Another ex-Safari employee

[Brian M]

New member Mintaka22 sent me a couple of messages that he wants to share with everyone. I don't now his real name but hope that Michael1 might recognise him.

I think it is great the those who built our Safaris are prepared to provide information about their time at the Factory.

Hi,

I've just joined the site, having found it while searching for a Safari name badge. I wanted to say thank you for a very worthwhile site, which will undoubtedly provide much enjoyment and help to those who have an interest in Safari Caravans.

I worked for Safari at Bowbridge, Glos., in 1981-82, and knew some of the original staff who had worked for Safari when it was based at Cainscross. The company moved to Eagle Mills, Bowbridge, in 1957, and was sadly closed by the consortium company which owned it in an order-book buyout. The official closure date was June 28, 1982, with redundancies on July 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30th.

Some employees remained until September, and I listed the unused stock which was packed and sent to Cosalt in Grimsby, along with much of the machinery and manufacturing jigs.

It was a very friendly workplace, with a real sense of community and many unique and interesting characters and amusing stories!
Reg, the stores manager, had a broad cockney accent, and certain employees would tease him by asking for 'greb endles' (grab handles) before racing up the steps before he could retaliate!

Occasionally, some of us would make large gliders from plastic waste pipe, polystyrene sheet offcuts and mastic as glue, and fly them along the assembly line. Excitement was added by firing at them with nail guns - Health and Safety issues were less prevalent in those days!

I'd be happy to contribute whatever I can to the site, and wish you continued success in your efforts to promote interest in Safari's excellent classic caravans.


Re: saying hello
« Message sent Yesterday at 4:25pm »

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Hi,

Thank you for responding, and yes, you are welcome to post my message.

There are many interesting, historical, technical and sometimes amusing snippets from Safari which I would be happy to share with the group. I will, of course, not always mention names or make individuals identifiable out of respect for privacy, though I know some are now deceased. The exceptions to this would be Evan Richards and other directors, who were well known in the industry.

I have a few pictures, (not all of which I can now find), which I could post for interest. Some of them show the derelict factory in 1993, prior to redevelopment into housing.

I also once made a recording of the 1957 Sagar fourcutter (timber milling machine) which dominated the upstairs machine shop. It was an impressive, if deafening item to see in action! I converted the recording to .mp3 format, and could post that, too.

Perhaps I could detail a journey through the production line, including the sights and sounds along the way, if you think people might be interested to read about it?

Classic Safaris were still in production, along with the GTX's, and finally the X44 and XL475.

The company and its products deserve lasting recognition, so I'm happy to add what I can to their memory.

More soon...


Mintaka - please put up any of the pictures and films you have of the Factory, I am sure more than a few of us will be interested

[michael1]

Hi come on whats your name i work at Safari from 1958 till 1982 my name is michael lane and if you remember me i was the spray polisher and shop stewerd

[michael1]

Hi sorry i dont remember you what department did you work in it was along time ago

[mintaka22]

Hi,

Yes, 30 years is half a lifetime, and we all remember differently. I was a young person looking for experience, and worked in different areas.

Mostly I constructed furniture, or final fitting out on the electrics part of the assembly line. Occasionally I did cable or gas pipe assembly, and would help out on the fourcutter upstairs.

PICTURES OF SAFARI AFTER CLOSURE

s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i404/mintaka22/

They are a sad sight for all who remember Safari as a working company.

[mintaka22]

SAFARI PHOTOGRAPHS

1993 color photo

The main factory building was Eagle Mill, and before a major fire 1956 it had a third storey. Safari relocated here in 1957.

The curved roof building, ahead, was the panel shop. Freezing cold in winter, this was where sheet plywood was cut to size for caravan roofs, sides and flooring.

Behind this was a backup generator, a 6 cylinder 127 hp diesel by VM engines of Italy, with a 30KVa output.

Behind again was the boiler house. The rusty overhead duct pipe brought suctioned wood chips and dust from the upstairs machine shop, and there was a chute for offcuts, which provided enough fuel for heating.

The asbestos roofed building at the back was the stores. It had floors built from rapid racking and was managed by a very efficient ex-RAF storekeeper. Here, you would get boxes of screws, drill bits, jubilee clips, cable, glue - whatever components were required for your section of the job.

On the left of the site, down a bank, the river Frome ran past, passing under the stores building.

1996 black & white photos.

The site under demolition. The far right of these pictures shows the remains of the assembly line extension.

In the view from the gates, the repair shop stood on the right, but has already gone.

The other color picture is of the toolbox and tools actually used at Safari - many employees made their own, similar to this, from Obeche offcuts.

The final black and white picture is Bowbridge crossing. In summer, some employees would walk up onto the common in the lunch break, crossing the railway here.

It was once a passenger halt with short platforms - the concrete lamp posts were still there in this picture.

Thanks for looking!

[Mick]

Interesting photos of the old factory, sad to see it demolished. Same as a lot of closed british industry from years gone by the empty shells make way for housing estates.

Good to see people on here that built our caravans, best way to find out how things were back then.

[mintaka22]

Thank you for taking time to comment.

I'll upload any other pics that I can find.

[mintaka22]

AUDIO CLIP OF SAFARI MACHINE SHOP IN 1982

tindeck.com/listen/meth

This was the Sagar fourcutter at work in the upstairs machine shop.

At the start, the cutter blocks are idling, then a new length of timber can be heard feeding through. This machine planed all the timber sections used in Safaris from 1957 until 1982, and was quite an awesome piece of kit, weighing about 2 tons. The cutter block drive motors were 5HP each!

At about 2'25", the rip saw can be heard, cutting the rough edges off a plank.