J Jones & Co. Canal Street


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 First post (guided my son) who's shown me this site.

 

I started work aged 15 at J Jones & Co on Canal Street in 1941. Long shot I know but I was wondering if there's anyone on here with a connection to that place from that era. At 90 I understand this could be a futile request.

 

Thanks,

Jack.

 

 

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Welcome Jack............not that i go back to that era......but were they 'Button Manufacturers' ?

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Welcome Jack . Sorry don't know the firm but here's an advert of theirs from 1948

 

33453875896_c996a500ce_o.jpg

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I worked for J.Jones at their Daleside Road works as an electrical fitter for a couple of years from 1968.

It was that Christmas we moved to a new works just up the road, and the rewind section was also moved into that much larger works. Not sure what happened to the contracting side, whether they stayed down on Canal Street or move to new premises, I'm pretty sure they didn't move to Daleside Road. I can find out, old mate of mine retired from the company who bought them out, Frank Blair.

He started with J.Jones rewinds around 1960ish.

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J.Jones was probably the largest electric motor rewind company in Nottm, Wilson Ford was the 2nd largest rewind company. Both had an electrical contracting side.

 

John Jones was married to Sally Shipstone.

 

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Yep near the top. I think they are into design and building control panels these days, I found them in a Google search a few years back.

I worked for them for a short time when they were on Park Lane, they did a lot of Coal Board work and had a contract with a company winding small horsepower stators for some company I don't recall now.

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Another snippet, Wilson Ford started up in business at Commerce Square, opposite St Mary's Church High Pavement. The same building they vacated when they moved to the Park Lane works was taken over by GT Ranby and Ranby and Keys rewinds, with Nottingham Transformer Company who they bought out in the early 60's.

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The contracting side did move to Daleside Road, they also added  a trailing cable repair shop for repairing NCB trailing cables.

I'm also reliably told the Contracting side moved to Colwick.

 

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That was a solidly built set of buildings Lizzie.

When I started work with GT Ranby after I left school, as you walked into the square straight facing you towards the left was BICC wholesale cables, to the right was GT Ranby... I'm sure there was a night club in the square to, to the right, I might be wrong as I'm talking 54 years back!

 

Geof Ranby's wife had a cafe just outside the square on High Pavement, she was always busy with bread rolls etc at lunchtime from local workers.

 

 

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Our friends live in the block that is facing the gated entrance.  Their car is in an underground car park and their car goes in a lift to go down there.  They look down onto the end of London Road, where the BBC building is now, but that certainly wouldn't have been there when you were in Nottingham Ayup, and Canal Street, but in the distance they can see Meadow Lane, City Ground, Trent Bridge CC, County Hall, Wilford Hill.  To the left is Colwick Park, Greens Windmill etc. and to the right as far as Ratcliffe Power Station.   

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Back then there was too much pollution to see anything, even the sparrows had bad coughs in the early 60's...

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  • 6 months later...

Hello Jack I saw your request about J Jones on Canal Street. Joseph Jones was my Great Granfather who founded the business in 1912. I'm way too young at 49 to have been around then but funnily enough although I worked for J Jones on Daleside Road in the early 80's you and I did work with at least one of the same colleagues that being Fred Palmer. He was in his mid 80's and the longest serving employee in the Uk at the time. He worked with Jo Jones as a 14 year old! I'd be interested in hearing anything you can remember about Joseph Jones. 

Regards

Richard Peach

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Daleside Road Compo, I started with them when I left the NCB in 1968. The Daleside Road works was just the fitting shop where we stripped motors, and overhauled them, if they needed rewinding, we'd send the stators to the rewind department in town.

That year we moved into the new works just down the raod near the end of Daleside Roads, both the rewind department and contracting department were moved into the new works.

Must have missed you by a year, as in 1973 I was working at Wilson Fords in Basford.

 

You might remember my old mate Frank Blair, he was an electrical fitter there right up to his retirement, he's on my FB friends list, known him over 50 years now.

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I believe my great uncle, Fred Anderson, worked for J Jones on canal street, think he may have retired by the time they moved to Daleside road.

 

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13 hours ago, Richard Peach said:

Hello Jack I saw your request about J Jones on Canal Street. Joseph Jones was my Great Granfather who founded the business in 1912. I'm way too young at 49 to have been around then but funnily enough although I worked for J Jones on Daleside Road in the early 80's you and I did work with at least one of the same colleagues that being Fred Palmer. He was in his mid 80's and the longest serving employee in the Uk at the time. He worked with Jo Jones as a 14 year old! I'd be interested in hearing anything you can remember about Joseph Jones. 

Regards

Richard Peach

 

Thanks for the reply Richard. Jack's my old man, at 91 years old he only uses a computer for Sky Sports but as I'm popping down for Ilson fair this weekend (from Newcastle) I'll ask him and report back,

Cheers, Alan.

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On 17/03/2017 at 3:30 PM, jack syson said:

I started work aged 15 at J Jones & Co on Canal Street in 1941. Long shot I know but I was wondering if there's anyone on here with a connection to that place

 

I think I missed this when it first appeared.

 

I don't have a connection with the place but here's a photo which shows the location back in the 1930s, and might bring back a few memories.  According to DAVIDW's post with the old newspaper advert, Jones were opposite Greyfriar Gate. That means it should be one of the buildings which can be seen from the rear, across the centre of the photo.

nxdZgSo.jpg

 

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The whole company were moved into the new Daleside works in late December 1968, just before and after Christmas that year, we were required to work Saturday and Sunday in the move. I started with them in November of that year, and was interviewed by John Jones   in the new offices at the new Daleside Rd works. The fitting side was at the Trent end of the works, rewinds the opposite side, ovens on west side of the building with the welding shop close to it.

That was when I first came across a micro wave oven, one was installed in the meal room, huge upright machine and the works cleaner/odd job man, used to insert a plastic "key" for the settings after he'd put your pie or whatever in it.

Old man Jones, I'm sure his name was Jack, used to pay a visit every so often, he'd pick odd lengths of insulation etc off the floor and put them on the benches in the rewind department. Once gone the winders would toss them back on the floor...LOL

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4 hours ago, alan s said:

 

Thanks for the reply Richard. Jack's my old man, at 91 years old he only uses a computer for Sky Sports but as I'm popping down for Ilson fair this weekend (from Newcastle) I'll ask him and report back,

Cheers, Alan.

 

3 hours ago, Ayupmeducks said:

The whole company were moved into the new Daleside works in late December 1968, just before and after Christmas that year, we were required to work Saturday and Sunday in the move. I started with them in November of that year, and was interviewed by John Jones   in the new offices at the new Daleside Rd works. The fitting side was at the Trent end of the works, rewinds the opposite side, ovens on west side of the building with the welding shop close to it.

That was when I first came across a micro wave oven, one was installed in the meal room, huge upright machine and the works cleaner/odd job man, used to insert a plastic "key" for the settings after he'd put your pie or whatever in it.

Old man Jones, I'm sure his name was Jack, used to pay a visit every so often, he'd pick odd lengths of insulation etc off the floor and put them on the benches in the rewind department. Once gone the winders would toss them back on the floor...LOL

 

Jack Jones was my great uncle (my grandma Peach nee Jones brother) John Peach was my dad but I don't think he ran the business until the early 70's with Richard Jones (Jacks son). Jack Jones must have retired around 1970 I would think 

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Basford was Wilson Ford Rog, what did Ray Pavier do there??

 

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