1970's - 80's - The main machine shop of the Penarth Dock Engineering Company Limited.

upper image - One of the large Butler planers within the shop used for machining fabrications and castings some of which were designed within the drawing office at the Penarth works where I spent the final year of my apprenticeship.

lower image - Another view of the same planer. Distant is a radial drill and the the right rear, a horizontal borer. Closest on the right is a vertical slotting machine used for cutting keyways etc. One of the problems of the company was the lack of investment in technology ; there is not a single numerically controlled machine to be seen ; all axes are entirely 'britches-arse-steam' driven and belong to an earlier age! I recognised this shortcoming of the company and decided at the end of my apprenticeship that my future was elsewhere.  

The original photographs are held at the archive of the National Museum of Wales and form part of a series of 31 photos of engineering workshops at Penarth and Barry Docks. [Museum item number : 87.202I/19 & 20] [629] [20180327]