David Cramp started his 5 year apprenticeship
with Ladybird in July 1970 as a Bookbinder
and Print Finisher, and there he remained
until the
closure of the Looghborough factory in 1999.
David, who still lives in Loughborough, was
kind enough to let us pick his brains regarding
his time at the Ladybird factory.
The Loughborough Ladybird
factory
pictured in 1973.
The Wee Web
After working 29 years for Ladybird can you tell
us a bit about the processes that were involved
in producing these little books?
David
Ladybird was quite unique within the printing and
publishing world as all the processes involved in
creating the books were carried out on the one site.
We had artists who did all the artwork for the books
and authors, some of who worked on site and others
who worked from home.
All the planning and layouts for the books were
done on site.
Printing was done in the Lithographic department
- from here the printed sheets would be taken to
the Binding department which was on the top floor
above the warehouse. Here the sheets were guillotined
into the different sections of the book, these sections
were then folded. When I started in 1970, these
sections were then sewn together, although this
changed in 1979 when the company bought an adhesive
binding line, which glued the books together. These
books were then trimmed to make the nice clean edges
to the book.
Whilst this work was going on, the hard cases of
the books were made on case making machines. The
trimmed books were then stuck into the cases on
a casing-in machine. The books were then hand wrapped
by women in packs of 12, stacked on pallets and
sent to the warehouse awaiting despatch, which was
also carried out from the factory.
Just a note about the adhesive biding line. Prior
to this being installed there were approx. 10 -12
book sewing machines, which were operated by girls
and women on a day shift from 8am to 5pm, and from
5.30pm to 9.30pm by a twilight shift. Nearly all
these jobs were lost with the introduction of the
adhesive binding line plus jobs on other processes
after the sewing and prior to casing in the books.
This line did all this work with 3 machine operators
and 3 assistants.
The Wee Web
How many people worked at Ladybird at the time of
the factory's closure?
David
At the time of closure in 1999 the Ladybird factory
employed approximately 350 - 400 people. I remember
I was on holiday the day the closure was announced
and was told by a friend who rang me. The company
was very good about it and gave it's staff 4 months
notice, they provided people to write C.V’s
for their employees and set an area aside as a kind
of job shop where they would advertise jobs. Nearly
all the staff got other work after the shutdown.
The Wee Web
Did you ever produce anything else besides products
for Ladybird?
David
We occasionally did small jobs for other people,
we once made the cases for a series of Beatrix Potter
books for Frederick Warne and also did the cases
for a Dairy Cookbook. Prior to me starting there
Wills & Hepworth made catalogues and show cards
for Rover cars.
The Wee Web
Do you ever remember meeting any of the Ladybird
authors or illustrators?
David
Some authors and illustrators worked on site, the
only one I can remember of any note coming round
the factory was Rev. Awdry of Thomas the Tank engine
fame.
The Wee Web
Was work carried out 24 hours a day at the Ladybird
factory?
David
We did work 24 hours occasionally, but only when
we had rush orders like the Royal Wedding of Charles
& Di. I think we had books ready for despatch
in around 48 hours after the wedding.
The Wee Web
Do mind us asking how much your wage was when you
started work at Ladybird in 1970?
David
In 1972 I would be in my 2nd year of my 5 year apprenticeship
so I think I would be on around £18 per week.
A skilled man would be on around £50 per week.
The Wee Web
Do you ever remember any big changes to Ladybird?
David
Don’t remember anything changing drastically
apart from having a new MD who actually came round
and spoke to people on the shop floor!! - completely
different from the previous one who never did such
things.
The Wee Web would like to thank
David Cramp for sharing his time
at the Ladybird factory with us.
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