Wigan Album
Printers
6 CommentsPhoto: Colin Harlow
Item #: 18231
Hi colin, I worked uner your dad, he was a hard taskmaster but blinking funny in a very dry way! I still have the chair he used to sit on under the press gantry! Terry
Hello Terry, it's nice to hear from you. Yes dad Tom was a person who enforced hard work and perfection...it had to be right, and yes he had a dry sence of humour he had ability to say amusing things from a serious situation.
Hi colin, drop me a personal line, further to the remark i left about your dad's old chair, it's perhaps right that you should own it now. Its a high back, carved vicorian piece. regards
Thankyou Terry, it will be a pleasure. My email: colinharlow49307@virginmedia.com
I served my apprenticeship in the machine room on the commercial printing side which was located at the time in the cellar at Rowbottom Square with a partial dividing wall between us and the newspaper press. I knew Tommy very well whilst he was press room overseer. In the photograph showing him by the casting box for the old hot metal plates you can see the furnace for melting the metal. One of my jobs as an apprentice was to get in early and light the fire under the furnace to get the metal to melt. No one else would be in the department during this time...heath and safety would have a baby nowadays. When we moved to Woods St in 1966, the commercial section closed down and I transferred onto the new press. I suppose I was a pioneer in that as I was the first of the printers to have day release to the Manchester College of Science and Technology to obtain City and Guilds. I was put on the "new full colour" section of the printing process...I was still an apprentice at the time so not in charge but it was a great experience. I worked alongside Tommy Harlow and both myself and Bob Fishwick who was also an apprentice had some great laughs with your dad Colin, he had probably the largest tea cup in Lancashire and made the strongest tea! I'm convinced he would have been able to stand up his spoon in it. One of his expressions was "Home James and don't spare the bobby horses" but can't remember what context in was used in.
There are many things I remember about those times with fond memories and it brought back memories to see myself in several of the photos along with my old workmates. I left the Observer in 1970 for pastures new, but those times at the Ob were special (as was your dad).
The post above 6th April 2013 was sent to me by email from David Molyneux. It's a lovely letter describing his time at the Wigan Observer in Rowbottom Square and Woods Street. (Sorry of some spelling mistakes I made, I need to slow down with my finger tips)