VSE061 Gwynedd Lingard, BSA Tools, Cardiff

Gwynedd left grammar school at 16 (uncertain) (1950) to further her dreams of being a gymnast. She was selected for the Olympic team in 1952 – talks of the response of her area- flags and a street collection. She worked for Boots’ Chemist but they wouldn’t allow her time off so she went to work in the office in BSA Tools, which made scientific tools, microscopes etc. They gave her time off with pay. Her father built her a balancing beam in their lounge! Notes that when she went training in 1952 she had to take her own food coupons. Also the clothes rations and the cost of the uniform. Men on factory floor – wolf whistled when she went down there. She was the material control clerk, checking the stores and keeping the books. Men never offensive but they did ‘torment ‘ her. Describes a fatal accident in the furnace there. Dismal building – noise and smell. She left at 19 (1954) – she was pregnant. Accident on the way to work and taken to hospital by the boss. When a man pestered her (out of work) her boss sorted it out. Her father was a good swimmer and her mother a great runner and played baseball for Gripoly Mill though she didn’t work there. Later she went back to work, for the Gas Board (1972 until 1992). She talks about the Olympics in Helsinki and becoming an international coach.