Z1205/231

Male. Professor. Head of Department, Cranfield University. b. 20.07.1912 SIDE A (00 mins)Born and in raised in east Glasgow. Father was a master butcher. He remembers, when he was about 8, Father returning from the First World War. He didn't know him. Father wouldn't discuss the war but had brought some things home from Egypt and Palestine. (05 mins)Prior to that there was only his sister and Mother at home. Mother was a very active person who worked very hard. She was an office worker. Remembers the paternal grandmother, who was a very strict old lady. Very prim and smartly dressed and very much in control. (10 mins)Never saw the maternal grandmother who came from Ireland. Boys threw stones at each other in the street. Just horse and cart traffic; no motor cars. Played football in the streets. Once at school, returned for lunch at home each day. (15 mins)Cold winters. Used to skate on a lake nearly every year. Coal fire in the kitchen at home. When Father returned from the war, Mother gave up the office work. At 11, he and a girl did well in the exam and transferred to a secondary school. Left school at 14. Never thought about going to university. (20 mins)Worked in a solicitor's office for 2 years. Then went as an apprentice to Albion Motors, Glasgow, in manufacturing and in the drawing office. Moved to Coventry as a machine tool draughtsman in 1935, for a firm making large boring machines. (25 mins)Continued studying mechanical engineering at night school to degree level. Three evenings a week, 7 - 10 o'clock. Didn't have a social life. Went to the cinema occasionally but didn't frequent pubs. Didn't drink alcohol. (30 mins) Very keen on running at weekends. Member of Harrier club. Ran on Saturdays and walked on Sundays. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins) Harrier Club in Glasgow. Started running aged 14, when he left school. Two friends encouraged him. There were many local running clubs. Started in the slow club and moved on as you improved and got faster. One club member went on to represent Scotland and Britain in international races. Normally ran 7 miles. Marathons were not fashionable then. (05 mins)10 mile walk on Sundays to keep fit. Used to take a tram from Glasgow to the terminus and start walking from there. After 4 years in Coventry, moved to become a works manager in Halifax. 200 workers and a very particular boss. Worked there for 4 years, during the Second World War. Most of the good workers went to fight. (10 mins)The firm made lathes, which was essential for the war effort, to produce munitions. He now studied industrial administration at Leeds University in the evenings. He had become an Associate Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers by then. Joined the Halifax Harriers. It was hillier in that area. (15 mins)Met his wife-to-be on a weekend course in Bewdley. He was bombed out in Coventry three times. His girl friend's mother took him in as a lodger. Got married during the war and then moved to Bedfordshire in 1946. (20 mins)The Director of Munitions told him about a post teaching at the Institute of Technology at Cranfield. His job was to set up a production department at the post-graduate institute. Eventually he built it up to 200 people. (25 mins)Numerous American forces graduates in their thirties came to gain post-graduate qualifications. Cranfield was a unique post-graduate institute of advanced technology which attracted students from all over the world. Eventually they had about 100 students a year. He was there for 25 years, from the year after the colleges were first set up. He spent 6 months in the United states, studying industrial engineering. Cranfield was based on the needs of the aircraft industry. (30 mins)Cranfield was a government initiative through the National Research and Development Corporation. Now it is a major centre for Management courses. (32 mins)End of Side B CONTINUED ON CS231C2 SIDE A (00mins)Students do research work for PhD or M.Sc qualifications. Teaching there was very hard work but very satisfying. The problem is that, once qualified, the engineers and managers go to the United States of America. All the students do well. One is the chief production manager at Boeings. (05 mins)He has run five marathon races. You have to be selected to run, since there are so many contestants. Now he is in his nineties, he will only attempt a Half-Marathon. (10 mins)There is a great sense of achievement in completing a marathon run. His first was in 1960. His fastest was 5 ¼ hours. Reflections on changes over his long life. Young people don't know how well off they are. Life is very easy for them. His immediate target is to clear up his garden. He thinks the environmental regeneration of Marston Vale is a wonderful project. (15 mins)He has seen all the changes in the Vale since he came to the area in 1946. The decline in manufacturing. Firms moving overseas to seek cheap labour. The loss of jobs here. He thinks the biggest problem in the world is the differences in cultures. (20 mins)We are all brought up with particular views of the world and particular religious perspectives. He doesn't know how that can be resolved. (23 mins)End of Side A ORIGINAL INTERVIEW 95 mins.

14 June 2003

From: 1910 To: 2003

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butcher, World War One, employment of women, horse drawn carriages, football, skating, climatology, apprenticeship, sport, running, cinema, mechanical engineer, World War Two, health administration, American Army, aircraft worker, industrial relations, athletics, environment conservation, University, teaching profession, CRANFIELD, Glasgow, Egypt, Palestine, Ireland, Coventry, Halifax