Mawdsley's stories

Anything to do with the town's electrical engineering manufacturer.
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dursleyglos
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Mawdsley's stories

Post by dursleyglos »

What was it like to work at the Mawdsley's factory along Uley Road? Does anyone recall the company's products and the work that went into making and testing them.
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kriskros
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by kriskros »

I worked at Mawdsley's in the 60's in the planning office. They made 'parts' that went into electric motors. Their biggest customer as I recall was Lansing Bagnall who made forklift trucks. I remember putting half a crown in the ciggie machine, don't ask me why. Happy days. Went back to work in the planning office at Lister's after a spell at Mawdsley's.

dursleyglos
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by dursleyglos »

Thanks for the recollections. If you went to the Mawdsley's site now you'd never guess there was once a factory there. The only thing left is the millpond, otherwise it's all new houses.
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ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

I started as an apprentice at Mawdsley's in 1960 as an armature winder and electrical fitter. We were given good basic training on everything from Blacksmith to final testing. They made electrical motors and generators for a wide range of goods and were well known for their military contracts. Recent news leaked says that they produced parts for the decoding machines at Bletchley Park used during the last war.

dursleyglos
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by dursleyglos »

Thanks for that Ken. yes, I've known about the Bletchley Park connection for several years after talking to someoone who worked on the parts made at Mawdsley's. Somewhere in my files I have more details of the project. It was all very hush hush, the lorry drivers who took parts from the factory met up in laybys with other drivers and the shipments were transferred over. That way no one knew the whole story! Andy
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ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

While I was at Mawdsley's they still had personnel officers. One of them, a few years after leaving, was murdered and became the subject of a televised reconstruction.

ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

Date late 1950's ?
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Aerial view of the Mawdsley's factory
Aerial view of the Mawdsley's factory
mawdsleys2.jpg (73.14 KiB) Viewed 23047 times

dursleyglos
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by dursleyglos »

Hi Ken
Thanks for the picture, the date is a bit later than the 1950s. The office block (bottom left) was officially opened on 12th October 1971 so my guess is early to mid 1970s.

The older, lower, building to the right of the office block was the restaurant and kitchen. The car parking area to the left of the restaurant was the site of the original Rivers Mill House, unfortunately demolished. The large factory in the background was the stores, assembly area, winding and fitting shops. To the right are the old zoneworks buildings.

No doubt you have some stories about all these buildings?

Cheers Andy
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ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

Mawdsley's armature shop, approximately 1967. Left - Doug Gunston and Ivor Carter.
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Mawdsley's Armature shop
Mawdsley's Armature shop
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ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

Flowmeter testing 1966/7 (Merv Norris), flowmeter calibration (John Keir?).
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Flowmeter calibration (John Keir?)
Flowmeter calibration (John Keir?)
mawdsley_calib.jpg (65.69 KiB) Viewed 23061 times
Flowmeter testing 1966/7 (Merv Norris)
Flowmeter testing 1966/7 (Merv Norris)
mawdsley_flow_test.jpg (60 KiB) Viewed 23061 times

dursleyglos
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by dursleyglos »

Hi Ken
Many thanks for the pictures, let's see whether anyone recognises anything from them!

One thing, if you add an image could you plesae use jpg format (rather than tif). TIF images don't display properly on the forum so I have to manually convert them and repost.

Thanks
Andy
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ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

Mawdsley's electronics final assembly area in the old factory about 1968/9. The equipment being built is one of a series of frquency converters.
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Frequency Converter assembly
Frequency Converter assembly
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ken
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by ken »

The war time security pass for Percy Towt , he was a well known foreman of the fitting shop at Mawdsley's .
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PTOWTIDa.jpg
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dursleyglos
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by dursleyglos »

Thanks for the pictures Ken, some interesting ones!
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hoss
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Re: Mawdsley's stories

Post by hoss »

I'm most pleased to find this site and some of the historical documents relating to Mawdsley's.
I worked there from 1987 to 1990 initially as an apprentice, and then later in the electronics design department. I have some fond memories of that, my first job, and somewhat sad to see that it's no longer there, but all things must change I guess...

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