Unionised workplaces did provide some level of protection regarding working hours - especially important on the railways with passenger safety to be considered - however very early starts could be part of the job. Here former footplate man William Baldwin remembers the special system for making sure staff woke up on time. 

George Hogg was born in 1926 at Parkend. His father and mother both worked for the colliery owner George Deakin. Here George describes how his parents met, and how George's future career at New Fancy Colliery was mapped out for him even before he was born.

Maurice Phelps faced a choice between continuing at school or starting work when his father announced he had a job for him at Coleford Brick and Tile. Here Maurice describes what he did, and how later he signed up for the Army's REME (Royal Mechanical Engineers) for six years.
 

Kelvyn Jones describes his early work panel beating, pig farming, and at Watts and the J. Allen Rubber Company before going into a ‘man’s world’ of foundry work. His employers operated as Brico, then Lydmet, TN and Federal Mogul, and is now J.D. Normans. He worked at the cam shaft manufacturers for the next 34 years.