LOOKING BACK - January 11, 2018 edition

Lodge Plugs former employees help with background for book

You may remember our appeal to anyone who worked at Lodge Plugs or Smiths Industries (December 14 edition) by David Lodge Madden, who is compiling background for a book on the company’s history.

Distantly related to the Lodge family, David was keen to hear from any former employees who might recall fond memories, anecdotes, experiences etc from their time working there and was looking for photographs too.

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And he is very appreciative to all those who have been in touch and helped him.

Just a few days after the Memory Lane feature, David met up with the group of ‘Old Lodgers’ at the Caldicott Arms in Long Lawford village.

These are all ex-employees of Lodge Plugs in Rugby who meet up occasionally to reminisce about past times.

A total of 12 were in attendance that day and between them he says they had 397 years of service at Lodge!

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Pictured above, from left, clockwise are: Mavis Hough (42 1/2 years of service), Richard Hanson (40 years), Ruth Hanson (32 years), David Beech (33 years), Brian Talbot (34 years), Pete Farren (35 years), Jeanette Carroll (20 years), Janet Farrie (23 years), Tony Leach (39 1/2 years), Les Martin (40 years), Tim Relton (23 years), Barry Goodwin (35 years).

“I gleaned a lot of information for my forthcoming book that day,” he added.

“My grateful thanks to all who attended.”

Lodge were established in Birmingham in 1904, then moved to the St Peters Road site in Rugby 1916. They would go on to become the largest spark plug manufacturer in the UK, at their peak they employed around 2,000 people.

The company was taken over by instrument manufacturers Smiths Industries in 1962, and the factory finally closed, he believes, around 1997. The former site has since been developed for housing.

If anyone else would like to get in touch with David, he can by contacted by email: [email protected].