Page 6. Shelvoke & Drewry Enthusiasts' Club Newsletter - Spring 2011.
THE LAST HORSE.
Famously in the early days of the SD Freighter Harry Shelvoke would present a small brass statue of a horse to local Councils. With the title "The Last Horse" the gift was a clear indication that the day of the horse was over and that the future lay in mechanised refuse collection.
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Two views of the Last Horse statuette.
My thanks to Tony Drewry for this photo.
When Computers were BIG brutes.
S & D's neighbours in Icknield way - the British Tabulating Machine Company were commonly known as 'The Tab'. Their factory was built in 1921. By the 1950's the Company was known as ICL.
There is an account of the commissioning of a computer for the production control function at the factory in an 'ICL Anthology' published in 1996 by Laidlaw Hicks (ISBN 0-9527389-0-2) a collection of recollections of people connected with ICL edited by Hamish Carmichael. An A 1201/588 HEC 4 computer was ordered by the Production Division in 1956. This computer was ready for installation on 3rd May 1957. ICL called on their neighbour for help in installing the giant machine. An S & D Freightlifter was employed to lift the 1201 unit at the East end of ICL's No. 1 factory. As staff looked on anxiously the unit was lifted some 18 to 20 feet up to a platform from which it could be rolled into the newly completed Computer Room. The lift was made without mishap.
ICL were the first company in England to use a computer for a complete production control system, and among the first three or four in the world. The size of these early computers ensured that it was fortunate that excellent lifting facilities were available from their neighbours.
Read more on:- http://uk.fujitsu.com/pensioner/localData/pdf/icl_anthology.pdf You'll find the account on page 20.
THANKS.
My thanks to the many people who have made the publication of this Newsletter possible. Their names appear alongside the information they have provided.
Unfortunately due to pressure of space I have been unable to include the promised article on 'Dating the 'N' series' nor start the series on the Defiant range of fork lift trucks. These will now appear later this year. Next time we report on some interesting news from Northern Ireland.
Brian. Editor.
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