Exclusive Feature Serial on www.thisisUll.com Hull - A Personal History Part One By Bryan Holgate

Part Two.    Part Three.

I found John Boldock's column on the "Cod War" brilliant. In the 60's and early 70's I worked as an apprentice armature winder down English Street and spent time on the fish docks. The company I worked for was called Wm Broady and Son Ltd. I was an apprentice working in the electrical dept to learn "The Craft of Armature Winding".

For the uninitiated this would now translate to an electric motor winder, trouble-shooter and if necessary a marine electrician.

Quite a job description I guess, but my trade has never let me down nor have I ever been out of work. To all young folks, learn a trade. I came from Hornsea, only a few miles away by road. Yet as a country boy born on a hobby farm it was like I had landed on another planet that first day I started work at Broady's. Scarcely 15, I had left school on the Friday and started work on the following Tuesday. Only having been interviewed by the foreman a week before, and his comments after interrogating me for a few minutes; "he don't look like a bad lad, needs a haircut though".

In the 60's the youngest apprentice was the general dogs body, sweeping the floor, (all of it, never around benches you had to move them!) running errands to the betting shop and up the street to "Jewboys" to buy fags. We could buy singles or packs of twos; no good if was your cash though as there were at least 8 or 10 of us who smoked then. There was a café called Doris's around the corner about a block from St James Street, we took orders and collected sandwiches like egg & tomato, bacon & beans, or just a hot cake with treacle or jam, I can smell them now, also the smoke, I am not sure how clean the little place was. Yet we all survived, cholesterol and all. Getting to work early to light the coke stove and making the tea or coffee was also the responsibility of the "young kid".

Now, being the tea boy was great as an honest profit could be turned if things were handled right. A first year apprentice received 3 pounds and change for a 44-hour week. My bus fares amounted to 30 bob not to mention the tools we had to buy, and yes, school supplies; I will get to that later. So if I could make another pound or so on "tea money" it sure helped. You had to know who drank what, how much sugar and milk each person took and also keep the mugs clean, the sink got pretty dirty as it was also used to wash off the odd part and the hands of all 20 men in the shop we had to use petrol to clean it!

The mugs were cleaned with borax, and I was told that if a person pissed you off the way to get back was to leave a little borax in his mug, helped keep a guy regular they said. I would not know as if we had been caught punishment was swift and final. continued below..

Exclusive Feature Serial on www.thisisUll.com Hull - A Personal History Part One continued By Bryan Holgate

The shop charge hand Vic, would give me a very small armature to wind, the wire was so fine it took two of us to wind the thing, one to turn the drum, (for sure the wire would break if it was pulled at all) and the other one winding the armature. Then after about a month when it was completed he would ask, does it test right? The answer was always yes; he would then throw it the garbage and give you another one. All this was said whilst he had a cigarette in his mouth, I never saw him without smoke coming out of his nose or mouth until he quit the habit. Even though the guys were very strict and on many occasions rather cruel I still have a definite respect for most of them. Especially Vic, we still stay in touch.

When my mother was in the Hull Royal he allowed me to visit during the afternoon with no questions asked. I feel very strongly that those men knew they had a responsibility and obligation to teach us young bucks and teach us well. They sure taught me how to swear, the time I went home and instructed my mother on how to remove a bearing without shagging up the shaft; that went down well, not!

I remember most of their names and nicknames. "Spinksee" was a bit of a tyrant, or thought he was. When he wanted to see you it was always to give you a "good bollocking". I was in Hull a few years ago and snuck into the machine shop were he was fixing a lathe.

My comment was "hey, know what the Fxck you're doing Spinkssee?" He spun around and would probable have taken a swing, but he recognised me and appreciated the joke. He would have been about 70 then I guess, and only went back in to solve certain problems.

Continued on www.thisisull.com...... Hull A Personal History Part Two.

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