Great video!! It reminds me of somewhere I used to work in my youth. We even had a tea lady coming around with her trolley!! Sadly the company I worked for no longer exisits unlike this one
That vintage coat & hat rail @ 7:59 is cool vintage, love it. My guess is that room was a changing room for work uniforms? Maybe Mr Sydney Smith can shed light.
I worked at Automatics Tooling from 1962-2001. Started as an apprentice and worked my way up. Automatics moved into this factory in 1962 from Nutfield Road in South Merstham. The factory got bigger over the years. At one stage they employed some 200 people. They finally moved to a factory unit in Salfords. Sad to see the old place in such a mess, as I spent most of my working life there.
Sydney Smith Thank you for your insight to the history in your comments Sydney, glad you got another look at the place. I really could sense some of the history of the workforce in that older building with those old retro paint colours. Glad to hear that the business moved & didn't close down, i hope it wasn't with any redundancies, but somehow i doubt it! Although the place is one big pigeon loft now, i'm sure it could be easily re-used again. great place for train spotting:) & no i didnt touch the bosses drinks bar or try the old safes;) Thanks again for watching & commenting!
+Sydney Smith Hi Sidney, someones recently commented on your old factory...about the old coat & hat rail? answered there own question really, detecting the detectives, or watching them as the Elvis song goes!;) not that you need a phd to work that out.
I also worked at automatics, there were many people laid off in the 1980's I think the workforce ended up at around 80 at that time. It went from a very busy and productive workplace to one where they were taking work 'at cost' just to keep the place going. I was among the last made redundant, and like Syd said, it is a shame to see somewhere you worked now derelict and unused. I'm guessing the Lord brothers {owners} would be long gone before the shift from this factory. the area outside the canteen was filled with Bechler auto lathes {cam operated}, the middle one had the toolmaking area and production grinding machines. as well as the mouldroom and inspection area. The furthest area was mainly the womens light area, and capstans etc, and towards the end {early 80's redundancies} some multibar auto lathes. I was surprised to see it was still going tbh, I really expected it to have folded up in that 80's recession... so good on them for keeping it going.
sim6699 Thank you! I do try to find out any history, but most remain mysteries...i often write or copy info into the "basic info" section if i find anything about them! Thanks for watching & commenting.
Great adventure thanks for sharing
Great video!! It reminds me of somewhere I used to work in my youth. We even had a tea lady coming around with her trolley!! Sadly the company I worked for no longer exisits unlike this one
That vintage coat & hat rail @ 7:59 is cool vintage, love it.
My guess is that room was a changing room for work uniforms?
Maybe Mr Sydney Smith can shed light.
Love the choice of music
I worked at Automatics Tooling from 1962-2001. Started as an apprentice and worked my way up. Automatics moved into this factory in 1962 from Nutfield Road in South Merstham. The factory got bigger over the years. At one stage they employed some 200 people. They finally moved to a factory unit in Salfords. Sad to see the old place in such a mess, as I spent most of my working life there.
Sydney Smith Thank you for your insight to the history in your comments Sydney, glad you got another look at the place. I really could sense some of the history of the workforce in that older building with those old retro paint colours. Glad to hear that the business moved & didn't close down, i hope it wasn't with any redundancies, but somehow i doubt it! Although the place is one big pigeon loft now, i'm sure it could be easily re-used again. great place for train spotting:) & no i didnt touch the bosses drinks bar or try the old safes;) Thanks again for watching & commenting!
+Sydney Smith Hi Sidney, someones recently commented on your old factory...about the old coat & hat rail? answered there own question really, detecting the detectives, or watching them as the Elvis song goes!;) not that you need a phd to work that out.
I also worked at automatics, there were many people laid off in the 1980's I think the workforce ended up at around 80 at that time. It went from a very busy and productive workplace to one where they were taking work 'at cost' just to keep the place going. I was among the last made redundant, and like Syd said, it is a shame to see somewhere you worked now derelict and unused. I'm guessing the Lord brothers {owners} would be long gone before the shift from this factory. the area outside the canteen was filled with Bechler auto lathes {cam operated}, the middle one had the toolmaking area and production grinding machines. as well as the mouldroom and inspection area. The furthest area was mainly the womens light area, and capstans etc, and towards the end {early 80's redundancies} some multibar auto lathes. I was surprised to see it was still going tbh, I really expected it to have folded up in that 80's recession... so good on them for keeping it going.
Great video. Wonder what the story is behind the abandonment of the properties you visit.
sim6699 Thank you! I do try to find out any history, but most remain mysteries...i often write or copy info into the "basic info" section if i find anything about them! Thanks for watching & commenting.
Pigeons are good to eat, you know. Maybe go out there at night with a flashlight and a pellet gun :)