Jeffrey Nettlestead has provided the following information on Wolvercote:
In 1956, I was taken on as an Apprentice Commercial Artist by Millspaugh Ltd., an engineering Company in Sheffield. (The term ‘Graphic Designer’ was not then in common use).
One of Millspaugh’s major activities was the design, manufacture and installation of Papermaking equipment. When I joined the Publicity Dept., another apprentice was the Company’s photographer and had already been there for 2-3 years. As his junior, I helped carry and set up his equipment on photographic missions and gradually learned aspects of the art of industrial photography, to the point that, when he was conscripted for National Service around 1957, I became the unofficial photographer in addition to my position as commercial artist.
Despite my youth and limited experience, particularly in cinematography, it therefore fell to me, either in 1957 or possibly early 1958, to fulfil the Company’s requirement that a cine record be made of recently installed new plant at a Mill in Oxfordshire.
I am not absolutely certain but nevertheless fairly confident that my subsequent film recording was made at the Wolvercote Mill.
It was a 16mm black & white film with no soundtrack. To the best of my recollection, after editing, it ran for about 40 mins, and covered the whole process from suspended wet fibres through to reels of finished paper.
Regrettably, I have no idea whether it still exists.
Although it is highly unlikely that the cine recording I made is still in existence, I thought that, (assuming you are not already aware), you might be interested to know that Sheffield Archives lists a record of the minutes of directors meetings at Millspaugh Ltd., 1956-58. It seems to me that there is a strong likelihood that those minutes will contain references to the new equipment produced and installed at Wolvercote during that period.
Following my own National Service November 1958-60, I returned to complete my apprenticeship, but was made redundant early in 1961 after Millspaugh Ltd was acquired by the Swiss Company Escher Wyss. The Publicity Department was closed down at the same time.
This brought to an end my connections with the Papermaking business.
While browsing, I further discovered that Millspaugh had more changes of ownership after I left, including Sulzer Group and Ashlow Steel, before finally closing down in1979.
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