THE secret, they say, to a productive workforce - make sure it's a happy one.

One Looking Back reader has been reminiscing about social clubs, stone mason apprentice outings and life in the 1950s working for Bath & Portland Stone Firms.

Thank you to Rowland Reynolds for his collection of photographs of the firms' employees. Rowland has had a keen interest in the history of the firm following his own father's stone masonry career.

Rowland's father Gordon spent his whole life working in the stone masonry industry, starting out as an apprentice stone mason in 1929 aged 15, and retiring in 1978 aged 64.

The photos were taken in the 1950s, a period Rowland described as a boom time for Bath & Portland Stone Firms.

Rowland said: "There was great demand for Portland stone for use in the post Second World War rebuilding programme.

“Probably one of the most well-known projects was the major works carried out to rebuild Plymouth City Centre using Portland stone.

“At its height the two masonry works at Park Road, Easton now the site of Tesco and at Perryfield Corner, now Pennsylvania Heights housing complex employed some 550 in total and in addition to this were the quarries and transport.

“There was a thriving social club and the photographs include two taken at the firms annual dinners in 1951 held at the Clinton Restaurant in Weymouth and in 1953 held at the Jubilee Hall in Easton, Portland. Older readers will no doubt recognise several of those present."

Rowland said: “The group photograph with the reception notice in the background shows stone mason apprentices from Portland on a visit to the Nuffield Organisation Assembly Plant at Cowley, Oxford under the auspices of the Portland Masonry Works Joint Consultative Committee.

“The occasion was the annual apprentices outing and they are seen here on arrival at the works."

"During their afternoon they saw many interesting processes and modern high speed production methods used in the assembly of Morris and Wolseley cars."

Two photos pictured Rowland believes were taken at Park Road Masonry Works in the 1970s.

He said: "One photo shows one of the management team with a group of masons. The man with his arm resting on the stone is, I believe, Mr. Doug Garland, and the man stood alongside the management representative is Mr 'Skylark' Durston who was a well known local Portland writer and poet."

Of the photo with five men stood together, Rowland said: "The photo was taken on the occasion of Skylark’s retirement in March 1975. Skylark is wearing the bobble hat, with my father on his left and Brian Otter on his right."

“Apprentices are also photographed looking very industrious in their workshop where they learnt their trade as stone masons.

Rowland said: “All these photographs were collected by the late Mr. William (Bill) Scard who can be seen wearing his ‘trademark’ bow tie in the Clinton. The photos were passed to me by a relative of Mr Bill Scard as they knew I had a keen interest in the history of the Bath & Portland Stone Firms.

Rowland's father, Gordon, spent all his working life in the stone masonry industry apart from the Second World War years.

Rowland said: “He succeeded the late Mr. George Lynham as work manager at the Park Road Masonry Works and it was through my father that I gained an interest in the firms’ history."

Rowland worked for a short time in the 1960s for the administration section of the firm and said he has fond memories of the social club and one particular outing.

Rowland said: “As a young member of the social club committee I was asked if I could suggest any new ideas for the annual children’s outing as most local places had been visited.

“Billy Butlin had recently opened a new Butlins holiday camp at Minehead and I suggested that this could be a possible outing venue.

“It then fell to me to organise the outing and I contacted the Bere Regis Coach Company in Dorchester regarding coach transport should this trip take place.

“The take up from parents exceeded all expectations, and I was telephoning the coach company almost daily to book an extra coach. We finished up with 12 coach loads of children and parents (6 from Portland and 6 from Weymouth), and needless to say everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable day out!”

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