Teesside Iron and Steel Memories Interview: Joan Charlton

Background & family work history:
Main subject is not herself, but her late father, Hugh McIntyre
Born in Redcar (Warrenby) about 1905 & lived later in New Marske
Started work in 1917 at 12yrs old
his Dad had wanted him to go to school but he refused, so his father sent him to work
Worked for 65 years at Redcar steelworks until his retirement as an overhead crane driver @ Lackenby
Hugh worked mainly on the furnaces
His father (Michael), brothers & whole family worked in the steelworks
Michael started in 1896 as a blast furnace-man at 16yrs old
The family came from Co Mayo in Ireland in the 1800's via Wigan and then to Middlesbrough & Redcar for work in the steelworks
Michael was in World War 1, having volunteered for the Army
He was in the trenches when the steel industry desperately needed experienced men because of the shortage of steel
He was a furnace-man and was brought back to the works from the trenches
His 10th Rifle brigade colleagues subsequently went 'over the top' and lost many men.
Hugh was in the steelworks during WW2 and was exempted from call-up along with all colleagues in Protected Occupations
Joan herself was born in 1934 and subsequently joined Cargo Fleet Iron & Steel at 15yrs old in the Sales Dept as a typist - there were lots of orders at the time
After nationalisation, orders were shared around different Works, and the orders subsequently stopped
Her older sister left grammar school & worked in the Drawing Office at Dorman Long working on many bridge drawings
Her son, Chris, joined BSC at 15yrs old in 1969 at lackenby as an office boy
Eventually became a stocktaker and is still there (2009) working for Corus/Tata
Continuing a long, unbroken family line from the 1880's

Family History:
Joan has produced a 16 page booklet 'The Man of Steel' about her father's life up to his death in 1994
Very proud of him - a very, very hard worker
At 6yrs old, while on his way to school, he watched Prince Arthur of Connaught open the Transporter Bridge
He was punished severely for being late for school
At his last Christmas in 1993, the family took him to see the Bridge when it was first illuminated - he died 3 weeks later.
At work as a 12yr old, it was illegal, but no one ever found out.
One day, his father & a colleague watched 2 young boys working very hard on the furnaces. His father was shocked to realise it was his own son, but continued to punish him for refusal to go to school
In the early 1930's, the family were living in one of Lord Zetland's houses in New Marske, and starving after the strike
They noted the kindness of Lady Zetland in giving food parcels to all tenants at Christmas
Hugh's brother, Wilf, was in the Merchant Navy
He was on the 1st ship to reach Malta with food supplies in WW2 during the siege of the island
He visited their brother, Sylvester, who had been seriously wounded and stayed in Malta
Wilf stayed in Vancouver, Canada, after leaving the MN in 1945 & the family took Hugh to visit him when Hugh was 80
They were all very proud to see 'Middlesbrough' stamped on the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver