A view of the Cooperative Wholesale Society Preserve Works on Yarm Road, Stockton. How many of you worked here or knew people who did?
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of the Cooperative Wholesale Society Preserve Works on Yarm Road, Stockton. How many of you worked here or knew people who did?
Picture Stockton Archive 
Anyone who worked in the cws preserve work around 1970? When the canteen caught fire we had such a fantastic boss John Pollock. We stayed and cleaned all the canteen
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Worked in the office with ann Thomas our boss was mr John Pollock amazing boss fantastic job we were shut down it was a sad time we buried a time capsules in the grounds
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I remember Ann. Dad used to take me into the office sometimes and mess about on the typwriters 🙂 . You were probably there at the same time.
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My Aunt Mavis (Robson) worked at the jam factory, I remember going to a kids Christmas Party there. Recall the factory being noisy with the jars on the line.
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I went to those parties too. I think there are a couple of photographs on this site of them.
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It is now Jennings which was Oxbridge garage
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I remember in the 1950s (?) after crossing the “6 Fields” we would sit on the concrete stile to watch the trains go by. The aroma of freshly baked bread from Jacksons bakery on one side, and the jam factory on the other, we just needed a dairy for the butter and it would have been sandwich heaven!
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Hi, am I correct in thinking the old Jam Factory was in Tower Street, Stockton. Thats where the Old Gazette Office is. It is now a Car Park.
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My Dad – John Pollock – was office manager there for a long time and yes it was always known as just the jam factory. I remember it well. Loved having rides on the pallet trollies around the factory!
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He was a fantastic boss. You don’t get them like that these days
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Thats good to know Maureen, thank you. He loved working there. They even had a ‘funeral’ when it closed!
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My dear friend John Pollock was the Manager there, we were never short of jam or lemon curd, strawberries too… John was the OC 1261 (Thornaby) Air Training Corps and I was the Sqn Warrant Officer, he was responsible for creating the RAF airman statue that now stands there in memory of RAF Thornaby. We were both ex 608 (NR) Sqdn R.Aux.A.F. airmen, wonderful memories.
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Allan, I haven’t forgotten about you wanting me to look through Dad’s papers etc. I will get back to you when I get through them. Hope you are well.
Julie
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He was friends with my late uncle Gordon Johnstone who was in RAF
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I’ve lived in Eaglescliffe since I was two and I’m now 64 and its always been called THE Jam Factory for as long as my late father who lived at the Moorhouse Estate could remember too back in the 1950’s before my parents were married.
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My mother too!
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My Mam worked there in the 1940’s & early 1950’s – she always called it the ‘Jam Factory’
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David if your Mum was working for the CWS Jam Factory in the 1940’s she was working at the old factory in Tower Street off Bridge Road. That was still going when I went in the army in 1947 so it was some time after this it was closed down and moved to Yarm Road. I would guess 1949-50 ish, the old factory in Tower Street was cleared around 1955ish leaving a clear view of the old Brewery behind it.
The two factories CWS and Pumphry’s employed a lot of local women sugar boilers as we called them, wartime jam was not half fruit half sugar and pectin as Mother used in jam making it was often bulked up with root vegetables and the fruit was often tinned concentrate. It was nice on the toasted bread in front of the open fire instead of that horrific margarine we got in wartime, I refused to eat it and still will not eat anything but real butter.
At the midweek Dances you could actually smell the jobs the girls were doing, jam workers smelled of fruit, machinists smelled of white water and I never danced with leather workers, I never smoked so it was quite strong to me.
Frank.
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The mother of a friend of mine Ray Dea worked there I remember her bringing bags of strawberries home. We always knew it as the jam factory.
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I remember going on a tour of this factory; which was arranged by my school; sometime in the 1950’s.
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