1. NIMSLO 3D CAMERA ASSEMBLY.
2. COMPUTER CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLY.
3. TIMEX WATCH ASSEMBLY.
4. PRESS SHOP.
5. CHUCKING LATHE DEPT.
6. GEAR CUTTING DEPT.
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After a mass of redundancies in the early/mid 80's, many of the departments in Timex factories around Dundee lay idle. To try and attract alternative use for the machinery available, Timex printed hundreds of brochures in various languages to see if they could entice other companies to make use of what the factories had to offer. However, despite the desperate effort, it was all too little too late and they eventually closed their doors for good with the factory contents having been auctioned off.
The above pictures are from these 80's brochures and show a variety of departments when they were still in full flow.
The 3 main Timex factories were at Camperdown, Milton of Craigie and Dunsinane, which in their heyday employed many thousands.
A local saying back then was "Everybody in Dundee knows someone who works in Timex".
So on that basis, there are bound to be some of you out there who will be familiar with the departments in the pictures, or maybe even recognise a friend or relative.
If you need a closer look, click onto the image to view the large versions.
There will be more tomorrow.
Big thanks to Ecky.
Show of hands then....who's still got an item of Timex cutlery?...
ReplyDeleteOut of the various factories I had a ZX Spectrum (and spare parts) - digital watch and many other Timex watches .. all free of course ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhy is Dundee the computer games development capital of the world? Cos so many ZX Spectrums "fell of the back of a lorry" on their way out of the factory, and into the hands of local budding programmers.
ReplyDeleteNot a joke, it's apparently true (or it may be a rumour!).
Cos so many ZX Spectrums "fell of the back of a lorry" on their way out of the factory, and into the hands of local budding programmers.
ReplyDeleteDunno about that, but I know there were plentiful pickings of working machines, software and other peripherals in the skips up at Harrison Road. One of my friends even came across a very early Spectrum 128K (before they were released), only missing the heat sink to be fully working.
I worked at a toolmaking factor that was ex-timex owners with ex-timex machines making Timex jigs, fixtures, and tooling.... There was always a deal to be done to "update" your machine tools
ReplyDeleteGot a timex watch when i was roughly 5 as part of my christmas ,my first ever watch ,was in awe at glow in the dark dial,mum worked milton of craigie,mainly camera assembly,this would be about 1972,learned to tell the time pretty quick as i felt so important having an item mainly adults wore,and no it wasn`t knocked b4 anyone has a dig,quite a few of us had one in school that january new year,i had it til i moved house recently,gonna search for it,proud of my mum whos nearly 80 now workin crap shifts for many years to help see the family secure once dad came home from his work after bustin a gut himself,sure there are loads more families brought up like mine, proud as !
ReplyDeleteThe yearly sales were the time to get your watches at Timex. I can't remember the exact amount, but it was a hefty discount!
ReplyDeleteI got a student summer job at Milton in July 1981-I was in maintenance under Ron Tosh,who
ReplyDeleteended up something senior in Tayside Regional Council.I worked shifts and cleared£140+ each week! The "working" day/ night lasted no longer than a couple of hours with the rest of the time spent sleeping( in a toilet- if you could find one that wasn't booked) sunbathing on the roof or playing dominoes.
I remember gathering round the tv in the dining hall to watch Charles and Di tie the knot.
There was also a groovy coca cola machine- iced coke-2p.
There were about 8 students- boosty( crap cricketer) eck mcandrew( dunsinane) others.
Just how could it go wrong when we all had so much fun?
Just how did it all go belly up?