A BTH
Apprentice
1947/1952
by Trevor Sidaway
BTH site at Blackheath demolished in
2010
WW2
memories revived
I was invited on to the site by Inglenorth Demolition
to record the end of almost 100 years
of history at the BTH site in
what had been the main Machine Shop
Complete with a mandatory hard hat and “dayglow”
jacket I was escorted around the site
by the site foreman—Jim Turner—and allowed to
photograph at will
Jim explained that the roof was a very special wooden
roof, known as a
was the largest such roof that he had seen during his
lifetime in demolition work
The factory was built during the First World War, specially designed and commissioned
for high volume cartridge manufacture and the wooden roof was incorporated so that
in the event of an explosion, the roof would disintegrate and so allow the explosive energy
to dissipate upwards into fresh air and so minimise further structural damage
Fortuitously, the theory was never put to the test and the wooden roof exists to this day
Some of the original floors were also made from
hardwood blocks to minimise the risk of
sparks. Over the years, as the factory was developed
for peacetime use, the wooden blocks
were removed and many were put to good use by some of
the more “enterprising”
employees
Pictured
from
employees
had entered to get to their workplace
Pictured from
the same spot the demolished site in May 2010
When I left the site all that was
left standing was a section of the main office wall, carrying
a WW2 Remembrance Plaque
Jim Turner had some pangs of conscience
about demolishing it—I discussed it with him and
he agreed to prise it off the wall and
hold on to it in case a home could be found for it
Following a publication in the local
newspaper—The
Albert Charles Cashmore, one of the WW2
casualties, contacted me and the plaque was handed
to them at the BTH site on Wednesday 30th
June 2010
Wife
Doris with Albert’s sister Ann, son Tom and
Grandsons Andrew and Antony
Gunner Charles Albert Cashmore
The
Denbighshire Yeomanry (A regiment of the Royal Artillery)
Before the outbreak of WW2, Albert worked in the
Winding Department stores, his wife
worked in the Stator Winding Department. He was one of
the first to enlist for military
service and went to
evacuated from
After a spell in the
of the famous 8th Army, he took part in the
historic battle for
be a turning point in the war
Albert, second left, with
three of his fellow soldiers somewhere in
After El Alamein he was shipped to
first in
He was killed in action at his battle, on September 29th
1943, and his final resting place
is in the
The unveiling ceremony of the original plaque shortly after the
end of WW2
This was the original
plaque, eventually replaced by the solid marble plaque
A
Dudley Tech Junior and early days at the BTH
into
the Millwrights, the Toolroom and the Cannon dynasty
The Planning Department, Final Test and Sport
Dudley Senior Tech and my fellow apprentices
email me trevor_sidaway@hotmail.com Link to "Black Country Stories"