David Hardill of Yate Heritage Centre on the memories of those who worked at the Jackson-Creda factory in Station Road over recent decades
ON New Year’s Eve, the historic Beko factory on Station Road closed its doors for the final time, ending 107 years of providing employment and a social life for the people of Yate.
As we have tried to reflect in our current display Work and Play – the Factory Way, a wealth of rich oral history has been generated from this site whether under the guise of Parnall’s (pre-1967), Jackson’s (1967-1983), Creda (1983-1999) or later names.
Regular readers will be aware that many articles have tended to focus on the early history of the Station Road factory site, so our quest has been to redress this imbalance.
With the demolition of much of the Jackson site in 1982 and the end of the vast Newman site in 1988, the physical legacy of the area was transformed.
The Jackson-Creda site was far from the eye of the Station Road traveller. Many visitors might also have inferred that heavy engineering was a thing of the past in Yate.
And yet, the world of the industrial engineer was to remain intact for many years thereafter, borne out by our oral history.
Keith Mainstone was in the maintenance department staff nearly forty years, from 1966 to 2005. Although he saw myriad changes to the factory site, he still worked in heavy industrial settings.
The gigantic machines in the metal press shop, several metres high, were breathtaking to those unschooled in industrial presses.
Sounds and smells of factory life
Keith conjured up a world of noise and smell alien to the outside world.
He said: “It was daunting to a young lad, these big, noisy presses, but I got to enjoy this part of the factory more than any other.”
Mark Haslam too, a manager at the site since 1999, recalled how different the site was when he began compared to today.
There were many more people working at the plant – several hundred, compared to 150 at the end.
Again, conditions differed markedly to 2024.
Mark said: “What I noticed first was the smell – the smell of the forklift truck with gas engines.
“And you got that exhaust smell at the time. And after a time of working here, you don’t notice it. But for the first few months…”
Motor shop shipped to Romania
At the time of closure, the Beko plant was almost entirely devoted to assembling tumble dryers, with only a handful of people involved in traditional engineering practices.
Up to 2005, there was still a foundry, and paint, press and moulding shops.
Much of the tumble dryer product was made on site, including the electric motor to power the machine.
During this year, contractors dismantled the entire motor shop machinery to enable tumble dryer motors to be produced in Romania.
It is clear that the Station Road factory remained historically important into the 21st century, and there remains an important story to tell.
You can find out more by visiting Work and Play – the Factory Way until February 1, or accessing it in our public galleries in years to come.
Yate Heritage Centre is part of Yate Town Council.
Top picture: Creda foundry and machine shop staff, c1995. Picture: Alex Bell
Celebrating the works night out: the social lives of the Station Road workforce