Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    Z1205/247
  • Title
    Male. Former London Brick Co. worker. Now working at Landfill site. b. 20.07.1966 SIDE A (00 mins)Raised in Stewartby. Mother, brother and sister (Father left them when interviewee was an infant.). Maternal grandmother, Alice Wright, lived in village and had worked at the brickworks during the Second World war. He left school in 1983 and started work at brickworks, after queuing up each Monday morning for 4 weeks. Stewartby had a very good football. (05 mins)Most young men in the village worked at the brickworks, following their fathers. Worked under a Foreman Chargehand. Clocked in to work. Paid weekly in cash. (10 mins)Later, firm paid workers £100 to change to having their pay paid directly into a bank account. Mother kept an eye on his spending. Started with jobs such as cleaning outside the kilns, before the next firing, using a dumper truck to removed the brickbats from the wicket walls 9used to brick up the entrances to the kilns before firing). (15 mins)Later, working in press sheds, mixing material for adding surfaces to bricks. The moved to Tile Cutting Shed to produce the facing of the various brick types - Rustics, Tudors or Golden Bus - for sales representatives to use in marketing bricks. (20 mins)Other work he did including Blocking, the Stores and working with a bricklaying gang. Maternal grandfather died in Italy during the Second World War. Grandmother, after the war, did cleaning at the brickwork offices, part-time. (25 mins)Once 18 the management liked you to work shifts "Nights and Days". He avoided it by moving to the tile cutting shed. Grandmother helped Mother with her four children. Doesn't remember his Father's parents. (30 mins)Life in Stewartby village - everything revolved around London brick works and Stewartby Club. Everybody knew everybody's business. At the club, talk was always about work at London Brick. Bingo was popular at the Club. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Thursday and Saturday nights were Bingo nights and almost everyone was there. Men and women. People tended to have their "own" favourite seats. Club Committee strict about rules. He was on the committee for a few years. 150-200 members attended. Games room with "space invaders" slot machine, pool table and darts board and other games. (05 mins)Drinks much cheaper than at local pubs (no public house in Stewartby). His first pint cost him 64 pence. Before they reached the legal age for buying alcohol (17 years) they used to ask someone to buy them a pint. Stewartby Club ran many sections, covering the various sports - football, angling, bowls, darts, pool, and so on. (10mins)Membership fees fed into club funds for facilities and equipment. Outside (non-brickworks employees) members were allowed. Now he doesn't know half the people there. There are fewer sections; there's no Angling or Bowling now. They used to use the former clay pits at Millbrook, Coronation, Elstow. (15 mins)Stewartby was once a close-knit community. Blocking was piece work, fastening bricks together ready for lorry deliveries. (20 mins)Left brickworks and worked on building sites in London for a few years then joined Shanks & McEwan on landfill. Has worked there for 15 years, since 1988. He directs and controls traffic movements and ensures the waste is tipped correctly according to the requirements of the site licence. He is a trade union rep and also the union's health and safety rep. (25 mins)He is part of the investigation team that aims to learn what has happened to cause an accident and put in measures to try and ensure that it is less likely to happen again. He works on the Brogborough site which is due to close in 2008. Possible future work in Bletchley. (32 mins)End of Side B Original Interview 60 mins.
  • Date free text
    6 November 2003
  • Production date
    From: 1960 To: 2003
  • Level of description
    item
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