Beryl Buchanan, Voices from the Factory Floor

Beryl’s maiden name was Beryl Roberts. She was born on 5 November, 1942 in Newport, and moved to North Wales with her parents when she was a baby. Her father was from Llanllechid. Her parents went to work on her uncle’s farm in Corbery? Her grandmother brought her up. She had seven brothers and two sisters. 

 

She went to Llanllechid School on Rachub square and then on to Dyffryn Ogwen School. She left in 1957 when she was 15 years old. She wanted to go out and work because her grandmother was a widow and she wanted to help her.

 

Her first job was with Mona Products in Menai Bridge. She was sent for an interview there by the people in the dole office. She thinks she started there circa 1958-1959. She remembers working there when the Manchester United air disaster happened (1958). She wasn’t keen on working there but stayed for two to three years. The factory produced T-shirts and knickers for Marks and Spencers. Nobody else from her family worked there. The building has been demolished by now.

 

 

She made collars and sleeves for the t-shirts, put elastic in the knickers, and sewed gussets. She had to get up early in order to travel to work. She travelled there by motor bike in all kinds of weather. It was her uncle’s motor bike. (He worked in SaundersRoe).

 

She remembers the supervisor showing her the machine on her first day and was then expected to get on with it. She was only a teenager when she started there and felt very shy. She had to clock in every morning and start sewing like the clappers. They might have received a penny or two for each collar put on a t-shirt, but there was no basic wage as such. She did the same job throughout the time she was there.

 

The only men who worked there were the men in packing, the mechanic who looked after the machines, and the manager. The supervisor and manageress were women. Everybody else did the same job and no special skills were required. The work was quite easy.

 

 

There were many married women working there but the majority were young, single girls. The wage wasn’t very good and they were only paid for what they had done. Even after doing five collars she would have only have earned a shilling. If the machine broke down this would affect wages as she would lose productivity. Because the wages were low she couldn’t give her grandmother much money. Many of the workers complained about the pay but nobody listened.

 

They would receive their pay packet on a weekly basis. Some workers would receive more than others because they were faster, more experienced and more productive. She didn’t keep much of her pay for herself and was always asking her grandmother to lend her money. She would spend her money on cigarettes, and going to the pictures ‘once in a blue moon.’ There were no perks for working in the factory, and they weren’t allowed to buy items at a cheaper rate. They sometimes made their own sanitary towels out of the material of the reject knickers.

 

Beryl doesn’t remember a union being there and had to represent themselves. The manager was a ‘pig of a man’. They were very strict. The workers weren’t treated fairly. They should have received a wage with a bonus but this didn’t happen. There was a supervisor there walking back and forth and if they had a complaint they would go to her.

 

 

She remembers going down to the pier with her friends. They saw a small boat on the Menai Straits so they got in and started rowing. The pier man reported them to the manager. He gave them a big row but they were lucky they didn’t drown.

 

They wore overalls which they provided themselves. The work was dangerous – the machines were fast and it was possible to get a needle through the finger. Beryl remembers this happening to a few girls but they didn’t receive compensation. There was a nurse in the factory. If they felt unwell they went up the stairs to a small attic-type room where there was a single bed to lie down.

 

There were no Health and Safety regulations back then. There was a small canteen there. Music was played on the radio over a loud speaker but it was the bosses who decided what was played and it was usually Workers’ Playtime or the news.

 

It was noisy with the machines going all day both downstairs and upstairs. There were about 50 machines in one room. They worked in close proximity to each other and had to shout in order to speak to each other. They were allowed to chat as long as they carried on working but if they talked too much they were given a row. Her supervisor was called Gladys.

 

They were allowed to smoke in the canteen but not as they worked. There was a lot of leg pulling with the mechanics although Beryl says she was sedate when she was young.

 

 

Beryl worked five days a week, from Monday to Friday. She worked from eight to five and there were no shifts.

 

They had to clock in and out (including lunch time.) They either brought a lunch box or went out to get something to eat although there was a woman there who made tea. There was a ten minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon, although Beryl thinks the afternoon break was done away with which meant they could go home sooner.

 

When the factory was shut for the holidays the workers would be unable to earn their bonuses. It closed for a fortnight [during the summer] and they were off Christmas time. Beryl didn’t go away for the holidays as she couldn’t afford it.

 

The majority of the workers lived on Anglesey so she didn’t have friends from home working in the factory. The factory was seven miles away for Beryl so she had to leave the house at half past seven in the morning.

 

The girls would all go out in one gang lunch time but didn’t socialise outside work. When Borth Fair came they went round the fair in the afternoon. Beryl remembers one of the fair lads getting electrocuted. He was a handsome lad and the girls went to the Catholic Church to see his coffin. Beryl herself didn’t go.

 

 

There was no Christmas party and no social club. Beryl enjoyed working there and thought the girls were fantastic but thinks her employers could have treated people better. The manager was very strict.

 

She worked in Ferranti’s after leaving, during the beginning of the Sixties. It was much better here. She would receive a wage and bonuses. It was also closer to home. She was a jack of all trades. The factory made electric meters. She polished the spindles that went inside and the meter frames. She did many things there including soldering. Ferranti’s was a much larger place – approximately three times larger than Mona Products. She worked in laminations in Ferranti making sports car tops and leather covers.

 

Ferranti’s was much more fun. “...everybody in laminations had said, ‘Right we all have to bring a bottle in and the lads had brought a little barrel of beer and had hidden it in stores – it was just before breaking up for Christmas.’ It was just before the break up for Christmas and they decided to have a drink and got half cut. ‘...and who came in but the Boss, and we were all singing and merry, and not doing a stroke of work. ‘Right’ the Manager said, ‘you’ve all been sacked!’ We were all sitting there laughing, and didn’t care whether we’d been sacked or not.’ One of the lads went to speak to the management because they had a union representative and they got their jobs back.

 

 

There were many more men than women in Ferranti. She remembers a man sending her to the stores to ask for a sky hook, when no such thing existed.

 

Beryl stayed in Ferranti until she moved to Hotpoint in Llandudno Junction for a couple of months before she got married in 1968, but she returned to Ferranti.

 

She has fond memories of Ferranti. She would like to return there now to see if things are the same. She hasn’t kept in touch with her colleagues but sees them from time to time. The reason she left was because she had children. She learnt a lot by working in the factory.

 

Duration: 30 minutes 

 

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