Centenarian Ken Harrison was today a guest of honour at celebrations to mark the production of JCB’s one millionth backhoe loader as the last known survivor of the original production team that built the first machines.
Ken, who turned 100 last November, joined JCB as a welder in 1952 when only 29 people worked on the shop floor, earning four shillings and sixpence an hour, the equivalent of 22½ pence in today’s money. He stayed for 36 years before retiring in 1988.
Today, he returned to the place where the first JCB backhoes rolled off the production line 72 years ago – JCB’s World Headquarters in Rocester. This time, instead of clocking on, he arrived in style in the company’s chauffeur-driven Jaguar to join in the celebrations.
When Ken joined JCB, it was to be the start of a family tradition. Thirteen other relatives followed in his footsteps, and to date, Ken’s family has amassed more than 350 years’ service to JCB. He had been brought up as the eldest of eight children at Barrow Hill overlooking what would become the JCB factory half a mile away. Ken was also the forefront of JCB’s European sales drive in the 1950s and 1960s having spent six years in the Demonstration Team driving machines to show to customers and dealers.
Ken said: “We put long hours in at the factory in those days; in fact, we almost lived there. I can remember being at work at 5pm one Sunday, and I was the only one there when Joe Bamford came in and shouted across to me, ‘I’m relying on you, Harrison’. In those days, everyone was addressed by their surname. Joe was all right; I really liked him. Everyone was happy and friendly and everyone mucked in in those days. One day, you would be welding, and the next, you would be operating a concrete mixer. You’d be doing all sorts of jobs in those early days, nothing like it is today.
“I remember the time they were extending the factory; it was so draughty you literally couldn’t weld as the weld was just blown away because all we had around us was a giant tarpaulin. We turned our hand to anything and when I was out driving a truck, Anthony Bamford used to come with me when I was out on local deliveries. He would only have been about 11, and it was a real novelty for him.”
Ed Farnley, 24, of Uttoxeter, is Ken Harrison’s great-nephew and joined JCB six years ago as a Business Degree Apprentice. He works as a Product Specialist for JCB Attachments in Uttoxeter.
Ed said: “I’m the fourth generation of my family to work here, and it gives me a real sense of pride to know that we have contributed so much service to JCB. My great-grandfather John Harrison and my grandfather Colin Farnley both worked here as does my dad Alan. It’s great that we have all been part of the success story that JCB has become over the past 80 years.”
