Life inside a legendary car works, a hundred years ago

An engineer's memories, Part One

- By DAVID COOPER Bugle correspondent

I am ever-conscious of over bestowing on Bugle readers accounts about 'The Sunbeam,' but considering its contribution to the success of the Black Country, especially Wolverhampton, in terms of employment and the unique legacy of four World Land Speed Records, I trust you will find the following personal account of one of its thousands of workers, written in 1987, enlightening and enjoyable.

Best known for its motorcars, Sunbeam also designed and manufactured cycles and motorcycles, aeroplane and airship engines, buses, trolleybuses and ambulances.

The following recollections of working life inside this Wolverhampton institution were written by John Howard Edge, who was employed at the Sunbeam works a hundred years ago - from 1925 to 1931.

He wrote this fascinating account decades later in July 1987, but it only came to light after his death in May 2005. His daughter Mrs V. Newell sent this precious document to the members' journal of the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Register (STD), with the accompanying words:

"His detailed memory of those years is remarkable, and his feeling for the company was such that he found it necessary to put it in writing.

"He especially enjoyed the day in 1996 when the STD annual rally took place at the Castlecroft Hotel in Wolverhampton, where he reminisced with his friends who had worked at the Sunbeam."

Here is John Howard Edge's account of his time with Sunbeam, which began when he was barely into his teens ...