SixasStandard Posted February 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2021 I had to come in from the garage for a break.......trying to weld a patch on a particularly obstinate bit of 58 year old steel in the Alpine's nose lead to a rather unfortunate outburst on my part when I burnt through and had to bin the patch that I'd spent 30 minutes carefully crafting. Hopefully the elderly neighbours had their hearing aids turned down at the time (some of the language was a bit extreme even for me), if not then I'll be expecting a few less Christmas cards this year! Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 24, 2021 Report Share Posted February 24, 2021 the mind plays covid .....i ordered one of the last but i was lacking coffee the Super Imp was first new car in 68 when they got the front wheels upright the Avenger came in 70 when the carry cot changed to some nasty supposed safety seat for the nipper i did work at Ryton as a visiting Quality Auditor i was a True Commer man from The Luton / Dunstable Truck plants but we got sent to Ryton and Stoke to check audit results were common across the plants did Maidstone Tilling Stevens as well for TS3 manufacture we were very good at upsetting plants Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 24, 2021 Report Share Posted February 24, 2021 We travel to the Banbury area regularly. M1-M69, A46, and A423. So for some 20+ years now, on and off, we passed the Ryton plant, what`s left is now a vast distribution centre I believe. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 24, 2021 Report Share Posted February 24, 2021 There's a song called: As I was going to Banbury The second line is: Rye-far-latter-dee-oh ...and I keep thinking: that's NOT how you spell Banbury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 24, 2021 Report Share Posted February 24, 2021 on the dual just down from Ryton was The Laughing Dog food factory i dont study dog food but never ever seen that on the shelves again think its been demolished the Commer factories Luton is housing and Dunstable is now 3 enormous Amazon distribution units over the road Bedfords plant is wharehouses and Sainsbury the sad is all employed 1000,s of skilled and semi skilled on good wages now they employ shelf stackers and fork truck drivers on minimum wages and zero hours contacts is that progress Nah!! Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 Sadly, whilst I have every sympathy for those who`s livelyhoods where lost. The fact remains the punters where not buying the output. The top management where reluctant to move forward and invest to produce the type and quality coming from elsewhere. Hence IMV, RIP the UK car industry. Now MG`s are produced in------ P R of China!. along with various viruses. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Twitchen Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 Coventry born and bred with family deep in the car industry. My uncle worked at the 'Humber', as it was always called by the locals, and finally Jaguar on the shop floor from the end of WW2; he was also a Shop Steward during the industries troubled times. He was adamant that the demise was a complex mix of issues but that the management could not be blamed for it all and that he and his like had been a significant part of the problem. Add to that ill advised government intervention which saw manufacturing at Linwood, an area deeply entrenched in car production (not), and he used to laugh at the lorry loads of Imps being bough South to Ryton to be sorted. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixasStandard Posted February 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 The demise of the British car industry was a perfect storm of combining factors. There was insufficient investment in new models caused by the complacency that our previous dominance in World markets had created; in the 1950s and 60s at least there was a genuine class divide between management and shop floor workers, that was ripe for exploitation by the politically motivated; nationalization NEVER works........it just breeds yet more complacency and inefficiency; Unions became a tool of the political ideologues.........men like Derek Robinson, whose only job for the rest of his life after destroying British Leyland was for the Morning Star newspaper; and let's not forget Thatcherism, where 'the Market' was all that mattered, rather than protecting our manufacturing industries by targeted protectionist trade policies. Eventually we'll have to relearn our manufacturing skills in the UK, because it's the only way to provide mass employment for such a broad cross-section of our society, and prevent the social inequality and hopelessness that plagues parts of our country at the moment. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 11 minutes ago, SixasStandard said: nationalization NEVER works Way too much of a generalisation and definitely not true. Sure, it didn't work for the British car industry but it did for other countries, it did for other industries (British Rail was more efficient than any of the privatised messes we've had) and it is the only way for some services. 13 minutes ago, SixasStandard said: let's not forget Thatcherism, where 'the Market' was all that mattered, rather than protecting our manufacturing industries Thatcherism was worse than that - it was a deliberate policy of destroying our industry because that was perceived as where the "left wing" (i.e. socially conscious) activists gathered. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 19 minutes ago, NonMember said: Way too much of a generalisation and definitely not true. Sure, it didn't work for the British car industry but it did for other countries, it did for other industries (British Rail was more efficient than any of the privatised messes we've had) and it is the only way for some services. Hmmm depends on your definition of efficient as you can have a great service if you throw enough money at it (NHS?). Trouble with nationalising is you never know if youre getting value for money... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 1 minute ago, johny said: Trouble with nationalising is you never know if youre getting value for money... That's not true either! My definition of efficient is that BR cost less for a better service. That's the accepted reality among researchers. The NHS costs less than most health care systems - certainly it gets far more "care for your buck" than most. And being nationalised, it's much easier to obtain the cost figures - because they ultimately all go through one place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 Well its certainly not as easy to know if its value for money as the consumer paying and judging the service they get! Apart from government actively hiding nationalised industry costs theres grey areas plus other factors that make comparisons difficult... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 2 hours ago, NonMember said: Thatcherism was worse than that - it was a deliberate policy of destroying our industry because that was perceived as where the "left wing" (i.e. socially conscious) activists gathered. There are of course those who would argue that our industry was run by gangsterism and thuggery - you MUST join the union, you MUST do what the union tells you, and if that means one out all out then out you go; you dare not dissent, and if it ruins the business and the country, well, that's the fault of the business not the small number of privileged elite who run the unions and live like fat cats. It was a dictatorship under the guise of 'social consciousness', Luddism of the worst kind. Sadly, or fortunately, many of them were forty or fifty years too late to have a revolution and bring down the country. I wonder where all those Che Guevara posters are now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 Like almost everything in life its a balance isnt it - god I feel old🤪 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 5 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said: I wonder where all those Che Guevara posters are now? Student halls?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 4 hours ago, johny said: Like almost everything in life its a balance isnt it - god I feel old🤪 Likewise, and VERY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 10 hours ago, Dick Twitchen said: My uncle worked at the 'Humber' Originally the marque name of the Humber Car Company. Merged with Hillman, and Bought by Roots. The Ryton Plant was originally a wartime Aero Engine Factory A local guy had a large collection of Humber cars. they where up for sale recently, he wanted to try and keep the collection together rather than break it up. They are now all in storage somewhere in the Midlands?. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixasStandard Posted February 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 9 hours ago, NonMember said: Way too much of a generalisation and definitely not true. Sure, it didn't work for the British car industry but it did for other countries, it did for other industries (British Rail was more efficient than any of the privatised messes we've had) and it is the only way for some services. My comment on Nationalization was framed by the context of the thread, so I was referring to the UK, and to industries, not services. In the context of this discussion I consider British Rail to have been a service not an industry, in the same way as the NHS is a service. Some elements of our society definitely warrant subsidization by the State, as they lessen the possibility of social inequality, but such support should be reserved for Services, rather than industries. In that context I would definitely stand by my statement. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 In reality I supose that most things that are regarded as "essential" services. Say like. Post, Power, Medicine, Public Transport. should (in theory) work best and be most efficient as a cohesive "whole". They fall apart when allowed to "compete". Eg; How can the Rail to London, compete with the rail to Bristol?. Has anyone tried to get a fare from (say) Edinborough to St Ive`s?IMV it is comparing apples to pears shurely?. Even in the NHS. I am a customer!. Each "trust" wants to charge the next "trust" for services. So, I fall ill in Surrey, but my home is in Yorkshire, to accomodate that they employ more admin, who argue about "who will pay" who in turn take cash from the "frontline", while the patient waits blocking a bed, and the various operators decide who does what!.. Yet the title is National Health Service?. Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 2 hours ago, PeteH said: Student halls?. That iconic Che poster was actually painted by Jim Fitzpatrick in Dublin; I used to correspond with him when I was a student myself, although it was his Celtic / Mythical stuff that was of more interest to me. He used to reply on postcards which had his paintings on the other side, so it was a very cheap way of getting some... I managed to get some of his other artwork recently at an affordable price, which is rare these days. I don't know who's 'in' these days, that students would have on the walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Twitchen Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 2 hours ago, PeteH said: Merged with Hillman, and Bought by Roots. The Ryton Plant was originally a wartime Aero Engine Factory And the big sign at the gate said 'Humber, Hillman, Commer, Cob' if i recall correctly. My Mum worked at the factory during WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 25, 2021 Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 not Cob Humber Hillman Commer Karrier plus Sunbeam Singer and Dodge the Cob was originally a 3 wheel Karrier bit like the Scammel many might remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 26, 2021 Report Share Posted February 26, 2021 9 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: not Cob Humber Hillman Commer Karrier plus Sunbeam Singer and Dodge the Cob was originally a 3 wheel Karrier bit like the Scammel many might remember Much beloved by British Railways. The Reckit and Coleman group used them too. (Reckit`s blue dollybags, to make your washing whiter!!). Pete NOW, we are down "memory lane"!!!. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 26, 2021 Report Share Posted February 26, 2021 we made 1000's of Yellow Bantams for Brit rail which used the 0E160 Standard diesel a completely gutless wonder engine had a throttle plate to close the venturi to create vacuum so unless you throttle back or went down hill ...no brake assist or trailer brake as no vacuum with no horses it was foot to the floor to go anywhere happy days had to load them on rail cars and remove the battery under th passenger seat , and pass it out the window as doors wouldnt open enough to get out pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted February 26, 2021 Report Share Posted February 26, 2021 9 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: had a throttle plate to close the venturi to create vacuum so unless you throttle back or went down hill ...no brake assist or trailer brake FORD, windshield wipers?. In any sort of real rain you needed to take your foot of the gas to get the wipers to speed up and clear your screen. Made for very strange slow down speed up progress in the wet!. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now