ENGINEERING was once a prominent industry in Bradford.

Among the well-known firms helping to drive the city’s growing economy at that time was The English Electric Co, based in Thornbury.

Former employee, Jim Woodhead, who served a five year apprenticeship with the firm, describes it as ‘a motley collection of companies that made things electrical.’

“You could buy from them a domestic fridge or a complete power station, a cooker or a diesel locomotive, a washing machine or a magnificent delta Wing Aeroplane and a great many other things electrical. The list went on and on,” he recalls.

Jim is one of a number of former employees who meet two or three times a year, keeping the legacy of one of Bradford’s major industries alive. Their next meeting is on April 26 and they are keen to hear from other former employees with memories to share.

Considering the firm’s workforce - it employed up to 80,000 worldwide and around 5,000 at its main factories including Phoenix Works in Bradford, Rugby, Preston Stafford and Liverpool - there should be plenty to tell about this once thriving workforce.

Jim, who lives in Keighley, says it was ‘inevitable’ he was going to be an engineer - following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great grandfather who were engineers and metalworkers.

His five years apprenticeship at English Electric began in November 1943. “I was one of 5,000 employees and 250 apprentices,” says Jim, who recalls it was war time and the company was at its peak of production.

The 89-year-old, who turns 90 in September, can even recall his weekly wage - “one pound and two shilling and nine pence - six pence an hour.”

Jim recalls a section at Phoenix Works known as D.M.S where dynamos and electric motors were manufactured.

“Nothing was missed from the list of products: motors that drove the huge fleet of trams and trolley buses across Britain; motors that turned washing machines; motors that required an output of hundreds of horsepower to work the oil fields in the Middle East; motors that powered thousands of looms in Bradford and the surrounding district, that were being modified from steam to electrical drive. Dynamos that were in windmills in Africa and Australia and Zanzibar and Zimbabwi. All this wonderful British Empire, post war, was screaming for British Industrial Products. A wonderful time to be alive.”

Jim recalls a dozen or so young men working in the D.M.S office who were equipped with a ‘dictating machine’ very large ambitions and a huge volume naming all the products which could be manufactured.

“Over these young men presided a kind avuncular man, slightly rounded shoulders, with white hair and a weather beaten face - a gentle man named Bill Otty.

“Every day he would receive the mail containing enquiries from all corners of the globe for electric motors. These he would sort through and pass them to his budding engineers to knock together quotations. The quote was then dictated by the engineer into a ‘Dictating Machine.’

Jim recalls the young engineers and young typists in the typing pool who would type up the information from the dictating machines ‘created a heady mixture.’

The company also had a large foundry in Dick Lane. “It was a renowned place (English Electric) and if you got a job there it was supposed to be one of the best apprenticeships going. They had a very paternal outlook and looked after their employees as much as possible.”

“It was a lovely place to work. People acknowledged everybody else and the apprentices were looked after,” says Jim, recalling the apprenticeship officers who were like a father figure.

“I went through the workshops on machine tool repair and I went from there into the drawing office and from the drawing office on to the production and finished up on internal sales.”

Working 48 hours, Jim also spent 10 hours studying at Bradford Technical College. But it wasn’t all work and no play, as he recalls. Saturday afternoons were largely spent playing rugby at the sports club, Phoenix Park in Dick Lane, which English Electric provided for its employees.

“It was my main form of enjoying life at that time,” says Jim.

At 22 Jim left the company to go travelling, an experience which brought home the impact English Electric had on the world at that time.

On his worldwide travels Jim recalls a memorable blue train journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg which reminded him of his roots. “It was pulled by two electric engines made by English Electric - that was the kind of impact it had."

“The factory at Bradford has gone and is now the site of a supermarket and retail outlets. The English Electric Company was absorbed into a French company long ago, and the many thousands of men and women who worked in that factory for that company are largely memories or silver haired members of SAGA,” adds Jim.

Derek Dyson also has fond memories of serving his apprenticeship at English Electric.

The 80-year-old, who lives in Wilsden, believes the gift of an electrical kit for Christmas during his childhood sparked his interest in all things electrical.

He joined English Electric at the age of 16 and recalls it felt like being part of a big family. Derek served for six years before National Service intervened, but he returned for a further three years working in various departments including dealing with spares and repairs quotations and testing equipment.

“It was friendly and it was like a big family in a way.”

Like Jim, Derek also recalls the sports club the company provided for its employees.

“You could pay probably about a shilling a week towards the club membership - I think it came off your wage every week,” says Derek.

“I enjoyed working there and I think most people did.”

For more information about the group’s next meeting, or to get involved, call 01535 272216 or 01535 273649.