Retirement party and fun in the sun
HERE is a selection of workplace photographs which we hope will bring back some fond memories for many of you.
They have been put our way by reader Ruth Taylor of Rowley Regis, and they capture a time when large local factories were still something of a social hub for the workers and their families. They date from the early 1980s, which with hindsight were the twilight years of the Black Country’s big industrial concerns.
For many years, 37 and a half very happy ones, Ruth worked at the BTH in Blackheath. Though it was only British Thomson-houston for a period of a few years, it was known to all by those three letters forever afterwards.
Retirement
Founded as a maker of motors and generators BTH began life in the late 1800s, at a large works in Rugby, the Blackheath site added later as the firm expanded.
It went by many names down the decades, such as AEI, General Electric, Hawker Siddeley, BTR and latterly Electrodrives.
Which of those was the official title in 1980 when these pictures were taken we’re not sure, but it was still BTH to the smiling staff shown here, on the retirement of one of their colleagues.
Presumably the retiring worker was the fellow in the cardigan with his arms around two of his colleagues. the one on the right, in patterned dress, was Anne Green. Next to her, in black top and grey skirt, is Ruth Taylor, while the fireman next to Ruth is John Davies.
The outdoor pictures date from around the same time, and show various workers and their offspring enjoying the annual BTH Summer Fun Day. It’s not clear what they’ve been up to, but the men are in shorts, some in fancy dress, and all of them soaked, so we can assume a good time was had by all.
Several others are playing a game with a football that must have been at least ten feet across. Do you remember taking part?
Finally, at bottom right, there is a picture of Ruth’s husband, Cyril Taylor. Cyril didn’t work at BTH but at the Longbridge car plant; another place that went through a variety of names down the years. This was taken when it was Leyland, and Cyril is shown in the North Tool Room. He was one of countless thousands of Black Country folk who made their way to that part of Birmingham every day to earn their living at the giant car plant.
Do you recognise anyone in these pictures? Email us on gjones@blackcountrybugle. co.uk, give us a call on 01384 889000, write to us, or pay us a visit at Black Country Bugle, Dudley Archive Centre, Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY1 4SQ.