VN020 Vanda MacMillan, B.S.Bacon toy factory, Llanrwst

Vanda left school at fifteen and went to work in a grocer's shop, serving behind the counter, but she wasn't keen on it, as there was a lot of paper work, people used to put their goods down on a bill that they paid on Friday. She can't remember how long she was there. She got married at the age of seventeen. After the shop, she went to work in a woollen mill in Trefriw, which was hard work. She was on the loom just before she left, making quilts. She can't remember how long she was there and said she earned about £4. She bought clothes from a catalogue with her wages, and also went to the pictures, bought make up. She can't remember how old she was when she went to the factory. She'd got married and had three children, but the family needed extra money, so she heard they wanted people in the toy factory and she made arrangements with her mother to have her youngest child, for which she gave her mother half her wages. Vanda worked as a seasonal worker in the toy factory, Llanrwst, in the run up to Christmas. She worked on painting flowers on the wooden dolls houses and really enjoyed it. She left because the place was going down and they were laying off seasonal workers. She worked as a cleaner for a little while before getting a job in a care home.

VN003 Yvonne Stevens, B.S.Bacon toy factory, Llanrwst;Dolgarrog Aluminium, Dolgarrog;Hotpoint, Llandudno;Danline, Llanrwst

Yvonne worked in Llanrwst toy factory on leaving school at 15, where she painted the wooden toys. She was one of the youngest and worked with two older women she called Aunty Lena and Aunty Martha. She liked the toys, which were well made out of wood, dolls houses and garages and farms, but could never afford to buy them. She enjoyed working there but wanted to earn more money, so she got a job at Dolgarrog Aluminium as an inspector. They made aluminium for lots of things from saucepans to corrugated roofs, and her job was checking for marks on the aluminium before it went to the packing dept. It was a very big factory, over a thousand workers, and she used to get the bus there from Llanrwst. She met her husband there and left the factory when her son was born two years after they married. She did cleaning jobs afterwards but never factory work again.

VN003 Yvonne Stevens, B.S.Bacon toy factory, Llanrwst;Dolgarrog Aluminium, Dolgarrog;Hotpoint, Llandudno;Danline, Llanrwst

Yvonne worked in Llanrwst toy factory on leaving school at 15, where she painted the wooden toys. She was one of the youngest and worked with two older women she called Aunty Lena and Aunty Martha. She liked the toys, which were well made out of wood, dolls houses and garages and farms, but could never afford to buy them. She enjoyed working there but wanted to earn more money, so she got a job at Dolgarrog Aluminium as an inspector. They made aluminium for lots of things from saucepans to corrugated roofs, and her job was checking for marks on the aluminium before it went to the packing dept. It was a very big factory, over a thousand workers, and she used to get the bus there from Llanrwst. She met her husband there and left the factory when her son was born two years after they married. She did cleaning jobs afterwards but never factory work again.

VN005 Mary Macdonald Davies, Dolgarrog Aluminium, Dolgarrog;rubber factory, Llanrwst

Mary (Macdonald) Davies worked in the Dolgarrog factory, after a couple of years in a bakery. She worked mostly in the light mill, like most of the women, but often went to help the men in the big mill, lifting aluminium sheets onto the roller. She said she wasn't given proper training, and that it could be dangerous work, as the aluminium was sharp. She describes one incident just after she started: “I stood by this trestle, and this sheet came out, oh, I can feel it now. And it hit me. Oh, the pain, I thought 'Oh God, what's happened?' And I didn't know what to do, did I? So she said 'Pick it up.' So I picked it up. And if you're not quick enough, cos you've got two sheets, one's going over while the other's coming, its a continous thing, so if you're not quick enough the other sheet comes out.” She left to have her daughter and didn't return to Dolgarrog, though she did work for a short while in the rubber factory in Llanrwst, making wet weather clothing.

VSE018 Gwen Richardson, Wella, Pontyclun;Fiona Footwear, Bridgend;Planet Gloves, Llantrisant;London Pride, Bridgend

Gwen left school at 15 (1958) (Her father had been killed in a mining accident) and started in London Pride as a machinist. Very strict – hand up for toilet and no swearing or talking. Singing to radio. Making expensive blouses. Factory bought silver candelabra for owner! Could buy material. Left after 2 years. Piecework at glove factory. Specialised machines. Hands stained with leather. Friend sent home for swearing. Smell of smoking in toilets. Iris Williams the singer worked there – sang hymns. Gwen - top earner. Silly pranks. Xmas dinner dance. Again left after 2 years and went to shoe factory –for M&S. After having her children she worked evenings for Wella’s – unsociable hours but good money and a wonderful social life. Excellent employers – Xmas gift. Certain danger with glass bottles exploding and chemicals. Goggles. Strike and picketing – competition day and evening workers. She was line-leader there. Time and motion especially in the shoe trade. Then on to become a seamstress >then manager in Univ. of Glamorgan. Regrets not having an good education.

VSE067 Christine Chapman, Roller Blind Factory, Llwynypia;Gainsborough Flowers, Porth

Christine’s mother worked in factories e.g. Flex Fasteners and found her part-time holiday jobs. She worked in Gainsborough Flowers when in the sixth form – making artificial flowers on old-fashioned machines. She even worked with a candle! During university she worked in the roller blind factory. She felt some of the women were bitchy – they played tricks on them. She became very efficient in the roller blind factory and the Trade Union person asked her to slow down. Some form of bullying. Bosses talked down to the women. She worked on the presses. Had to have permission to go to the toilet. She worked in the flower factory c.1973-4. Radio on and banter going on all the time. She used to daydream and plan ahead. Risqué stories – repeats one. Talks of some harassment. She was just passing through. She learned a lot about intimidation too – held her in good stead as a politician. How the management treated the women was an early feminist lesson. She’s been in the real world. She talks about her career as a Labour politician.

VSE012 Margaret Chislett, The Bag factory, Llwynypia;Polikoff's, Treorchy

Margaret left school at 15 (1937) and worked for a year as a nanny in London before joining Polikoff’s in 1938. There she completed an order for Lady Churchill – overcoats for her Russian fund. Very heavy – wore them to their ankles. Also made uniform for Montgomery’s army in N Africa. She contributed 2d to the Red Cross and 2d to Lady Churchill’s fund out of her wages. Could fill in any job on the line. Hemming the Russian order. 2,500 workers when at its peak. ENSA entertained them. Stayed 9½ years. Her mother bought silk parachute from Tonpentre Co-op to make petticoats and knickers. Union meetings – against Sunday work. Wore bib and braces and slacks for first time. Needle in finger. Radio playing Vera Lynn songs. Friday afternoon cleaned own machines, took pride in them. Factory built for Eastenders because of war. Left when pregnant. Frowned upon for women to work Sundays. Different lines organised social dos. Paid holidays from 1948 onwards. Had to contribute towards Bank Holiday pay. After the war they made de-mob suits. Left 1949. Enjoyed there because she met different kinds of women – chapel going – Bethany Gelli with its drama group, hockey club, very pub going – dancing etc. Later she went to the bag factory in Llwynypia – making bags etc for M&S- again sewing with machine. Then shut down after c. 2 years.

VSE025 Mair Richards, Forma, Merthyr;Kayser Bondor, Merthyr;Courtaulds, Merthyr;Chard's, London;AB Metals, Abercynon;Barton's, Merthyr

Mair left the grammar school because of her father’s ill-health, at 15½ and worked for W.H. Smiths before joining Kayser Bondor c.1952. Her mother was against her working in a factory. She describes the interview, the spotless factory – timing of toilet breaks; hand-cutting – shades and sizes of materials; producing bras and slips in huge orders; the importance of KB for Merthyr. In Dowlais (1960 onwards) they made silk stockings and other garments. She remembers raising money in the factory after the Aberfan disaster. She notes the Xmas celebrations; the rate of pay, unions, one strike for pay and how Courtaulds treated them. Accidents with the cutting knives. She didn’t like working at A.B. Metals – it was dirty and the girls were different. She returned to KB and when it closed she moved to Barton’s and then to Forma – supervising the cutting room. She finished in 1995.

VSW010 Phyllis Eldrige & Olga Thomas, Cardwells, Lampeter;Cardwells, Machynlleth

Phyllis left school at 16 (c.1959) and stayed home on the farm for 3 years before replying to an advert in the paper for a machinist at Cardwells'. A bus took them to Machynlleth. Stayed in lodgings. Olga left school at 15 years (1959), worked in an egg packing factory and then in Cardwells' Machynlleth. They also travelled by train. They earned £4 a week + lodging + travelling. Stayed there one year, until the Lampeter factory was ready. The factory was closed for weeks in 1963 - snow but no pay. Girls came from the outlying villages. They made women's dresses mainly. Can't remember a union - just 'grin and bear it'. They had the off-cuts. Needles through fingers. Sewing was skilled work V ironing. They spoke Welsh mainly. They left when expecting baby. Phyllis bought a machine and worked from home. It gave them satisfaction to see women out in clothes they had made.

VSE059 Esther Baitup, Revlon, Maesteg;The Rubber Factory, Maesteg;Cymer Bookbinding, Maesteg;Louis Edwards, Maesteg

Esther left school at 15 (1965) and started in the Edwards Factory, ticketing and inspecting. Machinists didn’t like to have their work returned. They made dresses for M&S. The workers – pressers, cutting etc were divided into cages. She was not on piecework but had some bonuses. She used her wages to buy a sewing machine. She stayed there about 3 years. Everything in the factory would be covered in paper overnight and doubly so on stop fortnight. She left when pregnant (uncertain from which factory); she worked temporarily for Cymer Bookbinding on shift work with machinist sewing catalogues. She went to Revlon’s in 1988 – evening shift, part-time and after 3 years full-time. Changed shifts. She did all kinds of tasks there – labelling, filling, etc. In the beginning in aerosol dept. dangerous - if a can was faulty it would explode. Other workers were afraid of this job. Also using boiling water with the perfumes – dangerous. Many of the workers there didn’t like the factory. Talks of some workers who took advantage and didn’t do their work. Bad management. Revlon taken over – Cozy? She stayed 15 years + 5 others, off and on. She had bonus of £200 every year for not being off sick. She only worked in the rubber factory for a few weeks because of the smell – trimming the rubbers that go round the windows of cars. She discusses unfair incidents. However she earned good money.