Morris Engines, Courthouse Green

Not sure of this is the same Vernon Lowe but a likely candidate here. I didn't know him but was there from 1969 till around 1974. Roger Barham

Hello ex-apprentices. I knew Vernon Lowe and his dad quite well, the only apprentice I new really well was Terry Ashton who I worked with when he was night shift supt, he went to manage a tractor assy plant in South Africa, and of course I knew all the apprentice staff, Harry Barratt, Tony Smith, etc and Mary Fisher who used to organise the annual field day that was really successful, that was very inter plant. Inter-departmental competitions from plants such as Morris Commercial, MG Cowley, Castle Brom, Longbridge, that's when the apprentices came into their own in the competitions. My son was an electrical apprentice in 1978. Steve Beard, he now works for Jaguar Land Rover in I.T. auditing processing at plants here and abroad. It's a family thing with us, my father did 25 years, I did 30 years at the Morris till it closed in 1982, where I transferred to Jaguar Cars which was part of the group, so I kept my service going where I did another 10 years. Steve is approaching his 40 years of a total of 105 years service, same company, not bad eh? I'm glad you enjoyed the photos, I had to get special permission to go onto the site to take them, took me 9 months but it was worth it, you will see that some of the photos are black and white, that's because I've taken them from the works magazine which used to come out once a month at a penny each, I've kept every copy from 1949 to 1960, an absolute mine of information, so I will have a trawl through them to see if I can find anything that may interest you. A little before your time but Harry Barratt, Jack Lowe, etc may crop up. Whew! that was longer than I intended. All the best, Les Beard

Just come across this old pic of me at an apprentice of the year presentation. It shows Jack Lowe shaking hands with me and Ted Dinan in the background. Blimey that was a long time ago!!!! Good times though.

Hi Binkey11, did you know Lionel Macey? I think he lived in Geoffrey Close and was around your age.

Hi, I lived at 14 Geoffrey Close until the age of 6. The only lad's name I remember is Tony, that's a very distant memory though. Remember the Coronation party in the Close and if I recall rightly it was a wet day. Afraid I can't remember a Lionel Macey. Cheers

Hi Only just found this forum. My dad, Stan Williams, worked at Morris for many years (as a grinder on J Block) until he died aged 47 in 1971. I remember some of the names mentioned on here as his mates I think, and faint memories of the kids Christmas parties late fifties, early sixties. He met my mum, Iris Nicklin, there as she worked in the offices. Sadly, she is no longer with us either. Thought I would share, as it's always nice to "talk" about my folks. John

Hello. Played footie for Morris Engines and we played for the Harry Barratt Trophy. Anyone remember Ron Floyd and Derrick Prestwick. People I have great memories of those chaps.

Hello rrendall, I knew Harry and Ron well. If you trawl thro this website photos and comments, it will take you some time, you will find photos and comments of all sorts which you may find interesting, there are a lot of photos of the plant being taken down, but in between are other items that you may relate to, so enjoy and thanks for your comment. If I come across any extra info on Harry or Ron I will put it on the site.

I worked in the offices to from the age of 15-24. I started as office junior and ended up as secretary to Len Gibbs, Industrial and Relations Manager. Left in about 1968 to emigrate to Oz

I used to sit in the top right hand corner with my back to the corridor and executive offices

Link to a Coventry Telegraph photo from 1970

Hi there. Just came across this site and I have so many fond memories of the old Morris Engines. My name is Ken Walker and started as an apprentice toolmaker at Morris Engines in August 1966 and served the 12 month in the Apprentice School managed by Ted Dinan together with Dennis Wells, Dennis Jones, Tony Whitehead as the instructors. Some of my colleagues that I remember are Mick Thompson, Dave Wright, Bob Johnson, Trevor Smith, Pete Stean, Roy Beaumont, George McCurly, Roy Fuller and I am sure there are many more that escape my mind at the moment. The times we had were phenomenal with regular sports activities each morning for an hour and then we retired to the canteen for some buttered toast before starting work in the Apprentice School. I had the opportunity to work in various departments at the Morris whilst serving my time including the Laboratory, Inspection Room, Hardening Shop, Toolroom Fitting, Valve Shop, Nuffield Tool & Gauge at Mile Lane before coming out of my time in the Toolroom as a Shaper, Planer and Slotter. I have vivid memories of the time we had the Coventry toolroom Rate Dispute in 1974 that saw the Unions advise us take action and this led to us having a one day token strike which I think went on for quite a few months. Due to being newly married at that time and as we had just purchased our first house it became unbearable to loose a days wage each week for a strike and at the end of it I decided to leave the employ and security of the Morris and went work at a small sub contract toolroom in Tile Hill called Berkswell Engineering for a couple of years and then moved to Stuark Engineering in Black Horse Road, Exhall. In the late 70s I eventually took an overseas contract in the Middle East for a period of 3 years leading a team of 100 contractors working on aircraft production and in essence all I can say is that the training we received during our apprenticeship at Morris Engines was absolutely top notch and had enabled me to hold my own in the world of engineering. Looking forward to reading through all these posts on the forum and hope to come across and make contact with some of the people that I worked with all those years ago. If you remember me then please drop me an email and maybe we can arrange a meet up. Ken Walker - justkenwalker@gmail.com

Hello, Ken, welcome to our friendly forum - pleased to have you with us

Hi Ken, I've sent you an e-mail as I believe we worked together at the Morris. Cheers Bri

Hello Les, just discovered your forum. I've read through them and lots of names I remember well. My name is Ivan Piggon, apprentice 1962-67. I remember Vernon Lowe very well, I kept in touch with him. I used to visit him in his state of the art factory in Black Horse Rd. About 20 years ago the factory suddenly closed and Vernon went to America. Ivan