Bob Robinson interviewed by Jo Bath

Oral history interview with Bob Robinson conducted by Jo Bath on 22 April 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 12 minutes. Bob worked at Shildon railway works from 1946 until the closure in 1984, primarily as a welder. Family background; 1900 brass model of an engine [00:04:00]; father moving to find work; [00:06:15] getting work and almost becoming an engine driver; [00:08:00] work at blacksmiths shop at Shildon railway works; National Service; [00:10:47] team work on axle boxes, practical jokes, nicknames, [00:15:50] starting work, meals, workplace camaraderie, rivalry; [00:20:46] work at blacksmith shop; childhood, games played, engine sheds and river woods as playground; [00:26:33] Second World War, brothers’ army careers; air raid, Shildon and surrounding areas, air raid shelter at the engine sheds; [00:30:13] working as a welder, welding wagons; [00:33:30] accidents; industrial illness; health and safety equipment, PPE; [00:38:00] working part-time as inspector; [00:41:00] help from fire fighting team looking for cracks; [00:43:23] reactions to Shildon works closure, impact of closure; [00:51:48] clocking system at Shildon works; [00:53:40] leisure and activities, Shildon Railway Institute, dances, meeting his wife, playing football; relationship with miners; unions; [01:00:20] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; [01:05:08] cats at Shildon works; [01:08:30] enjoying working on patent wagons, costumed one-off jobs; work atmosphere at Shildon works, sense of community [01:12:18] [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.