'Nobody thought Singer would close'

Julie Gilbert • Published 2 Jun 2010 14:00

Thirty years ago - in June 1980 - the great Singer factory, which had once been the largest sewing machine factory in the world, closed its doors for the last time.

The factory opened in 1885 and at its peak in 1960, was producing thousands of sewing machines a week and employing 16,055 people.

By 1980 the number of employees had greatly reduced but 3,000 people - many of them Bankies - still lost their jobs when the factory closed.

Many of the sporting and social clubs also closed down, although the Singer Bowling Club is still going strong.

The Impact of Singer's closure on Clydebank was huge and to mark the 30th anniversary of that historic event the Post is taking the chance to look back at the highs and lows of life in Singer through the memories of former workers.

Bruce Dee, 69, began working in the Singer factory in 1970 and worked there until being paid off in December 1979.

He remembers his time in the factory with great fondness.

The Dalmuir man told the Post: "I was in department 118 and I worked quite a few jobs during my time.

"I finished up working as a machine operator on the new machine that they had brought in to drill all the holes in the bed of the sewing machine.

"It was quite a noisy place.

"When I first went in I thought 'what have I let myself in for?'

"But it was a very good place to work once you got to know your job and your fellow workers.

"There was a number of things we used to do outside the factory.

"A group of us would always go for a pint and at the beginning we used to organise bus runs to visit places.

"There was really good comradeship amongst the workers.

"I miss the money as well - the money was very good for those days."

Bruce says it became obvious in 1979 that things were not going well at the factory.

He said: "We first got warning it was going to happen in the Summer of 1979 but I think it was about September before I was told it was definitely closing.

"We knew it was coming because there had been strikes and it was obvious right through the Summer that things weren't going that well.

"It was a worry because with so many people out of work, everyone would be looking for a job at the same time.

"I was very lucky because I was one of the first ones out and within a week of leaving there I had started on the railways as a signalman.

"But there were people I worked beside in Singer who never did another day's work.

"They came out of Singer and into retirement - but it was enforced retirement because they couldn't get a job."

"People were saying Clydebank was going to be left a ghost town - they were wondering what was going to happen to the Singer building and what was going to happen to Clydebank.

"Of course we survived - although maybe not as well as some would have liked."

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This article appeared in Clydebank Post 02 Jun 10

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