Metallurgy, class of 1957
Engineer

In 1954, at the age of 20, after a spell of national service, I enrolled at Sheffield Technical College on a three-year metallurgy training scheme that was run in conjunction with the United Steel Company.

We split our time between the classrooms at Bowling Green Street in Kelham Island and Samuel Fox & Co or Steel Peech & Tozer steelworks. I remember that, like me, most of the trainee students were ex-national servicemen. One of my classmates had experience of aircraft and long-range additional fuel tanks made of waxed paper. He used to make water bombs using the same technique at the back of the class and gaily tossed them out of the window to catch passers by unawares.

To get to the steelworks, we had to get a tram and then a bus, which meant 4.00am starts for the early shift. Walking through the steelworks gates you'd hear hundreds of men shouting, 'Art ar' (how are you?) and, 'Areet' (alright). You'd have to dodge steam cranes - I always wanted to drive one - shunting locos and a hot rod which made great loops across the steel floor. It was considered unmanly not to walk across the mill floor. At least two men in the clerk’s office had artificial legs.

The company workforce worked incredibly hard and were unforgettable mates during training. There was no end to the many tricks they used to play on the students, but they were all in good jest. The first hands on the steel furnaces used to give you a shilling and a bottle of Tizer each shift and a cheese sandwich if you were lucky.

It was an interesting time and we all knew Britain had to be rebuilt. Working in the iron and steel industry, we were all very much a part of it.

Once I finished at Sheffield Technical College I worked for United Steel Company for nine years, five years of those based in Calcutta. I was able to travel all across the world with absolute confidence in the knowledge I had gained at United Steel Company Ltd and Sheffield Technical College.