Z1205/205

Male. Brickworker. Senior Trade Union Shop Steward b. 28.11.1921 SIDE A (00 mins)Born and raised in Barnsley, Yorkshire. Middle one of five children. Father a coal miner who died aged 35 yrs of a brain tumour. (05 mins)Interviewee was then 14 yrs. and left school to do three different jobs; greengrocer's shop, foundry, then coal mine, aged 15 yrs. Worked with shot firers, using explosives to blast the coal. Cycled 5 miles to work. Worked about 2 miles down. Volunteered to join the Navy for 7 years in 1939, before the war started. (10 mins)Mother was an inspector in a munitions works during the Second World War and moved to Blackpool. Aunties came to tea on Mondays. (15 mins)Childhood games and occupations. Sixpenny (2 ½ p) toy from Woolworth's for Christmas. Ended up in a convent school. (20 mins)Once, when in the navy, returned to the school with a box of bananas for the children. They had to be shown how to eat them. (25 mins)Trained at HMS Wildfire, Sheerness. Ships he served on in the Royal Navy. When war started in September 1939 he was at sea and sailed to Nova Scotia, Canada to escort vessels in convoys across the Atlantic Ocean. In Summertime, moved to Mediterranean. Was bombed by Italians. Sailed through Suez Canal to South Africa. Well treated there. Life on board ship. (30 mins)Two other brothers served in Navy. One sister in Women's Auxiliary Air Force and one in the NAAFI (catering for armed forces). (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Served as a young rating in the cordite room, supplying the ship's guns with explosive. Then trained and served in Asdic (using radar to listen for enemy submarines). Upset by mass graves of young men in North Africa, when he visited on holiday in recent years. (05 mins)Enormous loss of life during war, for example, HMS Hood, 2500 crew lost, except 4 survivors. All his family survived the war. Allergic to something on new ships, possibly paint. Became Able-bodied Seaman at 18. (10 mins)Leading Seaman and recommended for Petty Officer but decided to leave Navy in 1947, after 7 years, because he had married in 1945. Life on board ships in Royal Navy. Armaments on board. (15 mins)Cooking arrangements on board. Sleeping in a hammock. Making close friends in the Navy. Visiting friend's family when in port. (20 mins)Officer nearly got his crew killed by his behaviour when in action against the enemy. Relationships with officers. Closer in small ships; distant in large ones. Demobilisation from China. (25 mins)Demob suit of civilian clothing given free of charge. Then 5 years in the Royal Naval Reserve. Called up twice for training weeks. Met his wife at an ATS (women's army) camp dance in 1943. She was from Marstone Moretaine. (30 mins)Got to know her family. (32 mins)End of Side B.CONTINUED ON CS205C2 SIDE A (00 mins)The novelty of women serving in the armed forces, compared with pre-war experience. Adjusting to civilian life. (05 mins)Moved to cottage in Marston. No electric or mains water in the house. Goy job at the brick yard locally. Had to have daily wash in a tin bath. Played skittles in local pub. (10 mins)Competitions between pubs. Joined union in 1958. How to play 9-pin skittles. (15 mins)Mainly a man's game. Also played darts for Brogborough Club and football. Worked on press making bricks. When he joined, after war, fours shed s were still staffed by women. Dirty jobs. (20 mins)Crushing the clay and preparing it for the presses. Lack of protective clothing in early years. Pay and hours worked. Working conditions. Stewartby had 21 kilns producing up to 18 M bricks a week - the largest in the world. (25 mins)German prisoners of war Post-war foreign nationals brought in to work in the brickyards: Italians, Pakistanis, Indians. Strike in 1958. He began his union activity and was voted in as a shop steward. (30 mins)Had to learn rule-book. When made chief shop steward, he had to start negotiating with the management. Was supplied with an office. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Loaded lorries with bricks, working with two other men, on No. 14 kiln. He got to know everybody, since various jobs attracted various rates of pay and he, as union representative, had to know these. (05 mins)Negotiations with Personnel Manager. Visited government minister in a joint union-management representation regarding falling brick orders. Health and safety issues. Protective boots. (10 mins)Pension issues. 17 ½ % increase in pay, one year. Some meetings at London Brick Co. headquarters in London. (15 mins)Italians learning how to make bricks. Fear of cheap labour undermining union-agreed rates of pay. Foreign nationals would agree to working conditions the native English workers wouldn't. No great disputes based on nationality. (20 mins)Took a number of years before the Unions got significant union membership amongst workers at brickyards. Disputes over poor conditions of work. He developed good relations with management over a period of years and with the workers he represented. Also served on various committees and training boards. (25 mins)Need for improvement in brick quality. Volunteered for redundancy when 60+. Was finding his work as a blocker too hard. (30 mins)Men didn't want to lose him. Brick Company now so small that there is no union any more. Once there were 3000 employees; now there are 200. (32 mins)End of Side B ORIGINAL INTERVIEW 120 mins..

14 February 2003

From: 1920 To: 2003

item

Marston Valley Brickworks,
London Brick Company,
Hanson Brick Limited

trades unions, mines, brick worker, child labour, World War Two, Ministry of Munitions, ATS, public houses, employment of women, wages/conditions, Germans, prisoners of war, Italians, Poles, Pakistanis, Indians, manager, personnel manager, Barnsley, Blackpool, Nova Scotia, Italy, Suez Canal, South Africa, China, MARSTON MORETAINE, STEWARTBY