George Gardner
George belongs to: The Doxford Engine Friends Association
George was born in 1940 in Hendon. He began his apprenticeship in 1956 and finished in 1961. From Doxford's George served in the merchant navy on tramp ships, cargo liners, container ships and oil tankers until he retired in 2005.
George was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 26 January 2006. The interview took place at Sunderland Museum and lasted 31 minutes and 54 seconds.
Apprenticeship at Doxford's
"I spent the first two years of my apprenticeship in what was referred to as the sub-assembly shop"
I spent the first two years of my apprenticeship in what was referred to as the sub-assembly shop and in there I was fitting and I did a little bit of turning and at that time I was working for my father when I was turning because he was a charger hand in the sub- assembly shop, and that’s not an easy thing to do, to work in the same department as your father, particularly when he is one of the gaffers, because people will think that you’re getting an easy ride, you know. But in actual fact, you’re not- quite the opposite. I worked with him for a brief while and then transferred to different departments. I went to what was referred to as the oily bay, which was the turret shop. And again, I was, I spent a year there, working on lathes. And I went from there to a fitting shop, another fitting shop where I was, well basically, we made fittings for the engine room of the ships that we were fitting out down at the quay. And from there I spent my final year in the erecting shop, which was referred to as the Pit, because it was in a pit, it was a big hole in the ground where they used to build the engines up from the components that formed them and then run them on test and then strip them down again and send them out for installation into the ships. And I left there in 1961 and went off to sea.
George has 12 memories in the memorynet:
George's memories with a Work theme:
Apprenticeship at Doxford's
- Benefits of a Doxford apprenticeship
- The value of a Doxford's apprenticeship
- Safety and accidents at Doxford's
- The smell of whale oil
- Sailing with a Doxford engine
- Conditions on the ship
- Meeting Michael Wilson in Shanghai
Engineer's Certificate- Continuous Certificate of Discharge
- Africa
- Shanghai
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