13 of 24 - Dowty Rotol
The realities of modern capitalism caught up with Holman’s in 1980, and the Camborne site was scheduled for closure. Some of us were offered work in an aircraft factory in Gloucester, so rather than stay in Cornwall and scramble for work, we accepted the offer, packed our bags, and headed for the M5. Dowty Rotol—a name that carried weight in aerospace circles—was known for its precision engineering, especially in propellers and hydraulic systems. Their components flew on aircraft used by the Royal Family, which lent a certain hush to the shop floor, as if the parts themselves demanded decorum. I was on permanent nights, inspecting components as they came off the machines. The rhythm was steady: the machinists would produce their first-offs, and I’d measure every critical dimension against the drawings. No shortcuts. No assumptions. Just the quiet click of micrometers and the glow of the optical comparator. If the first-off was correct I would stamp the machinists work card which wa...