Remembering the hey days at the Rolly
Parties, dances ... and those pink overalls
In its heyday, Rolls-Royce was very much the beating heart of the East Kilbride community.
As well as offering young city dwellers the chance of a richer suburban life, the Rolly quickly became a social haven for the first settlers of the new town.
Ninety-year-old Sam Burke was one of R-R’s first, and youngest, apprentices to pull on the overalls in 1940, aged 23.
And, twelve years later, he set up home in The Murray with late wife Betty – a shorthand typist secretary at R-R – and their oneyear-old daughter Lynn, where he still lives today.
Very much at the heart of R-R life himself, the former Royal Navy submariner was instrumental in setting up its thriving social scene.
Starting out as a production line foreman turning out steel wheels for the jet engines at the Nerston plant, he then moved into training where he taught up to 500 new apprentices before moving into recruiting.
But he was also firmly at the centre of R-R’s many social clubs and, for many years, organised the EK plant’s famous Christmas parties and gala days.
Sam gave 43 years of his life to the Rolly before taking early retirement at 58.
And he is eternally grateful to the aerospace giant for giving him the opportunity to lead the life he has.
Sam told the News: “My memories of Rolls-Royce are extremely good – that’s why I was there for 43 years.
“When they were building East Kilbride about 20 odd people were bussed up from Hillington and we were taken back at night as the factory was still being built.
“Rolls-Royce ended up having four blocks, but C Block was only half finished when we came up – they were still laying the concrete for the other half.
“Without being parochial, there were quite a number of us who were original RollsRoyce apprentices that we considered anyone else as outsiders – we were Rolls-Royce East Kilbride.”
When Sam moved into his three-bedroom terraced house in Rutherford Square in 1952 the other side of the Square was still being constructed and there were no street lights.
He added: “In the Square there was only two people who weren’t employed at Rolls-Royce. We even had the head of the Rolls-Royce Police living here.”
Sam got the social club off the ground in 1954 which was originally the small backroom where the workers would play darts and dominoes while enjoying a pint or two from the club bar – a hatch in the wall. The big hall, which would later go on to host private functions, was the main Rolly canteen and the secondary hall was the staff dining room. “We had everything”, said Sam. “The biggest functions were the children’s Christmas parties. We had to have two because there was so many children!”
Looking back on some of the high points and fond memories of his time at R-R, Sam revealed deep in the archives there will be a film showing a jet engine coming in for service, written and directed by himself.
He said: “I wrote a script about the overhaul and repair base at EK. It should still be in the Rolls-Royce archives.
“We had some howlers at the Monty as well. I remember one of the first New Year’s that Rolls-Royce had up here. A crowd of us went into the Monty at lunch time when we finished and in the wee lounge there was so many piled in that the floor gave way!”
Sam recalled another proud moment was when a young apprentice he trained at EK climbed the ranks to director of the company in Derby.
He added: “It was really magic to see that.”
And one comical mishap that will forever be etched in his memory was when the apprentices were made to wear pink overalls.
“The Rolls-Royce colour was burgundy and all the apprentices were to wear overalls this colour but something went wrong and they came out pink”, said Sam.
“They used to get coached down every lunch time to the canteen from the training centre at College Milton and you would see all these pink people around town.
“Right away they were named the
All my memories of RollsRoyce are good. That’s why I was there for 43 years
rosebuds. It didn’t go down very well – two lads refused to wear them even after being threatened with getting fired.
“The overalls stayed that way till the mid-70’s!”
The iconic R-R building, once synonymous with the town employing generations of families in East Kilbride, was torn down this month stirring both happy and sad memories for many local residents.
It is now just one of a number of high profile companies to leave East Kilbride.
Sam added: “The demolition was a very sad day not only for me, but for Rolls-Royce.
“The loss of industry in East Kilbride is terrible – there will be nothing left soon.
“It’s especially terrible for young people who won’t get the same opportunities we did.”