The end of an era for a fine old Black Country firm
Historic company found its days were numbered after take-over
LAST time I mentioned my old place of work, Ewarts Ltd. of Burnt Tree Works, Dudley (April 13 edition, 2022) I mentioned some of the great characters who I trod the workshop floor with.
I was with that renowned old company for nigh-on thirty years (which included my compulsory two years’ army National Service from 1953 to 1955). I had various jobs, but the one that gave me the most satisfaction was when I was asked to work in the toolroom by Ewarts’ grand old works manager, Mr
George Woodall.
I was aided and abetted by the indomitable toolroom superintendent Mr Wally Barrington as a Toolroom Metal Hardener and Steel Storeman in July 1961; a job I had expected would take me all the way to my retirement day in April 2000.
But that daydream never came true, because in 1977 a new company I’ve written about many times before, the ‘Delta Group of Companies’ took over the ownership of Ewarts with the promise to make our company even greater.
But the passing of time would reveal just how misguided they were, because after only a few years of them being in charge, all Ewarts’ workforce, and that included our old management, knew we were heading down a slipper y slope towards mass redundancies.
My time at Ewarts/delta came to an end on March 12 1982, as it did for 26 of my workmates from the toolroom. Wow, what a heartwrenching day that truly was.
The only thing praiseworthy thing about that company was that they produced the Delta News magazine from when they took over until
The Timmins family built up more than 300 years’ service with Ewarts
1982, and it invariably captured the odd photograph of special moments involving our workforce. My magpie curiosity meant that I enjoyed and kept those magazines, so I can bring you photographs of some of those people who once lit up our grand old factory many moons ago, with a few words to accompany them. I hope they will bring a smile to the face, or a tear to the eye, of all those who may remember those days at Ewarts. The pictures are taken from a Delta News article about the Timmins family, many of whom worked at Ewarts, but just one of them was featured in a photograph taken on the day of his retirement in January 1980. That great bloke was Cliff Timmins, foreman of the Drilling Section at Ewarts, and he is pictured surrounded
by his elite work colleagues. They were, from left to right: Doug Brittain, Stan Taylor, ?, Cliff Timmins, hidden behind him Ray Taylor, then Don Stevens, manager of the Tap Department, and last but not least at far right, Ray Hughes of the Maintenance Department.
At the time of Cliff’s retirement he had completed fifty years’ service with the company, and the magazine article went on to record that Cliff was the founding father of a tradition that saw members of his family build up an aggregate of over 300 years with the company, and to top all that Cliff met his lovely wife Madge Butcher there – she was a Capstan Operator. They married in 1935 and were eventually blessed with a family of nine children, seven
of whom joined the Ewarts workforce. Two of those sons, Ken and Eric, were pals of mine during my toolroom years, from 1961 to 1982.
That’s where I end this story, and pick up another from a later copy of the Delta News, brought out a few months later.
The headline of this one was ‘45 Years at Ewarts,’ and this I’m sure was another momentous but sad occasion at the dear old firm.
A popular chargehand of the maintenance gang, Claud Fletcher, boxed up his tools and retired in March 1980 after 45 years’ continuous service.
With his departure, another link was broken in the tradition of family service within the firm. Claude’s wife Violet worked at Ewarts for 24 years and their son Graham spent seven years in the toolroom on the milling section.
Relatives ranging from brothers-in-law, cousins and an aunt topped up a family aggregate of 226 years’ service at Ewarts. Claud began his working life with a spell on Chair Actions – cor blimey what was that job?
Whatever it was, he followed that up with a long spell in maintenance fitting, and he became chargehand of that section in 1976.
Claud’s career was summed up with the following lines in the Delta News:
“He has enjoyed his working life and reflects however that though he earns a lot more now than the ‘good wage’ of £5 10s he was picking up in 1948, he feels he is no better off!”