Back in 1964 whilst I was working as a welder in the plant yard of Taylor-Woodrow Construction at Greenford in Middlesex, I became involved in some interesting jobs.

All of the equipment used on every site had a theoretical life-span of just three years and this included everything from wheelbarrows, diggers, dumpers, buses, lorries, mixers, compressors right up to the big Ruston Bucyrus dragline excavators - the small 18s, 22s, 38s and the really big 54 RB's. So after three years, all equipment was recalled from where ever it was and then replaced.

Back to the yard they came to be inspected. Large and expensive machines were repaired, and others went to Greenham Plant (a subsidiary company). The rest were sold in job lots for scrap with much of that probably going on to be used again.

The machines to be rebuilt were completely dismantled with all nuts and bolts and parts that were too far gone to repair, scrapped. Rollers, shafts, sprockets and wheels were built up to oversize with weld (usually 4g rods at 300 amps) and then machined to original limits. This was a basic turning job for the apprentices in the machine shop. Digger teeth and track pads were built up and hard faced. Cracks and failed welds were flame gouged or ground out and re-welded. Engines were reconditioned to original specifications.

One job I remember, was the main chassis frame for a 54 RB dragline which measured some 25’ long by 10’ wide and 2’ deep. It was “H” shaped with dozens of ribs and gussets, with many of those needing re-welding. The centre section forming the “H” was in fact two huge cross members with an internal toothed gear ring 6’ in diameter and 8” deep. A gear wheel on a shaft extended from the bottom of the cab to mesh with the ring and was the means of slewing the crane around.

The teeth in the ring used to wear - especially in the fore and aft positions and these were built up with weld and ground back to shape with a template used to ensure correct size. This alone was a whole week’s work as there were some 120 teeth to do.

Tower cranes were all made up from standard steel sections - the towers were rectangular and the jibs triangular - all 20’ long. They were composed of hundreds of angle section braces - bent or broken ones had to be cut out and new ones welded in. Logo boards for the tower cranes had to be made which were 8' x 4' steel sheet with suitable bracing and fixing points. These then went to the paint shop and the sign-writer added the logo, a silhouette of four men pulling on a rope. I used to say, “I am the man on the backend”.

Next to the yard at Greenford was a high security site with a 20’ fence, security guards and dogs. This was the Nuclear Power Group - Taylor Woodrow Civil Engineering, Babcock and Wilcox Boilers and English Electric Turbines and Generators. It was all very hush-hush and it was there that they tested out ideas for power stations. It was really lots of boys building models and testing them to destruction. For Hinkley Point they had samples of sand and aggregate from a 50 mile radius and tested hundreds of concrete mixes.

One day I was told to go to the compound with a special pass and a label round my neck (a bit like Paddington Bear). A guard with a dog let me in and stayed 3’ away from me all the time (probably had me down for a Russian spy). He and his dog had an attitude problem and I clean forgot to warn him about “arc–eyes”, but then he would know all about it at bedtime. I had to weld up some reinforcing bars to test for the Hinkley Point job. I told them that I was not a coded welder for that type of work and was told in return that they wanted it done by a rough sod like me, as I was the sort of person that they would have on site. That made me feel really special!

I also became involved in prototype work for a “ silent pile driver” and if the editor (the man from Delmonte) says “Yes”, then that will be another story!