Reply To: Aylesford Paper Mills

John Baker has sent me this information by email for inclusion in the Aylesford topic:
I started as a mechanical engineer apprentice in 1962 joining that year’s 1st year off the job training group. I was the only apprentice to complete my training in the newly built Reed Group R & D centre at the Aylesford station end of the site. It was there that I was most fortunate to work with scientists, doctors with a huge range of knowledge and skills backgrounds. Sadly, after I worked with various companies such as Reed Medway Sacks; Reed Polyfilms (the plastic bag unit of RMS); Reed Corrugated Cases; Kimberly-Clark; Key Terrain and all the paper mill departments, I was made redundant in 1972. This was especially sad for me as I was making full use of the wonderful sports facilities available on the site. I was very keen to get back working on the site again for this very reason and having kept in touch with people still on the site, I learnt of a vacancy for an R & D engineer with Key Terrain (later Reed Building Products). The position was to help set up and operate a small manufacturing workshop within the old Salle building. I was successful with my application. However, after being employed only a few months, my dream position in the Training School cropped up for an engineering training instructor. As luck would have it, this position was only advertised as an internal company application, so had I not been working on the site I would never have known about it. Having only been in my current position for a few months, it was extremely difficult and embarrassing to hand my notice in. Luckily, the head of my unit was somebody I worked with in the R & D unit, his name was Dr Don Broach. He was extremely understanding and allowed me to apply for such a position. I was very fortunate and started as an instructor in August 1973. In 1977, I became Senior Instructor and Head of Department and continued in this role until the College (now called Reed College) was transferred to SCA and then given away to Sheerness Steel in 1993. I felt after 20 years wonderful service in the College, it was time to move on.
It may not be common knowledge that the Reed Group extended the first year off the job training with the well-known Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which entailed all the students being taken by the instructors to Derbyshire Peak District every year and spending a week under canvas. I was a Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme company assessor for expedition work and would not have missed this experience for anything.
Many thanks, John. The College on the site was a valuable asset, training papermakers and engineers through the City & Guilds Qualifications and other skills including secretarial.
Some of the people involved in teaching in the college, in addition to John, were: Barry Watson who was Head of the Papermaking Training Department and papermaking lecturers Fred Blackmore and Ron Underdown.