Down at the Regent Street training centre
THE old photo of Brush staff we recently published, brought back memories for Looking Back readers of the firm’s old Regent Street Training Centre.
Rebecca Henderson wrote in to say that she showed the picture to her father Paul Margetts, who worked at the Brush for nearly all of his working life and was an apprentice there around 1950.
Rebecca said: “He tells me that the staff pictured were the ones responsible for new apprentices in their first six months of training at the Regent’s Street Craft Training Centre.
“He thinks the picture must have been taken in 1949, maybe 1950. He is little more hazy over the names, but knows Arthur North (back left), and Mr Goodliffe, head of the pattern shop (front left).
He thinks the front right may be Mr Clarke of the assembly shop, but its less sure, and that one of the other men is probably Mr Gent.”
Ex-Brush man John Chambers, 87, also got in touch to say that when he started at the Brush in the 1940s the craft training centre was on the old Zenobia perfume site, off Woodgate and then while he was still there it moved to a new home in Regent Street.
John said that there was a six month selection process to determine which part of the Brush you would end up in.
John ended up as a draughtsman and project leader at Brush Electrical Machines, involved in the DAX generators. He retired in 1997.
As for the photo he said that on the front row, second in from the left was Mr Kerr of the woodworking section. Next to him is Madge who gave instructions in winding.
On the back row in the centre is Mr Gent, the father of John’s friend, Alan, and the gentleman in the three-piece suit on the far right is Mr Hodges who ran the training centre.
John also reminded us of a photograph he previously sent in, and published by Looking Back in 2012, of his time at the training centre.
So of course we’ve taken the opportunity to print this great picture again. The winding instructor Madge can be seen once again at the front and John is on the second row, fifth in from the left.