Z1205/112

Male. Brickworks burner. b. 03.07.1946 Side A (00 mins)Born and raised in Bedford. Two younger sisters, mother from Bedford. Father was a farm worker from Thurleigh. Set himself up as mobile fruit and vegetable retailer in Bedford and surrounding villages. Market stall on Bedford market, Wednesdays and Saturdays (05 mins)Periodic stops to sell fruit and veg in villages. Nature of general market at Bedford. Some stall-holders from London, Wellingborough and Leicester. (10 mins)Local market gardeners from NE of county had stalls on market. More active "selling" in those days - market cries. Borough council provided and erected all stalls. (15 mins)First job after school arranged by Mum with family butcher. Leisure time spent at cinema or dancing. Attended Court School of Dancing in Midlands Road, Bedford. (20 mins)Live professional dance bands played at Granada, Bedford. Local dance bands played at Conservative Club. Four cinemas: Granada, Plaza, Picturedrome and Empire. Children's film matinees club - the Grenadiers. (25 mins)Two dance teachers at Court School - one for men and one for women in same hall. Milk bars were trendy meeting places for young people in early Sixties. Married early. Reflections on freedom of today's young people. (30 mins)Walking and bikes rides of his youth compared with computer games and the Internet of today. (32 mins)End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Grandparents. Maternal grandfather, a carpenter, was responsible for initiating the putting green in Russell Park, Bedford. Paternal grandfather a farm hand in Thurleigh. His tied cottage, in the middle of field, had no electricity or running water. Water from a stand pump, with lion's head. Buckets of water carried daily. Outside toilet. Outhouse with washroom. Vegetables bartered with neighbours. Cottages modernised after Grandad retired. Childhood visits. (05 mins)Left school and started work at 15, apprenticed to butcher. Left after 2 years. Girlfriend got pregnant; got married. Moved to better-paid fertilizer factory at Blunham. 12 hour shifts. Bonus scheme. Comparison with current shift system at Hanson Bricks, Stewartby. (10 mins)To avoid the shift system, joined London Brick Co. brick works at Stewartby in 1973. Railway wagons were loaded with bricks direct from kilns, using company sidings. Previous other jobs included driving a Rolls-Royce hearse for an undertaker. (15 mins)Modernisation of brick making process. From hand-drawn kiln chambers, using barrows, to fork-lift trucks. Self-loading lorries. Contraction of brick production due to falling demand for Fletton bricks. Change to breeze blocks for inside walls of houses, in place of common bricks. Used to be 72 burners, specialist workers, working numerous kilns. Experimental use of gas produced from land-fill, clean but too expensive. Early thermo-couple heat detectors, Kent(?) machines, in kilns replaced earliest use of drying rods and the worker's eyes to detect heat of fire. (20 mins)On-the job training programme for burners. 12 weeks, working with other burners, then left to manage on own. At present (2002) only 4 kilns (2 working) standing in Stewartby, as opposed to about 20 kilns. Reduction form about 14 million in 1970s to 2.6 million bricks per week. One kiln is biggest in the worked: 80 chambers and five fires. (25 mins)Now computerised heat control of kiln. Skill of burner in knowing when to boost fire using smudge (coal dust) input. (30 mins)9-month gas experiment served Kiln 21. (32 mins)End of Side B Continued on CS112C2 Sides A only (00 mins)Working alone as a kiln burner. Safety issues. Dedicated workers (10 mins)Construction of brick kilns. Inspection of chambers. (15 mins)Compulsory union membership. Differences in work atmosphere between London Brick and Hanson management. (20 mins)Effect of brickyard closures on Bedfordshire landscape. (25 mins)Leisure developments - Stewartby Lake and Marston Vale Visitor Centre (30 mins)Marriage and shift work. Hobbies and forthcoming retirement. (32 mins)End of Side A End of Interview Original Interview 90 mins.

20 March 2002

From: 1940 To: 2002

item

Bedford Borough Council,
Granada,
Hanson Brick Limited,
London Brick Company

brick worker, farm worker, fruit, vegetables, TRANSPORT, markets, Bedford Market, butcher, LEISURE ACTIVITIES, dancing, cinema, schools, Bedford Picturedrome, Bedford Plaza, Bedford Granada Cinema, Conservative Club, carpenter, electricity, water, toilets, wash houses, apprenticeship, pregnancy, railways, undertaker, brick making, lorry driver, gas, landfill, pollution, chimneys, computers, HEALTH & SAFETY, trades unions, wages/conditions, photography, marriages, THURLEIGH, Bedford Midland Road, Bedford Russell Park, BLUNHAM, STEWARTBY