Ford Motor Annual Shutdown

A Memory of Dagenham.

I well remember being 'fortunate' enough to work for contractors during the annual shutdown; when I was 15/16. It was during Fords heyday when they had circa 45,000 - many of who 'biked' to work come rain or shine. The shutdown work was wide ranging across the whole plant, from the blast furnace area to the 'new' PTA building, which fronted the A13 (and since torn down). The work was hard, and hours 'long', but we all made more money than we could ever have made elsewhere. Most of the workers turned out to be day labourers with young Cockneys and Irish of roughly equal numbers. A really tough, rough group but also 'salt of the earth' types too.