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(22) by John Burgess I started
work in the Cadby Hall electricians
department early in 1947, when I was 14
and a half.
I remember
that Lyons found power cuts a big
problem, they took the bull by the horns
and installed ten diesel alternators,
(later replaced by three much larger
ones). So much was going on around that
time, the chronology escapes me now
I remember
working on the installation of the power
supply cable for LEO. That cable must
have been about two inches thick, odd to
think of the computing power we have today
that will run on no more than a couple of
torch batteries.
There were
quite a number of young lads in the elect
dept, and we more or less had the run of
the entire site.
We never
went hungry, you could nip up to the Swiss
Roll oven room and find trays of
product that had come through the ovens
when they were a bit too hot, all crisp
and very tasty. On hot days one
could visit the
Ice Cream (Polar-Maid) and get a
foot or so before it was cut into the
little portions for cones, then up on the
roof for a bit of
sun-bathing.
So much
water has gone under the proverbial bridge
since then. I worked at first with a
man called Aleck Mabe? Another name that
comes to mind as a supervisor in the
electrical dept, was Jack Humphries he was
quite a dapper chap who had a penchant
for Passing Cloud cigarettes.
Is there
anyone around who can remember the Youth
Club in that old cottage on the
Hammersmith Road?
it was run
by a Miss Dale who had some involvement in
the school we all (under eighteen) went to
for one day each week. One memory I
have at that time was a fellow student who
had one of the very first ball pens a Biro
and if you were very nice to him he would
let you try it.
A whole
bunch of us went to Westward-Ho for a
holiday paid for largely by the company
who fixed it all up. One day I was called
up to the office to talk about "my
conduct", I wondered if my trips to the
ice cream dept, had been spotted! but no
worry they just asked if I would like an
extra months holiday, who would not? so
they sent me and quite a lot of other
young employees of to the Outward Bound
Adventure School for a bit of
character-forming. Goodness me that was a
tough month, running, javelin, shot put,
hill/mountain walking, rowing, sailing and
a lot of other healthy pursuits
I remember
how on a hot summer day, in June maybe,
one might think winter was so far away.
You would be having a roam
around the Addison Mansions end of
the site and get hit by a cloud of
Christmas pudding. I worked on the
Frood blast freeze cold
room, three large fans that recirculated
the air over the chiller gizmo!
I think I
might have remembered the name of the man
who ran the administrative side of the
elect dept, I think it was a Mr
Buckingham who worked in what was
designated as NOB (new office block). This
also housed the medical centre, the M.O.
was actually called Dr Blood. Also LEO was
in that building.
I left
J.Lyons around 1955 and I worked for a
number of companies all with an
electro-mechanical aspect. One thing I
must say is that the training at Cadby
which was applied with a very light hand
did me no harm.
My dad
worked for over forty years in the Cadby
Hall fitters dept. He did a number of very
basic jobs and had a very happy
life.
©
John Burgess
2004
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