Teesside Iron and Steel Memories Interview: Sylvia Howard and Frances Meier

(Joint interview with two long-term colleagues & friends)

Background & Early Work:
SH born 13/9/1942 in Wales but spent most of her life in Redcar
Dad was a Yorkshireman in the RAF in Wales during WW2 who met his wife there, then the family returned North after the war
Dad worked at Dorman Long in Lackenby on the cranes, but had an accident & lost a thumb. Left and went to ICI.
Went to school in Redcar and was more interested in science than needlework etc. Teachers recognised this & she was able to take extra classes.
Failed 11+ but persuaded her Dad to let her go to college to get GCE's
Passed 5 science O-Levels in Redcar, then went on to apply for jobs
FM born 1/4/1941 in Middlesbrough
Went to Ayresome Junior & Middlesbrough High Schools
Passed French, German, English etc O-Levels & did French & German A-Levels
Wanted to teach German at college but could not pass Latin, so went to Longlands College for a secretarial course - continued German at High School & passed A-Level
Joined Dorman Long @ Newport Research in the Technical Library
Father & brothers all worked at Dorman Long
SH applied to ICI but they were not interested in female chemists, so joined Dorman Long (ICI came back 2yrs later & offered her a job which she declined & later regretted)
Joined DL as an Apprentice Industrial Chemist
Went to day-release and night school
Job involved chemical testing of regular samples taken during production in the various steel-plants to check that specifications were being met
Samples were usually drillings from cooled steel samples to test for elements such as sulphur, phosphorus, manganese etc
Results had to be back to the plant by the end of the day
Location was at Newport Laboratory (under Newport Bridge), formerly part of Samuelson's Newport Works
Several R&D Departments were located there - chemistry & physics labs, statistics, refractories, photography, Library services, corrosion testing
SH worked in the chemistry lab, with spectroscopy as well as wet chemical analysis
FM worked in the technical library which contained all British Standards, technical books & publications, magazines etc
Several of these were in foreign languages, mainly French & German
FM provided translations as required to company researchers & others
Wrote letters occasionally in foreign languages

Working & Social Relationships:
Working relationships with management were very good
Manager (Jack Wright) was a good boss - a nice man
All socialised together - took lunch & coffee breaks together
Unusual compared to works situations at the time
SH earned about £4/wk when she started & about £8-9/wk after qualification in the early 1960's, and FM earned about £8-9/wk when she left in 1964
SH was able to undertake a Sandwich Course (6 months at college & 6 months at work each year) for 4 years and achieved an HND (Higher National Diploma) in Metallurgy and a professional qualification, LIM (Licentiateship of the Institution of Metallurgists)
Could have taken 2 more years to the higher AIM (Associateship) but could not do so as she wanted to get married and could not do both!
SH & FM met at Newport, and shared a flat together
More convenient than travelling every day from Redcar
FM was 21 by then and could sign the lease
FM left Dorman long to go to Germany in 1964 to work in the translation dept. for a company that made most of Germany's telephones
The experience of the steel-works stood her in good stead in that job
SH stayed with Dorman long, British Steel & Corus until she retired
Even when qualified HND/LIM in 1965, she still earned less than men in the same jobs
Two people argued her case and eventually she was paid the same basic salary, but at that time the Government controlled 'Cost-of-Living' increases, and they were still lower than for men
There were some H&S precautions applied at that time in the laboratory environment
Lab coats, X Ray monitors, lead aprons as required, radiation badges later
FM noted her fight for liberation was to be allowed to wear trousers to work (in the early 60's)
Other secretaries did not approve (not lady-like) but she had to climb steps to reach books etc