An Engineering Apprentice

                       at the British Thomson-Houston Engineering Company

                                                        1947/1952

                                                      by Trevor Sidaway

I was fortunate to start my technical and engineering training at a time when the UK was one of the

Text Box: A Dudley Tech Junior and early days at the BTH World’s leading manufacturers, the pace of which had been accelerated by the demands of WW2

Every spectrum of manufactured goods was covered from basic industries like nail making and

fasteners through to high tech machine tools, ship building, automotive and aerospace

 

         In 1953 the Hawker Hunter Jet fighter broke the Worlds speed record at a speed of 727.6 mph

Text Box: The Apprenticeship schemes, into the Machine Shop and the vision Mary Gadd
Text Box: Girls, Girls, Girls
Text Box: Into the Millwrights, the Toolroom and the Cannon Dynasty
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Text Box: The Planning Department, Final Test and Sport  We were also in the intercontinental rocket business with Blue Streak and Blue Water and, unlike the

2006 trade deficit of more than £60 billion, the UK enjoyed a massive trade surplus in manufactured

goods with “made in Britain” exports to all four corners of the globe

 

For fifty years the BTH, the British Thomson-Houston Company, was a significant employer at Blackheath

Text Box: Dudley Senior Tech and my Fellow Apprentices  in the heart of the Black Country and when I joined them they were the largest manufacturer of electrical

drive systems  in Europe

From the age of sixteen, I served the traditional five year apprenticeship from 1947 until conscripted for

National Service in 1952 and this is my story

 

Text Box: BTH site at Blackheath demolished in 2010 WW2 memories revived                                                    trevor_sidaway@hotmail.com                                        

 

                                                         Acknowledgements

Oval: More Black Country Stories                 The Black Country Bugle editor—Rob Taylor—for some of the photographs

                Ex BTH apprentices, other employees and their families

               Paul--Security Officer—for obtaining permission for me to tour the BTH site

               and Bob Cannon, grandson of  Alf Cannon Senior