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Gathering and sharing memories ofGloucester's great engineering firm
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Comments about this page
Hi! The two machinists near the heater - could one of them be Nobby Beard and the other one Brian Mason?
Hi Chippy! Thanks for supplying us with names and details. One point I would make, Bill Boon certainly machined most of the H3 pump crankshafts, however, I don’t think that the crankshaft next to the fixed steady is for an H3 pump, H3 pumps did not have that type of flange coupling and the dimensions look wrong. I think that it may have been for a three-throw vertical pump. John B
Hi John! I see what you mean about the crankshaft, oops!
I would like to make a correction about who I said I thought was the operator of the ‘Summerskill’ planer because I now think his name was Clive Wilce and not Paul. If you are out there Clive(?) sorry about that!
Chippy Aston
Hi John! I looked at these photos quite a long time ago and recognised some of the people in the second one but never got around to sending in my comment, so I’m catching up now!
On the right hand side of the gangway, second man along is Brian Mason but I can’t name the others on that side. On the left hand side is Gerald Chergwin at the marking out table and beyond him working on a vertical borer is a man whose first name was Albert, whom I think was the heavy machine shop shop steward at the time, but I’m afraid I can’t remember his surname. I do recall the faces of some of the others, even the two slinger/crane drivers at the far end of the gangway, but again, cannot name them.
I remember Bill Boon working on the machine in the right hand foreground turning crank shafts for H3 pumps, one of which is lying on the floor next to a fixed steady. On the opposite side are some stone plant gearbox shafts and pinions, also some rising stop spindles next to an extrusion press mandrel.
‘Pop’ Brain used to work on one of the lathes on the left and a young man who I think was called Paul Wilce (?) worked on the Summerskill planer beyond the two lathes, I think he came from the Forest of Dean and, as I recall, played drums in a rock ‘n roll band there.
I also remember the oil-fired workshop heaters, one of which is to the right of the scrap bin. Jack Sysum had the job of looking after these heaters, some of which didn’t always ‘fire up’ properly and would create a large cloud of smoke. Jack was also responsible for the oil system that fed the fitting shops with hydraulic oil for the testing of the presses, Shell Tellus 27 comes to mind, but then it was a long time ago…….
Chippy Aston
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