John Dowson interviewed by Robert Aitchison

Oral history interview with John Dowson recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 8 June 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 32 minutes. Childhood, lived in West Aukland; career start, Shildon railway works, start aged 15 in information office; plugs in telephone exchange; after technical school got a pattern maker’s job; took Charlie Marshall’s job; wood turning lathe to start; [00:05:00] friendship with Trevor, liked hands-on job, Trevor’s jokes; wheelwrights work described; carved out if mahogany; dye blocks; went on to produce model on board; fibre glass dyes; [00:10:00] making model in two half's; family working in works; relatives would get job at works or being good at sport or bandsman; closure of Shildon works, then aged 43; [00:15:00] work after closure, no foundry work; joined another pattern making firm; no future for pattern- making; job at Shildon Forge making models, closure of forge; [00:20:00] new job, high performance windows in mahogany; then onto pvc windows; moved to St Gobain; no timber but then moved onto making timber crates for last ten years; [00:25:00] leisure, entertainment in Shildon, clubs in Shildon had big names; moving to live in Shildon; railway memorabilia; statue of Timothy Hackworth deteriorated; added a tailors dummy and formed a decent head; [00:30:00] plaque on Hackworth House; other plaques made [00:32:19] [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.