What a great find this site is. I remember so many of the names mentioned here from my late father. His name was George Carr and he worked at Parkfield Foundries during the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, he worked his way up from being a Salesman, to Sales Manager and then Sales Director, he retired in 1982 but sadly died in 1984. He often spoke about Geoffrey Taylor the MD at the time, also Brian Turner who became MD after Mr Taylor, and Mr Trembath, Mr Matsen and John Yare who used to work directly for my dad. I often wondered what happened to the foundries.
Christine Allan, did your dad have brothers John & Samuel, and sister Betty, if so his mother May was my dads aunty, May’s husband Sam worked at ICI, lived at 1, Danby Road, my gran Beatrice Casey (nee Kirk) was May’s sister.
All the best.
Derek
Hi Derek
You have in fact got the right family.
John and Sammy were my uncles, and Bessie my aunty.
My nana May (née Kirk) married Sam. So we are in fact related through the Kirks
Hi Christine, I remember Ronnie very well, nice man I remember, yes Beatrice was my gran, May used to live in flat below gran during the war, May then moved to 1 Danby Rd. The Kirks worked on first railways & servants in big houses, they came from Headingly, Yorkshire, I have the early Kirks from late 1700s.
All the best.
Derek
As a new arrival to Teesside, and indeed to the UK (I moved here from Canada), I am fascinated by the area’s industrial history – also acutely aware of, and saddened by, what was lost through deindustrialisation. I live on Mulberry Wynd in the Kingswood new build estate, which I believe is on the former site of the Ashmore Benson & Pease works. Delighted to correspond with those with memories, recollections, etc
My late father, Arthur Pryke, worked at parkfield as a Fettler from the 70’s up until the close. He always had an ambition to be one of the only Fettlers to make it to retirement which was sadly not to be as he was 62 when the foundry closed. Many of the names above I have heard mentioned. My husband Paul Beattie was also a Chargehand Furnaceman in the middle 80’s. 29/03/2012 16:50:39
My late father worked at Parkfield Foundries in the 60’s and 70’s – he was a pattern maker and then a methods engineer – Percy Adamson. My brother served an apprenticeship there as a moulder but later re-trained as an electrician as he didn’t like working in the foundry and didn’t see his future there. 24/09/2011 09:34:59
Hi I worked with Percy at Stockton Castings. Great fella and a great laugh, he used to sing his head off at the old tunes on radio 2. He had the whole pattern shop laughing their heads off.
I remember Jim Garner well. The story is that he moved up from Birmingham to install the moldmaster, and stayed on as Company Engineer. It was an ingenious machine, but tedious to operate. I worked on it occasionally, laboriously pushing moulding boxes into it, or clearing out the sandpit on a Saturday morning. Is Jim still alive I wonder?
Great pics on this site – reminds me of my first ever driving lessons which I had on this car park with my dad, Jim Garner, who was Works Director (I think) at Parkfield from about 1974, for 12 years or so – his big creation was the Moldmaster! Lots of names on here I remember – Andrew and Brian Turner, Geoff Taylor and Len Matson….
Andrew, I”m glad to hear your dad is still alive and well! Incidently, I have put a computer animation of the foundry on Youtube. If anyone is interested, just type “Parkfield Foundries” in the search box.
What an interesting find is this site, my father is Brian Turner who was the Metallurgist in 1958 at the foundry of Ashmore Benson and Pease, he stayed with it when Geoff Taylor, now deceased, bought it as an early management buyout in 1961. I worked there for many years eventually becoming Sales Director before leaving to run an other Parkfield Foundry in Horwich Lancashire in 1987. I have very fond memories of the works and many people whom I worked with over the years. Harry Palfreman, Albert Davison, Alan Fish, Alan Jones et al.
The man was Geoff Taylor, – I agree Kevin about his resemblance to Prince Phillip – I know because I lived just a few houses away in the village of Hornby near Gt Smeaton. He gave me 7 weeks of summer holiday work in 1977 wheeling barrows full of the hot sand from the casting boxes to the automatic riddles – I was the fittest I”ve ever been, full 6 pack 🙂 Boy did I have to work for it though ! He moved from the wonderful house in the mid 1990s to a retirement home – I think near Brid or Hull – and died just about the turn of the century aged nearly 90…
I too remember Mr Taylor, whom I always thought bore a striking resemblance to Prince Phillip. At least up till a couple of years ago, Brian Turner was still alive and happily playing golf somewhere down south, according to his son, Andrew, who worked at Parkfield briefly in about 1981, whilst a student. I can confirm that the company was licensed to produce Meehanite.
By the way, this photograph is shown back to front! It is taken from Bowesfield lane, with the old Ashmore”s offices behind the photographer. The brick building in the foreground is the end of the earlier offices. The two were at one time linked by an enclosed footbridge spanning Bowesfield lane. I too remember Jimmy Jarret, who was in charge of the transport side of the operation. Just for the record, the company was named “Parkfield Foundries” not foundry, as is often stated. Anyway, back to the photograph! The company was actually called “Parkfield Foundries (plural) because there were two foundries on the site.
The man who got a group together to buy the foundry from Ashmores and call it Parkfield Foundries was called Taylor. The metalurgist was Brian Turner. The manager was my father, Len Matson, who had served his time in the pattern shop when it was Ashmores. It had a heavy foundry and a light foundry and did well into the 1980″s.
Seems we did the same thing Colin. I served my apprentiship at Parkfield”s in the pattern shop, started in “69 and I left for Canada in “75. We were very busy in those days, but it seems things changed. My uncle, Ken Rigg, used to be at Head”s and my dad was at Ashmores, small world isnt it. Sure is nice to see those pic”s of the old place, now that it has been demolished for a new housing development all we have left are the pic”s and memories. As far as Parkfield”s and Mehanite are concerned, they were the first foundry to acquire the licence to produce it.
We all went overseas as Teesside ran out of work. My last job was at Head Wrightsons Machine shop in Middlesbrough. While I was on the ship coming to Australia they went on to 3 days per week due to lack of work. I would not have been able to pay the mortgage. Just made it in time. I wonder just how many of us left a sinking ship? PS there has been a bit of talk of Mehanite. its a process for producing stronger castings ie spherical graphite iron used on machine construction.
Brian Taylor thats the man Cliff, I met him when he visited South Works Offices of Ashmore Benson Pease, between Bowesfield Lane and Yarm Road.What happened to the Foundry ?, did it go out of business or is it still in existence ?. In the early fifties and sixties Ashmores were the leaders in the World in fabrications in special steels. They had the most modern Fabrication shops and a Machine shops any where in the World, yet today they are no longer operating. What happened to all this expertise on Teesside ?.
The tall thin elderly gent. who bought the foundry was called Brian Taylor. Other names I recall from the offices were Mr Trembath and a Jimmy Jarrett. I have some photos taken inside the foundry in the 1960s, if I can find them I`ll upload them to this site.
You jogged my memory Cliff. I remember the trade name Mehanite as being the special product of the Parkfield Foundry. I remember meeting one of the owners, a tall thin man, can you remember his name Cliff.He had bought the Foundry off Ashmore Benson Pease and ran it as an independant Foundry.
Benny – Parkfield Foundry had a licence for casting in a metal known as Mehanite (sp?). It involved adding a certain something to the molten metal before it was cast into the moulds. I think it was meant to increase the hardness of the metal. My brother (Ken) worked in the offices when it was Ashmores and stayed with the company when it became Parkfield Foundry.
This is Ashmores Foundry. As a young apprentice chemist in the 1950″s I had to go there everyday to collect the metal samples of pieces that had been cast for analysis to ensure the metal was of the correct specification
I am sure the Foundry was the Parkfield and was owned by a couple of local men. They had a special type of casting which was only cast by them. I am sure some of the older people who worked there would have more information on this subject.
This is the Fondry I refered to in my description of the Ashmore Benson Pease Machine and Fabrication Shops. It was an independantly foundry owned by a local business man.
A very good friend of mine worked there in the pattern shop…Kenny Bailey, quality chap
What a great find this site is. I remember so many of the names mentioned here from my late father. His name was George Carr and he worked at Parkfield Foundries during the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, he worked his way up from being a Salesman, to Sales Manager and then Sales Director, he retired in 1982 but sadly died in 1984. He often spoke about Geoffrey Taylor the MD at the time, also Brian Turner who became MD after Mr Taylor, and Mr Trembath, Mr Matsen and John Yare who used to work directly for my dad. I often wondered what happened to the foundries.
Does anybody know my dad. His name is Ronnie McQuade. He was also known as black mac. He was a overhead crane driver but may have done other jobs
Christine Allan, did your dad have brothers John & Samuel, and sister Betty, if so his mother May was my dads aunty, May’s husband Sam worked at ICI, lived at 1, Danby Road, my gran Beatrice Casey (nee Kirk) was May’s sister.
All the best.
Derek
Hi Derek
You have in fact got the right family.
John and Sammy were my uncles, and Bessie my aunty.
My nana May (née Kirk) married Sam. So we are in fact related through the Kirks
Hi Christine, I remember Ronnie very well, nice man I remember, yes Beatrice was my gran, May used to live in flat below gran during the war, May then moved to 1 Danby Rd. The Kirks worked on first railways & servants in big houses, they came from Headingly, Yorkshire, I have the early Kirks from late 1700s.
All the best.
Derek
As a new arrival to Teesside, and indeed to the UK (I moved here from Canada), I am fascinated by the area’s industrial history – also acutely aware of, and saddened by, what was lost through deindustrialisation. I live on Mulberry Wynd in the Kingswood new build estate, which I believe is on the former site of the Ashmore Benson & Pease works. Delighted to correspond with those with memories, recollections, etc
Geoff Taylor was my grandfather.
My late father, Arthur Pryke, worked at parkfield as a Fettler from the 70’s up until the close. He always had an ambition to be one of the only Fettlers to make it to retirement which was sadly not to be as he was 62 when the foundry closed. Many of the names above I have heard mentioned. My husband Paul Beattie was also a Chargehand Furnaceman in the middle 80’s. 29/03/2012 16:50:39
My late father worked at Parkfield Foundries in the 60’s and 70’s – he was a pattern maker and then a methods engineer – Percy Adamson. My brother served an apprenticeship there as a moulder but later re-trained as an electrician as he didn’t like working in the foundry and didn’t see his future there. 24/09/2011 09:34:59
Hi I worked with Percy at Stockton Castings. Great fella and a great laugh, he used to sing his head off at the old tunes on radio 2. He had the whole pattern shop laughing their heads off.
I remember Jim Garner well. The story is that he moved up from Birmingham to install the moldmaster, and stayed on as Company Engineer. It was an ingenious machine, but tedious to operate. I worked on it occasionally, laboriously pushing moulding boxes into it, or clearing out the sandpit on a Saturday morning. Is Jim still alive I wonder?
Great pics on this site – reminds me of my first ever driving lessons which I had on this car park with my dad, Jim Garner, who was Works Director (I think) at Parkfield from about 1974, for 12 years or so – his big creation was the Moldmaster! Lots of names on here I remember – Andrew and Brian Turner, Geoff Taylor and Len Matson….
Andrew, I”m glad to hear your dad is still alive and well! Incidently, I have put a computer animation of the foundry on Youtube. If anyone is interested, just type “Parkfield Foundries” in the search box.
What an interesting find is this site, my father is Brian Turner who was the Metallurgist in 1958 at the foundry of Ashmore Benson and Pease, he stayed with it when Geoff Taylor, now deceased, bought it as an early management buyout in 1961. I worked there for many years eventually becoming Sales Director before leaving to run an other Parkfield Foundry in Horwich Lancashire in 1987. I have very fond memories of the works and many people whom I worked with over the years. Harry Palfreman, Albert Davison, Alan Fish, Alan Jones et al.
The man was Geoff Taylor, – I agree Kevin about his resemblance to Prince Phillip – I know because I lived just a few houses away in the village of Hornby near Gt Smeaton. He gave me 7 weeks of summer holiday work in 1977 wheeling barrows full of the hot sand from the casting boxes to the automatic riddles – I was the fittest I”ve ever been, full 6 pack 🙂 Boy did I have to work for it though ! He moved from the wonderful house in the mid 1990s to a retirement home – I think near Brid or Hull – and died just about the turn of the century aged nearly 90…
I too remember Mr Taylor, whom I always thought bore a striking resemblance to Prince Phillip. At least up till a couple of years ago, Brian Turner was still alive and happily playing golf somewhere down south, according to his son, Andrew, who worked at Parkfield briefly in about 1981, whilst a student. I can confirm that the company was licensed to produce Meehanite.
By the way, this photograph is shown back to front! It is taken from Bowesfield lane, with the old Ashmore”s offices behind the photographer. The brick building in the foreground is the end of the earlier offices. The two were at one time linked by an enclosed footbridge spanning Bowesfield lane. I too remember Jimmy Jarret, who was in charge of the transport side of the operation. Just for the record, the company was named “Parkfield Foundries” not foundry, as is often stated. Anyway, back to the photograph! The company was actually called “Parkfield Foundries (plural) because there were two foundries on the site.
The man who got a group together to buy the foundry from Ashmores and call it Parkfield Foundries was called Taylor. The metalurgist was Brian Turner. The manager was my father, Len Matson, who had served his time in the pattern shop when it was Ashmores. It had a heavy foundry and a light foundry and did well into the 1980″s.
Seems we did the same thing Colin. I served my apprentiship at Parkfield”s in the pattern shop, started in “69 and I left for Canada in “75. We were very busy in those days, but it seems things changed. My uncle, Ken Rigg, used to be at Head”s and my dad was at Ashmores, small world isnt it. Sure is nice to see those pic”s of the old place, now that it has been demolished for a new housing development all we have left are the pic”s and memories. As far as Parkfield”s and Mehanite are concerned, they were the first foundry to acquire the licence to produce it.
We all went overseas as Teesside ran out of work. My last job was at Head Wrightsons Machine shop in Middlesbrough. While I was on the ship coming to Australia they went on to 3 days per week due to lack of work. I would not have been able to pay the mortgage. Just made it in time. I wonder just how many of us left a sinking ship? PS there has been a bit of talk of Mehanite. its a process for producing stronger castings ie spherical graphite iron used on machine construction.
Brian Taylor thats the man Cliff, I met him when he visited South Works Offices of Ashmore Benson Pease, between Bowesfield Lane and Yarm Road.What happened to the Foundry ?, did it go out of business or is it still in existence ?. In the early fifties and sixties Ashmores were the leaders in the World in fabrications in special steels. They had the most modern Fabrication shops and a Machine shops any where in the World, yet today they are no longer operating. What happened to all this expertise on Teesside ?.
The tall thin elderly gent. who bought the foundry was called Brian Taylor. Other names I recall from the offices were Mr Trembath and a Jimmy Jarrett. I have some photos taken inside the foundry in the 1960s, if I can find them I`ll upload them to this site.
You jogged my memory Cliff. I remember the trade name Mehanite as being the special product of the Parkfield Foundry. I remember meeting one of the owners, a tall thin man, can you remember his name Cliff.He had bought the Foundry off Ashmore Benson Pease and ran it as an independant Foundry.
Benny – Parkfield Foundry had a licence for casting in a metal known as Mehanite (sp?). It involved adding a certain something to the molten metal before it was cast into the moulds. I think it was meant to increase the hardness of the metal. My brother (Ken) worked in the offices when it was Ashmores and stayed with the company when it became Parkfield Foundry.
This is Ashmores Foundry. As a young apprentice chemist in the 1950″s I had to go there everyday to collect the metal samples of pieces that had been cast for analysis to ensure the metal was of the correct specification
I am sure the Foundry was the Parkfield and was owned by a couple of local men. They had a special type of casting which was only cast by them. I am sure some of the older people who worked there would have more information on this subject.
Hi Benny. Do you think the Foundry was Parkfield Foundry?
This is the Fondry I refered to in my description of the Ashmore Benson Pease Machine and Fabrication Shops. It was an independantly foundry owned by a local business man.