Memories of gun factory in The Meadows that helped us to win wars
AT its peak during the Second World War, a Nottingham factory employed 4,000 workers to ensure enough munitions were being produced for Britain’s Armed Forces.
Since then, while the operation may have slowly wound down, arms were still made at the Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) in Nottingham until its closure in 2001.
While The Meadows-based factory may not have grabbed global attention as other local manufacturers such as Players’ and Raleigh did, it still operated for 65 years and produced more than 300 tonnes of explosive in its heyday.
One former worker of the factory has spoken of what it was like to work at Nottingham’s ROF where he joined as an apprentice to work his way up to a management role at the factory, which was established in 1936.
Dave Drinkwater, 77, began working at ROF Nottingham as an apprentice in 1960, aged just 16. It was a role that would eventually take him abroad before retiring in 2000.
Mr Drinkwater, who lives in Radcliffe-on-trent but grew up around Beeston, said: “When I worked there as an apprentice, there was always an oily mist in the air because of the type of work we had to do to produce things like gun barrels.
“There was an apprentice shop where we went to learn basic skills of metal work. We were taught for the first year and then, from year two, we spent time in different parts of the factory while also going to college on certain days.
“After five years, there was then a possibility of going to another factory somewhere else. I got sent to
Durham ROF and that was a totally different atmosphere.
“I struggled with the way people talked there and just after a year I came back to Nottingham and decided to work for Raleigh for a few years.”
The factory was was based on
King’s Meadow Road, now largely made up by Enterprise Way.
After a stint working for Raleigh, Mr Drinkwater was then chosen by another firm British arms firm in the late 1970s to go out to Egypt to help set up a new contract for munitions.
He ended up living in Cairo for around six years with his family, even learning some Arabic. He eventually returned home because he wanted to ensure his daughter could receive an education in England.
Mr Drinkwater added: “A few people from ROF were out in Egypt on similar work to me so they recognised me. Once I was back in Nottingham, ROF asked me to go to Egypt again to work on some contracts they were getting.
“I remember, they brought me back into the factory for around six weeks and I saw some of the people who worked there 20 years ago looking like they had hardly aged.
“I always used to think that the oil got into their pores and sort of embalmed them. It really preserved their facial conditions.
“I agreed to go to Egypt but this time I went on my own for three years. I was then sent to the USA, but the Americans decided to delay the project I was sent over for so I came back.
“Twenty years later, around 1986, when I came back to ROF, it was largely the same things being made there. Gun barrels, tank munitions, and general weaponry.
“The foundry just closed when I was an apprentice there, so casts were still coming in from other places.
“I was lucky that I was able to have one last walk around the factory just before it closed. It brought back some really fond memories for me.
“It was a noisy place to work for sure with all the work going on – particularly in the forge. Behind where Homebase used to be, there were huge oil pits where the large barrels were heat treated. I’ve always wondered what happened to those.
“By the time it closed, most of the work was transferred to the British Aerospace Factory in Barrow-infurness.
“There was a great friendship among the workers and one of my co-workers was my best man at my wedding.”
Mr Drinkwater left ROF Nottingham in January 1991 before taking up a role with the British Standards Institution, where he once again travelled before retirement at the turn of the century.
Nottingham’s ROF was visited by King George VI in 1940 as part of an inspection of the munitions being produced for the war effort.
It is also where the SA80 assault rifle, the standard issue rifle used by the British military since 1987, was designed.
The site is now the NG2 Business Park.
Will Rossiter, associate professor at Nottingham Business School, added: “Royal Ordnance were originally Government-owned and made weapons like guns and tank ammunition at a sizeable manufacturing plant in Nottingham.
“If you look at it from one perspective, you can see the transition from manufacturing plant to a business park, home to companies like Experian – one of the largest service business in the city.
“I think it symbolises the changes we have seen take place here. It’s emblematic of that and we can’t regard the city as a manufacturing hub as we could a few generations back.”
It was a noisy place to work with all the work going on – particularly in the forge
Dave Drinkwater