Completion of apprenticeship was recognised at a reception in the Council House, when each of us was presented with our Deed of Indenture by the Lord Mayor. Very grand it is too. Parchment, A3 sized, five pages, and hung about with large red embossed wax seals. I also qualified as a Freeman of the City. In origin this bestowed the right to trade in the City, and carried privileges and obligations as a citizen. I was sworn to be 'tributary to all contributions, taxes, tollages, summons, watch, scot and lot'. Hmmm. I now had the right to pasture cattle on wastes, Lammas, and Michaelmas lands. Sadly my personal circumstances prevented this, and I was not too sure where they were located. I also had the right to vote in Parliamentary elections, although it seems this had since been extended to almost everybody. From 1875 I shared responsibility for cleaning and repairing three ponds for public use within the City; fortunately no one now knew where they could be located either. The Deed of Indenture does no more than detail which areas of manufacture were experienced during the apprenticeship. 'Feb-Apr 1958: Universal Milling'. No details of any achievement or reservations about attitude towards Authority. What did have lasting value were the qualifications gained from evening attendance at technical college. All those hours spent drawing three views of cone sections enmeshed in a spider web of construction lines were not wasted. One day society will need this skill. Back at work, in a touching little ceremony, the Production Director presented me with a large publication (Machinery Handbook) which listed details of every nut and bolt known to Man; an engraved slide rule; and a written reference to help me find new employment. It was clearly an emotional moment for both of us. I now understood that the medieval term ‘Journeyman’ meant ‘on your way, squire …’ I was considered a skilled man, and the 60s beckoned. Smokey et vale Checked by Norton 2004 before transmission with Mozilla Thunderbird

>>I now had the right to pasture cattle on wastes, Lammas, and Michaelmas lands. Sadly my personal circumstances prevented this, and I was not too sure where they were located<< Hi Joe, I bet one of them was Hearsall Common, which was opposite where I was living when we were bombed out. >>From 1875 I shared responsibility for cleaning and repairing three ponds for public use within the City; fortunately no one now knew where they could be located either.<< I wonder if one of those could be the Swanswell? If it was.... I bet it could do with a good cleaning these days! grin BTW... my Dad was a tool and cutter grinder too during part of his working life. He worked at the Morris and then the GEC. I remember going to a works Christmas party at the Morris.... I'm told I was about 3 years old. I mainly remember getting near the building and looking down into a basement room which had bright lights and lots of kids having fun... and I couldn't get in there fast enough! Dorothy