Credits and Bibliography

My thanks will have to go to a tremendous amount of people who have helped me in this rather new venture that I have entered into.

A&P Falmouth. (Head Draughtsman  Richard Lawrence)
Alan Ahrens. (Previously, Head of the Shipwrights Department)
George Atherton (A marine fitter and keen footballer.)
Tony Atkinson. (Writes a weekly column in "The West Briton" on Shipping.)
Fred Barnett. (Former Justice of the Peace.)
Hilda Barnett. (Supplied photo of the Docks Cricket team 1948.)
Keith Burton. (Worked as a clerk in conjunction with the  Maintenance Manager.)
Falmouth Camera Club (Excellent Visitors with photographic specialities)
George Mitchum. (Yard maintenance Department.)
Andrew Paterson. (No.2 son with lots of patience.)
Michael and Fiona Paterson. (Supplied photos and information I'd forgotten.)
Capt. Frank Sowden. (Information to back up my daughter-in-law.)
Cyril Thomas. (Ex Loco driver. A book could be written about this man.  I owe him a lot.)
Pam Thompson. (Wonderful information and photos.  Her grandfather was a well known personality in Falmouth, a company Head Cashier with Falmouth Dock Co and also a local preacher.)
Ernie Warmington. (served his apprenticeship at the docks as a marine fitter,  has written two books with photos of Penryn.)
Andy Webber. (An Electrician who was the gentleman up the mast.)
Nigel Wing. (Team Leader in Electrical Department, and supplier of the ledgers which were thrown away and miraculously retrieved.)
Vernon Wilson. (Help in understanding the work of the Paint gang. An Ex- shop steward who had a difficult job.)
Last but not least, my *Tutor* Grant.  Without his enormous help all I would have would be a pile of Photos and some text.  It was his influence to get me to do this. I thought he was joking, but obviously not.  In movie terms, what you see is the "Directors Cut".  Not a thing left for out-takes, and nothing left on the cutting room floor.

My thanks to Falmouth Art gallery for the use of one of their paintings. " The Bombing of the British Chancellor 10th July 1940".

Two books that have been used for reference are as follows-

     
Forestier-Walker E.R. (1947).   "Port of Enterprise".  Silley Cox & Co.  Falmouth

Hurd, Sir Archibald(Ed) (45/46) "Britains Merchant Navy"  Odhams Press London.

About the Author

Cedric Paterson was born in Falmouth in 1935.  He attended  Falmouth Grammar School, served his apprenticeship as an Electrician at Silley Cox and Co. Ltd. Spent over 7 years in the Merchant Navy, returned to the Docks and stayed there until he was made redundant  with over 900 others in 1979.  In 1982, he went to work at South Crofty Tin Mine and was there until the closure in 1998. Returned to the Docks as a casual worker until his retirement in 2000. Spends a small part of his retirement showing tourists around the Docks. Happily married with two grown up sons and a daughter-in-law  

The first photograph was taken at South Crofty Tin Mine before it's closure in 1998. The author was employed as an Electrician and one of his duties was the repair and overhaul of the electrical driven locomotives. The locos were driven by an electric motor which derived it's power from heavy duty batteries. Their were two types of locos: 1.75ton and 5.0ton units. The areas they were able to work in was determined by the tracks, headroom and also the amount of material they were able to pull. The photo shows some of the axles ready to be installed in the loco chassis.

The Author driving a 1.75ton "Clayton" loco. He worked in the Locomotive shed. One of his duties was to charge ,and change the heavy duty batteries, then drive the locos to the Loading Station - Robinson's Shaft. One very important safety rule was for the driver to, at all times, be stood in the loco Pan. One particular day, the author was faced with extreme high winds which forced the doors to close on the loco as it was being driven from the loco shop. Unfortunately, the driver had to manoeuvre the loco through the doors whilst standing outside of the pan. The loco inadvertently went over his foot and after reporting the accident to the First Aid, who in turn informed his foreman, was given a Written Warning as he was told he had contravened the Management Rules. I do believe it was the first time this rule had been enacted. Some people wondered if the warning had been given un-necessarily. About the driver's foot- all he sustained was slight bruising on his small toe.

These happy looking people are two tourists being shown around the dockyard by the author! The driver of the bus, which helped to show tourists around, took this photo. The couple came from Wigan and were very kind in forwarding this picture to the docks. This is one of the nice things that happens on our tours. Many interesting pieces of information come to light with these visits and it is surprising to meet people who visited the dockyard during and just after the 2nd World War.

Contact: [email protected]

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