1920's? - Westwood Foundry Workers - A 21st Birthday Celebration
1927: The Pattern Shop
1946: Electrical Apprentices
1950?: Bill Chapman at work
1951: Frank Coaten and Glen Costin - Gearcutters
1958: Inside the Fitting Shop
1960: Jack Randall with his model of Yates Welding Plant in Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station in N. Wales
1962: Frank Pacey at work in the Foundry
1965: Mick Bingham working on a Nitro Incorporator
Date?: The Tinsmiths
1966: New Floor for Printing Fitting Shop. Following the successful
showing of two Halley-Aller printing presses at the Paris Exhibition in
1965, it was decided that this business was so important that a great deal
of re-organisation was necessary at Westwood. Norman Mountain, chairman
of the Board of Management became Divisional Manager of Printing as well
as his other duties and significant investment was made in the factory.
Heavier cranes and special machine tools were installed and a new floor
constructed in the Printing Fitting Shop. The foundations for this were
several feet deep and its surface was checked with optical alignment telescopes
to ensure that all surfaces were level to within one-eighth of an inch overall.
This floor could carry printing presses weighing several hundred tons.
1968: Making moulds for printing m/c covers in the Pattern Shop
1969: The Canteen Cooks prepare Christmas Lunch
1969: Ken Goodrich, Blacksmith at work
Alan Dann, who started his career at Baker Perkins in 1943 taking details of railway wagons as they entered the site, remembers some of those who worked in the Chocolate & Confectionery section of the Fitting Shop in the immediate post-war period (1945 - 1950):
1970 - 1979
1973: At work in the Shaft Section
1973: Ted Dudding and Alf Hall in the Pattern
1973?: Making Moulds for Glass-fibre Printing M/c Guards
1974: Part of the Machine Shop
1974: Component machining
1974: High Precision Jig Borer
1974: Pouring a large casting
1974: Finishing a Biscuit Roll
1976: Jack Larman's Fitting Shop
1977: Getting medical attention
1979: Building a Printing Press
Late 1970's: Biscuit Fitting Shop
Late 1970's: Biscuit Fitting Shop
1970s: The Small Milling Bay
1979/80: A G16 press in Experimental ready for Customer trials
1980 - 1989
1982: Graham Crockett and Steve Harbour working on an Enrober
1982: Automatic machining of biscuit rolls
1982: Group Technology component manufacture
1982: Computerised Turret Press
1983: Works Foremen
1984 - Steels Stores Personnel
1984: The first Steel Stores
1984: The first Steel Stores
1984: The first Steel Stores
1985: Part of the Pattern Shop
1985: Fred French pouring a Casting
1985: Preparing a Sand Mould
1985: Alf Hall checks a Pattern for a Large Casting
1985: Margaret Farrow in the Foundry Laboratory
1985: Cereal Cookers being assembled in KL Bay of the Fitting Shop.
1986: Using Microprocessor Technology
1986: Producing biscuit cutting rolls
1986: The Printing Fitting Shop
1986: Testing equipment in the Experimental Department
1986: Testing a Printing Press Module
1987: Dave Symonds works on an MPF100 Extruder
1988: Frame Cell (Stuart Cadman upper centre, Mick Lord lower centre)
1988: Frame Cell: Stuart Cadman at work
1988: The Waldrich Siegen machining centre
1988: Mick Lord at the Waldrich Siegen machining centre in the Frame Cell
1988?: Looking West towards the main yard, G16 Presses being built in the Fitting Shop
1988: Frame Cell (Tony Evans in white shirt)
Early 1980s?: Foreman Derek Swallow with new Accurist 367 divider in Bakery fitting shop.
1987: Printing Fitting Shop Foremen (Mick Bentham, Barry Mounce)
The L70 Bay
Erected in 1935 - this was the first (south end) bay of the Plate Shop. So named because it was where both during and after WW2, the famous L7040mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun was assembled. Part of the bay was later used - from the mid 1970s onwards - to develop the Printing Division's innovative approach to the production of its G16 Printing Press Plate and Blanket cylinders. A one-piece solid steel forging had a unique welded stainless steel surface applied on a lathe before being ground, with its running bearings (high precision taper bore spherical bearings) fitted, and then dynamically balanced. (Seehere).
1982 - The L70 Bay
1990 onwards
1991: View of the Fitting Shop
1992: HS Folder for Cradleyprint, during testing in "O" bay
1992: HS Folder for Cradleyprint, during testing in "O" bay
1992: In the Printing Machine Shop
Date?: G14 Press being assembled. (Geoff Steels extreme right)
Date?: G16 Printing Cylinder
Date?: Christmas in Roger Smith's Fitting Shop
Date?: Spares Department
Date?: The C&C Fitting Shop?
Date? :Bob Browning at Work
Date?: In the Printing Fitting Shop
Date?: Chrome Plating Shop with John Chilton
Date?: Dave Shaw in the Marston Hut
Date?: KL Bay. R to L: Barley Meadows, Graham Conquest, Stan Wilson and
Mark Ramsden
Date?: Reg Copestake at work in the Foundry
Date?: The Fitting Shop
In the Offices
1900 - 1969
1923: The Baker Perkins Bakery Dept Commercial Office
1948: Ann Dann and the Hollerith Department Girls
1954: The Hollerith Department
1956: The Drawing Office Archives
1956: The Typing Training Section
1957: The Typing Pool - 5th Floor. 1933 Office Block
1964: Computer Punch Operators
1961: The Drawing Offices
1964: The first English Electric Leo Computer
1967: New Personnel Department Reception Area
1967: Inside the CPO
1969: Bakery Sales Correspondents
1969: Bakery Sales Correspondents
1969: Westwood Works Telephone Switchboard
1969: The second English Electric Computer
An early 1960s view of Health & Safety. Presumably the "comprehensive factory act" is the 1961 Factory Act, a major piece of legislation which consolidated all the previous Factory Acts from 1937 to 1959. The poem's author Fred Popely was a long-term employee, from 1933 to 1983.
1970 - 1979
1970: Inside Bismark's "Black Shed"
1971: Sister Moules Dispensing Comfort from the Surgery
1974: In the Mainframe Computer Room
1974: Ordnance Survey Map showing the Bismark Temporary Offices
1974: Industrial Designers at work
1974: A Marketing Planning meeting
1975: It's Pay Day!
1975: Floor by floor layout of the new office block
1977: Norman Mountain tries out the new CAD equipment
1978: The Telephone Girls
1980 - 1989
1980: Derrick Turner at his Drawing Board
1982: Getting Ready for a Photo Shoot
1982: Discussing a design issue in the D/O
1982: CAD/CAM systems
1983: Customer training
1986: Commercial Services Office
1986: Designing electronic systems
1986: Using CAD/CAM equipment
1986: Computers in the Commercial Office
1986: The CAD/CAM Drawing Office
1986: CAD Station in the Drawing Office
1986: Floor Layout of Office Blocks
1986: The PMC Reception Area
1986: The Customer Services Department
1986: The Customer Services Department
1986: The Customer Services Department
1987: Red Nose Day in the Shipping Department
1990 onwards
1990: Design Team at Work
1990: Peter Carter at a D90 CAD station
1991: 3rd Floor Drawing Office
1991: Mick Bean and John Staples getting ready to move
1991: Dave Bradshaw doing a spot of cleaning
1991: 3rd Floor Drawing Office
1991: 3rd Floor Drawing Office
1991: 3rd Floor Drawing Office
1991: 3rd Floor Drawing Office
1991: 3rd Floor Drawing Office
1991: Mark Shearsmith and Ray Dacey in the D.O.
This will bring back memories!
"Memories of The Archives" - by Bernard Carr
OFFICE ACCOMMODATION
At the east (railway) end of the site was the original
office building, built as a single storey in 1904 with a second floor
added in 1918. The offices housed:
First Floor - Accounts Department
Ground Floor - Planning and Ratefixing Department,
the Power Samas/Hollerith Room, Works Offices and other ancillary
departments.
Basement - Strong Room and Stationery Store.
Access to these was by either a small lift, situated centrally on the south
side of the building, or by a narrow wooden twisting stairway, adjacent to the
lift. The activities housed in the basement were:
THE STRONG ROOM
The basement housed the Strong Room. access to which was by steep concrete
steps. At the bottom were two steel doors. To the left a hinged door led to
the secure area where the private papers of the Bakers, Perkins and others who
were associated with the company were held. Many of these papers were used by
Augustus Muir to produce his ‘The History of Baker Perkins’ book.
Access to this area was restricted to only a few authorized personnel.
To the right of the steps was a very thick and heavy sliding door, controlled
by a pulley and a counterweight. Behind this was a complex array of filing racks
filling the whole floor area almost to ceiling height. These racks contained
documents relating to customers' orders and items relating to the final costs
of manufacturing, including Power Samas/Hollerith cards, works time tickets,
Commercial Department orders etc. At the end of each working day the door was
closed locked to keep the area safe and secure.
During WW2, the Strong Room it was also used as a shelter for employees in
the adjacent offices and housed blankets and fire extinguishers, etc. (See Westwood
Works in WW2)
THE STATIONERY STORE
The Stationery Store was also located in the basement and Secretaries and other
authorized members of staff would obtain stationery items for their respective
departments on a weekly basis. Much of the stationery used within the various
departments of Westwood Works, and elsewhere in the Group, was produced on site.
(See also The Lithographic Department)
Customer Demonstration Facilities
Customer Demonstration Facilities over the years
Can you help to fill in any missing dates? If so, please see this
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