The rise and fall of Weyburn- working at Weyburn

part 5

What was it like to work at Weyburn.

Weyburn had a huge impact on Elstead village. In the early part of the last century, local boys had a limited choice of jobs- farming or gardening. Weyburn  offered training and a career in engineering with good pay and prospects.

In this period, the vast majority (nearly 90%) of Weyburn’s workforce were local people.

This was to change over the next decades when public transportation and car ownership improved. In 1995, less than 8% were from Elstead village.

There was a real ‘family’ feel to the company, with two and sometimes 3 generations of the same family working for Weyburn.

Some families had 5 brothers, uncles, and fathers. Another family had 4 relatives working at some time or other at Weyburn.

Also. it was not uncommon to have employees serving 40 years and even 50 years at Weyburn.

There was a strong social scene provided by the Sports & Social club with table tennis, snooker, bowls, clay pigeon shooting, fishing and dancing organised by the sub committee. There was even an annual village fete whereby local people could visit the factory with fun days organised for families and inter shop sport events. This ‘family feel’ gradually diminished, especially in the later 10 years.

Weyburn’s contribution to the local and nation economy cannot be understated.

Components made by Weyburn include camshafts, fuel injection shafts, valves, tappets, piston pins, lifeboat engines, governors, metering pumps, eccentric shafts, balancer shafts and ammunition parts.

Weyburn-made components powered family cars, trucks, motor racing cars, motorbikes, trains, battle tanks, armoured military vehicles, tractors, boats, ships, power generation sets, and aircraft.