"Avro" Woodford

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sidevalve
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"Avro" Woodford

#1 Post by sidevalve » Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:29 pm

In the early 80s I was involved in flight trials at BAe Woodford - and the experience gave me an insight into British industry.
Driving on to the site for the first time, heading for the Flight Sheds across the airfield, we passed a building that we soon learned was known as "New Assembly" (below).. When asked why, we were told because that where the Lancasters were built..
Image
Arriving over at the Flight Sheds, we settled in and soon we were engaged in intensive trials planning. I vividly remember one meeting between BAe and us, the A&AEE team. It was held in a large meeting room around a highly polished oak table that could have sat 20-25 people.
Halfway through the meeting, the door opened and two men for the shop floor came in (think the Two Ronnies!) - one was carrying the world's biggest tea pot (it must have held at least a gallon) - with an extra handle at the front - and the other had two tubes of paper cups jammed into the pockets of his donkey jacket and he was holding a pint of milk and a 2lb bag of Tate & Lyles sugar.
Talking ceased and we watched transfixed as a silent comedy was acted out in front of us.
Matey No 1 laid out a line of about 16 paper cups (all touching) and then Matey No 2 started pouring tea at one end, moving along the line in one continuous action. Hot tea ran all over the table. Matey No 1 then repeated the trick with the milk, leaving the sugar and a couple of tea spoons on the table before they both left. Not a word was spoken by anyone. I could see colleagues' shoulders shuddering with suppressed laughter.. I didn't dare catch anyone's eye.
When it came to generating the trials aircraft for a sortie, BAe management had to go cap in hand to ask a shop steward for his permission.
In the early evenings, we'd often stop off at the "Lancaster Club" (an on-site social club) for a beer - and we got used to buying the shop steward a pint or two to keep him sweet.
It was as though the whole place was stuck in a 1950s time warp.

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Re: "Avro" Woodford

#2 Post by boing » Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:07 pm

A cousin of mine was a very skilled machinist but he had no ambition to work in a production environment. He became the maintenance machinist at a company that was totally dependent on a whole building full of WW2 machinery most of it long obsolete and no longer supported - that is, unless by my cousin's skill. The company was, in effect, totally dependent on him for it to stay in operation. Boy, did he get himself a great deal.

The factory was left over from WW2 and it looked very similar to the one in the photo except that it was smaller. My cousin had a suite of three rooms along one wall, a workshop for the shop maintenance jobs (which did not keep him very busy), a lounge/kitchen room with lounge chairs and a 'fridge and a motorcycle workshop because he was an avid Velocette motorcycle collector. The deal was that as long as the shop floor kept working and he performed a few odd jobs the rest of the time was his.

I suppose it was cheaper to pay my cousin to hang around than to replace all of the machines.

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Re: "Avro" Woodford

#3 Post by tango15 » Sun Mar 01, 2020 11:53 pm

sidevalve:
As one who was employed at Woodford during the time you mention, I have the feeling that you may have been the victim of a practical joke. You may recall that the Avro Lancaster, Shackleton and 748 (amongst others), were constructed at Chadderton, on the other side of Manchester and brought by road to Woodford for final assembly, also referred to as 'New Assembly'. This was an in joke between the two factories, whose rivalry was similar to that of City and United, although City hadn't risen to the dizzy heights in those days. The picture is of 'new assembly' rather than flight sheds, which was smaller and on the other side of the airfield, as you describe. Although I worked in the 'new assembly' side of the airfield, I visited flight sheds frequently, often with visitors, I was never a witness to the spectacle which you describe.
During the five or so years I worked at Woodford, 1981-1986, I was never aware of any industrial action, either direct or indirect. I was aware of the Lancaster Club, in which I spent many a pleasant hour or two after work on a Friday evening. Purely from personal observation, since I was not involved in any of the trials work, (I worked in sales), I fully agree that a drink or two purchased in there may have helped to smooth the trials passage a little, though.

In a similar vein, back in the late 1970s, I asked my then employer, Air UK at Gatwick, for a few days off. Asked why I needed to take them during what was then the busiest period of the year, I explained that we were having electricity fitted to the house (I was resident in Lytham St Anne's at the time). "Oh that'll be nice for you," said my boss, who promptly signed my leave application. In actual fact the builders were coming in to convert a couple of rooms and I wanted to oversee the work. The house had been built in 1935 and fitted with electricity during its construction.

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Re: "Avro" Woodford

#4 Post by sidevalve » Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:06 am

Hi Tango,
I think you've misunderstood my post in some way.
Not sure what this supposed "practical joke" was?
The photo I posted was of "New Assembly".. (apparently so-called because that was where the Lancasters were assembled 40 years previously).
Here's another photo of that Lancaster assembly line at Woodford.
The incident with the "2 Ronnies" took place in the Conference Room in Flight Test..
The shop steward in Flight Test exercised a great deal of control over what happened and when it happened.
Regards
SV

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Re: "Avro" Woodford

#5 Post by Pontius Navigator » Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:50 am

A story from the late 50s was of the Vulcan line. Not much happening apart from a machine press in a corner thumping away. It was producing Vulcan ashtrays. They later adorned every crew room. Wish I had nicked one.

Then in late 70s, Nimrod conversion. Again not a lot of activity. One worker showed us his work, a sonobuoy aerial. He was very proud of it.

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Re: "Avro" Woodford

#6 Post by tango15 » Mon Mar 02, 2020 12:07 pm

sidevalve wrote:
Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:06 am
Hi Tango,
I think you've misunderstood my post in some way.
Not sure what this supposed "practical joke" was?
The photo I posted was of "New Assembly".. (apparently so-called because that was where the Lancasters were assembled 40 years previously).
Here's another photo of that Lancaster assembly line at Woodford.
The incident with the "2 Ronnies" took place in the Conference Room in Flight Test..
The shop steward in Flight Test exercised a great deal of control over what happened and when it happened.
Regards
SV
Yes, the Lancy photo is definitely 'New Assembly'. I can only recall that during my (infrequent) visits to flight test, that a tea lady used to appear with a trolley, but maybe if they were catering for a larger number, the SOPs were different! No doubt about the shop steward, though. He ran that place like his own kingdom and many was the argument we had to get a 748 finished for delivery on time. I always thought the fact that they were separated from the main factory meant that they operated in a totally different time zone!

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