A BTH Apprentice
1947/1952
by Trevor Sidaway
The National Certificate courses covered
Mechanical, Electrical, Production and Structural engineering
disciplines
Designed
for school leavers from the age of fourteen onwards they covered seven years,
two years at
junior
level, designated J1 and J2, three years at senior level, S1, S2 and S3,
resulting in the award of an
ONC,
followed by a further two years at advanced level, A1 and A2, with an award of
an HNC
Failure at any subject in any year— exam results
below 40%--required that all the subjects were retaken
a year later resulting in a good percentage of students
having to settle for an ONC or less
As a Junior Tech graduate I skipped the first three
years, moving straight into year S2 enabling me to
get an HNC before the end of my apprenticeship and
National Service call up at twenty-one
Higher National Certificate,
the objective of all apprentices
ONC
certificates awarded in the years leading up to the HNC
The range
of subjects was comprehensive and included;
Theory of
Machines, Theory of Structures, Maths, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering,
Electrical
Engineering AC & DC, Workshop Technology, Graphics and Mechanics,
Engineering
Drawing, Heat and Heat Engines
Extract from final year
Strength of Materials coursework in Mechanical Engineering
Taught by the veritable Harold Bunting it
shows that the calculus taught in previous years
by Mr Cutting, the maths Lecturer, was
being put to good use
Studies comprised one day and two evenings, the day subjects
covered the three main subjects plus one
endorsement and the evening subjects covered those
additional endorsements that were necessary to
subsequently obtain membership of the Engineering
Institutions and Chartered Engineer status
Other subjects that were main
subjects in other disciplines could also be studied and it was not unknown
for the very bright and
industrious students to gain two HNC’s
Students with two ONC’s
as well as one HNC were more common and I was amongst that group
although, on reflection, I did
no more studying than was strictly necessary!
.
National Certificate
Syllabuses Changed
In 1968 the HNC courses were
watered down with more emphasis on vocational subjects and the route to
Chartered Engineer status
was shifted to the newly introduced Higher National Diploma courses an
increasingly to Engineering degrees as
the growth in the number of University places took hold
This move didn’t meet
with universal approval especially amongst those employers trying to recruit
Draughtsmen and
Designers—Rolls Royce specified pre 1968
HNC’s in its adverts for its Drawing Office
Staff in
Fellow apprentices
The Annual Dinner
By the 1960’s an annual apprentice’s dinner was
held—this one somewhere in
The top table on the left included the
Personnel Manager, George Purdy, his deputy and ex apprentice,
Jack Evans, and Bob Hampson, another ex
apprentice who was in charge of training in the new drawing office
New Drawing Office
In the mid 1950’s, responsibility for
the design of the product range was moved from
Blackheath and a Drawing Office was set up
in a self contained building close to the sports field.
Mechanical Apprentices had a training spell in there
Ex apprentice Bob Hampson, pictured in the
Drawing Office.
He took over apprentice training from George Stevens
Pictured
in 1951
David Whitehouse (cousin) Dick Dallow Trevor Sidaway
and the same three
pictured 55 years later, in 2006, at the
David
Dick
Trevor
David Whitehouse
We were cousins but
in those days more like brothers and I spent many weekends staying with him in
their house in
Rowley, sharing many family holidays mainly in
nes in
Cliffetonville.
In pre BTH days we
formed a soccer team, playing in the
David was an electrical engineering apprentice, was
very successful and after National Service, in the
RAF, he rejoined the
BTH rising to Chief Electrical Engineer.
He was in charge of
motor design in a Department that had taken over the design work from the
factory in the mid
1950’s
He also taught evening classes
in third year Electrical Engineering at Dudley Tech
He married Rita Adams—a BTH
girl—she was in charge of the Mail Room and occasionally stood in
as receptionist/
telephonist
Dick
(Dickie) Dallow
Dick was in the year ahead of me at
I didn’t get to
know him until he joined
friends
He would occasionally
collect me from my home in
air rifle strapped to
my back, and together with cousin David we’d make for the
“Quack” at the top of
Rowley and take pot
shots at the birds.
I can’t recall
ever hitting any but it’s a “sport” that I now sorely regret
He was a Drawing
Office apprentice and spent two years at
BTH but most of the
time he was a college lecturer, at
He also spent a
couple of years back at the BTH before finally retiring
I think that, in the early days, he did more damage to Charlie’s
centre lathe than the few scars I put on
the tool post—shades of Mary Gadd
again
Wally Banks.
Although short, at about 5ft
4in, he was built like a miniature Greek god and the girls found him
particularly attractive.
He did poorly at College and
although he was at least a year older than me I caught up with him in third
year at Senior Tech.
He was adopted as a child and I
know that he held strong feelings about his past, I felt that his mediocre
academic results were something
to do with this and certainly not because of a lack of intellect
He lived close to the Tech in
the Broadway
We’d go swimming at
business together rebuilding old push bikes, repainting
the frames, fitting drop handle bars, brakes and
saddles and polishing up the wheels and spokes.
Occasionally we would tart up the existing handlebars by
wrapping them with coloured insulation tape
The tape
and any screws and fittings that we needed came via Mr
Cutler in the stores
I once
managed to get my hands on a bike with the famous Reynolds 531 taper tube
frame—I kept that
for a while
In the 1960’s, while installing an experimental
gas valve there was an explosion and tragically Wally
died from his injuries
James (Jimmy) O’Neil
He was a little
younger than me and was one of the few apprentices to study at Oldbury Tech.
He was well thought
of and had a successful apprenticeship.
After his
National Service, Cannon offered him a range of jobs at the BTH however, he
chose to join
Lockheed as
a management trainee
Following
this, he joined at William Fox as Works Manager
Finally, he started his own business—O’Neil
Engineering Developments—based in
It ran very successfully for many years and as the BTH
Toolroom was being rundown, he took on two of
their most skilled centre lathe operators, Ron Hemmings and Kenny Cartwright.
He played a mean
cornet and played in the Langley Band for many years
He also had a way
with the girls
George
Stevens
Maurice (Mo) Richards)
Mo also went off to
paths rarely crossed
at the BTH
I do know that he
married a girl from the Winding Department and eventually he made it as a
director
ofa major tube
manufacture—could have been Tube Investments
He was one of the brightest in the Junior Tech class
Kenny Knott
He was somewhat older
than me and spent some time at the
well but his name was
a bit of a byword. He finished up as a Professor at the
University and is
still earning a crust as an expert witness in American Courts through his
company
FIMEC Inc
He also practises magic!
He also claims that Mr Gadd
(Mary’s Dad) once threatened to cut off his “ jewels”
Alf Brown
A close friend of Wally Banks, Alf was
very bright in the Basil Rose mould with two
Higher National
Certificates and
membership of both the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Institutions
Our paths crossed at W & T Avery where he was a
senior sales executive in the load cell division
As for me, following
National Service in the REME, (”www.gibraltar-rock.co.uk”)
like James O’Neil,
I also turned down Canon’s offer of a job at the BTH..
Instead I joined
W& T Avery in their Testing Machine Division rising to head the Design
Department
In the mid
1970’s I formed my own Company, specialising in the design and manufacture
of Testing
Machines, and after
25 years I sold out to a German Combine
My old Company—Indentec—continues to flourish
(“www.indentec.com”)
There were many other apprentices, some of
whom I’ve mentioned in the main text, others include
Ken Pritchard, the Biddle brothers, Taffy Thomas, Johnny Cartwright, Brian Attwood ( a relative)
Gibson, Harris and not forgetting Ivan who opened up a fish
and chip shop in Reddal Hill
The BTH site is now a trading estate with three discrete units and
production of electric motors has
virtually ceased
Pictured in 2006
A
Dudley Tech Junior and early days at the BTH
The
Apprenticeship Schemes, into the Machine Shop and the vision Mary Gadd
Into
the Millwrights, the Toolroom and the Canon Dynasty
The
Planning Department, Final Test and Sport