Nestles

[kargil]

Not a family as such - but - many of my relatives worked in the Nestles factory in Chippenham.
Would anyone know of factory history that has been kept?
Would like to know more about the factory and the working conditions from 1900 onwards.

[Bucksgirl]

There was a Nestles Condensed Milk factory in Aylesbury, Bucks around the same time, this has just been demolished in the past year.  This info may help if you are looking for records.

Jenny

[davierj]

I don't recall a Nestlés factory in Chippenhm but I believe that there was also one just outside Trowbridge on the way to Bradford on Avon just down the hill from the Old Bear!   Last time I passed (the factory site not the Old Bear) it had changed hands and I believe this happened some time ago.
It may be worth while contacting the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office as they are most helpful and a mine of information.   If there are no records there they may point you in the right direction.
Cheers Dave

[liverpool annie]

Not a family as such - but - many of my relatives worked in the Nestles factory in Chippenham.
Would anyone know of factory history that has been kept?
Would like to know more about the factory and the working conditions from 1900 onwards.

I wonder if this site would be able to help Kargil ??

http://www.chippenham.gov.uk/about/history.htm

Annie 

[bellyboba]

hi my family is from round chippenham area, many ofmy relations also worked at nestles, my great gran had a house near to front entrance, drive past it everyday, is now office block, can send you some pics of what it looks like today if you want. chris

[puellaanimae85]

There was definitely a Nestles factory in Chippenham (pronounced in those days 'nestles' rather than 'nest-lay')  - very long grey buildings on either side of the Bath Road, just as you come to the town river bridge. On one side of the road, the Salvation Army Citadel was almost next door and on the other, there was a raised garden overlooking the river and the old town bridge (which I believe went to the US - it had two shops on it, one a newsagents and the other an electrical shop). On the wall above the garden (the factory wall), was a faded mural with palm trees on it.

As a child in the 1950's, I often walked past Nestles, being careful of the one-man electric lifting vehicles which used to go from one side of the main road to the other. Apart from the swiftly moving vehicles, the pavement was often wet at the crossing points - probably from the milk. I knew people who worked there - latterly, they let the staff buy Nestle's mis-shape chocolates cut-price. These were greatly prized and for a while, we had them most weeks via an employee!

There was great sadness when the factory closed and people left without jobs. Nestles were one of the main employers in the town, along with the Wiltshire Bacon Factory, the Oxo Factory and the biggest of all, Westinghouse Brake and Signal.

Hope this helps,

Jenny

[kargil]

Hi to everyone who has replied to my query!And thank you all!
I do know about the Nestles factory (my Grandfather and his brothers worked there) He had 50 years service. I have his tankard and telegrams re service. I was looking for information that may have been kept or published re the records or working conditions. Sometimes, especially when such a landmark building closes - a publication is issued to commemorate the factory?? (We were sent a couple of bars of chocolate by my Grandfather inside the Wiltshire Gazette to Scotland) Am trying to compile more information regarding his working life within Nestles?But again, thank you all for your replies!!

[ARG]

Re; Nestles

A significant part of the Nestles factory in Chippenham still exists although it has been converted to offices. Photos may be available from Nestles and there are certainly some in the small museum in Chippenham. I worked in the factory at weekends when I was 14. My father was one of the foremen, as was his father before him. The factory was built either side of the A4 in the centre of Chippenham. On one side of the road was the maintenance, boilerhouse and also the tinsmiths, there were a lot of churns to maintain. Also on the that side of the road was a large house 'Bridge House?' which were the management offices. This house still stands. The processing section of the factory, now offices, was the other side of the road, built between the road and the River Avon. Approx. halfway along this factory was an arched entrance though which the delivery lorries brought the churns of milk. This arch lead to a short cobbled road which ran along the back of the factory and brought the lorries to the unloading bay then back out of the front of the factory. The lorries unloaded the churns and collected clean ones. The full churns were manually moved along conveyors and emptied into a tank, weighed and recorded. The milk was then pumped to the upper floor into large vats. The milk then went though the process to produce condensed milk and were canned. The full cans left this area in a track, and this could be seen next to the ceiling of the entrance were the lorries came in. Women then packed the tins into cardboard boxes ready for dispatch. I never went around all of the factory, so this is as much as I can remember. One other fact, the town end of the factory still has the bullet marks from when it was strafed by the Germans during WW2. Presumeable thinking it was the Westinghouse factory which was building war materials. Hope this information is of interest.

[meles]

Welcome ARG to RootsChat.

This is exactly the sort of posting that will be helpful to someone. And if not today, then someone might search for it on the coming months.

Thank you for your contribution.

meles