Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted August 29, 2006 Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 Is the big JP factory still operating near Clifton Bridge??? I commissioned the air conditioning fan motors during the construction of that place. It was years ahead of it's time, generated it's own electricity with six 0ne megawatt gas turbine driven alternators from natural north sea gas piped in via a four foot gas main. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted August 29, 2006 Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 Last Time I went down to Makro, It still smelt of that smell that takes me back to walking down Hartley Road in the early 60's. The location of that factory is on an old landfill site as is Makro, which is sinking into the site. Hope JP is built better. The same tip that would see me visiting on a sunday afternoon after the Bush B&W TV would illuminate at the back with bright purple light. Very pleasing effect, till bonanza dissapeared from the screen!. The search was on for a good Mullard EF86 in old dumped tv sets. As discussed HERE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted August 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 Thats right, it was built on the council tip. Luckily, they drove hundreds of concrete pile's into the ground before they started pouring the thick concrete slab. I doubt it would sink, mind you, Clifton Colliery workings are also below there too!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted August 29, 2006 Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 As most of you know I worked there for some years and as ayup says the factory was built on stilts which meant that the main factory floor was roughly twenty feet above ground level and the space between the main factory floor and ground level was the underneath car park which if I remember rightly did sink several times, they just kept on reserfacing it to bring it level again.... I haven't been back for roughly six years so I don't know if the underneath is still being used as a car park, the factory also has a large outdoor one which in my day you used if you were on mornings... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr rob t 11 Posted August 29, 2006 Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 ma dad took early retirement from players about 8 or 9 years ago and by all accounts walked away a rich man. silly sod went and died of lung cancer 3 years ago. 1 fatbloke......don`t even go there lol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Frank 13 Posted August 29, 2006 Report Share Posted August 29, 2006 Do you remember the nurse who worked at the factory BIP? - Jean? Herself now retired some years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Sorry to hear about your dad rob, he must have retired just a few years before I did and yes there was a good pay out if you had the service in......What did he do there mate? No frank to put it short I don't remember the nurse mate...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted September 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 As most of you know I worked there for some years and as ayup says the factory was built on stilts which meant that the main factory floor was roughly twenty feet above ground level and the space between the main factory floor and ground level was the underneath car park which if I remember rightly did sink several times, they just kept on reserfacing it to bring it level again....I haven't been back for roughly six years so I don't know if the underneath is still being used as a car park, the factory also has a large outdoor one which in my day you used if you were on mornings... It was an impressive building Den. When I first arrived on site, they still had the huge ramp up to what would be the manufacturing floor! Huge trucks and concrete mixer trucks used to drive up there, gives you some idea of how big that ramp was! I was there until your staff were installing the ciggie machines and started test runs, that was when I left Wilson Ford Rewinds for greener grass. What I was doing was stripping the fan motors in the sir conditioning units, fitting new end sheilds and scraping the white metal bearings. JP wanted silent motors, so selected sleeve bearings over ball and roller bearings. Bull Motors got the contract, but!! even with belts set at Fenners correct settings, these bearings seized up. The motors were designed as lift motors, not belt drive motors. And lift motors are direct drive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr rob t 11 Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 he was a machanic, used to sit on a chair between two machines waiting for something to go wrong. i got offered an apprentiship at players as an electrition but turned it down because i didn`t want to work at the same place as my parents. oh what foolish decisions you made when you were young. my dad said i would regret it when i got older. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted September 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 he was a machanic, used to sit on a chair between two machines waiting for something to go wrong. i got offered an apprentiship at players as an electrition but turned it down because i didn`t want to work at the same place as my parents. oh what foolish decisions you made when you were young. my dad said i would regret it when i got older. I believe there were whole families working at Players Rob! We had a few Father and Sons working at Clifton Pit and Cotgrave. When I was at Wongawilli Colliery in NSW, there was a Deputy and his Electrician son there. They came from Nottingham and origonally worked at Cotgrave! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr rob t 11 Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 it was bad enough getting moaned at, at home, so there was no way i was going to get it at work as well. boy do i regret that decision. my dads name was brian and mothers name was pauline. think you already know that ayup. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted May 29, 2007 Report Share Posted May 29, 2007 Bump My dad worked at Players on Radford Boulevard all his working life Number 4 factory rings a bell. He started there in 1944 and took early retirement when it closed in 84 he was 54 then, they included his two years national service in to give him 40 years service and he recieved a lump sum and a pension (which my mum still receives now .My dad died in 1990 aged just 60 His name is(was) George Sheppard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Your dads name doesn’t ring any bells beefy but saying that there were loads of people who at that time worked for the company at Radford me for one. As a young lad and a dogs body for the despatch department I could find myself one day working in all four factories on the Radford complex. Many a time I would start work in number one factory and within an hour or so would be told to go to so and so factory because someone hasn’t turned in for work, I would get there and the foreman would say we don’t need you now but number so and so does and off I would trot. I have worked in number four factory on the first floor, as I have said in the despatch department, also worked on the despatch docks as well, saying that though I have worked on all the docks in all the factories and more or less done every job that had to be done on them and that includes clearing snow of the tops of the flat backs that use to come into the docks in the winter, you had to do it before loading could commence. Looking back now as one does when in the retirement years living on a massive pension, one realises how lucky one was to work for such a great company even though the products they where making and I was sending out harmed peoples health and still do, but at the time one never thought about that side of the coin, all one thought about was having enough money to pay ones bills and to afford the odd drink or two or three or four……... Bip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Speaking of families all working at the same place.... I worked for almost three years for Volvo Truck in southern Virginia - there was a chap who worked on the engine prep line whose wife, ex-wife, and daughter all worked on the same line! Talk about "Happy Families".... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Speaking of families all working at the same place....I worked for almost three years for Volvo Truck in southern Virginia - there was a chap who worked on the engine prep line whose wife, ex-wife, and daughter all worked on the same line! Talk about "Happy Families".... On the same theme as yours Limey my dad and his brother my mum and my wife all at one time or another worked for John Player & sons. I offered Both my children the chance to work for the company by getting them an interveiw when they were setting people on, but both refused the offer of an interview. I think now my son regrets he turned the chance down, my daughter moved on to better things so she say's... Bip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 My dad used to run a couple of machines making Players Medium (the ones with the sailor on the front (Hero?)) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Yes that's the one. I remember to when Players Medium were in tins as well as box's of fifty and hundreds.....my dad did basically the same job as your dad beefdripping [machine operator] responsable for two machines, then he got promotion and became a section mechanic looking after four or six machines. He would take over to fix a machine if the operator of said machine couldn't fix it himself. Bip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 yes Yellow Snow Dali, my dad told me this tale when I asked him "Daddy how do you make cigaretes?" and he told me he sat there with a hand rolling machine all day long,I didn't fall for it ,mind I was about twenty at the time LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stan 386 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 As a student,I worked 3 summer holidays for Players. The best paid jobs were in the bonded warehouse. Worst job was filling 100-150 lbs(remember lbs?) of `offal'(tobacco powder waste)which would be weighed and the tax refunded.Foul horrible job,but well paid. Best job was working in the receiving dock taking the round wooden crates off the tobacco. Also VERY hard yakka,but also well paid. Worst job ,-working on a loading dock where the white coat was the father of one of my girlfriends! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Frank 13 Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Worst job ,-working on a loading dock where the white coat was the father of one of my girlfriends! You lucky bu**er were they all at the same time?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stan 386 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Is there any other way? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 88 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Never knew Stan you had a spell at Players.. I too remember the crates that use to come from foreign climbs and the tobacco dust and waist stalk, which I believe went to the snuff mill. Bip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,457 Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 While I was looking for something on another thread, I came across this flickr page called the John Player's Archive. There are nearly 200 photos - almost all in Nottingham - of everything connected with life at the Player's factories. If you lived in Radford any time up to the 1980s the street scenes will be familiar; if any of your family/ancestors worked at Player's you might find them on these photos, there are a lot of internal factory pictures going back to the 1930s. http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/ (If you aren't familiar with flickr, click on the "Newer" or "Older" buttons above the photo to go through them all) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Clifton, this is Brilliant; I'm going to need some time looking through this lot (I'm not going to say: "I'll save it for a rainy day!" - No way!) Let's keep the sun foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr The smell of tobacco from the vast Player's factory on Radford Boulevard remains with me today; I'll be kind and say: "it wasn't very pleasant!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 If there was a Nottstalgia Award they would get one! !Idea! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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