When Ken retired in September he had worked for the Charles Walker Group for 49 years and eight months, and was just pipped to his exact 50 years by the fall of his birthday.

Ken was a maintenance mechanic when he retired, but was a skilled all-round engineer.

He started work as an apprentice with Lunds of Bingley - the loom reed manufacturing subsidiary of Charles Walker Ltd. Some of the machines he worked on in those early days, he says, are still in operation today and making superlative products.

As the demands of the textile industry fluctuated, Ken worked in various departments at Walker's Argyll Mills in Bingley. Later he transferred to Walker's engineering department to support the manufacture of the conveyor and drive belting which are the company's main products today.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.