Butterley Foundry new history book
A Ripley man who grew up with and worked at the Butterley Foundry has written a book about the foundry in the 20th century.
Tim Castledine dates his fascination with the company to childhood visits with his father Stanley, the constructional department manager, in the early 1950s.
He worked in the foundry during his school holidays, started as a junior laboratory technician in 1962 and worked his way to become foundry superintendent before leaving the firm in 1975.
The idea for his book Butterley Foundry 1900 -1986 came from regular ‘pint and chat’ meetings with retired ex-employees of the firm which closed in March 2009 and was demolished later that year.
Tim, 68, of Foresters Road, said: “It was suggested that it was important to get as much information as possible about the foundry down on paper for the benefit of future generations.”
Tim began to make notes based on his own experiences and previously published books about the company, uncovering a ‘wealth of information’ in the firm’s in house magazine and a full set of ‘Butterley Foundry News’ lent to him by Walter March, the former commercial manager.
He added: “With this information and chats to former foundry colleagues I decided to try to write something down in ‘book form’.
“The work of putting it all down began, the result being an 84 page book containing many photos of the foundry and the people who worked in it.” If anyone is interested in a copy Tim says he will happily supply them with one, but there is a non-profit making cost of £10 to cover the cost of printing plus £1 postage if required.
Tim said: “I would also be interested to hear from anyone with any old Butterley foundry related photos or documents as there is another foundry related project ‘on the drawing board’.” Call 01773 746954 or e-mail t.castledine@btinternet.com
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Tuesday 18 June 2013
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