I have been passed an intriguing piece of paper from the estate of the late Jim Curtis. It seems that on 1 May 1975 he attended a meeting of The Jolly Tilers convened at The Maids Head Hotel, Norwich. 17 were in attendance — some from CCTA. Names minuted were Cedric Dickens, Bill Houldsworth, Jim…
Author: Robert Stutely
Atlantic House, 1971
By John Wellington Wells I ought to begin with an apology: I now work for the organisation that demolished Atlantic House and replaced it with a functional but anonymous post-modern slab. (Nobody asked me about this, let me say.) Not that the old Atlantic House was a thing of beauty, but it had a certain…
Geoffrey Thomas Dickinson 1935–2021
Eastern Daily Press dated 6 February carried this family notice. Geoff joined HMSO Norwich in August 1975 and was subsequently promoted to Senior Messenger (Support Band 1). His wife June was also a messenger in Sovereign House and Saint Crispins.
Barbara Anne Robbins 1937–2021
The sad news that Barbara has died, in the James Paget Hospital, on 18 January 2021 came from Dorothy Sellar via Marilyn Nisbet. She had successfully gone through a hip operation following a fall but subsequently contracted pneumonia. Barbara joined HMSO Norwich in December 1968 and was promoted Personal Secretary in 1977. I knew her…
21 January 2021 – Printing and Binding Division Steams Into 1961
Alex Mackie, who joined HMSO in November 1960, was pleased to feature in this cover article from the S.O. Review dated February 1961. It featured a cartoon drawn by Jack Palmer with caricatures of printing staff in the PG5 area. The caption reads: ‘The P&B Railway on this month’s cover was constructed in Room C90, Atlantic House,…
20 January 2021 – From Stuart McLaren
In Tim Riley’s memories of Pubns in the early 70s, he asks: ‘Do we know who holds the record for longest tenure of the same HMSO post?’ Working on the logic that alone among HMSO employees the Controller cannot raise any higher up the greasy pole, I had a look in Barty-King’s history of HMSO…
People
We are grateful to those readers who have contributed brief accounts of their time with HMSO, and beyond. Please feel free to join them: modesty is not essential. Any embarrassing events you may wish to divulge will be rigorously edited to protect both the innocent and the guilty. Especially as regards Christmas parties. Listed…
18 January 2021 – From Tim Riley
It occurred to me last month that I was approaching the fiftieth anniversary of starting work in my first full-time job: an EO in Publications Division of HMSO at Atlantic House. Not long after I started, I stopped an older colleague in her tracks when she was laying down the law to our HEO, Vic…
12 January 2021 – From Ann-Marie Simpson
Hi Reg, I hope you and yours continue to be safe and well. I’m not sure if it’s normal to show memorial stones on the website but thought you might like to see Sinclair’s as we’ve included reference to his printing days. The stonemason, Teucer Wilson – who we discovered works in Caithness stone and…
6 January 2021 – From Fred Stubbs
I wish you and yours a Happy New Year – It should be an improvement on 2020! All grandchildren and great-grandchildren will read about 2020 in their school history books. I enjoyed looking back on all the photos of yesteryear of HMSO – Jack Palmer’s cartoons are amazing. I can recognise all the ‘choirboys’. He…