I worked next door to the building of batchelors as it was getting smashed up by vandals. One dinner we had a walk around the landscaped garden at the rear, i couldn't beleive that this had just been left,we even found a pond.
Anybody used to work there?

If you mean the factory on Claywheels lane, I worked there with a mate for a short period back in 1969,they used to have a coach that used to take workers from wadsley bridge up to the factory.I also remember they employed loads of students.
I think the gardens were in front of the office block, I worked on the green bean production line,they were unloaded from lorries on to a conveyer belt,which took them through a washing process,then through a Blanching machine(which partly cooked them),then they were sliced and the last process was Drying them by hot air.
I worked in the Drying plant for a while,it was absolutley unbearable the heat in that building, we were given salt tablets, and they had a milk churn full of orange squash, with a ladle stuck in it.
I was glad to leave Batchelors, not one of the best Temp jobs I've done.
Hope this jogs a few memories. Steve

I spent one summer working there in the canteen, shift work, better paid than Basset's. I can remember tottering accross little bridges over channels which were carrying peas. The lads told tales of frogs getting in and being mashed up in the mushy peas! Hmmm..
This was in 1975 0r 6

I remember the staff shop where you could buy reduced items, i especially remember getting impulse body spray really cheap. My mum was a cleaner there. :thumbsup:

Hi I worked at Batchelors from 1967 until 1979 as computer room manager mainly. The computer was in the basement of the Head office. The gardens were at rear of the H.Q with the railway line running at the side. I,m very pleased that you've updated me, cos I do have an awful lot of memories. I would welcome further chats with anyone, re questions etc. P.s. I,m 80 now.

My mum Carol Parkin worked there in the 60's

KERLYTOPS. RE.Frogs in mushy peas. On afternoons, I used to take my evening meal in the works canteen. As I got served at the counter, I noticed several bluebottle flies in the cabbage. When I pointed this out the lady said 'It's alright Luv, we've been spraying!!. She then said 'I'll give you another meal. Will you want cabbage with that !!!. I said 'No thanks, I've just remembered, I've got get back.!

anyone know of any old photos of batchelors at claywheels lane.

Further memory. I was passing the main factory exit, just as the morning shift was coming out. Someone shouted 'SECURITY CHECK'. After everyone had been searched the ground was littered with a grand selection of all Batchelor's products!. Vulan B2 where did your mother work?. As I type this, a lot of names are flooding back.I,ll post further memories. I've got stacks. A question now. Does anyone know the history of the house which nr.the bridge on Limestone Cottage Lane. Bye for now.

PETERPETE. Appreciate your interest. I personally can't think of any photos,sorry about that.,but know a lot about Batchelors history if anyone is interestd. Further to that Gerry Kersey, Mon eves on Radio Sheff. has a huge audience. Hope you keep your posts coming. Bye for now.John.

Further memory. I was passing the main factory exit, just as the morning shift was coming out. Someone shouted 'SECURITY CHECK'. After everyone had been searched the ground was littered with a grand selection of all Batchelor's products!. Vulan B2 where did your mother work?. As I type this, a lot of names are flooding back.I,ll post further memories. I've got stacks. A question now. Does anyone know the history of the house which nr.the bridge on Limestone Cottage Lane. Bye for now.

hi, my aunty worked in Batchelors canteen on the night shift. She was there in the 60's and 70's, she retired about '82 she is in her 70's now and lives on parson cross, I am sure she could share a few memories with you, I'll let her know about this thread.

ps i remember her cupboards being full of batchelors peas, curry powder etc, oh and she worked in the canteen so she also had the blue plates in her cupboards....dont know how they got there:suspect:

Thanks Shaznay. I must know your Auntie as we both there at the same time.We had a close arrangement with the canteen regarding meals,due to the odd hours we worked. I wonder if she remembers the 6 week strike in the 70's?. See you. John.

Cherry t. I'm intrigued when you say you worked next door to Batchelors. When I worked there it was an isolated site with no other premises around it. I left in 1979 and it was still like it then. I've heard since that an industrial estate has been built where the main factory was. Is there where you worked?. When you referred to a building being vandalised with gardens around it with a railway line at the side of it, this was the H.Q. building where I worked in the basement computer room. There was actually a lawned area between us and the railway line. A fellow from the factory used to maintain this area. (he'd only got one arm but managed the mowing machine perfectly and I used to marvel at him doing this. Im glad he's not around to see the state of it now. Do reply.John.

Back in the late 70is friends and i used to walk down the back-edge and we used to pass Bachelors,(on our way to nick the money back bottles from Bass-Charringtons).Anyway i can remember a big kinda holding facility,which oozed mangy greeny stuff.Was that the mushy pea machine?.

i worked there for one week in 1972,it was mind numbing,all i had to do was sit in a room and wait for a buzzer and light to go on,this meant the heat had dropped on the conveyor belt carrying the peas,i would turn up with a five feet rod with an alun key attached at one end,insert it,turn it till the heat went back up to normal then go back to my little room,it would have been so much simpler to have the foreman trained up into this specialist job and he could have kept the key under the pea bed conveyor :hihi:

Shane 39. Thanks for your message.The big machine you refer to was actually situated bang outside the H.Q.! It stank bloody awful.What idiot planned this?. THe purpose of this machine was to strip off the pea pods so that the actual peas could be processed inside the factory. Regarding mushy peas, I don't eat them. Enough said!. When you referred to the back edge is this the narrow road from Foxhill,probably called Midhill Rd, with a hairpin bend near the bottom. What a nightmare for the lorries. Your mention of nicking penny back bottles has made my day. We used to do this in 1937,at intake. Cheers.

Shane 39. Thanks for your message.The big machine you refer to was actually situated bang outside the H.Q.! It stank bloody awful.What idiot planned this?. THe purpose of this machine was to strip off the pea pods so that the actual peas could be processed inside the factory. Regarding mushy peas, I don't eat them. Enough said!. When you referred to the back edge is this the narrow road from Foxhill,probably called Midhill Rd, with a hairpin bend near the bottom. What a nightmare for the lorries. Your mention of nicking penny back bottles has made my day. We used to do this in 1937,at intake. Cheers.

YA!YA! Yes,that's the road.

Always rich pickings down there.
We used to nick the refund bottles and swill a few of whatever was knocking about.Then we would walk down to Fletchers and ask them for any MISTAKE CAKES!Nice chap would give us loads of doughnuts and coffee cakes,which would normally be thrown to the horses in the adjacent field.

Those were the days!:thumbsup:

A fellow from the factory used to maintain this area. (he'd only got one arm but managed the mowing machine perfectly and I used to marvel at him doing this. Im glad he's not around to see the state of it now. Do reply.John.

That was my dad who was also the Trade Union Convenor for the site and, yes, he would be sad at the state of both his gardens and the Union he represented if he was still around.

I am biased but he was an incredible chap who never let his disability stop him doing anything.

I have some pictures I should put online sometime, including one of the Batchelors football team and (this is a very odd one) veteran film star Bela Lugosi opening the 'wet pea cannery' in the 1950s!

I also worked there twice as a summer job - once in accounts and once in the staff canteen and experimental kitchen where all the new products were cooked and tested.

It's really good to read people's memories of Batchelors - please keep 'em coming!

I worked for Batchelors foods during my summer vacation in 1951.A truck would pick up a load of students in the center of the city and take them out in to the country where Batchelors grew their peas.
There were field after field of pea vines with a large machine located at the center of the fields which was used to shell the pea pods.The machine was driven by a single cylinder gasoline engine which had a massive flywheel.The machine required about eight students to operate it.Two students fed the vines (roots and all) into a large horizontal rotating drum which split open the ripe pea pods,the peas dropped to the bottom of the drum and fell through small holes in the drum wall.
The peas where collected in large trays,covered with ice and then shipped to the factory for canning.The rest of the students were used for various jobs on the machine such as raking the empty vines out of the drum,loading the truck etc.
The machine started about 7 am and was turned off about 5am every day and never stopped during the the day.Working on this machine was the most tiring job I ever had in my life .It is interesting that only when the peas where perfectly ripe where they canned,all the rest where dried.

Thank you all so very much for your input. I'll get round to replying to you all individually, if thats ok. Can I start with you,Zozafeen. It's incredible that someone can actually take me back to those times.Like to discuss your father with you when time permits. Now for the Experimental kitchen Was this located in H.Q. basement.? If so, as the computer room was right next door, you used to ask us to come in and try your samples. I remember your experiments in competing with Bird's eye Angel Delight. My diabetes will never forgive you!. Must go. Regards to everyone, do please keep in touch. John.

I remember the staff shop where you could buy reduced items, i especially remember getting impulse body spray really cheap. My mum was a cleaner there. :thumbsup:

My sister worked in the post dept, and she used to bring home loads of impulse, and also the vesta chow mein stuff in boxes.

Hi, I workied in Financial accounts office from 1968 to 1972 when I left to have my son. Anybody remember a girl with long dark hair with really short mini skirts, that was me. I remember the chap with the disabled arm he used to be on the coach that took us up Claywheels lane.

Tha nks ANTIJAMMER.,for your very descriptive account. This is well worth saving. I'd like to provide a link to this: Years ago, I listened to or saw an interview with Colonel Batchelor.He said, pea picking had to be run like a military operation. He said that he used to go on the roof of H.Q and test the climate,mainly in the middle of the night. Apparently this was to do with the dew content in the fields.In conjunction with this,the harvesting machines were on standby. When he was satisfied with the conditions,he'd transmit a message. GO,GO,GO. and all the machines swung into action.Reminds me of the Del Monte advert. Who would think that such care was needed. Thanks.

Hi Jean1. Would have liked to have known you,but there was a very strict policy in force when I started in '65.

HI Jean1. Probaby the only time we could have met, would have been on the bus from from Leppings Lane. With working on computers we were discouraged from going onto other floors; in fact, I was onced reported for being seen on the 2nd. floor!. Stupid, 'cos we all got together at lunch times and Xmas parties. My boss at the time was Percy Wolstenhome, I would think that you knew him,believe he worked on ledgers, before he came Operations manager. A very strict disciplinarian. Bye.

HI JEAN1. With girls with Long black hair and Mini skirts knocking about, I can see now why they kept us caged up in the basement. Iv'e always thought it was because of the official secrets act.!

My boss was John Guy, we first worked in the bottom block, then they built a new block up the hll, I also used to work in the salaries dept every month end to balance the payroll. I've recently been working with a girl who you probably know , Margaret Muscroft( married name) had one son Paul. She says she used to work in the computer room about the same time I worked there. Other names I worked with were Paul cook, Derek Knight, Philip Hasland, Dorothy Staniland, do you remember Pam who worked in stationery?

sorry Margaret's husand is Paul, her son's name in Neil

HI JEAN1 I worked at Batchelors from '65 to '79. First in and one of the last out. As I left,they were tallking about relocating to Croydon. So I wonder when Margaret Muscroft worked in the computer room. and yet the name seems familiar. Hold on, Bingo. There was a young lady called Margaret who worked in the evenings who I had a lot of respect for. She was very good at her job, which I remember was on a punch card sorting machine.. This machine was located right outside the computer room door,so we talked a lot. So she can identify me, I was Assistant Operations manager under Percy Wolstenholme. Ginger hair,45 at this time,with 3 sons. Hope its her,cos I thinks shes the tops. As for the other names,Im sorry Icant recall. But no doubt knew their faces,as I remember the top office block being built. BYE.

JEAN1..Sorry for the p.s. Can u get a date for when Pam worked in stationery please. Ive got an amazing story concerning computer labels.Bye,

HI JEAN1 I worked at Batchelors from '65 to '79. First in and one of the last out.

It was definitely still open sometime after 1985 as I can remember my dad getting a long service award there that year. It must've closed in about '86 or '87 - I did the photographs for the auctioneers catalogue when they were finally stripping out the site.

Have you seen this photograph (http://www.sheffgens.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/batchelors/batchelors1960.htm) of the factory in 1960 before the new offices were built?

Thanks Jozafeen. Only just got time to acknowledge your message. got to run. Just had phone call from Margarets Care Home, got to bring her home immmediately.Health and safety have closed it down . Speak to asap. Thanks John.

HI Jozafeen. Can resume contact now. Got your photo GREAT. I've gone over my memories there dozens of times since leaving through illness.Regarding photos, I saw in the Property Guide a few years ago, a photo of the H.Q up for sale. I thought now's my chance to have a look round , so did so. Very, very glad I chanced on the sale notice. I never thought I,d see the place again . The last time I had seen it was when the works doctor took me to the window and said ' You see Clay Wheels Lane you,ve just walked up. Well, walk back down it and don't turn round. You will get better but not by coming back here. Best advice I ever had. Bye.

Hi john

I bet it made your day when i started this thread.
I worked next door to the new offices as you called them which are not on the airiel veiw.
This was 1997. One Dinner break me and my mate went for a wonder through the grounds and the smashed up office block.I remember the big front curved glass windows facing claywheels lane. every day we comented on what had happened to the building. One day all the window frames were ripped out.
Was there a canteen on the ground floor of the new building?
Never new it was batchelors at the time.

Cherry t. You couldnt have known when you started this thread that there was a guy out there, like me, aching to talk to somebody about Batchelors. I left suddenly, so this is providing me with some continuity and it's wonderful. I'm dying to know EXACTLY where you worked. When you mean 'NEW building, do you mean the office block on the left, top of the road,above the factory and before the hairpin bend,built mid 70's.There was a Staff dining room on the ground floor.Are'nt we getting posh now!.

Yes John
Before the hairpin on the left, must have been the dining room as there were tiles on the walls and floor.The gardens were behind the building.

Where i worked was next to the new office building directly going down hill.This must have been bachelors too then

I will try and get my aunt on here..her name is Joan Holmes and she worked at Batchelors in the 60's and 70's she will have lots of memories, she worked in the staff canteen on the night shift..other names I remember who worked there with her were Lily Cusworth, Gwen Spotswood, sorry cant remember anymore she will know loads

Cherry blossom. Still wondering where you worked. Was it on that trading estate(Nutbrown or similar name).What impresses me with your posts is your interest in what was there before.,keep it coming. John.

Thanks Shaznay. I reckon I knew faces rather than names, as I did use the canteens,dining room rather a lot. Cheers. John.

Can anyone remember Bill Barnet.He was a gaffer of some sort way back in the 50s.

Yes John
Before the hairpin on the left, must have been the dining room as there were tiles on the walls and floor.The gardens were behind the building.

That whole site was Batchelors until the mid 1980s with both the national head office and one of the main manufacturing plants.

As for feeding the employees, it was all very divided according to job. The 'new' block (that's the one missing from the 1960 photo I liked to earlier) had the staff canteen on the ground floor and director's suites and restaurant on the top - I worked in both of those as a summer job and really enjoyed it. The 1930's big brick building had the workers canteen in it and the office block on the opposite side had the Experimental Kitchens where unsuspecting members of the public and other employees were dragged in to taste all kinds of strange and wonderful dishes.

I only saw inside the production workers' canteen in the old building once but it was amazing - all art deco with exotic murals. I think the whole building was demolished when it closed which is such a shame.

Yes I used to go to the canteen in the new block and I also remember trying new recipes in the other block. In the summer we used to sit in the gardens at lunch time and on some Fridays we used to go to the pub. The Fox or The Gate. At xmas everybody used to go to The Fox for a great p!!!!! up.I remember if we went to the pub Friday lunch I used to be sleepy all afternoon, luckily my back was to the boss's office.

Sorry Kidorry, too early for me. The only gaffer I knew was in the 60/70,s. He was called Desborough, a light haired chap. He used to come over to the computer room to discuss our electrical requirements. Cheers.

Sorry Kidorry, too early for me. The only gaffer I knew was in the 60/70,s. He was called Desborough, a light haired chap. He used to come over to the computer room to discuss our electrical requirements. Cheers.

Just wondered because he lived near to us.

I have friends/relatives who used to work there. Peter Race , Ted Hampton and Anyes Hobson.

anyone know of any old photos of batchelors at claywheels lane.

There are a few on www.picturesheffield.com (http://www.picturesheffield.com). Does anyone recognise anybody here? http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s02838

My mum worked at Batchelors for a while in the 1950s "pea-picking" - that is, removing bad peas from the vast numbers that went past in the trough. The motto was "eat what you can, and can what you can't".

Hi satman2222, I'm sure I worked with Anyes. I think she was the lady I taught my job when I left to have my son. I worked in Financial Accounts under John Guy.

Both my mother and father worked there,my mother in the offices with Pam Street?My Dad was one of the security guards Harry Cooper ,my mother is Norah !
A couple of the electricians who worked there went to work at the brewery Paul Wragg and Pete Hancock.
.My dad often came home with damaged goods mainly Vesta Curries and rissottos.

Was Pam Street the lady in stationery?

My mum worked in the Head office advertising dept from 64-66, with John Beck, Geraldine Buckland, Sandra Haywood, Pat ? etc. Her cousin was Rita Cottingham, married to Alan Cottingham who worked in quality control and catering division. She has many happy memories of her time there.:)

My father in law, William Leslie ( Les) Moore worked at Bachelors in Sheffield in the late 1950's and then in 1960 he was sent to the Huntingdon factory where he was transport manager and had a car registration which was PEA something - apparently all the Bachelors cars were that reg !
In 1967 he was transferred back to the Sheffield factory.
Anyone remember him?

Hi Johnpm. Pleased to hear from. Sorry, didn't know Les, as didn't start there myself until '67. But your reccolections interest me. Did'nt know they had a place at Huntingdon. Was this an actual factory, or distribution centre etc. When I started here, Unilever had just taken over and a lot of changes then took place. The recent posts suggest it was closed in mid eighties, but I'd left by then. All the best. John.

Further memory. In the mid 70's, I attended a Supervisors course at Port Sunlight (Birkenhead way). Until then I thought that we were the only company in Unilever!. Soon put in my place,when I found out that Unilver emplyoyed 300,000 people world--wide. On this course were people from all around England,from factories all unknown to each other,making most of the products you see i the supermarkets today. When I went there I Realised where the name Sunlight Soap came from, when I was a kid.. When I booked into the Companies pub,on the Sunday,they said 'Sorry, we have a very strict policy. No drinks allowed on a Sunday. I'll ask the manager if it;s OK to give you a sandwich, which they did. As time went on, I realised that the whole area was very religiously controlled ,and got the drop on everybody by owning all the housing. John.

As far as we can recall, the Huntingdon factory was the central collection point for all the peas and other veg that were grown and picked in the East Anglia area. They were taken to teh central depot at Huntingdon and would then be carried by lorries to the cannery at Sheffield I assume.
I think the Huntingdon factory may have shut in about 1967 which is when my father in law came back to Sheffield.

Johnpm Thanks for the info. I never realised that the peas were drawn from so far afield. Do you live in Guisborough ? I think I went thro' there when I was stationed at Middleton St. George, now Teesside Aiport?, 1947 in R.A.F. Somehow, strangely,the memory has stuck in my mind. I think it was the architexture I remember. Regards. John.

Johnpm Thanks for the info. I never realised that the peas were drawn from so far afield. Do you live in Guisborough ? I think I went thro' there when I was stationed at Middleton St. George, now Teesside Aiport?, 1947 in R.A.F. Somehow, strangely,the memory has stuck in my mind. I think it was the architexture I remember. Regards. John.
Hi John, Yes, my job with British Steel moved from Sheffield to Teesside in 1976 so we came up to Guisborough and have never regretted moving. I spent much of my early years walking and camping in the Peak District and now live only 100 yards from the North Yorks Moors National Park and tehewalking is great . The coast is near too so we have the best of all the worlds ( maybe with the exception of their being fewer jobs for young people).
You wouldn't recognise Middleton St George now. The airport is quite big and was due to be expanded for freight although the recession may hit that.
We have RAF Leeming not far away and have lots of low fast jets flying over us.
Cheers, John

The scope of interest is widening now. WhenI was at M.S.G, I visited my sister at Hetton-Le-Hole, who'd married a fella from there. Just after that, they moved to Sheffield. When my sister died years ago, he then married a lady back in Hetton!. and they sill live on the next road to me.

Part 2 ! Dont know why halfway through a message it gets transmitted. So I'll try to continue. Whilst in the RAF, I only did 10 weeks at M.S.G (in the S.I.B.) but this took me many surrounding areas (hence Guisboro'.) Our environments now seem very similar. I'll close now before this message gets chopped in half. Cheers John.

I believe it was col batchelor who in the mid 50s ran a bentley continental reg no MWB 1.I waved him to overtake whereupon a little sign lit up above the rear no plate saying Thank You. !!!! This was somewhere in the Rotherham area i think. How cool was that.

my mom worked at Batchelors for many years ,until she left in 1980.
Also my neighbour John Caine worked there ,i think as a manager until he retired on health grounds a few years ago

My nan worked for Batchelors too Elsie ward not sure about the dates though.She worked there for years until she retired.I know she used to run the trips! I remember going to the factory shop as a child. My dad will know more his user is burnttoast.

I have friends/relatives who used to work there. Peter Race , Ted Hampton and Anyes Hobson.

I also used to work for Batchelors from 1961 to 1993, I was in the sales dept and worked with Peter Race and Ted Hampton. I remember well the offices at Wadsley Bridge and especially the Fox and the Angel pub at the top of the hill, I worked with Jack Jones, Bruce Calvert Toulmin, Keith Blades, Ian Wordley and many more. I now live on the isle of Mull

Hi Alan. I worked at Batchelors from 1967-1979. I probably knew you by sight but not your name. I was the manager of the Computer-Room, which was in the basement of the H.Q. Some names you may recognise; John Wright (D.P. manager), Percy Wolstenholme, John Gilpin (self) . Analysts; Carl Swan, Mike Grainey, Peter Stevens, Mike Hawley etc. Marjorie Hance,Punch room supervisor and operators. Nice to recall the memories. Keep in touch. Bye.

I remember some of the names you mention, although the sales dept was on a different floor. I moved out into the 'field' as a representative introducing Vesta to the stores, also launched DEB instant mashed potato, long before Smash and Suprise peas, beans and 'peas and carrrots. Batchelors was a friendly family company before we merged with Brook Bond (tea). And Batchelors Soups were delicious. I brought my family of four up on Batchelors samples and now have 9 grandchildren. google mullbirds to see what I do now.

Thanks Alan, right now just want to acknowledge your very interesting info. Will be in touch shortly to swap experiences, rather than rush an inadequate reply. All the best John.

Worked at batchelors in the 60s as contrator for Keep & Robuck electricians,I was only an apprentice at the time,used to get all the crap jobs which batchelors maintaiance guys wudnt do cleaning behind machines etc

That was my dad who was also the Trade Union Convenor for the site and, yes, he would be sad at the state of both his gardens and the Union he represented if he was still around.

I am biased but he was an incredible chap who never let his disability stop him doing anything.

I have some pictures I should put online sometime, including one of the Batchelors football team and (this is a very odd one) veteran film star Bela Lugosi opening the 'wet pea cannery' in the 1950s!

I also worked there twice as a summer job - once in accounts and once in the staff canteen and experimental kitchen where all the new products were cooked and tested.

It's really good to read people's memories of Batchelors - please keep 'em coming!

I have written a book about Bela Lugosi's British tour of Dracula in 1951 and I'm now preparing an updated new edition. I was so excited to read your post. I had no idea of the event you mentioned. Can you tell me more? Any help you can give will be credited in my book. I'm especially keen to see you photo of him. I can be contacted directly at: andobi@hotmail.com

I have a Lugosi blog which contains some cuttings of him in Sheffield at http://beladraculalugosi.wordpress.com/1951-dracula-tour/

Is there a local newspaper archive where I can search for articles about his appearance at Batchelors.

Jogi what a thread this has been for you and many people. what were the smaller buildings next to the gardens,facing limestone cottage lane. The ones with the tin roofs.

I worked at Batchelors for 4 years, went from Junior op to Shift Leader ...I remember John Gilpin, Harry Ratherham, Maurice , Maureen, Sylvia + Colin Foster, Dave Wagstaff, John Bartley. Mr Wolstenhome...and we all worked in the basement. I had some happy times there. It would have been maybe 1977-1981 I think. Hated doing 'security' carrying all those tapes across to the factory..

I knew Col. Bachelor, he was the Hon. Colonel at the R. Sigs TA unit on Barnsley Rd. A little fat man but always pleasent. I asked him once how he started and he told me he acquired an old lorry and would drive out to Lincolnshire buying up peas then processing them for the chip shops. We once went down to the works to try and recruit a few for the regiment but with little success. He took us into the directors dining room where he told us not to order the pea soup, I didn't ask why.

My mum worked there for about 25/30yrs,in the cannery I think.I remember she once told me they had a visit from a tv celeb,an actor from a 60s tv series called 'Man in a Suitcase'.Think his name was Richard Bradford,from the old black & white days.In fact she got a signed photo of him.Also,her & some of her workmates once appeared on a tv show,filmed at Batchelors in the 60s or early 70s.The show was called something like 'sing along with (piano)Joe Henderson & there she was,sat on the front row.Its a pity they didn't have video recorders in those days.

Hi KirkuP.Very pleased to read your post. I was there. 1967-78/79, so the names you mention are all familiar to me. Harry Ratherham died 2/3 years ago and Percy Wolstenhome last year. I constantly re-live the memories of my job there. Have you any knowledge of when the dept. closed down?. Regards. John.

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Batchelors Christmas Party (https://www.hpacde.org.uk/picturesheffield/jpgh/s02838.jpg)
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THE HAGG (https://www.hpacde.org.uk/picturesheffield/jpgh/y02251.jpg)
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Hi John...I'm sorry to hear about both Harry + Mr Wolstenhome. Harry took both myself and Dave under his wing when we were trainees...I used to love listening to his stories from WWII. Never ever called Mr Wolstenholme by his christian name, think he got a lot of respect (as did most of you in those days) from the young lads that we were. Plus half the time he scared us to death as well.......I believe that it closed down maybe 2 years after we left to move to Inverness. I once saw Maurice managing a pub in Sheffield about 16 years ago..Never knew what happened to Colin / Sylvia though I believe Maureen married a butcher (think they called him John as well...) over in Eckington or some where like that.

Hi KirkP. Thanks for your reply. You summed up Percy perfectly.I never once called him by his first name. Harry and I got on very well. I regret we lost touch finally.By the time I contacted him, he was too I'll to converse. Noted your info. about Maurice with interest.The last time I saw him was when he came to my house with a watch( a leaving present from D.P on my illness say 78/79.). All the best. John