Two Rooms And A View: 62 - A Happy Period
On football-mad Tyneside employees often did not turn in to work when important mid-week Cup games were being played.
A spoof memo circulated in the drawing office of the huge engineering firm where Robert Owen was serving his apprenticeship.
MEMO - Please ensure that all requests for leave of absence, for hospital appointments and grandparents' funerals etc., are handed to me at least two days before the day of the match.
To read earlier chapters of Robert's engaging life story please click on Two Rooms And A View in the menu on this page.
The six months I worked in the Cable Section were perhaps the happiest period of my whole apprenticeship. The work was not too difficult, the working conditions good, and the people great. Everybody seemed to be a football supporter, although allegiance was split between Newcastle and Sunderland.
During my apprentice years, Newcastle United had remarkable success by bringing the F.A. Cup back to St James's Park, three times in five years. Jackie Milburn, Bobby Mitchell and Bobbie Cowell were the mainstay of the team and played in all three finals. In the 1954/5 season however, I recall them making very hard work of it en-route to Wembley.
They had two replays against Nottingham Forest, and one each against Huddersfield Town and York City. These replays were during the days before floodlights and took place on the following Wednesday or Thursday afternoons. This didn't affect the attendance with crowds of 50,000, but it certainly affected absenteeism at works on Tyneside.
In the drawing office, many supporters took an occasional holiday, while others went absent without leave. In anticipation of some absentees, Alan Miller, in his usual flamboyant way, circulated the following memo to all concerned:
MEMO
Please ensure that all requests for leave of absence, for hospital appointments and grandparents' funerals etc., are handed to me at least two days before the day of the match.
The summer of 1955 brought my final move as a Reyrolle apprentice. This was up a floor to the S.A. switchgear section in the Metal Clad (MC) Unit. Technically, the move made very little difference. Most days I was involved with drawing details that could have been part of most things, whether metal-clad switchgear, cable assemblies or general engineering.
Again there was no instruction about the technical aspects of S.A. Switchgear. I had to go across to the Publicity Department to get a leaflet from them!
What was different was the characteristics of the Section Leader. Unlike Harold Mordue, Eddie Allison, my new boss, was a younger, dark-haired, loud-voiced, full-of-energy, no-nonsense leader. He lived on the other side of the Tyne and was one of the many who travelled to work by boat every day.
Eddie had an easily distinguishable voice that seemed to be an octave above everyone else and somebody said that he would have made a good Headmaster. Thirty years later, while on holiday in the Lake District, and a long time after I had left Reyrolles, I heard that voice again. I knew it was Eddie Allison before I saw him. He had retired and was living near Keswick. We had a good chat and recalled many of our former colleagues.
There were very few coloured personnel among Reyrolles 12,000 employees in the 1950's and even fewer coloured apprentices. One I remember was Peter De Santos. Everybody liked him and once we got to know him we didn't notice his colour. Our paths crossed many times during our apprenticeships and we finished up on Eddie Allison's Section together in 1956.
The 1950's saw a massive growth of trade unions, with nearly ten million members in unions affiliated to the Trade Union Congress. In the drawing office at Reyrolles, membership was strongly encouraged and although of an independent nature, I allowed myself to be cajoled into joining the Draughtsmen and Allied Technicians Union. The fact that I was soon to leave for national service didn't deter the union treasurer. "We can suspend your membership until you return," was his persuasive comment.
One of the highlights of working in the drawing office (D.O.) in 1955 again took place on the cricket field. The D.O. team won the Inter-Departmental Cricket Cup. Our strong team was ably led by Ian Lowson, a former Boys' Brigade lad, who now played for Boldon in the Durham Senior League. It also included Len Helsby and Ronnie Davidson from Reyrolles first team.
The Accounts Department were our opponents in the final. Like us, they had a strong team that included many Saturday afternoon cricketers. Ian Lowson and I opened the batting against the fast bowling of Ernie Broome and Derek Anderson, both of whom were professionals in local leagues. We hit them all over the field and put on over 100 in the first twelve overs.
The first change was Andy Landells, the Reyrolle captain. He bowled slow left arm and trying to hit another four, I was caught on the boundary for the fastest 44 runs I ever scored. The rest of the team went on to make a huge unbeatable total and we won easily. This was perhaps the most successful innings of my short cricket career.
My part-time technical education continued during these years and in September 1954, I was again granted day-release to further my studies. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again as on the previous day-release course and I failed the mathematical element of this grouped award. There must have been something psychological about this mode of study because I was successful the following year when attending evening classes. As later years would prove I always did it the hard way with my studies.
