VN035 Peter Davies, Ruabon Brick Works, Ruabon

Peter worked in several brickyards after leaving school, principally Ruabon Red Bricks, which made world famous floor tiles. He didn't like school and couldn't wait to leave, and he went down to the brick yard to ask for a job, as they'd take anybody on, and never went back. His parents were proud of him for being independent and getting work. He did a variety of jobs at the brickyard, some of them dangerous, and there were lots of accidents during his time there, especially with the forklift trucks, some fatal. There was a really good atmosphere there, with a lot of banter between the men and the women. He left the brickyard after a dispute with a fellow worker which led to a fight and they were both sacked. They did take him back afterwards but he left soon after and went into another factory before entering the building trade, which was much better money.

VSE035 Anonymous, Sidroy Mills, Barry

The Feltz, (Jewish) family owned the factory. It produced underwear, blouses and night wear. Both the contributors won scholarships to the grammar school but because working class had to leave at 16. No talking but singing. Piecework and how it was worked out. The difficulties regarding establishing a trade union - the National Taylor and Garment Workers’ Union in the factory. A union branch was formed with one of them as Chair and the other as Secretary. Attending T.U.C. meetings – spoke out in 1953. They left when they married and organised playgroups in the local community. They recall the comradeship and value the sewing skills they learned at Sidroy’s.

VSW035 Grace Beaman, Unit Superheaters, The Strand;Mettoys, Fforestfach

Grace left school at 15 (1963) because her father didn’t think it was worth educating a girl. She worked in shops and then in Mettoys for three years. Women were dextrous on the assembly line. Security and bags searched. Women would fix their own machines if broken. She moved to Unit Superheaters where she drove a gantry (overhead crane) – 13 other women also driving. Joined union because told she would lose her job if she didn’t. Section of Unit Superheaters had Gamma rays so women not allowed to work there. In Mettoys went to social club in Hafod and started a darts league. Eventually she bought the post office in Landore and got a degree in 2000.

VN036 Anita Roberts, Capacitor factory and other factories, Wrexham

Anita went into a factory at 15 but she didn't like it and only stayed a week. Her mother Nesta worked at the same factory but Anita said it was just too fast and she couldn't keep up. After a job in an exotic pet shop, which she really liked, she returned to a different factory which she found much better, one that made capacitors, and she got really good at her job. She left after a few years and worked in other factories, making curtains and ceramics, before eventually going into care work, which she said was much harder than any factory job. Anita thinks her health suffered after working in the ceramics factory, where she used to clean, because of the thick dust that they breathed in and there was no proper protective masks.

VSW036 Florence Margaret Jenkins, Flax Factory, Milford Haven

Florence left school at 14 (1944) and worked in a hotel and café before moving to the Flax factory. Four German prisoners of war worked there too and one of them hanged himself. She worked there for four years (around 1950). She would help harvest the flax. Later she worked in a laundry but was injured and lost her front teeth when a machine went out of control. They gave her £6. The work in the flax factory was quite dangerous. After she got married she worked as a potato picker The work in the flax factory was very dirty, not allowed to speak to the POWs. They were paid by the bag for potato picking.

VN037 Margaret Evans, Hotpoint, Llandudno

Margaret began work in Hotpoint at the age of 39, although she'd already been working and had a family. Her husband Keith had started there the previous year. She had a week's training where she was one of only two females, the rest being male trainees, and she was the only one doing the tasks properly, whereas the men were cutting corners. She really liked the factory and the cameraderie and the wages were very high, especially for night shifts which she, and her husband, did for a long period of time, as her mother was able to look after the children. There was a real family atmosphere at Hotpoint even though it was a huge place and they had a lot of fun. She was a team leader on the wiring board section and a union rep for many years. She didn't want to move to Hotpoint Kinmel when the factory closed in 1992 but had no choice. She said the new factory was very different from the one in Llandudno and that they never really fitted in. Margaret retired in 1998.

VSW037 Marina McGowan, ITT Television Factory, Milford Haven

Marina left school at 15 (1949) and was a chambermaid emptying chamber pots (2 years) before moving to the Dock where she braided fishermen’s nets for the trawlers. After getting married and having the children she went to the large ITT factory in Thornton Park (1970s). They made televisions. Listening to the radio and having a singsong sometimes. Provided with a coat. Accidents such as cutting their fingers. Her husband was at sea so she couldn’t socialise in the evenings with the other girls. She left when she became pregnant again.

VN038 Keith Evans, Hotpoint, Llandudno

Keith was a roofer before he went to Hotpoint. He decided to go into a factory because he wasn't happy with the inequality in bonuses in the roofing trade. He wasn't sure if he would settle being in a factory after working outdoors but he did, and said he had to because he had four children to support. He worked on various different lines and said the training differed from one to another, with some lines just showing him what to do once and then letting him get on with it. He enjoyed Hotpoint, earning good money, especially for nights. He retired just short of 65.

VSW038 Anonymous, Slimma, Cardigan

The speaker left school at 16 (1964) and went straight into Slimma’s, as a machinist making children’s dresses and belts. Then her eyes failed and she couldn’t do the belts, so left. She went to work in a hotel. In the factory they weren’t allowed to talk and it was quite noisy. The supervisor watched them all the time. Certain favoured workers offered overtime. She preferred working in the hotel.

VN039 Olive Jones, Laura Ashley, Carno

Olive was a nanny to Emlyn Hooson's children in London before returning to Carno and getting work in Laura Ashley in 1968. There weren't many working there then, about 20, and the girls were sitting in two rows by their machines. She doesn't remember her first wage but said it was more than she was getting as a nanny as she lived in then. She remembers when piece work came in and how hard it was, and that she worked during her lunchtimes to make money. They also came in earlier in the mornings to catch up with the work. She started on hems first, moving on after she'd learned how to do that, onto the button and button hole machines and the overlocker. The work wasn't monotonous, she said, because there were different styles and different amounts of overlocking, some of the dresses needing a lot, but things like skirts not so much. She was a machinist until she left to have her first child in 1979. She thought about returning as a machinist but the piecework had become so fast that one of the girls said to her “Oh, Olive, you'll never get your speed back up.” So she returned to Laura Ashley as a cleaner and later on worked in the canteen, serving food and cleaning until she retired in 2006