ off the trophy at their first attempt.
Despite losing, however, the RX team,
along with all the others participating, had a
very enjoyable evening.
W.C.J.
Clubs
The skys
the limit
1 was trying to land on Mars but they’ve
moved it!’ ‘Who wrote this programme?’ ‘I
helped my husband to build it but I don’t
know a thing about it’. ‘What’s my rating?’
— ‘Hopeless!’
Just a few fragments of the conversations
heard between people — and seen
between people and microcomputers — in
the clubhouse on 13 May.
It was the latest open evening to be held
by our Amateur Computer Club and was
essentially a fun event. Over 40 people
came along, some brought their families
with them, and they enjoyed themselves
playing chess, going on imaginan/ space
trips or checking on their biorhythms.
Members proudly demonstrated the
capabilities of their Apple, Radio Shack,
Nascom, Sinclair ZX80 and other outfits —
some of them home-built from kits and
using a standard TV as a visual display unit,
others the latest in a range of business
machines that act as word processors into
the bargain.
President Tern/ Gardner welcomed
everyone and introduced Keith Jones who
talked about ‘Microcomputing for
Top scorers in skittling
This year it was the ‘Y’ Cyders who won the Mai Thomas Challenge Trophy, donated by
the former chairman of the company, with Ron Evans of ‘B’ team getting highest score
of the night (27).
The match took place after the Skittles Section’s annual general meeting on 27
March when Bill Constable (‘Y’ Cyders) and Jan Sologub (‘B’ team) were re-elected
chairman and secretary respectively, while Ray Watkins (Misfits) was elected
treasurer, Richard Cooke having decided to stand down.
Trophies for the highest averages in past seasons were awarded as follows:
‘B’team ‘Y’Cyders Misfits
Winter 79/80 Chris Gurney Richard Matthews Finlay Gemmell
Summer 80 Terry Brown John Harding Ray Watkins
Winter 80/81 Chris Gurney Chris Warren Finlay Gemmell
beginners’. To the question ‘What do you
do with a microcomputer?’ his answer
was: ‘It’s up to your imagination.’
Apart from serious applications such as
accounting or education, microcomputers
can play games with you, produce a tune,
or design intricate patterns.
They can even be a dog’s best friend.
One man, Keith told us, programmed his
microcomputer to recognize his dog’s
howl, on the receipt of which it sent a signal
that opened a door and let the dog out (was
it a PET machine, we wonder?).
Another application involving a microcomputer
strapped to a wheelchair opened
up a whole new world for a severely
disabled person.
If you’d like to find out about such
electronic wizardry the easy way, an
opportunity presents itself again on 14
October when the club will hold another
open evening (ring Terry on 589 or Keith on
1306).
As we went to press members were
planning to visit the Bnstol Apple Computer
Club; their July meeting is a technical one,
with talks on SI00 interfaces and Tuscan
and Explorer computers, to be held in the
microcomputer centre now set up in bid.
50/2.
Continued on page 12
Darts final
The Ardri Arrows, captained by Les Kilmister,
beat the Mohicans led by Ken Matthews, in
the final of the interdepartmental darts
tournament on 21 March with a score of 7:2 —
though It wasn’t as one-sided as the figures
suggest! Area personnel officer Tim Stewart
presented the trophies to the winners
pictured above and the runners-up left, and
to Brian Baggus (whose team Superflights
were knocked out in the semi-finals) for the
highest score-out. Brian escaped photographer
John Ingram — and John managed to
escape unharmed after getting the close-up
above left of Ardri Arrow Graham Kibble who
scored 180 with three darts during the match.
11
the picture
M a x w e l l a n d D i a n a G a y l a rd
Wedding
Diana Bowden (finance) to Maxwell
Gaylard at Upton Bishop Church on 4 April.
Birth
Thomas William, a son for John Court
(manager, parts manufacturing operations
(ndge)) and his wife Man/, on 23 Apnl.
Retirements
John Carter (supply) 1272 years; Frank
Clifford (consumables stores) nearly 12
years; Man/ Davies (TED) 12 years; Adela
Elale (cleaning) 9/2 years; Lewis Hemsley
Continued from page 11
Spring brings golfers out
The season for the RX Golfing Society
started on 9 April with a visit to the Malvern
Golf Course to play 36 holes of Stableford
scoring golf competing for the Spring Bowl.
This competition is played for in pairs
where the high and low handicaps are
drawn together. It is a popular event and
the entp/ of 44 was once again a good
turn-out.
The weather was cold but dry and some
good scoring was produced. Individual
winners during the day were as follows:
AM best score — Roy Powell 36 pts;
second best scores — Dave Robinson,
Keith Foster, Tony Haynes, Des Gibbs and
Mark Barnard, all sharing on 35 pts. PM
best score — Geoff Williams 40 pts;
second best — Tony Haynes 38pts.
Overall winners of the Spring Bowl were
Roy Powell and Trevor Wood with 85 pts;
runners-up were Tony Haynes and Hugh
Grainger, 84 pts.
The second outing on 8 May was to
Henbur/ Golf Course at Bristol and this
time it was the America Cup event — an
individual best score under Stableford
rules. The day was warm and sunny and 39
entnes tee’d off.
The best AM score of 32 pts was shared
between: Don Parkinson, Mike Newlove
and Harold Gardiner, Mark Barnard
achieving second best score with 31 pts.
The best PM score was again shared,
this time between Don Meek, Bill Gilmour
and Mike Newlove, while Roy Taylor and
Don Parkinson both made second best
score with 34 pts.
Overall winner of the America Cup was
the holder, Mike Newlove, and he was
presented with the trophy by its donor,
John Wigg, who became the club’s first
honorar/ member on his move to Welwyn.
The rest of the prizes were presented by
the 1981 captain, John Spratley.
H.A.G.
(stores) 12>2 years; Vernon Hepburn
(supply) 13/2 years; Tom Johnson
(machine shop) 15 years; Eric Penn
(assembly) 15 years; Maurice Preece
(finishing) 12 years; Joan Sologub
(configuration control) 13/2 years; Dick
Taylor (tool inspection) nearly 11 years;
Fred Tedds (night plant manager) 10 years;
Kathleen Worsfold (spares packing) 8
years. (See also LSA Letter)
The following have become eligible for
company service awards:
25 Years
April — Vere Christopher (systems test,
engineering). Ken Scrivens (stock control);
May— Dave Nash (machine shop).
20 Years
Apnl— Des Gibbs (assembly). Ken Nicholls
(small batch); May—Tern/ Brown (small
batch), Joe Burke (goods receiving
inspection), Ben Davies (inventory control),
Trevor Evans (machine shop), Dennis
Jaynes (machine shop), Ashley Saunders
(works engineering), Maurice Stephens
(tool inspection). Ken Stern/ (works
engineenng), George Wade (works
engineering), Graham Weaver (assembly),
Fred Wynn (machine shop).
Eyes on Safety
Total number of
accidents for period:
Mar/Apr’80 Mar/Apr’81
The cumulative total for the current
safety year to April is 57, compared with
8 7 for the same period last year.
Obituary
We regret to have to report the death of
pensioner Bill Cotterell on 18 April at the
age of 68. Our sympathy goes to his family.
George keeps his hand in
One of the pioneers who came to Mitcheldean from Shepherds Bush back in the
‘forties, George Weatherley retired from the machine shop in 1975 after 37 years’
service, whereupon he carried on working. In his garden workshop, which he built and
equipped himself, he has made a wide variety of things — from a sewing box for his
wife Lottie to Victorian dolls’ houses, from a gipsy caravan to an old London coal cart.
The latter, as our picture here shows, are of course models, built to 1/8th scale from
plans and beautifully finished down to the tinest detail. In the foreground is an English
stage coach (c. 1830) which took George 120 hours to complete. He intended it as a
raffle prize for the fashion show and disco held in the club house last April, which raised
£200 for the Dilke Memorial Hospital. But the organizers decided instead to give it to
the Diike where it is now displayed for the enjoyment of patients and visitors alike.
L o t t i e w a t c h e s as G e o r g e g e t s d o w n t o a b i t o f b e n c h w o r k.
12 Printed in England by laylor. Young (Printers) Ltd., Cheltentiam
