Remember GI Sid Shufflebotham ?
Frank De Rosa recalls his memories of the 1930s. His father worked in the Woodside Brickworks in the early 1930's and actually died in the number 3 kiln in 1939. The photograph shows his father with Bob Letts (who would later become the yard foreman). Other family members and relatives also worked there.
He married in 1957 and was offered a company house in Beckford Road where he still lives. He was able to buy the house when he retired 27 years ago. Quite a lot of people lived in company housing.
One of the characters who worked there was Sid Shufflebotham, known as GI (no one knew why). Sid was rumoured to be from a wealthy family in Manchester who paid him to stay away. This could be true as he had a tendency to drink more beer than he could afford to pay for from his salary.
The working week consisted of 50 hours over 5 and half days.
The brickworks were later taken over by Hall & Co, and Ready Mixed Concrete, before finally being closed down.