Personal Stories

Maureen Davis

Maureen came along to the workshop at Hickory's which was formerly the Hylton Road workers' cafe. She told us:

'My father worked there from 1949 to 1965. He worked shift patterns. He would work either 9am to 4pm or 4pm to 11pm and if he worked the night shift it was midnight to 9am. These were rotated over 7 shifts a week.

He was a shift charger responsible to ensure the generators and turbines were working properly.

I remember the Coal shoot – across Tybridge Street which was part of the view to the Malvern Hills.

Some names of people who worked with dad:

Mr Wainwright
Mr Milne
Mr Cutler
Mr Kettlewaite'

Image from Hive workshop - Worcester.

Photo taken by Crave Arts

Image from workshop at Hickory's.

Photo taken by Crave Arts

Robert Davies

Robert came to the public workshop at The Hive:

'The three funnels looked like the Queen Mary ship.

In my second job I worked for Midland Shire Farmers at County Mills which was opposite to the Power Station on Hylton Road. I was invited to have a tour of the building and inside the generators. Everything was so massive inside and completely open. I was in my early 20's when I visited the Power Station'.

Lionel Buswell

Mr Buswell came along to our workshop at Platform Housing. He had a fantastic memory for his time working in The Hylton Road, Power Station. He was 14 years old when he took the job of errand boy for the power station in the 1940s. We were fortunate to meet Mr Buswell as one of our reminiscence workshops. He told us how he would cycle all over Worcester on errands for the power station.

'I saw the bomb drop at 1942 at The MECO factory. I stood by The Portebello Pub in St John's when it took place. My job at The Power Station was collecting the post which I picked up at The Guildhall. I started at The Power Station when I was just 14. In those days work was available and I don't recall having an interview. I was the Office boy. There were no women there and I worked alongside Mr Hudson and Mr Tanner'.

Mrs Mason looking out over the River Severn, from a building in front of the power station. Photo kindly supplied by Roger Mason

Lionel Buswell and Sheena Payne-Lunn.

Photo taken by Crave Arts

Roger Mason

Roger came along to one our reminiscence workshop at Diglis Island.

'Thank you for a very informative and interesting presentation on Worcester’s power station, it brought back lots of memories from the 60’s and 70’s.

My wife worked in the right hand building in front of the power station, this was in 1974/75 when the building was used by Midland Shires Farmers advertising department. The photo shows her sat on the first floor overlooking the river with Blackfriars car park in the distance'.