Coventry Climax

Thank you, Kimbo, for your response. Dave Payne (Doris's partner) and I were great pals while I was at the Climax. He was often reprimanded by our supervisor, Bert Harman, because Doris insisted on visiting Dave in the department and disrupting his work. Happy Days!

Thanks, Kimbo, for the above info. I worked in the Climax Kingfield Road Tech Pubs Dept from Nov. 1967 to Apr. 1970. The manager was Bert Harman, and colleagues were, Ray Turnecliffe, Roy Baker, David Payne and Nigel Pratt. After I left, I believe there was a departmental restructuring with several redundancies, but Bert Harman seemed to survive. Can you enlighten me if this is true, please?

I was in Tech Pubs from 1977 to 1983, by which time the place was falling apart, and redundancies were rife. I was booted and ended up in Tech Pubs at GEC Energy Systems, Whetstone, and then at Jaguar Radford, Browns Lane, and Whitley. Bert was my boss too (grumpy old so and so ). He passed a few years ago, as did Roy Baker. Nigel Pratt was a good mate even if he was a Villa fan. His mum, Dulcie, courted with my uncle Bill Kimberley before meeting Nigel's dad.

IIRC Dot's Dave had a Sunbeam Rapier in about 1970/71?

Whoohoo! Finally found it! I think this was Jan 1st 1964 - two of my heroes on a factory visit.

The Chuckle Brothers?

Is that Colin Chapman on the forks?

Yes, and Jim Clark driving

Where was this building Neil ?

Probably their service department in Sandy Lane - the exact spot I can't recall

Hello Kimbo: It's been a while since you responded to my message. Now I must apologize for not getting back to you: This is a synopsis of the Climax Tech Pubs Dept. personnel when I worked there - 1967 to 1970. The Technical Publications Department was in demand to provide the company's many customers with accurate information for operating, servicing, maintaining and spare parts ordering. Bert Harman was a veteran with the company and co-ordinated the department's workload. As a supervisor he was fair-minded, but also could be difficult in a touchy situation. However, he possessed a good sense of humour that offset an unfortunate disability in that he had lost the use of his left hand. Another release was his chain-smoking habit. In the days when smoking was almost universal, the relatively small room where we worked soon became fumigated as chronic cigarette smokers, Bert, Kevin and Roy, later joined by pipe-loving George, lit up with abandon. To avoid working in a permanent fog, a VentAxia fan was installed in the window to assist smoke extraction. The workload was extensive and varied. Bert assigned the projects based on priority and I was first given some simple tasks to become familiar with the design of the machines. Service bulletins and installation instructions were relatively easy to produce and were stepping stones towards tackling more complicated writing jobs. In due course I was able to supplement my writing activity with a few simple illustrations (mainly tracings from engineering drawings). On the occasions when Bert was absent from the office, the atmosphere became more relaxed and I was able to see a different side of my co-workers' character. Suddenly the working environment became more animated as conversation flowed freely; something that Bert would discourage. Ray Turnecliffe was the most ebullient of the team and became easily excitable at times. He was also a "worry wart' and had certain health issues, but could make good judgment calls and was a reliable colleague. In his spare time, Ray headed a small musical combo and listed himself under the stage name, Ray Stanley. The band played on the working mens' club circuit in and around Coventry. His pride and joy was a Rover 3-Litre saloon with an automatic transmission and power steering. The department's clown, who was also the butt of the in-house jokes, was Roy Baker. Roy was a twentysomething bachelor and lived at home in the nearby town of Rugby. Always seen with a lit cigarette, his absent-mindedness tended to lead him astray, but he was a conscientious worker and an excellent chess player. During the lunch periods he and I would go head-to-head at friendly chess games. Roy worked in concert with a young Coventry lad, Kevin Foxton, who was a bit of a roustabout and tended to bend the rules. His rather nervous disposition was calmed down by chain-smoking and I suspect his private life was a whirlwind of carousing with local girls and a copious amount of beer drinking. The two technical illustrators were young men and had a great deal of talent; having been formally taught in technical college. Dave Payne was the senior chap and a prolific artist. He was also a bachelor, but harboured a relationship with a divorced woman, Doris Shufflebotham, who worked in the same office building. Doris was many years older than Dave, but they didn't hide their association and it was common knowledge throughout the company. Dave's colleague was Nigel Pratt. Hailing from Solihull, an affluent suburb of Birmingham, Nigel came from a privileged background - his father was a managing director - and was slightly cynical, but we put up with this idiosyncrasy as he produced some excellent illustrations. Nigel liked to show off in his Mini Cooper sports car and is the only person I know who could leave rubber marks on the road by spinning his front wheel drive. Last, but not least, was Kathy the technical typist. Kathy was straight from the heart of Birmingham and readily identifiable by her singsong "Brummie' accent. She had a keen sense of humour and even relished in telling a few "blue' jokes.

Thanks for that! Things had obviously changed quite a bit by the time I started there... apart from Bert's demeanour. As you say, when he wasn't about, the mice would play, and as he was spending at least a couple of days a week at Shawloader and Conveyancer (both of which had been taken over by Climax) we got a fair bit of respite. Roy was a nice fella, but often the butt of jokes as he was quite easy to wind up. Rubber bands in his morning bacon butty featured heavily, as did a 'scratch' sticker on his beloved Avenger. Nigel was in an Escort of a sporty type when I first met him, and had previously had a Morgan, bought from new. He lived at Sheldon at the time, and the last time I spoke to him (15 years or so ago) he'd moved to Harvest Hill, Allesley way. The typist by then was Beverley Howard. Others were Tony Morgan (illustrator), Bill Bowdler, Paul Knight (authors) and a couple of compilers working with Roy (names escape). I'll mention what you say about Dot Shuff to my mum. They were great friends! Not sure how she'll react, lol.

Hi Kimbo: Appreciate your observations. Noticed that Roy had an Avenger. Well, that's an improvement to the (Pininfarina) Austin A40 he drove when I was there. Things became even more interesting after Kathy left on maternity leave (a story in it's own right, and for another day). Following the usual interviews, a replacement technical typist was hired. When Yvonne first arrived she turned all the male heads. She was a young, petite, dark haired girl with traces of Oriental features. Seeing that she appeared to be unattached, we all wondered who would make the first pitch to take her out. It was Kevin Foxton who started to see her on the side. However, as time went by, it became clear that Yvonne's typing ability was not up to scratch and, after a number of warnings, she was eventually let go. It then transpired that she was a single mother of four children fathered during different relationships! On one occasion, Doris overspent time on a personal visit to Dave in the office. Ivor Cox, the manager, noticed this and called Dave into his office to give him a dressing down. We all thought this was 'it' for Dave as there had been previous reprimands for the same reason. Apparently Dave spoke his mind and consequently escaped with only a stern warning. Attached is a photo showing Doris and Dave (Xmas, 1968), and I'm in the background with a lady companion. Hope your mother likes the pic. Cheers!

Ha ha. I've downloaded it, and will send it to mum. I'll let you know!