Cyril Davenport
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"0’15” Started working in the weaving shed
2’30” Territorial Army
3’00” Worked in the warehouse (15 yrs old, only 4ft 6ins, weighed 72lbs)
5’00” products made by the firm
6’45” Roland Spencer - visit to the factory
7’50” The Christmas Spree
11’00” parcelling (plaiting) the cloth
12’10” Number of employees
13’15” The war / the landmine at Stubbins
15’00” Shifts
15’30” Characters who worked for the firm including a bookmaker
16’45” Wages
17’45” Called up to the war
18’15” Return to the firm after the war / Half-crown foreman /
19’00” Wages for the big loom weavers
19’45” Big loom weavers
21’30” After the war - worked on the doubling machine for 20 years
23’45” Shift work, staffing and wages (1951)
26’00” Characters - boilerman who played the flute
labourer who used to have a sleep in the toilets
29’45” Management turns a blind eye
30’30” Clocking in & out
31’15” Promoted to assistant foreman/manager over 3 departments
32’45” He was asked to become supervisor/foreman in the warehouse
33’15” Changed from cotton to synthetics
34’00” ""Wet end wires"" (conveyor belt) for the paper mills
35’00” Changing the name of the firm and products moved to different factories
36’45” In charge of 3 departments, Finishing manager- from when it left theloom to when it left the factory
37’45” Contact with the factory in Livingston, Scotland
38’45” troubleshooting - Assistant to the Production Director
39’30” ""The wires"" - conveyor belt for paper machine. Cost up to £60,000
43’15” Paper mills - most of them shut now
44’45” Export of wires all over the world (inc1 Japan & Poland)
46’15” Work study & automation - the biggest changes which have come in;Reduction in workforce
49’00” Waste from the process
51’30” Changes in processes, with the coming of synthetics
52’00” Types of synthetics, staples and filaments
53’45” 5 -A -Side football
55’00” Safety procedures
56’00” Accidents at work
58’15” Family members who also worked for Porritts
His father was a gardner for Porritts during the 1914-18 war.
Several of his brothers & sisters worked there for over 40 years
60’00” The Porritt family and their homes
61’45” Strongstry houses available for workers
64’00” Various mills owned by the Porritts
65’00” The Porritts & Spencers who were directors
67’00” characters, - a man with a glass eye. someone who set fire to some waste
68’35” end
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