VSW026 Eileen Davies, Slimma-Dewhirst, Llandovery

Eileen left school at 15 (1969) after doing her A Level in sewing and taught in night school etc, until she had her daughter and then she started in Slimma’s, Llandovery. The factory produced elasticated waist trousers for M&S. There were no cutters there and each one sewed a different part of the garment. Eileem feels that farm girls are used to hard work. They had detailed instructions (e.g. how many stitches an inch) from M&S. Eileen did some checking of goods, then became a floater. She wasn’t fast enough to be on the line. She also worked making jeans in the Lampeter factory. After leaving college she worked for a while in a small factory in Kenfig Hill making clothes from Welsh flannel. When checking in Slimma’s it was difficult to tell a worker to re-do the work. She became a supervisor. Dispute would arise when machines broke and the work was on stop. The girls had no ambition. Not a union member. The heaps of trousers absorbed the noise. Health and Safety – carrying heavy weight. Some of the girls went to the pub after pay on Fridays. They had a turkey each at Xmas. She left to get married.

VN004 Greta Davies, Ackroyd & Sons, Bala

Greta worked in a milk factory before going to Ackroyds in 1982, where she stayed for 12 years, firstly checking the clothes for needle damage and later ironing them, for which she had to stand for 8 hours a day on a special foam mat. She enjoyed working there: “We had little breaks, five minutes every hour to go out and have a smoke and get a cup of tea or coffee from the vending machine. There was a good canteen there, they did toast in the morning, dinner time they did hot dinners. They had Christmas dinner and pudding there for every one, and decorated the canteen very smartly, there was a very nice atmosphere there Christmas time.” There was a good social life too, with trips out to places like Tywyn and to the races. She was made redundant in 1993, when the company decided to import pyjamas from China, but has gone back intermittently since then to help out in busy periods.

VN030 Iorwerth Davies, Cookes Explosives, Penrhyndeudraeth

Iorwerth worked at Cookes Explosives Ltd for 46 years, starting at the age of 14. He didn't have an interview, just went down to ask for a job. At that time, the new Labour Party had come to power and they established a rule that young workers finish their work half an hour before the older workers, so Iorwerth could leave work at 4:30. There was quite a lot of young workers in Cookes as many people went there after finishing at the village school. The boys had to be 16 and the girls 18 before they could work with explosives. Iorwerth did a number of jobs in Cookes during the years he was there, starting with bags - 'paper shells - into which the explosives went. The bags then went to the girls in the packing to be filled with explosives. After reaching 16, he was working in the huts with other women and men, not with explosive itself but with bags. Men went round to every house with bags and collected them after they were filled. He moved to other jobs in the factory and ended up as transport manager, monitoring the transport of explosives to mines all over the country and often having to defuse them when they'd become unsafe. He married one of the girls in the 'cwts,' Mary.

VSE017 Jim Davies, Weston's Biscuits, Pontypool;Pilkington Glass Factory, Pontypool;HG Stones, Pontypool

Jim talks of family background and Welsh language. He went to Cambridge to read medicine. In the holidays he worked at HG Stone toy factory (1956). About 8 women to every man. Female designer. He worked in patent room – describes process of making patent of teddy bear’s limbs etc. Then to stampers, cutters, stitchers on assembly, stuffers, then to inspection. Girls nice and decent. Yet some teasing. In Weston Biscuits (later Burton's Biscuits) – tannoy music playing Housewife’s Choice. Government Sponsored scheme for disabled workers in HG Stone – ‘green card’ men. Class differences in the factory and in school. Jim also worked in the biscuit factory ‘6 million eaten everyday!’ as a yard boy- empty tins flattened for scrap metal. Remembers all the women singing; class divide between office and floor. He also worked at Pilkington’s glassworks one holiday – yard boy; hard and monotonous work. Lot of cutting of glass – dangerous work. Through factory work he appreciated ‘what it was like to be at the bottom of the pile.’ They were direct, fresh and frank people. The experience stood him in good stead in his life.

VN010 Marion Davies, Woollen Factory, Glyn Ceiriog;Brick factory, Newbridge

Marion worked in the Glyn Ceiriog Woollen Factory straight from school at 14, like her sister Beti. She was on the bobbins the whole time she was there. She left when the factory closed in 1952 and went to work in a brick factory in Newbridge, near Chirk. The work was heavy as she had to put the clay tiles into a press and turn a wheel to press it down. Men and women worked there, the men mostly on the kilns and the women, and some boys, doing the pressing and turning the wheels. There were more people in the brick factory than in the wool factory and the wages were better too. There was a sort of a canteen, where someone made tea for the workers, and they brought their own food in, or bought lunch there. The work could be dangerous, for example someone could trap a finger in the press, which happened to one or two, but not to her. She left the factory work after a short time and worked in Boots Chemist until she retired.

VN005 Mary Macdonald Davies, Dolgarrog Aluminium, Dolgarrog;rubber factory, Llanrwst

Mary (Macdonald) Davies worked in the Dolgarrog factory, after a couple of years in a bakery. She worked mostly in the light mill, like most of the women, but often went to help the men in the big mill, lifting aluminium sheets onto the roller. She said she wasn't given proper training, and that it could be dangerous work, as the aluminium was sharp. She describes one incident just after she started: “I stood by this trestle, and this sheet came out, oh, I can feel it now. And it hit me. Oh, the pain, I thought 'Oh God, what's happened?' And I didn't know what to do, did I? So she said 'Pick it up.' So I picked it up. And if you're not quick enough, cos you've got two sheets, one's going over while the other's coming, its a continous thing, so if you're not quick enough the other sheet comes out.” She left to have her daughter and didn't return to Dolgarrog, though she did work for a short while in the rubber factory in Llanrwst, making wet weather clothing.

VN025 Nesta Davies, Unilateral Capacitors, Wrexham;Filmcap (Hunts capacitors), Wrexham;Johnson's Fabrics, Wrexham

After leaving school, Nesta worked in a bakery, icing cakes and cleaning tables but the money wasn't very good and she had to catch the bus into Wrexham. After that, she worked in a launderette in Llangollen, washing sheets for hotels, and they had to carry heavy sheets and put them in the rollers. She found it very hard work and couldn't cope and after about six weeks she heard about a job in a factory at Llangollen, which wove wool blankets. She started work in 1946; she was three years in the blanket factory, and went to the sanitary towel factory at seventeen. She said the sanitary towel factory and Johnson Fabrics were in Marchwiel, which is now Wrexham industrial estate. She met her husband in Johnsons Fabrics. He used to clean the fluff off all the looms. Julie, Nesta's daughter, said her father used to make excuses to go and clean Nesta's loom and she used to say “I had the cleanest loom in the place.” Nesta worked in several factories in and around Wrexham, including Hunts, which made units for electrical applicances, and Unilateral Ceramics. She moved factories often for various reasons, eg. family commitments or more money. She gained a lot of experience of work and, in one factory, she rose to be a charge hand. She thinks her health suffered from factory work and gave up eventually in 1978, when she was 47, though she did other jobs afterwards, like cleaning.

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.

VSE032 Violet Ann Davies, JR Freeman's Cigar Factory, Cardiff;Currans, Cardiff

Ann left school at 15 (1955) and went straight into the cigar factory in Clive Street. The machines were dangerous – no guards. Singing and playing pranks. Smell of tobacco sticking to you. Names the girls she worked with. Got 200 cigarettes every month. Piecework. Describes processes. Making 3000-4000 cigars a day between two machines. Proud to be making King 60s and Indian Sticks. Company supportive when her mother was ill and when she had to take time off. Sick leave pay. Moved to new factory in 1960 – one big room. Radio and music. She left when pregnant in 1962 but returned on evening shift in 1963 but she became ill. Poverty and not having shoes to go out in. Tells story of Pat Perks – gymnast who competed in Commonwealth Games. Factory collected money to buy clothes etc for her. Ann worked part-time in Curran’s 1976-78- saucepan and baths factory. She worked on returns. Refused to work out in the yard. Her dad worked there during the war – terrible burns from boiling lead. Later she was a home carer for 23 years.

VSE015 Luana Dee, Sobells, Aberdare;TBS South Wales Ltd, Merthyr;NATO clothing factory, Rhymney;Guest Keen and Nettlefold (GKN), Merthyr;Thorns, Merthyr;Berlei Bras, Dowlais;Lines (Triang), Merthyr

Luana talks about her colourful family background and returning from abroad to MT. She left school at 15 (1967) and shortly afterwards began working in Berlei Bras as a machinist (2 years). Mixture of shy and assertive girls there. Brilliant German Pfaff machines. Fashion parades with employees modelling – lingerie. Piecework – paid per bra. Seconds thrown in bins and had to repair – not earning then. Eyesight good and she was fast so put on black bras. More difficult and so loosing money. But she was moved to stop her making trouble. Threatened because she stirred things up. Had to ask to go to toilet and supervisor knocking door. Watching them all the time. Sacked – quality of work? Or too forthright? Straight into another job. In BB’s - fashion parade on factory floor itself - Miss Berlei Bra competition? Describes factory. Sexual innuendo common. Xmas dance and trips. Next – Triang Toys sewing heavy duty upholstery (stayed 1 year). Some toy-making. Having fun with the factory boys in Cyfarthfa Park on Fridays afternoons. Some men brought in pornographic photographs – eye opener. Went to Thorn’s making filaments for light bulbs. Describes process. Japanese took over, it became stressful so she stayed less than a year. Moved to make industrial clothing for NATO – heavy duty sewing, more humanity here. In the TSB they made filing cabinets and she connected with the other workers. She was in the office now. In Sobell’s for a few weeks only - very large, industrial and alienating.