In the early 1960's the Works was still involved in fullfilling two South American torpedo contracts, one to the Venezuelan Navy and the other to the Chileans. The Venezuelans had purchased Whitehead torpedoes since 1953 and the latest order was for thirty three 21" torpedoes capable of being fired from three destroyers built by Vickers at Barrow. In 1957 a layout of a workshop for the Venezuelans was made in the Weymouth Drawing Office and by 1959 they were constructing the workshop on a site at Puerto Cabello. Weymouth. Representatives at the site during the workshop installation were Mr R. Jones and Mr S.Hinde, who were later joined by Mr.R.Hepburn and Mr P.Lee. In early 1961 Mr Ernie Dingley, the Chief Inspector at the Weymouth Factory, travelled out to Venezuela with Mr Hepburn and Mr Lee to give a final course of instructions and complete the contract acceptance. The striking photograph of a torpedo emerging from its launch tube just after firing was captured by Ron Hepburn during his working visit. In a similar manner the torpedo order for Chile was progressed and delivered on time. By 1962 Vickers-Armstrong (Engineers) based at Itchin, near Southampton, had amalgamated with the business of Vickers-Armstrong, based at South Marston, near Swindon. Together the two Works became known as the Vickers-Armstrong (Engineers) Ltd. Designers at South Marsdon had developed the Accelerated Freeze Drying Process for food, as well as the inovative Hovercraft, which had been tested at the Itchin Works. This move was a pre-cursor to a much larger re-organisation of Vickers-Armstrong that was to take place in 1966.

When fully assembled the production torpedoes were always taken out to the end of the old Whitehead Pier on a battery powered rail carriage. They were loaded into the boats like the "Graceful" skippered by Arthur Gumm, or the "Faithful" skippered by Alec Palmer and then transported out to the Distant Range on the middle breakwater arm of Portland Harbour, where each torpedo would undergoe an average of five firings before being considered acceptable for despatch to the customer. The Range was fitted with two torpedo tubes facing out into Weymouth Bay, which, despite the regulations (see Appendix C) sometimes led to passing ships being given a nasty fright.

Torpedo Recovery Vessels and fast Pursuit Craft were used during firings. The "Lady Craven" was a 45 foot torpedo pursuit craft named after the wife of Commander Sir Charles Craven, Chairman of the Whitehead Company in the 1930's. It had been manufactured in 1938, to replace the much older "Margaret Davison" and its two 350 horsepower Scripps V12 engines gave her a top speed of 45 knots. The "Lady Craven" was used in Portland Harbour for 24 years and after a thorough overhaul she was sent to Itchin in 1962, to be used on Hovereraft trials.

The last 21 inch Whithead torpedo was fired by Mr. Clarrie Upton on practice runs in Weymouth Bay during 1966. The "reference" or "house" torpedo was recorded as having been fired a total of 163 times and its rear assembly can be seen on display in the Weymouth Timewalk Museum. Admiralty Mark VIII and Mk44 torpedoes are kept on display at Weymouth's Nothe Fort. From 1962 onwards the Ferrybridge Works increasingly concentrated on the design and manufacture of a variety of hydraulic `VSG' Units. The Units were distinguished by "size" numbers and over the following years many hundreds were incorporated into a multiplicity of hydraulic systems, of which the following list is but a sample - Carton Stripping Machines, capable of automatically unpacking cartons of butter shipped in from New Zealand; Cable Laying Ships which used `VSG' units in the hydraulic sysytems that handled the heavy cables; in a hot saw at the Lackenby Works of Dorman Long, Middlesborough; in a portable jacking pump for English Electric Company Ltd.; in a gagging press at the works of the Shelton Iron Company; to David Bridge and Co. Ltd., for use in Banbury mixing machines, which were employed in polyethylene, PVC and rubber processing; in a paper reeling machine at the Aintree Printing Works of Bemrose Ltd.; pressure quenching equipment in Belgium; the handling of coal carrying cars in the Lady Windsor Colliery, Ynysybwl, South Wales and to help spin the main suspension cables of the Forth Bridge and the Severn Bridge.

Complete Mk III transmission systems were also produced and sold all over the world, along with Package Units (an electric motor-driven hydraulic pump, valve asemblies and oil reservoir) using Racine and `VSG' components.The `VSG' units were produced within the Ferrybridge Works using a variety of machines and assembly procedures. The following photographs and descriptions attempt to paint a brief picture of working life in the Factory during the first half of the 1960's.

The Assembly Shop

The `VSG' Assembly Shop produced the finished `VSG' gears. Chief Foreman in 1%2 was C~ril Harris, who reported to the Production Manager, C~ril Milson. The photograph shows fitter Colin Shaw putting the finishing touches to a `VSG' unit, with G~ril Milson in the background talking to Fred Jackson and Cyril Harris.

The Development Drawing Office

The `VSG' Development Drawing Office, along with the Technical Workshop, reported to the Technical Manager, Mr. McKissack. The work of the DDO was firstly to design new equipment, secondly to oversee the testing and development of existing equipment, and finally to keep the firm up to date with general progress in hydraulic designs. Pumps designed by Racine, Winsconsin, USA were also used by the Vickers Group, and the DDO ensured that the drawings were changed so that threads, seals and specifications conformed to British Standards. In 1964, after some two and a half years of design, prototype testing, development trials, endurance testing, modifications, consultations with planning and estimating, and fial tooling, the Works began turning out a new and competitive range of Slipper Pad oil-hydraulic pumps and motors.

The Test Shop

The `VSG' Test Shop received the completed units from the Assembly Shop and carried out load and speed tests. Foreman was Stan Thompson with fifteen fitters and seven labourers. The main feature of the Shop were the test beds, which were powered by electric motors to drive the `VSG' units, whose output shaft was connected to a dynomometer wheel, loaded by means of a rope passing around the circumference. The photograph shows Stan Thomson with fitters Bill McLean and Albert Maynard.

The Machine Shop

The `VSG' Machine Shop, managed by Harold King, was the largest of the Departments in the Works. Head Foreman was W Mullins, who had four sections, of which the Ward Section was the biggest, with tooling capable of general pupose, mass production and batch work. The heaviest work was handled by the Ward 7 and 10/13 Machines, which were combination turret lathes. There were thirty Ward 7 machines, which could accomodate castings up to 14" in diameter and they were manned day and night by 35 operators assisted by a number of setters and setting operators. There were 12 Ward 10/13 Machines, attended by 15 skilled operators and they could take work up to 26" in diameter. The photograph shows operator Charlie Bilke machining the external spherical surface of an air vessel end, for a torpedo. The ends were made from chrome steel forgings and the long lengths of lethal swarf could cause nasty injuries. Watching is Foreman Ron Clarke.

The Valve Section

Servo Valves, which are a form of hydraulic amplifier, were designed and tested at the Works, and were capable of operating up to 3000 psi. The Valve Section consisted of a small DO team led by Sandy Archibald and a valve assembly shop under Foreman Bob Burnett.

The Development Department Workshop

The Development Department Workshop was responsible for the manufacture and test of prototype and new equipments that had not reached the production stage. As such it was equipped with machine tools for manufacture and test beds for performance and other testing. Foreman Clarrie Upton was also in charge of the Torpedo Range. In 1963 there were several of the Development Workshop personnel who had been with the Firm since they were boys - Jack Munts having started his apprenticeship in 1914, Bert Wellman and Jack Lanfear in 1917, Arthur Beddall in 1918 and Phil Lee in 1926.

The Tool DO and Tool Room

The Tool Drawing Office and Tool Room supplied the special tools not available as standard items. Each special tool was allocated a T number for record purposes, the sytem having been initiated in 1934 at T100 when work was being carried out on the two cylinder engine of the Weymouth Torpedo. By 1%3 it was approaching 100,000 special tools. Chief Jig and Tool Draughtsman H Jones was in charge of 15 draughtsmen and reported to Mr Scudamore. The Tool Room contained a Pratt and Whitney jig borer, operated by Jimmy Miles and a Genevoise jig borer which had been installed in 1934 and which was, from 1935, was operated by Arthur Aplin. Other equipment in the shop included lathes, milling machines, surface and universal grinders and drilling machines.

Spring Making Shop

At one end of the machine shop was the Spring Making Shop, under the control of Bill Mullins. Coil steel springs were used extensively in `VSG' gear and non ferrous (usually hard drawn phosphor bronze) springs in torpedoes. Compression, tension and torsion springs were made by winding steel spring wire on to a mandrel, ftted into a chuck lathe. The winding, using annealed wire, was carried out slowly, guided by the operator. On completion it was sent for hardening and tempering in the heat treatment department, before being returned to the spring shop for testing. The photograph, taken in 1963, shows Mr Fred Webber, a spring maker since 1936, operating an Avery spring testing machine.

The Millwrights Shop

The Millwrights Shop was the Iargest section in the Maintenance Department and under Brian Prowse it employed about 30 men, including millwrights, plumbers, boiler operators, compressor drivers, millwrights mates, range hands and fitters. The Shop was responsible for the installation of everything mechanical in the factory, from the machine tools and plant in the shops, to the locks on the door. It was also responsible for the upkeep of the Torpedo Range and the repair of the boats and equipment associated with the range testing facilities. A "hard hat" diver was employed for underwater repair and maintenance, and the photograph, taken on the Graceful in the 1960's shows air being hand pumped to a diver (at that time Bob `Jock' Bishop) by (left to right) retired diver Bill Reeves Tom Clark, Harry Mitchell, Arthur Gumm and Wally Hirsthouse. Continuing improvement and maintenance of the factory was also part of the Millwrights Shop duties and in 1963 the old main entrance of the Works was swept away to be replaced by an electrically operated roller shutter door.

The Precision Lathe Section

Within the machine shop was a precision lathes section under Foreman Ray Jones. Two permanent members of the shop were Harold Keats and Arthur McCabe, while the apprentices learnt to operate the machine tools under the guidance of Setter Instructors Gordon Holland and B. Davis. The main work of the Section was turning and honing parts for `VSG' units, Sulzer units, torpedoes and any special items.

The Number 9 Shop (Apprentices)

The Number 9 Shop (Apprentices) had been in existence since the 1890's, long before Dick Abbott started his apprenticeship there in 1928. By the early sixties it was used as the fitting section for some two dozen apprentices under training, overseen by Apprentice Supervisor Dave Polley. An apprentice served a five year course, receiving as much practical training as possible in as many Departments as possible. The importance of training future hydraulics engineers was given a high priority by the Company and an Apprentice Prize Giving Ceremony was held annually at the Works. Apprentices could invite parents and friends, who received a tour of the Works along with a welcome cup of tea.

The VSG Inspection Department

The `VSG' Inspection Department was the most widely dispersed and its duties included checking everything that was made or assembled in the factory, as well as the material as it arrived and was stored. In the machine shop there were eight inspection positions, four of which checked the first completed parts from each batch, and four which checked completed batches. The View Room ensured that each batch was checked, components identified and items stamped as satisfactory. Testing facilities included a Test House where mechanical tests such as tensile, bend, Izod, hardness and crack detection were undertaken. The Department was staffed by some 46 people under Foreman Mr Orchard, who reported to the Chief Inspector, Mr Ernie Dingley, who had joined the Weymouth Works in 1928 and been with Inspection since 1937.

The Pattern Makers

With the growing tendancy for casting to be carried out by specialist firms, the need for pattern makers within the Works had reduced considerably and by 1964 only John Hustler and Maurice Steadman remained as full time pattern makers in the Carpenters Shop, under Foreman Jack Rose.

The Sales Staff

The Technical Sales staff travelled all over the United Kingdom, Europe and the rest of the World, seeking new oportunities and manning exibition stands in their quest for fresh contracts. During the first half of the sixties they could be found in Birmingham, Peking, Frankfurt, America, Hong Kong, North and South America, India and Nigeria. In 1963 a sales Conference was convened by General Manager Fred Pritchard, as a means of providing an injection and interchange of ideas. Lectures were given by T Fuller and L Ballinger, the Sales Manager of the Hydraulic Division.

The Training School

By 1965 a complete overhaul had been carried out of the industrial training practices within the Vicker Group, resulting in the setting up of a Training School Block within the Ferrybridge precinct, in order to provide apprentices, salesmen, dealers and customers with instruction and training on `VSG' and other units.

The Rate Fixers

The rate fixers had the unenviable task of fixing and getting agreement on the time and cost of each job undertaken within the workshops of the the factory. It was a sign of the times that a Value Engineering Department under Ted Addison was set up within the Works in 1956, following the great success of the techniques in America.

It was during 1963, `A National Productivity Year' that a series of new high class machines were installed at the Ferry Bridge Works, incorporating modern methods of control and having a high degree of accuracy. The Fritz Werner Mill was supplied by the Rockwell Machine Tool Company of America and the Herbert-De-Vlieg mill, termed a jigless borer, could attain the very high accuracies required for gear trains. A study into the rationalisation and demand for VSG equipment and components was also initiated, with the aim of reducing the number and size.

Finally, our tour of the Works would not be complete without remembering that many of the workers gave their time freely to man and run a first aid team on the site - an essential service with many men working constantly and quickly with powerful machines. The photograph shows Fred Pritchard with the First Aid Team of the early 1960's.

The year of 1966 saw great changes taking place within the Vickers-Armstrong Group, and these eventually led to the sale of the Ferrybridge Works and the transfer of many of the workforce to South Marston, near Swindon. However, before we record the details of those traumatic events it is worth recalling some of the happier social and sporting occasions that took place during the first half of the 1960's.

One interesting visit to the Works took place in October 1962, when Terance Cuneo, a well known artist, was employed by the Vickers-Armstrong Group to produce drawings for `sketch book' type advertisements for the National Press. Mr Cuneo was nationally known, for he had only recently been commissioned to undertake a painting of the consecration of Coventry Cathedral. In the morning, accompanied by Fred Pritchard, the artist was taken on the battery driven trolley along the Whitehead Pier and then on the Graceful out to the Torpedo Distant Range building. There he sketched a torpedo being loaded into a tube ready for test firing, and Arthur Gumm was featured in his drawing. Cuneo's second sketch was of a unit being machined on a horizontal jig borer, then came a `VSG' unit being tested and finally he visited the `Head' sbop where he produced an impression of a nosewheel strut being filled with hydraulic oil.

Another important visitor to the Works in January 1963 was the Labour Member of Parliament for South Dorset, Mr. Guy Barnett. The photograph taken during a tour of the Works, shows management and technical research staff demonstrating display and control electro/hydraulic units to the MP.

As in previous decades, many of the workers organised or took part in sporting events and competitions. The photographs overleaf of two of the football teams of the early sixties contain many well known local names and faces.

Bowls and cricket maintained their popularity and they continued to be played on the Downclose Sports Ground during the summer months. The two tennis courts were also in constant use, with Dick Abbott still playing a mean game.

In 1965 came a significant management change when Fred Pritchard, at the site since 1934, was succeeded by Mr J Ansell as the General Manager. Fred was transferred to Vickers House as Consultant on Production, advising the Director of Production on machine tools and production procedures. The state of the Works order book at Ferrybridge was described by the new General Manager as excellent, with a healthy growth, and an increased share in volume of export products, particularly in the U.S.A.

It therefore came as a great shock to the workforce when it was announced, less than a year later, in May 1966, that the Vickers Group had decided to re-oganise their Hydraulics Division and the intention was to invest some £300,000 in a separate operating unit at their South Marsdon Works, near Swindon - to which the work currently being undertaken at Weymouth would be transferred. Perhaps the move was inevitable, for by the middle sixties South Marsdon was the centre for much of Vickers research and production on Nuclear and Medical products. More importantly, it was already manufacturing a range of pumps and valves, under a reciprocal agreement with an American firm Racine Hydraulics and Machinery Incorporated. Vickers went ahead and purchased the most modern plant, including the latest tape controlled machine tools and they also conducted an intensified sales promotion drive for overseas orders.

Vickers announced that unless a buyer could be found for the Weymouth Works it would be closed. Although there was no question of any immediate large scale redundancies and many of the 900 Weymouth employees were offered the opportunity of transferring to Swindon, the news still came as a bitter blow to the proud workers at the long established Ferrybridge Works. A protest march along the Weymouth seafront was organised, but it had little impact upon the planned move.

The transfer was effected over a period of some twelve months and for a time most of the sporting and social activities at the Works continued unabated. The May 1966 Vickers News recorded that some seventy members and guests attended the Annual Dinner of the Weymouth and District Foremen and Staff Mutual Benefit Sociely, held at the Gloucester Hotel. Delegates elected to Office for the ensuing year were Mr J. Ansell, Mr Pallister, Mr Hewitt, Mr A. Weaver, Mr Harris and Mr A. Maynard. Mr A. Crabb was re-elected District Secretary and Mr B. Orchard, Mr W. Scudamore and Mr W. Burton were elected to the District Committee.

At least the Vickers News carrying the dismal news of the impending closure also recorded three happy events during that month of May, when Peter Stone of the Machine Shop's horizontal boring section married Miss Janet Vowles, Anthony McCann a Setter Operator in the Rolls Royce Section married Miss Marion Smith of Wyke Regis and Portlander David Mitchell married Miss Tanis Raybould.

As the closure of the Works loomed nearer many of the older personel decided that it was to late in life to leave their families and friends to start a new life at Swindon and many farewell parties were arranged.

Perhaps the last ofticial visits to the Vickers-Armstrong Ferry Bridge Works was by one of its workers, the Mayor of Weymouth, Mr Charlie Armstrong. He was . welcomed by the General Manager Mr. Ansell, and Mr Jimmy Chapman, the Works Manager.

As with the closure of the Works in 1921, all was not lost, for on the 3lst of March 1967 a Conveyance was signed, by which Vickers Ltd. sold the Ferry Bridge factory to a Company called Wellworthy Ltd., thus thankfully ensuring that it would continue to provide much needed engineering employment for local people into the nineteen seventies.