Articles
published in the local press, etc.
Transcript of article published in the Black
country Bugle 20th February 2003
MORE
COMMENTS ON CHANCE LIGHTS
My wife and I have found great interest in reading the
articles on Chance Brothers Ltd in recent issues of The Bugle.
Joyce ( nee`Nicklin ) worked in the Personnel Dept. from 1949 to 1964
whilst I served an engineering apprenticeship in the Lighthouse Drawing Office
from 1946 to 1952.
I
will always be grateful for the basic grounding in engineering which I was given
at Chances. Not only was the
apprenticeship well organised and controlled but the breadth of experience on
one site was quite exceptional. Starting
as an office lad in the LighthouseDO I was immediately introduced to the
workshops by having to deliver drawings ( blue prints in those days ), works
orders, and all kinds of messages. Almost
every engineering activity could be found in one or other of
the works departments plus the grinding and polishing of glass prisms in
the shop managed by George Woodcock and described by Ray Kenny in The Bugle of
12thSeptember. DO lads were well accepted in all the departments and the
chargehands and operators seemed pleased to explain things.
The
DO was upstairs and had a side door which led directly into the main workshop
via a steel stairway so your first view was from above.
I remember a large variety of lathes from small centre lathes to
capstans, autos, and large faceplate machines , big horizontal and vertical
borers, a large planer, pillar and large radial drillers, gear cutting machines,
etc. The nature of the work was
such that one-offs and batch production were normal. The overhead crane was
frequently moving large castings up and down the shop.
At the foot of the stairway was
a maintenance section with two
machine tool fitters- Jack Ashley and Tom Gibbs.
Beyond manager Jack Corbett`s upstairs office was a section of die-makers
working on moulds for the Pressed Glass Dept.
One large centre lathe in the central gangway was often used to try out
new equipment such as copying devices and an electronically (or was it
pneumatic) controlled sizing device
- my first experience of automation.
The operator on that machine was named Whitehurst who I think had a
brother, Edgar, who was toolsetter on the autos.
Most
machine operators will tell you that there is no such thing as a “putting on
tool” but I saw one in my first year at Chances. A large expensive casting had been produced under size
on diameter. The casting was set up
on the vertical borer by the operator, Daniel Nation, with a device like a
modified welding torch positioned to lay down a continuous spiral bead of metal
around the rotating casting. I cannot remember exactly how the rough surface was
finished off but I believe it was done successfully.
In
the far bay of the machine shop was a section of smaller lathes, mostly
capstans, driven by belts from overhead shafting. Like all apprentices I was to spend a period on
this section as part of my training. The supervisor was Jim Inston who is
shown in the photograph checking a measurement with Les Bunting at the lathe.
Another
valuable part of the training was 9 months spent in the Toolroom .
The manager was Arthur Sleigh and I remember names of some toolmakers as Jim
Akehurst, Harold Morton, Albert Baker, Bill Southall ( who I met again at Accles
& Pollock ), and Geoff Riley ( a Glassworks Apprentice ).
Two names which escape me are a centre lathe operator who I saw turning
squares and cams with a relieving attachment, and the jig boring operator who
was always willing to explain what he was doing.
One of the duties of toolroom apprentices was to periodically take
batches of small tools and harden, temper, anneal, or case harden them as
required on a wind blown coke
hearth – judging temperature by colour. Another
task I remember was when Geoff and myself were required to sort a large stock of
jigs and fixtures stored in the old tram sheds on the opposite side of
Oldbury Road, though I cannot
remember why.
The
most inspiring sights I recall were full lighthouse optics being tested in the
fitting shop. To see the sweeping beams projected from what looked like a huge
gleaming cut glass wasps` nest rotating on a beautifully proportioned cast
pedestal was a picture which ,more
than 50 years on, I can still see in my mind`s eye.
I regard myself as being very privileged to have seen such a fine example
of the skills and romance of our engineering heritage, and I make no apology for
sounding rapturous because remember , as a 16 year old, I had watched all this
happen from drawing board to finished article.
I have seen many other impressive examples of fine engineering in my life
but I always say that my sense of wonderment was born at Chance Brothers in the
late 1940`s.
From
around 1850, when James T Chance joined the family firm, Chance Brothers Ltd was
one of the major suppliers of lighthouse optical systems in the world, and the
only one in Britain. The apparatus in the illustration was one of the largest
made at 2.66 metres inside diameter. It
was constructed for Manora Point lighthouse near Karachi about 1908 when it
projected a one and a half
million candlepower flash every seven and a half seconds. The revolving lens
unit weighed 6 tons but floated on mercury such that it could be turned with one
finger. However Muriel Harper was
correct when she wrote in The Bugle of 29th August that Chances did
not make lighthouses. In most books
on the subject Chances receive little mention, with the credit for lighthouse
design being attributed to the engineers of Trinity House, Northern Lighthouse
Board, Commissioners of Irish lights, Imperial Lighthouse Service, and similar
bodies world wide. Nevertheless
designers from Chance Brothers ( and then Stone-Chance ) contributed
tremendously to to the development of smaller optics, more powerful light
sources, and modern control systems such that by the 1950`s Chance electrified
lights were replacing older installations ( usually in the same buildings )
eventually leading the way to `keeperless` automatic lights before the end of
the twentieth century. Sadly the
days of magnificent romantic lighthouses
are coming to an end as they are replaced by small modern units which look like
car headlights. But it could be said that Chance Brothers Ltd put the light into
lighthouses, In a long line of
Smethwick based designers Bill Richey and Harold Gough were respected worldwide.
In 1946 Bill was already past retirement age but worked for a few hours
most days and was a smashing old chap to talk to.
In
1946 the Drawing Office was upstairs in the Lighthouse Offices and immediately
alongside the main workshops. It
had its own air conditioning unit which made it a very pleasant place to work.
George Nicol, the manager, with Harold Gough and Bill Richey worked
behind a screen at one end of the long office whilst behind a screen at the
other end drawing filing cabinets
were positioned around a large drawing board ( about 10 foot square) used for
optic layouts. Between the two
screens were 16/18 draughtsmen and tracers.
The
group photograph shows all but two of the DO staff at that time plus the managers of two associated offices.
Rather guiltily in 1946 I salvaged the damaged print from a waste bin –
only recently have I effected some computerised repairs.
The back row are all senior draughtsmen L to R :-
Len Neenan, Bill Dimmock, Joe Whitehouse, Tony
Slingsby, Jack Lovesey,
Jack Batten, Jack Rainbow, and
Ken Kirk. Seated in the
middle row :- Brenda Eades & `Polly` Hemmings (tracers ),
Harold Gough, Jim Lord (
General Office ), Bill Richey, George Nicol, Harold
Hipkins ( Estimating ), Gwen Piper
( tracer ) and Bobby ? ( typist ).
Seated
at the front :- John Ingleby,
Les Bunting, Ray Green and Mick Martin , junior draughtsmen at that time.
Bill
Dimmock and Ken Kirk were the two draughtsmen who did the optical layouts
working on hands and knees with stockinged feet on that 10foot square board.
I believe that Ken was a member of the Magic Circle.
Two
draughtsmen missing from the group are Jack Lenham and Stan Doran.
Jack I remember as a good cricketer, also because he did many drawings
for Point Lynas lighthouse, Anglesey, for what was then The Mersey Docks and
Harbour Board ( sung to the
tune `little lambs eat ivy` ). Stan Doran was also a good sportsman ( and always full
of artfulness ) who I met again when we were both lecturers in Further
Education.
Derek
Staines and myself were the two office boys who started work in August 1946.
We
were required to toe a narrow line. Nevertheless
I have only good memories of a wholesome learning experience where discipline
seemed to occur naturally as a result of
the firm, fair and friendly atmosphere. We were given suitable searching,
listing,and drawing tasks sharing a drawing board with a service engineer, named
Barratt, who we only saw occasionally.
I believe this must have been the Ernie Barratt referred to by Norman
Smith in his letter printed in the Bugle of 17th October. In that same issue of The Bugle Ron Griffin described some of
the glassmaking processes on the adjoining site. Many of our errands took us
through the glassworks and it was impossible to resist pausing a while to watch
some of the spectacular sights.
Most
days many of the draughtsmen would walk over to the pavilion on the recreation
ground for their lunch break. At least once each week this would mean one of us
lads collecting a bulk order of fish and chips from the shop on Oldbury Road.
After lunch we would kick a football around. I used to cycle to and from Causeway Green each day and
it was quite usual for me to do this in the company of Harold Gough, Len Neenan
and / or Jack Batten.
In late 1947, I think, it was decided to combine the three drawing offices
i:e Lighthouse,
Sumo Pumps and Austinlite Electrical,
and we were all brought together into what had been the Austinlite
Offices above the Electrical Shop. This
was not so good for the Lighthouse people because we had to leave our air
conditioned office for a much larger one
which had two glass walls and a glass roof making it cold in winter and
unbearably hot in summer. My first
spell in the big office was to be less than 12 months before I started my works
training but it proved to be very interesting.
There were four or five office lads from the different DO`s and two ,
David Leadbeater and myself, were given the task of integrating the three
drawing filing systems. The filing
cabinets were sited along a balcony
which ran above ,and for the full length of, the Electrical Shop.
Many of the lighthouse drawings dated back to the 1850`s and we found
several from the 1890`s which were the work of Bill Richey.
The
manager of the combined office was Norman Stacey. George Nicol and Bill Richey had retired and Harold Gough
moved elsewhere. I guess
there were 40 or more draughtsmen and tracers altogether. Some of the ones we
joined up with I remember as Jack Fisher, Jack Mason, Norman Fieldhouse, Tom
Slatford, Bernard Simmonds, Eric Rowles,
Norman Bladon, Don Whitehouse, John Hickling, Keith Williams,
Norman Birch, Stan Downing, Derek Butler and Stan Evans.
As
I write memories keep flooding back but I will mention just
two more. All DO apprentices
were required to spend about 6 months on the Tracing Section supervised by Miss
Hemming – another example of the well planned training.
We had seen that in earlier days the draughtsmen had worked with ink
directly onto cloth ( often embellishing their work by drawing human figures
climbing ladders or standing in the lanterns),
but I guess it was more convenient and quicker to work in pencil on paper
and employ tracers to make durable linen copies when required.
A
Print Room served both Lighthouse and Glassworks DO`s and at that time provide
blue prints or white prints. In
1946 this was sited in an old building next to the Pattern Shop behind the
Blacksmiths. When the DO`s were
combined the Print Room, with its irascible supervisor, Bob Growcott, was moved
to the far end of the balcony above the Electrical Shop.
Bob had lost one forearm but could manipulate the large rolls of paper
and load the copying machines with remarkable dexterity.
After
my final spell in the drawing office I left ChanceBrothers in 1952 to serve 3
years in the RAF. As Muriel Harper
related the Lighthouse Works became Stone-Chance Ltd in 1954
and moved to Crawley in Sussex so
in 1955 I found employment at Accles & Pollock Ltd – another fine family
firm in those days.
Like
Muriel I would like to hear from old colleagues. Probably spurred by the articles in The Bugle I have renewed
my interest in lighthouses. To help
with my researches I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has memories,
memorabilia, books, photographs (which I could borrow ) and especially human
stories connected with Chance lighthouses.
Click here to contact me by E-Mail
I know some people moved to Stone-Chance Ltd and I would really like to
make a contact there
Thank
you Bugle for allowing me to make this link with the past.
Alan
Taylor.
This
aerial view is of Chance Brothers Works in 1946, including the Recreation Ground at the top.
Spon
Lane runs across the bottom of the picture leading to the Spon Croft, bottom
left, on the corner with Oldbury Road.
The two canals and the railway indicate the right hand boundary of the
site.
The
Lighthouse Works were contained in the buildings running up and down the view
from just above centre to the Recreation Ground.
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