Loughborough Echo

Roy remembers his time working for Fabian Jackson

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DO YOU recognise the name Fabian Mowbray ‘Jacko’ Jackson?

Maybe you would remember his trilby hat and cigar?

Well, Mr Jackson bought the Zachariah Onions workshop in Derby Road, Loughborou­gh in 1959 and decided to keep the name of the firm as it had been running for over 100 years.

And now, Roy Stanbridge, 82, a former employee of Mr Jackson has been in touch with tales of his boss’s election campaign, cockerels for Christmas and the wedding gift of a £5 note.

Roy, who lives in Loughborou­gh, started off working for Fabian Jackson as an assistant mechanic in 1955, when the business was still in Cradock Street.

He then moved with Mr Jackson into the old Zach Onions’ workshop in Derby Road in 1959 after ‘Jacko’ had taken over the lease.

Roy said that welder Jess Marsdon - who was one of the employees from Zach Onions that Mr Jackson inherited - had told of how the crew at Onions’s were like “one big happy family”.

He said this is because the company, to begin with, was very small, and only housed around 17 or 18 members of staff.

And Roy said that Jess had told him how Zach Onions would come around every year at Christmas and would personally hand out bonuses and shake every employees hand.

Roy says that he found Mr Jackson to be extremely pleasant, and even went on to tell the story of how he was given a white five pound note as his wedding gift by his boss.

He says that Jess Marsdon was one of the main contributo­rs to the business, as he was one of the most well known welders in the area, and that he could burn a “perfect leakproof weld whilst lying on his back.”

Roy reeled off story after story about Jess, and jobs that he went out on alongside him.

He says that Jess was almost deaf, and relied on him to help him understand what clients were saying.

He also said that Jess had told him once that “all boiler men are deaf”.

Roy also remembers getting stuck inside of a boiler when he was on a job in Coalville.

He said that he barely managed to escape through the tiny, and contrary to popular belief, definitely not two feet wide holes that the men were expected to get through.

He also recalled a time when he was inside a boiler when one of the pipes caught on fire, he said that if he hadn’t have seen the fire when he did, he might not have been here today.

Mr Stanbridge also said that he and Jess erected all the steelwork for the business in Station Avenue where the Zach Onions firm later moved too.

He said: “We must have done a good job because it is still standing now!”

As well as the countless stories he told of Jess Marsdon, he spoke very candidly of his former employer - Mr Jackson.

Roy says that Zachariah Onions would give a turkey to each of his employees at Christmas, however, after the company changed hands, Mr Jackson completely forgot to order the Christmas turkeys one year and instead offered all of his men a cockerel as a replacemen­t.

Roy told a tale that when ‘Jacko’ was standing for the Conservati­ve party in the local election he plastered huge campaign posters with his face on all over the workshop walls.

But the posters were torn down one morning by a teenager that Mr Stanbridge didn’t recognise and were replaced by even bigger red Labour ones.

Mr Stanbridge remembers thinking ‘ Jacko is going to go crazy when he sees this’... and he was right.

According to Roy, Mr Jackson then got a list of the addresses of every employee and went to give them a personal visit to find out who had done such a thing.

But Roy says Mr Jackson never found out who it was.

The lease on the Onions’ workshop eventually ran out after eight years of the Jackson family being based there.

This is when the company migrated to a smaller workshop on Station Avenue.

Roy said that this is where the company ended, as most of the employees left to find better paid, more enjoyable jobs, and eventually this led to the need for machine repairs to die out, as it was cheaper to employ a workman than to hire one out.

Mr Stanbridge stayed with the company when it was bought out and taken over by the road roller company, Gibson Plant, in 1971.

He said that everyone who worked with Fabian Jackson stayed as well, and he didn’t end up leaving until 1980, when he was made redundant, and eventually moved on to get a job as a postman at Loughborou­gh University.

• Do you recognise any of the names mentioned by Mr Stanbridge or have your own memories of ‘Jacko’ or Zachariah Onions.

Please contact Liam Coleman on 01509 635806 or email liam. coleman@trinitymir­ror.com

 ??  ?? Some the crew from Zach Onions. Jess Marsdon, who has been remembered by Roy Stanbridge is pictured on the front row, far right. The photograph was sent to Looking Back by reader Pauline Hallam her husband Barry is also in the picture. Pictured are:...
Some the crew from Zach Onions. Jess Marsdon, who has been remembered by Roy Stanbridge is pictured on the front row, far right. The photograph was sent to Looking Back by reader Pauline Hallam her husband Barry is also in the picture. Pictured are:...
 ??  ?? Roy Stanbridge
Roy Stanbridge

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