Posted 05-4-16
My personal history of Autowrappers, By Dick Gash
Hello my name is Dick Gash.
I
joined
Autowrappers
in
1952
and
worked
there
until
my
retirement
in
1995,
some
43
years.
My
first
position
was
working
on
machine
assembly
and
testing
at
the
Edward
Street
site.
At
that
point
they
employed
approximately
90-100
people
and
the
business
was
managed
by
C
W
Maddison.
The
main
building
had
been
purpose
built
and
they
had
a
machine
shop
next
door
which
I
would
describe
as
an
old
converted
barn.
Across the road, they had another building they used for chroming parts of the machinery.
1959 Autowrappers Dick at lunch. Taken in Edward Street in 1959.
Photo Ref: AW0211 Photo Courtesy of Simon and Dick Gash
I
can
remember
when
we
first
moved
to
Whiffler
Road
everybody’s
opinion
was
that
we
had
moved
to
the
country.
It
just
shows
how
much
Norwich
has
been
developed
since
then.
Moving
to
the
new
site
provided
the
company
with
what
felt
like
a
modern
building
with
lots
of
room.
I
can
remember
feeling
like
a
duck
out
of
water
for
a
while,
as
there
was
so
much
to
organise
and
put
right.
I
missed
the
shopping
Centre
in
Edwards
Street,
remember
there
was
no
Asda
back
then
!
The
nearest
public
house
was
the
Whiffler,
which
I
used
to
go with John Moore and Terry Bradford a couple of times a week.
The Autowrappers Christmas Dinner 1960. Daphne and Dick Gash
Photo Ref: AW0212 Photo Courtesy of Simon and Dick Gash
Our
main
customers
were
Rowntree's,
Cadbury's
and
Birds
Eye.
We
had
various
types
of
machinery.
Early
machines
were
relatively
primitive
with
what
I
call
clockwork
engineering.
As
technology
developed,
things
like
Flow-
Wrappers
and
Roll-wrappers
came
along.
This
massively
improved
efficiency
and
reliability.
With
the
development
of
computerised
machinery,
I
felt
like
I
needed
to
go
back
to
school.
I
got
my
head
around
most of it and there was always other people to help.
1978 Dick at Autowrappers. Working on a Cartoner
Photo Ref: AW0219 Photo Courtesy of Simon and Dick Gash
Around
1985,
I
was
promoted
to
the
Development
team
comprising
of
6-7
people
tasked
with
developing
and
improving
machinery.
I
was
also
given
responsibility
with
training
fitters
from
our
customers
on
how
to
configure
and
maintain
our
machines.
One
bonus
of
this
responsibility
was
that
I
was
allowed
to
take
them
out for lunch and a pint, which used to make my day and was paid for by the company.
1978 Autowrappers. Dick Gash and John Plumstead (Quality Control Engineer)
Working on Tea Bagger machine.
Photo Ref: AW0215 Photo Courtesy of Simon and Dick Gash
I
occasionally
visited
external
companies
to
set-up
new
machinery
or
carry
out
repairs.
Rowntree
was
the
most
frequent,
including
the
Polo
factory
in
York.
I
found
visiting
other
sites
a
nice
change
to
working
on
the
main
site.
My
young
children
were
always
appreciative
of
any
free
samples
I
was
given,
that
I
used
to
bring
home.
1977 Dick Gash presented with his Long service award by the Autowrappers MD
Photo Ref AW0214 Photo Courtesy of Simon and Dick Gash
On
my
retirement
in
1995,
the
company
had
seen
some
massive
changes.
I
look
back
on
my
time
there
with
fond memories and I made some lifelong friends.
Good Wishes to all ..... Dick Gash
