My time inside the Wall – Memories of Swindon Works

Our December meeting was in two parts.  We started with a presentation entitled "My time inside the Wall" (memories of Swindon Works) given by Martin Telling, a former colleague of Andrew Jenkins.  Martin followed his family into a lengthy career in the works.   Although he spent over 45 years working on the railway, our talk was restricted to his memories of his time in BREL Swindon Works, where he started in 1973.   His career took him from an apprentice to being a technical officer in the Plant Drawing Office until 1982.    He explained that  ‘The Wall’ dated back to Brunel’s day when a tall wall was built to keep the workforce in and prevent pilfering.  A typical week during the first year of raining comprised 2½ days of Module Training on a variety of subjects, 1½ days ‘Day Release’ at the local College in Swindon studying for our City and Guilds along with PE and First Aid Training.    Martin spent the following three years working on a variety of new build, railway vehicle maintenance and maintenance around the Works using plant and Machinery and learning additional welding skills.  His apprentice finished in May 1977 and was he was appointed as a Journeyman Boilersmith.  Soon after though a temporary position as a salaried Technical Officer in the Works Drawing Office was accepted.  Here he worked on a number of new build projects like the metre gauge Hunslet Locomotives and the Gunboats for Nigeria until the works closed in 1982. 

He concluded with a question: What do Christ Church College in Oxford and St Peter’s Church in Newlands Avenue in Didcot have in common?  Answer: look up!!

 After some festive refreshments, the branch AGM was held.  The Committee was reflected en-bloc, the minutes of the previous meeting approved along with the financial report.  The issue of the gradually declining cash reserve was discussed, including the possibilities of moving to other premises or increasing the donations, and the question of whether members preferred afternoon or evening meetings was also aired.