Adelphi Ballroom
A Memory of Slough.
I was an apprentice at the Rheostatic Co (later Satchwell Controls) from 59 to 64 and I was the apprentice's entertainments organiser from around 60 to 63 and I organised quarterly dances at the Adelphi Ballroom; they were always sold out. Gordon Reece or Rees and the Adelphians were the band. They were good musicians but struggled early on to adapt to up tempo rock and roll tunes and for some time Moon River was up tempo for them. The lads would spend most of the evening in the bar gaining dutch courage to ask a girl for a dance, usually the last waltz around 11-45. The sprung floor took some getting used to, especially if you had had a few.
The first stage show I went to at the Adelphi which would have been around 1958 was a pantomime starring Bob Cort and his Skiffle band. Later on I saw Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison, Everly Bros, The Beatles in 63 at the start of their 1st British Tour, Gene Pitney and many others but the best one was Little Richard backed by Sounds Incorporated; I've never seen a better performer and the audience went wild. From about early 63 I ventured further afield and regularly saw the Rolling Stones at the Ealing Jazz club (along with Alexis Korner featuring Ginger Baker on drums, always drunk), also early on at the Ricky Tick above the Star and Garter Windsor and at Eel Pie Island. Great days!!
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Lovely to have a response from you. I am not sure which department he worked in; however, I will ask him next time I speak to him. I will also mention your name to him and see if he can remember you. This will be next week sometime. I think it was in the warehouse, maybe it was the tools. He did his apprenticeship there. Then he became a foreman in the warehouse and eventually worked his way up to management in the offices of the years. He lived in Buckingham Avenue East.
He was also involved in the taking part in the car trials down Burnham beeches with my dad and friends.
I will be in touch once I have asked him which dept., he worked in.
He is 88 this year. .
I have spoken with my uncle and he has given me some information. Though,I scribbled it down on a small piece of paper in a not so organised way, I hope it makes sense and is informative.
So, My uncle said your name rings a bell, but couldn't place you. He did say that it was still called Rheostatic when he started; so must have started around the same time as you.
This is how he proceeded at Satchwell's:
He started in the press shop, then went into the air force. After his service in the latter, He returned to Satchwell's and went into fabrication.. From there he went into the sales dept.,. Then finished up in accounts. He took redundancy at the age of 63. He mentioned the man Satchwell when he took over. And to diversify here; my uncle eventually married the lady Pamela McCory, who was the secretary for the main boss at Satwell's. You might have come accross her? He was in the Ajaz wroks and worked under Porter; was it harry or Alf? not sure. My uncle was the chargehand in the Ajax Works, fabrication dept.
He mentioned Ron Jones of Bucks Works, then COE personel, Miss England andTN Flites.
He said he was bored stiff in accounts and would rather have been making something or producing something, so was glad to eventually get redundancy or rather he chose to take it at aged 63. So if you passed through fabrication and knew Porter, then you just might have spoken with my uncle as he was chargehand at one time there.
Also e- mail is jimbowens@tinyworld.co.uk
Thank-you for giving me your email address. I have sent you an email from my email address titled: Satchwell's.
I remember that the day I left Slough to go to college, Little Richard was playing at the Adelphi - this was as maddening, as I would have liked to have seen the great Little Richard 'in his prime'. I never went to another stage show at the Adelphi, but knew of the great shows that continued to be presented there.
You might enjoy reading about the cinemas etc of Slough on my website:
stories-of-london.org
Remember Cyril Coe and Reg. Bulgin the apprentice manager. Went back to the factory for the first time in decades earlier this year. It is now Slough Business Park. The gatehouse and canteen block are I understand preserved. It was nostalgic as I still envisaged much of what went on many years ago.
Always be grateful to Satchwell Controls and the many wonderful people who worked there.
Fond memories of the Apprentice outings. Remember one year going to London and having a meal at a Restaurant followed by seeing Frankie Howard in a show. Everyone was worse for wear from drink on the coach on the way back to Slough. There was a good spirit amongst the apprentices and plenty of laughs. Remember one day a week at Slough College; one year at the Government Training Centre in Buckingham Avenue as well as time at Ajax Avenue in the Panel shop.
Apart from castings, Satchwells made all the components for their thermostats and motorised valves like electric motors, gears, control boards etc; would never happen nowadays as companies just assemble products. Good days, Jim
It was Frank Miles in the Panel Shop. His tester was Alan Rivers. My apprenticeship was more electrical and worked a bit in the electricians dept. They had a small electrician called Fred Owen and to this day I consider him to be the funniest and happiest person I have ever met. He was a good match for the department manager called Ernie Lewis.
They sent me out on site a lot in my last two years after a spell in the Service Department and I finished up as a Service Engineer. The overall training provided by Satchwell was second to none and stood me in good stead throughout my career. Remember Cyril Wainwright in the toolmakers dept. Rocky Knight was one of the directors as well as Mr.Good and Mr.Towers. The toolshop is still there but is now a business unit.
Off to bed now, hear from you David.
Remember vaguely Jack Jarrett but did not work in the other departments. Remember the Press Shop degreaser well and the Trico ethaline fumes. In the electricians department it was the apprentices job to climb underneath the tank and change the heating elements. You had to shuffle along on your back and change them. I used to come out covered in a red rust. The fumes were terrible. Did not have the pleasure of working near the cyanide bath !.
At Ajax Avenue seem to remember Johnny Godding and Tom McGuiness on the lathes. From what I heard the company was better before English Electric and then GEC took them over. They were asset strippers who cared little for the company.
Like a lot of British industry Satchwell's were a good company that had a lot of very skilled and talented people.
There were a lot of nice young ladies some in Personnel and in Accounts as well as the Assembly lines. I eventually got married at Slough Registry Office although not to anyone from Satchwell.
Great days which provided so many lovely memories.
Cannot recall Irene in Accounts. Remember the manager as being John Mould.
From the older apprentices when I joined who may have been there when you were at Satchwell's.
Peter Court; Bob Curry; John Bates; Melvin Sedgebeer; Roger Dugan; John Woods & Derek Hussey.
A few others were Martin Tomlinson in the Drawing Office at Ajax Avenue. Ken Batchelor was the Service Dept. manager when I was there.
All a very long time ago now of course but many smashing people who bring back good memories.
Best Wishes,
David