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I still have my tool box together with some of the original tools. It was made by Cyril Rice who worked in the pattern shop. Jim Rigby.
Hi John. I don’t recollect working with Fred very much at all over the years. I do remember though working alongside him on two single mould stone plant presses in ‘the new shop’ in the 1980’s and I think he found it very different to be working on the smaller presses, with him being a fitter from the days of Hydraulic 1 and all the large orders that were dealt with there. I still have my large black tool box, I was so proud of being given that, must of been about 1969/70. I have got rid of some of the larger spanners and the aluminium ‘dollys’ (pieces of round ally bar that we used to drive in dowels and keys) but pretty well all of my smaller tools I still have. I doubt now that they will ever be used again, but at the moment I can’t bring myself to get rid of them! Chippy Aston
Chippy! Can you recall what you had to have achieved in order to be given a toolbox and were there any specific tools included as part of the ‘deal’? John B
John, as I recall, one of the reasons you got issued with a tool box was if you went away on jobs at customers sites doing repairs or maintenance. I had started doing some of that kind of work and Pete Sutton, our foreman, ordered me a BLACK box from the carpentry shop. All you got was the box, you could be issued with basic spanners from the general stores if you got requesition signed by a foreman or charge hand. You collected more tools as you went, so to speak, and gradually built up your kit. The boxes usually became so heavy that to load them into the works van it was easier to use the crane or fork lift truck! I still have some of the tools we made when we were in the craft school and I will probably always keep the for old times sake. Chippy Aston
Having zoomed in on this photo I see that the tool box behind the steps belongs to Fred Rossiter. So I can only assume that it was he who built this baler, maybe with another fitter or an apprentice to help him? Chippy Aston
Chippy! Isn’t it great that you can zoom into and study the details of the pictures. You are quite correct about Fred Rossiter’s tool box. Incidentally, it also highlights the type of tool box made by the carpentry department for senior fitters and ‘journeymen’. Do you ever recall working on building any machines with Fred during your time in the fitting shop? John B
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