REBUILDING POST WAR SWANSEA TOWN
WITH RUSTON BUCYRUS DIGGERS
SCHOOLBOY MEMORIES OF REBUILDING MY TOWN. Some of the well known landmarks that grew from devastation and others that have disappeared over time. See if you recognise the names reviewed in my book:- Marks & Spencer Oxford Street have just announced that their store is no longer fit for purpose? Interesting! I was there as a ten year old schoolboy as it was being built over seventy years ago; standing behind the drive of the Ruston Bucyrus 22-RB crane as he lifted the cross beam girders into place for bolting to vertical stantions. On the opposite side of the street they were building the new BOOTS store. The father of a friend was to be in charge of the photography counter but I was more interested in what was happening at the back of the store where there was a steam derrick crane. I made a friend of the overall clad driver and spend a number of rainy Saturday mornings and schoolday lunch times with him. I'll tell you more when I have time.
The town morgue was located inside The Strand viaduct; used to terrify me every time I passed the entrance on the way to Barney Easton's scrap yard where they had a battered Neal crane. They made those in Grantham. There's a lot more to tell tou about the dock area of Swansea so perhaps I'll see you later?
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Watching diggers making holes in the post war years was a national pastime for both schoolboys and general public. Surely one of the cleverest machines invented, crammed with endless mechanisms that made them work: Lever and latch for dirt to dispatch, bell cranks that rang while the gears all sang, with brake bands that squealed as the ropes outward reeled: The poetry of it all was enough to turn any aspiring young engineer's head. Found in all sorts of places, within town or country field, mechanical diggers were all motion accomplishing constantly progressing purpose until their task complete; the driver casually pulling levers while their machine did all the work. As a schoolboy I made friends with a lot of digger drivers; many of them ex service men glad to have survived battle and come hope to help build a new country. I was privilaged to have known them and we'll get to talk to a few on our journey.
A 1950's schoolboy remembers!
So you may well ask: Just what was the magic about these machines that drew people, holding them in thrall, watching the repetitive cycle of digging, turning and dumping? Was it the novelty of it's go anywhere crawler tracks that cocked a snoot at muddy site conditions, or the pulleys constantly turning one way and then the other as they guided the ropes that pulled the bucket that made the levers crank. What exactly did they symbolise? Was it power, invincibility or just the plain repetitive mechanical movement? So much capability packed into one machine. It was all of those things - Yeah! But really - to tell you the truth I just really liked watchinum!