Z1205/216

Male, second generation brickworker, former burner at Ridgmont & Stewartby b.13.10.1942 Side A (00 mins)Informant was born in Tindale House, Aylesbury. His mother was taken to deliver him there by Works ambulance. Father worked at Ridgmont brickworks as a Setter. They lived in Mount Pleasant, Aspley Guise in a 2 up 2 down until he married a nurse in 1965. Then they moved in to the District Nurse's house. His wife was Midwife for Aspley Guise & surrounding 7 villages. (05 mins)Played in his childhood with his brother and friends in the Aspley Woods & surrounding countryside, adventuring further afield as he got older. Had a great sense of freedom and feeling safe. Winter seemed harder and longer then with plenty of snow. Father was a good provider with his wage from the brickworks very caring fun-loving man. Remembers him coming home covered in yellow dust from the bricks, sweat coming through shirt. He became a foreman and used to take his children to see the brickworks on some occasions. No forklifts then. Very small wickets sufficient for one man and wheelbarrow to enter. (10 mins)In 1969 when informant started to work as a Burner, the cockney barrows were still in use. Fired the last chamber set by hand. These were phased out gradually ;replaced by forklift setting. Firing process was different then too, harder work; coal was used to light the fires, every 12 days. All the fires were 16 chambers apart. This was a system unique to Ridgmont. (Informant uses photographic view of Ridgmont to talk about the layout of the factory). (15 mins)In the yard there was a total of 381 chambers, varying in size depending on the size of kiln. On kiln 4 he was in charge of 44 chambers, altogether there were (circa) 90 chambers. First the bricks were dried for 4-5 days then gradually the fire was increased up to 950 degrees C. When he first started at Marston Valley Brick Company temperatures of 1,000 degrees was reached. Their clay content was mixed differently with more callow than London Brick Company's. Maybe this explains the bell like ringing of bricks produced by Marston Valley compared to the thud of London Brick's. (20 mins)Kiln No 4 was the last one to be converted to forklift. Worked on the Hoffman kiln with the continuous fire rotating from one chamber to the next. This was less labour intensive than the old fashioned kilns. (25 mins)There were bridges connecting the top of the kilns, so that Burners could go from the top of one kiln to another without the need to come down. For a time his father worked as Foreman in the Pan shed, where the clay was milled ready to be pressed into bricks. A series of conveyor belts and bridges were used to transport clay around. Worked as chargehand burner, a complex task to set the plan on paper in advance making sure to avoid fire. Simpler setting of plans at Stewartby because being bigger Works it was less sectioned and better planned than Ridgmont. They were using Kent Recorders to 'read off' when he started; by the time he left Ridgmont they had changed to Honeywell Recorders. End of side A Side B (00 mins)Compared the Burner's tasks from the past when it was considered an art to burn bricks. A lot had to be done by eye. Life is easier now with computers. In the 1990s London Brick started to be fired with the help of computers, however there is still an element of guesswork and experience needed to decide when to stop the fire in the chamber.. When he was growing up, his father used to do shift work so the children had to be quiet when he was asleep. He got up at 4 pm to have a meal with the family altogether before going to work at 5.30. Informant left school and got a job as a gardener in a nursery. When he got married in 1966, his father got him a job at the brickworks in the Building Gang. After 3 weeks he was made redundant. (05 mins)In 1957 left school, got a job at Dawn Edge in Aspley Guise until 1962-3, then went to work for 'Clean Air' in Leighton Buzzard, did not like it, because it was inside, preferred outside work. Went back to nursery work, 'Theydon', in Woburn Sands until 1966. Informant found the work in the brickyard easier than in the nursery. There was a lot of wasted manpower at Ridgmont & Stewartby until Hanson took over. Then people got dismissed or given other jobs, so that there was a shortage of workers. People did more than one job. Now there is shortage of workers rather than a surplus. (10 mins)Ridgmont kilns were under covers, there were roofs on the kilns. This is quite unusual, does not know why this is the case. The roof made the burners job very dusty, dirty and hot especially in the summer. Liked it better when he went to work at Stewartby, it was open and clean. Showers were provided at work, but Burners in general did not use them; they were in a hurry to get home. The shower block was part of the canteen block in front of kiln 1 & 2. (15 mins)Talks about his mother. When young she worked as a cleaner for 2-3 days a week at Down Edge Nursery the same place as informant. She mainly looked after the house and her family. She came from Woburn Sands; he does not remember his grandparents on his mother's side. On his fathers side his grand mother from Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, died when he was still young. He still has relations there. His father worked on the land when young looking after horses. When he came to work at the brickworks lodged with his uncle Bill Beal the Works Manager at Ridgmont and used to cycle to visit his family from Bedfordshire to Ramsey for the week-end. Remembers with sadness his last day of work at Ridgmont going away on his bike with his tools. (20 mins) All the workers were very surprised when 2-3 weeks after being made redundant, the factory started to be pulled down. No-one had been told it was a definite closure. Went to work at Stewartby Works on 13 June 1981. Unexpectedly, made to feel very welcome by the burners there as some of the older Burners at Stewartby had been made redundant to accommodate those from Ridgmont. The same selection process had taken place at Ridgmont when he obtained promotion as a supervisor. (25 mins)As a Chargehand he did not earn more money, this was a position of prestige and responsibility, occasionally he could earn more money by covering 12 hour shifts for other Chargehands who were on holiday. Wages for Burners have changed over the years, from being one of the highest to being at the same level as any other worker. He feels this is due to the fact that no strong demands have been made to increase wages and the position of power of the Burners has not been exploited. When they did have occasion to go on strike, this was resolved very quickly because Management simply took over their role. The old Burners in the past had much more cunning with their management of the job too. (30 mins) Original Interview 60 mins

10 March 2003

From: 1940 To: 2003

item

London Brick Company,
Marston Valley Brick Company Limited,
Hanson Brick Limited

nurse, brickworker, midwives, climatology, chimneys, FIRE, clay, computers, wages/conditions, trades unions, STEWARTBY, MARSTON MORETAINE, Aylesbury, RIDGMONT, ASPLEY GUISE