Page 4. SD Enthusiasts' Club Magazine - Summer 2008.
THE EDITOR'S POSTBAG.
A bumper batch of letters and e-mails have been received since our last issue.
David Potter e-mailed to say:-
Hello Brian,
My name is David Potter , I worked for S&D for two periods in the early 60s and again in the late 80s till I was made redundant in July 1990.
Most of the first period was spent in the main stores in the then No1 looking after minimum stock (nuts and bolts etc) and later as Leading hand.
At that time I worked in a office shared with Mick Light foreman and Dave Stratton the Stores Manager. The most abiding memory was always having to get coffees in. The names that come to mind in the stores and office are Ernie Moles, Office manager, John Sayers, receiving stores goods in, Ron Stokes, chassis line store man, & his brother Percy, the Douglas driver. Sid Lawrence in the Rough Stores and Ron Thomas the FLT driver (ex FLT demonstrator) and Brian McPherson.
Of these colleagues I met Johnnie Sayers last year in Hitchin, Dave Stratton about four years ago and Mick Light when he visited Johnson Matthey in Royston about 12 years ago. I sometimes see Sid Lawrence in Letchworth.
At that time we were very busy in the stores due to having large contracts for Iran involving sending kits of parts for the Iranians to assemble them on Leyland chassis. The first kits I believe were Pakamatic and Gully/Cesspool. The last kits that went out there I think were Interpaks.
During my second stint working for S&D it was taken over by Dempster and renamed Shelvoke Dempster. The No1 factory was closed down and sold, and the stores moved over the road when spares and production stores were combined. I worked over there as a charge hand store-man. I finished off my time progress chasing.
I now collect anything to do with S&D :- brochures, service and parts manuals, technical drawings, sales quotes etc and the Dinky and Corgi models of the S&D vehicles.
Please find attached 4 photos borrowed from my father, John Potter, who is still alive at the age of 88 years young. He now lives in a residential home in Letchworth but still has very fond memories of his time working in the Tool Room . I am afraid I cannot put names to the faces but my father is the one standing by the band saw with a fag in his hand. It would not be allowed these days.
Dad can only remember one name that is Roy Kingham. I believe Dad started work for S&D in August 1966 and was made redundant in May 1981.
Regards David Potter
Another e-mail arrived from Paddy Byrne.
Dear Mr Carpenter.
I came across your unofficial Shelvoke & Drewry website by accident when making a search for another company.
Going through your website brought back many memories as my Father (Wilfred Byrne) worked at S&D from 1945 to his retirement in the early seventies. He was know as Wilf to his friends and worked as a vehicle tester and sometime demonstrator at both the factory in Icknield Way and latterly at Blackhorse Road. He had many happy years at S&D and would come home with many funny stories, some of which I still remember.
My Father died in 1990, but I have always kept some of the photos of his working life; some of which I have attached. Although you may already have copies of some of these, others you may not.
Every year Dad and other work colleagues would go by coach to see Scotland play England at Hampden Park in Scotland; attached are a number of photos showing such an occasion. In the large photo showing the coaches and the pub in the background my Father is in the bottom row at the far right.
Please let me know if this email has been of help.
Kind regards, Paddy Byrne
Wilf Byrne working on a 'W' type chassis in the 1950's.
[Further photos from Paddy Byrne will appear at a later date.]
Ron Bostock sent this e-mail:-
Hi Brian,
I was one of the S&D field service engineers at the Manchester (Audenshaw) branch in the early 70s when I came out of the army (REME).
It was the best job I have ever had. At that time all the Rural District Councils had their own vehicles and we did all the warranty work and repairs. We could do a clutch change in about an hour on both the Revopaks and Pakomacs... greased scaffolding plank from the front axle to a trolley jack, slide the gearbox back, whip the clutch in and bolt back up again.
We all had brand new Ford Escort Estates and got overnight stays at all the North West seaside resorts as well as all over the Lake District ....
I remember being sent all the way to Catterick from Manchester to change a number plate light bulb because the vehicle was under warranty and the council couldn't touch it.
Happy Days
Ron Bostock
Derrick Bennett wrote about his memories of Shelvoke's trips to the pantomime in London. Four coaches would leave Letchworth and the kids all had sweets given to them. He remembers seeing Joe Brown and Cilla Black as well as numerous other celebrities.
On one occasion two girls managed to get on the wrong coach to come home, and headed South instead of North! Derrick believes it was the coach with Tom Baker in charge.
An employee for 28 years Derrick calls S&D: "A good Firm."
By e-mail Brian Sherwood wrote:-
My father worked for Shelvokes from sometime in the 1920's until his retirement in the late 1960's.
During World War II he was responsible for supervising a group of ladies that had been directed to work at Shelvokes as part of a national scheme to replace the male workers who had been called up to the Forces. I have recently found two photographs taken at Shelvokes showing this group of workers. I believe the photographs were taken in a newly constructed workshop, located in a corner of the factory site adjacent to Cromwell Road.
My father is in the centre of the group and Bert Hall is on the right. I do not know the names of any of the others in the photograph.
My recollection is of being told that the majority of the ladies were not local but came from other parts of the country. One of these ladies came from Norwich. It appears her home had been bombed and every time a plane flew over the works she dived for cover under her work bench.
I hope the above is of interest to you and if anyone can shed further light, I would be pleased to be informed.
Regards,
Brian Sherwood
The newly converted workshop.
By coincidence this arrived by e-mail from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Hello Brian:
I came across your S&D site while I was researching my parent's war history. I found it very interesting and informative.
My father was a Canadian soldier (RCEME) and my Mum was a British girl who was conscripted for 'war work'. Their names are Norman and Brenda Lawrence. Mum, Brenda Evans as she was then, was living with her family in Southend but took her initial training in a factory somewhere in Letchworth and my Dad took a welding course in the same location. Mum was one of the first girls to be conscripted in Southend and her picture was in the local newspaper at the time. Mum and Dad met in Letchworth during this time 63 years ago, and had been together ever since until Dad died last year.
The S&D plant appears to be the most likely factory in Letchworth. My Dad's military records mentions something called 'Ascot Works'. I can't find anything that matches this name.
My Mum ended up at Chelmsford at the Hoffmans Ball Bearing Plant. Though she was trained on a lathe she did secretarial work at Hoffmans. Mum was on day shifts and was working there when a serious bomb attack occurred by V2 rockets. I believe it was December 1944. She always says that when she arrived at work that morning the clock had stopped at exactly 1:00am. The front gate was all that was left as the factory area was demolished. Mum left for Canada a few months after this incident, it was a hazardous journey to make to her new country in war conditions.
Have you heard of an Ascot Works or do you think it probably was the S&D plant that my parent's worked in? It is difficult tracing this part of their history. By chance, if you have any other info that might be of interest to us it would be appreciated. My Mum and Dad would be a couple along with thousands of others doing the same thing for the war effort.
Hoping to hear from you sometime.
Carol Hearn.