Coventry Gauge & Tool / TI Matrix etc.

My granddad is in this photo, back right, Harold Harper.

Does anyone recall and incident in the mid 1960s regarding a trip to Manchester, in which, I believe 3 lads from the company were killed when the coach in which they were travelling broke down on the Manchester viaduct? Apparently, it was dangerously foggy and the lads jumped over the wall to take a field break, not realizing that they were on the viaduct and fell to their deaths. I do recall the name of one of the lads, however, I do not wish to name him in case there are still relatives on this site. I am curious if anyone knows more about this incident.

I failed to mention that the lads worked at CG&T Co., at the time.

Hi, I was there from 1969 until about 1976. I completed my apprenticeship and then moved into Inspection under Alan Lockhart.

Hello. I'm disappointed there are so few posts on this topic. I was a student apprentice from 1961-1966, studying at the Lanchester and working in various departments between college terms. After graduating I worked in the Design Office under Ray Palmer. But in 1970-1972 they sent me to UMIST to study again for an M.Sc. Fortunately for me but unfortunately for them I met my wife "up north" so I left soon afterwards. Ray was very understanding, as was the company for which I was very grateful. I see Matrix is still going in a smaller place still near Fletchamstead and wish them well.

Hi Chris, they were on an apprentice trip to Blackpool for the weekend, lost one of my mates at the age of 17 that fateful day. I only know of one who died. I also knew his dad really well from my junior football days.

Hello. Not sure that this will be much help but I was an apprentice from 1954 and finished my service in a workshop attached to the Chromatix dept. making jigs and fixtures to assist the precise Hard Chromium plating mainly of screw gauges. Was later promoted to Foreman of the Plating dept. during which time I was tasked with the job of installing a Chromatrix plating plant behind the Curtain in East Germany. Some time later I left the Company along with another staff member to form Chrome Precision (Coventry) laterley of Bayton Road Exhall. Prematurely my partner passed away & I was fortunate to sell just prior to the economy downturn of the late seventies.

Hi Stpauls, I wonder if you came across my step grandad Eric Wilson. He was there from probably the forties or earlier and left in the early 60's when he and my Nan moved to Highcliff and he went to work at a place in Poole which I think was part of the same group. They must have been precision engineers as I remember on one of their visits back to Coventry I sat in the car outside a unit on the Fletchamstead Highway while he fetched some industrial diamonds which he showed me later. If you saw him you would have remembered him as he had a large moustache (grown, I believe, after he had facial injuries coming off his motorbike in the 1930's). Before your time but Eric's dad, my mum and dad, all worked at the gauge at one time.

Hello. Not sure whether this is of any help as I began my time on the drawing board early 1954 (I think ?) when the App.Training School was then part of the Matrix hall up the highway and in the charge of Mr. Langley with Mr.Pendleton Foreman. This later moved to an upper floor of the main factory down the highway, again under the same staff control. Most of this early period I spent in the Machine Tool Fitting section under the watchful eye of dear old Bert Burrows, a skilled fitter nearing retirement. After moving down on to the main shop floor the names of those in charge that I can recall (70 yrs. later) that might be of use to others are: Turning, Kendrick - Satchwell, Machine Repairs - Pedley-Francis, Heat Treatment - Cyril Fleming who later became head of all treatment Heating-Polishing and all Chemical Plating just around the time I got promotion to Plating Shop foreman having spent some time making jigs and fixtures needed in the plating process. Other workmate names that have since sprung to mind - Bill Gilbert (car share) Cliff Thomas, Tony Samson, Pete Scragg, Alec Ward (milling) Neil Howes (Chem.Lab.)and Paul Henderson who rose to high management. What a great Company to work for.- Own surgery, Barbers shop (in works time!) up the road at the Matrix Hall - Dining hall - Social Club with Bar- Snooker Table - Darts Boards. Outside - Large car-park, partly covered for Bikes & Motorbikes - Tennis court and Cricket & Football Sports field. I ask you, have workplaces really progressed from that ??? I suppose you would have to ask the ROBOTS !!

Hi, I joined Matrix in 1976 as a student apprentice, spending my first year at Lanchester Poly. I then transferred to a technical apprenticeship, finishing my time in the design office as a an electrical draughtsman. The MD was Gordon Archer, design head was Noel Tittle and the head of the electrical design was Len Hartopp with Nigel Rogers. I worked with Simon Holdsworth and occasionally John Thompson doing the control system designs and in January 1980 was appointed as a design engineer. It was a time of fairly major technological advancements, with the introduction of programmable controllers and the company was trying to develop a CNC machining centre (eventually became the V50). We had a big order book and I was kept very busy. I decided to go and see a bit of the world and so joined the service department under John Sumner in November 1981. I spent a couple of years on the road and then Gordon Archer asked me if I would return to the DO for a spell as they were struggling with the workload. I never returned to the service department, although I did go out to problems occasionally. I can't recall when Gordon Archer left and Paul Henderson took over but I remember going to Moscow in 1984 to set up a seminar and Paul Henderson, Mark Gutterage and Paul Bingham came out while the seminar was running. Yuri Andropov died while we were there and we were all moved out of our hotel on Red Square so that state officials could stay there. I also went out to Hyderabad, in India in November 1984 coinciding with the Union Carbide explosion in Bhopal. I left the company for a year in 1988/9 and returned when the company fortunes seemed to have improved only to witness the raid by the DTI and the arrests of Paul, Mark and Trevor Abrahams and the ensuing Arms To Iraq trial. There were only a few of us left when the lights went off for the last time. Very sad to see such a successful business and a great place to work destroyed in such a drastic way.

Hi Andrew, welcome to the forum Thanks for adding your memories.

Julesharley: I'm guessing your father was either Martin who I mention in a later post as Company Secretary or his brother who, I think, was in charge of Design and Development for a short period

Annewiggy: In a posting you mention your father working at the Parkstone, Poole factory and purchasing industrial diamonds. They were used to 'dress' and cut thread forms into the grinding wheels that were then used to grind threads onto plug and ring gauges which were the main products of the Poole factory from about 1968. The machine tools used were 'Matrix' thread grinding machines produced at the Fletchamstead factory.

I joined Coventry Gauge and Tool Co. Ltd. As the first Commercial apprentice starting on 29th August 1960. I was 16. It was the idea of the then new Finance Director Brian Eustace. Around sixteen to twenty engineering apprentices were engaged each year so this was new. No formal indentures just a gentleman's agreement for five years training through all the administrative and commercial departments with part-time day release at college. Mike Wareham was taken on at the same time. He eventually moved into the new and developing computer department, later leaving and setting up his own computer company. Sir Stanley Harley was Chairman and Managing Director. Eric Mullett Chief Accountant and my first manager was John Lofts Cost Office Manager. At the end of the five years I ran a section in the cost office responsible for compiling costs of all parts (around 40,000 with the cross-reference cost hierarchy from parts to units to Machine Tools, all paper copies, this was before computers!). By 1968/69 Sir Stanley retired, Mr Everest was MD and Jim Hunnisette Deputy MD. 1968/69 Tube Investments (TI) bought the company. At that time there was the Coventry Factory making Machine Tools, Hobs, Gauges and Instruments; Brechin Factory specialising in Contract tools and equipment; Leicester Factory - Slip gauges, Length and Sine bars; Ratby factory - Broaches; Poole factory - Plug and Ring gauges, plain and threaded; Madeley factory - Instruments and Tables; Pitter Gauge and Tool at Woolwich - Caliper gauges and instruments and Rockwell Machine Tools - sales of Machine Tools. TI brought with it Churchill Machine Tools and EST Gauges and then divided the combined Machine Tool division into Gauges and Instruments, Tools and Machine Tools. The Gauge side retained the name and became TI Coventry Gauge, initially with HQ at Coventry and factories: Madeley; Leicester; Poole, EST. Godalming and Pitter Gauge, Woolwich. The TI Tool division Ratby, Hobs initially at Coventry and Brechin Churchill Machine Tools and the Machine Tool part of Coventry Gauge and Tool became TI Matrix Churchill incorporating the logo into the name. I moved to the Gauge division initially as Management Accountant in 1971with an office in Matrix hall - where Howdens are today! The Matrix Hall had one of the best sprung dance floors in the city. It was used as the canteen in the week and dances and other functions were held at weekends. Dick Salter paint shop foreman was also an amateur artist and created many of the posters for events. He was nephew of Florence Weston mentioned in the forum 'Famous Coventrians not born in the City'.

People I remember: Coventry Factory management: Fred Trunkfield, Len Drury, Dennis Reynolds (Production mgr) John Sumner (Assembly), Jim Newman (Machine shop) Frank Roberts, Bob Hayworth - Progress Jack Coles and ? Townsend, Subcontract with ? Saxby or ? Exton Robert Smith Production Control - later Madeley Factory Manager Ken Sharratt - Planning - later Poole Factory manager Bob Brown Bob Townend Organisation and Methods ? Greenyer Co. Secretary, replaced by Martin Harley Roy Farmer -Sales estimating. Arthur Thompson Gauge Production; Ron Littlewood, Gauge section later Gauge Sales. David Wilson - Measurement Laboratory (The first provincial measurement laboratory to gain National Physical Laboratory [NPL] approval. David moved to TI Coventry Gauge upon the split and with ? Manson from Pitter Gauge & Tool gained NPL approval No.2 for the measurement laboratory at Madeley, Telford Plant. Frank Tunnicliffe - Ratby factory manager Bert Janes Plant Manager Pitter Gauge & Tool, Woolwich, Later Sales director TI Coventry Gauge based at Madeley, Telford followed by Maurice Jones then Frank Munro Foremen: Jim Berry -Milling; ? Saxton - surface grinding; Dick Salter - Paint shop Office Managers: Dennis Renolds - purchasing; David Keep - Credit Control; Bill Saxby, Tony Taylor - Sales; David Rhodes, John Walmsley - Financial accounts; ?? and Ron Appleton Cost Office; John Lofts - Budgetary Control; Cyril Orr - Personnel; 'Pop' (John's father) Lofts - Wages; Malcom Coles - Computer room When TI took over TI people moved in as management of the TI Machine Tool Division Initially Arthur Turner CEO then George Ashton; Mike Roberts HR; Bob Salt Technical; Peter Cooke FD. TI Matrix Churchill was headed by Ken Thomason. The MD of EST Gauges initially became MD of TI Coventry Gauge but retired fairly shortly and Don Bailey became MD based at Madeley Telford. TI man Eric Goodman was Financial Controller and Andrew Johnson became Chief Accountant Pitter Gauge and Tool was closed and the production moved to Leicester, Poole and Madeley. EST Gauges Godalming closed and production transferred to Poole. Very few employees transferred either cases. The sales and accounts offices for TI Coventry Gauge Ltd initially set up in the Matrix Hall in 1971 were relocated to Madeley Telford. I was Chief Accountant by then and was the last to relocate in autumn 1974. Maurice Jones, Export sales, joined TI Coventry Gauge as Sales Director and later became Factory Manager Leicester followed by Nick Turnbull ex Production Director at Madeley Frank Munro, an ex-apprentice, Design Draughtsman had joined the sales team and also relocated office at that time. He eventually became Sales Director and later left to join a customer's business. Frank had been treasurer of the apprentice association which I took over from him during my period as apprentice. Paul Henderson was on the test bay when I joined in 1960, he eventually moved into sales and during the 1980's became MD of Matrix Churchill under the new ownership and subject to investigation under the Scott report along with Trevor Abrahams and others. Following the report Paul published a book 'The Unlikely Spy'. Each year in the 1950's and 60's the apprentice associations from the major companies in the city entered the Coventry Carnival. A lot of effort went into making the floats. I remember the 'Helen of Troy float which included a Trojan Horse made from a metal structure and covered in cloth papier mache style. It was towed on a frame by apprentice 'slaves'. There is a Coventry Telegraph photo of me and another in 'loin cloths' carrying the bottom of an oil drum gong along Greyfriars Green! One big apprentice event was a dance held at the new Locarno where we booked a new group, The Barron Knights. I was treasurer then and I believe we paid them £250. TI Coventry Gauge Madeley Telford was closed December 1980. Poole and Leicester shortly after. Poole business I believe, was sold to Horstmann Gauges. In Telford Technical Director John Cook backed by a Swiss company very successfully bought and continued development and manufacture of electronic gauging which had begun in the late seventies and now under different ownership is still running in Telford.