Moor Hall | P3/2 | P3/1 | 1500 | Operating a 1301 job | Operating a 1500 job | Rod and Rita Brown | FP2

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 Ron Parrish was Head of Operations,

 John Harris (shift leader) - most recently with Transport for London

 Mike Harris (brother) - now retired to Somerset

 Ron Huck - became a croupier and a mini-cab-driver, and....??

 Reg Morton ? lived near KPJ latterly

 Dave Wilgoss - now retired from Mitsui and living in Cheam, Surrey. December 2004, found these piccies of Dave Wilgoss in his other life - Soccer Star"!!

 Frank Royle - from Liverpool

 Dave Parry - from Birmingham, now retired living near Kingston-on-Thames

 Carol Riley - married Dave ??

 Tony Russell was Chief Engineer, - Update Update!! June 2005 - Have found Tony (thanks to Maureen Stockwell) he's at awcrussell@aol.com and living in the Bracknell area

This reminded me of "outings" I had operating 1301's on the factory floor at Stevenage and then when they were installed at Ministry of Defence and the Home Office - they had to undergo Government reliability tests over a week or so - very enjoyable - and here's a piccie of me (working hard) I think this was at the Home Office - there's a little white piece of paper (its actually a matchstick with a small Union Jack flag painted on it) 1 inch in from the right side - just above half-way up - I raised and lowered this as the tests proceeded - at the time of the photo it was flying high!!

Update!! Update!!!! August 14th, 2008 - Had an email from Walter Boyle - who was Computer Engineer on the Home Office 1301 during the acceptance tests and thereafter... I sent him an email....

 

Wally!! Mike Curley here..... just got your details from Rod and Rita Brown (she used to be Nash)..... Anyway, I was that very efficient young computer operator on the MoD and Home Office 1301's initially on the factory floor at Stevenage and then on site... here's a bookmark for you... http://mikecurley.simoncjwalker.net/mjc/Papsy-Worked/ICT-Putney.htm#Tony%20Russell May I add your details to the notes I've put up on my web-site - including your email address?? How have the years treated you?? I think I went back to Putney after the MoD/HO exercise, then transferred to ICL Harrow then Slough - left ICL about July 1967 - joined a software house - 1900 Programming, stayed with them for a couple of years then transferred with them to Johannesburg - there until 1973, married a German lady - worked in and around England - had two daughters, got separated, worked in Saudi Arabia for a year, Freelancing in London, then to Hong Kong in 1993, then here (Singapore) in 2001 - living with a lovely Filippina since 1995, will probably end up in Philippines in a couple of years time... All the best,

To which he replied......

	Hello Mike,   Memories fade. Much regret cannot bring you to mind even after viewing your photograph taken at Tintagel House. Could you jog my memory? Yours appears remarkable from your 1301 operations narrative. I attach a photograph of me with Gavin Kirkpatrick's son Alfie taken around that time and a composite of the room at Tintagel House.   How did the years treat me?.    I left Tintagel House in 1964 for ICT Quality Assurance at Stevenage. I joined Government Region Sales July 67 as a support engineer. Moved to GOSO (at BHN) Oct 68 to work in Malta and Libya until Nov 1970. Commenced UNIVAC new M.E. territory 1971-1975 operating from Beirut until civil war.    1977 to 1987 was spent in Jeddah first with HRH Abdullah's son then with the Alireza's. Re-married (got a daughter) so returned to U.K. Aged 55 failed to gain useful employment so bought a Prontaprint franchise which failed after two years 1990 .... operating miniscule software service for tachographs analysis clients. No pension to speak of   Wally

 Alec Burns - Shift Leader - booming laugh

 Alan Reynolds - Shift Leader - black suits - was he a copper??

 John Payne - Shift Leader

 Don Rowland - Operations Manager (October 2007 - thanks to Dave Wilgoss for the name correction)

 Virginia Samon (Virginia Salmon, Virginia Sammon) secretary to Albert Wright,

 Albert Wright - Head of UPS (User Programming Service)

John Ford - Wilgoss nick-name = "the Sloop John Ford" - because of his love of sailing

Peter Payne

Jock Colvin - 25% shift allowance promoter

Bill Steer

Jim Ewan

Norman Barnes

 Tony Edwards - Operator on 1500 from Wandsworth ? school trip removed train sign

 Nick Maguire ? Man-Tan instead of after-shave

 Liz Cheesewright - married Mike Wigfield - who headed up Demonstrations after Don Harris left

 Yvette Ascher,

 Julia ?? - 1500 Programmer

 Eric Housden,

 The 2 Pert boys -  American guy and Mike Dua (Update!! Update!!! have made contact with Mike Dua as from about 2006 - he's in Australia at rafd1@attglobal.net)

Zvi Hirzenstein

Shift work - 2 weeks days, 2 weeks evenings, 2 weeks nights.

Operating a 1301 job

Operating a 1500 job

On Putney Bridge Station early morning ? going home after a night shift ? workers going into work - the smell of after-shave.

Rapidwrite compilations - 4,000 cards just for the compiler - split into at least 4 Sections each with its own data - Identification, Environment, Data and Procedure - followed by others for creating the executable, or reporting errors.

Graham Stiles demos with Bill ??

Don Harris ? left and became IT Director of Tesco glasses, thining curly hair, clean shaven, brown suits.

Ken Barnes - left to set up SPL

Vickie - the lovely blonde who was receptionist in BHN

Parties in Wimbledon/Putney ? Beatles times

Pushing Dave Parry's Austin Healey up and down the road to get it started

Demonstration ladies ? they had a 1004, Maureen Stockwell (from the Chalfonts), Pat Manassa and Edwina Richardson, Rita Nash ? liked skiing, and as Dave Wilgoss says "a dead ringer for Wendy Craig", commonly referred to as Mrs Acty's Girls - what was her name??..... thanks Rita..... Beryl Acty!! Other girls were Debbie, Ros and Jackie.

Noughts & Crosses and TOAD programs

The Operators Room in BHS

On shift with Mike Cotton ? dropped tray behind him he fainted ? only saw him again 10+ years later in SA.

Bob French pushing me round new BHS computer room on Console chair ? crashed into Hardboard wall ? big hole!!

Engineer from Stevenage or Letchworth ? emulating 1900 on 1300

Night shift - Cycling up and down corridors on bicycle.

Throwing water out of Operators room windows ? over leavers on motorbikes

8 Bells pub.

Acceptance Testing at Stevenage ? then at Home Office & Ministry of Education -  Tony Russell was Engineer for these - ?? Hutt was also there for the Ministries? ? And small man who was the organiser!!

Getting the Beetle (first car) ? and driving in/home

The arrival of FP2 ? Ferranti Packard ? start of the 1900 Series, operated by Dave Wilgoss

Frank Legroux - set up a software house