Alan Whitehead interviewed by Robert Aitchison

Oral history interview with Alan Whitehead conducted by Robert Aitchison on 24 March 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Original duration: 1 hour, however there are many distortions throughout the recording, resulting in 25 minutes of audible recording via the digital access file. Childhood, school, Royal Ordnance Factory Spennymoor: army and war years; railway family; need for wagons after Second World War [00:05:00]; Shildon railway works, night shifts; wife’s death 1984 due to angina; [00:10:00] health issues; no family; merry-go-round operations; axle box shop; [00:15:00] change at Shildon works over years; no memories of 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; [00:20:00] time and motion at Shildon works; no strikes; sense of family at Shildon works [00:25:00] [end of interview]

Time Tracks, Shildon Railway Village Community Project was an initiative funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund that encouraged members of the public to bring photographs and documents at Locomotion to form a community archive, when Locomotion museum was opened in Shildon, 2004. Over 50 oral history interviews were also recorded with members of the community. They shared their memories of Shildon as they knew it in their childhood and throughout their lives, from as early as the 1920s, as well as their work experiences in local factories and industries, including Shildon railway works.