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 Interesting Factory Picture What is it?		  Forum Locked  Topic Locked
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sam christie

United Kingdom
3101 Posts
Posted - 21/11/2010 :  18:17:38  Show Profile
I was looking at eBay this morning and spotted the picture below only moments before the auction ended.I thought it looked interesting.Is the picture already well known? What is it?



Sam
Edited by - sam christie on 21/11/2010 18:18:43

George Eagle

United Kingdom
3238 Posts
Posted - 21/11/2010 :  18:30:35  Show Profile
Hi Sam

The cars nearest the camera look like F types to me? The cars being driven also look like F types whilst I suspect the completed cars in the background are awaiting delivery to either customers or MG Dealers.

I have seen this picture before, it is in the Abingdon works where the chassis are assembled and tested in chassis form before they are fitted with bodies.

Regards George
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sam christie

United Kingdom
3101 Posts
Posted - 21/11/2010 :  19:28:13  Show Profile
Thanks George.I wish we had lots more pictures like this.

Sam
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Richard Hardy

United Kingdom
2159 Posts
Posted - 21/11/2010 :  20:49:14  Show Profile
Sam

If you go into the Links section to the online video clips section on the Vintage MG Parts website www.vintagemgparts.com then you can see 20 mins of film footage to go with this photo scene.

Rich

Vintage MG Parts
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sam christie

United Kingdom
3101 Posts
Posted - 21/11/2010 :  21:41:41  Show Profile
Very good Richard.Well worth a look.

Sam
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tholden

United Kingdom
1638 Posts
Posted - 21/11/2010 :  22:57:08  Show Profile
Imagine the pollution ! Where is the health and safety officer ? Even worse is the clip of the spray shop in that video. I wonder how long the painters survived ?

TH
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David Allison

United Kingdom
665 Posts
Posted - 22/11/2010 :  13:55:42  Show Profile
Sam

This is a very well known picture of the F type production area - the chassis being driven off for road test prior to the body fitting.

The completed cars are indeed at the bottom end of the shop awaiting customer collection.
In those days the local agents would have sent drivers by train to collec the cars and drive them back - however it was more common for people to come to the factory and take delivery in person.

Car ownership in the early 1930's was still a "rich man's plaything" and the majority of customers would have been given the "Cooks Tour" of the works prior to driving home in their new car.

Terry Holdens comment about health and safety is worth a note too.
In fact MG had very few incidents of health and safety injury in the factory history and took personnel welfare quite seriously (obviously Lord Nuffield didnt want too many ending up in his hospitals). The paint sprayers job has always been hazardous but they normally had their mouth and nose covered while spraying - I guess that in the film the guys wanted their faces recognised?

The most hazardous part of the manufacturing process was hot riveting the chassis frames - this would make H&S departments swoon nowadays.

In truth engineering is a dangerous proffession and the type of people who work in that type of environment accept this.
When I started my apprenticship we lads were told that if you hurt yourself you would be taken to Matron via the pay office "because we dont want clumsy $***3rs working here!" so you learned to be carefull.

Common sense seems to be going out of vogue in industry now - mores the pity.

The health and safety officer in the MG workshop was the shop foreman George Propert who my father says was a gentle if rather stern man.
Cecil Cousins was the overall manager of the shop - he was a time served working man who never suffered fools.
Neither of these would have put up with cavalier or dangerous practices and anything which could cause injury would be avoided.

That said the accepted level of risk in 1930 was a great deal higher than is the case now.
This is to be applauded - however it is probably the reason why we have faltered as a manufacturing country, when our competitors in China and the far East accept 1930's style working practice and pay scales.

Enough moaning - nice to see that photo and the film too.
Regards David
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sam christie

United Kingdom
3101 Posts
Posted - 22/11/2010 :  19:57:06  Show Profile
Regarding the spraying the cameraman would have been foolish to bring his expensive film camera into a paint laden atmosphere let alone expose the surface of his lens to such particles.The clue is the apparent lack of masking in the shot of the car being sprayed.I think they are spraying water.

Sam
Edited by - sam christie on 22/11/2010 19:58:22
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