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Antonia Bunch papers
GB 249 OM/486 · File · c. 1981-1986

Handwritten lecture notes for Antonia Bunch's first-year undergraduate class in Information Studies, taught within the Department of Librarianship at the University of Strathclyde.
Topics covered in the notes include: information; communication; the development and history of libraries; and the press, publishing and the book trade. The folder also includes a typed list of prescribed essay subjects for Term 1, several information sheets from the British Museum's Room of Writing, newspaper cuttings, book reviews and some photocopied chapters from books, all of which were presumably used to inform the lectures.
The notes were originally contained in an A4 ring binder labelled 'From the Clay Tablet to the Microchip'.

Bunch, Antonia Janette, 1937-2023, OBE, librarian
GB 249 OF/63/1 · Item · Summer 1986

Newsletter published by the Department of Mechanics of Materials at the University of Strathclyde.

University of Strathclyde | Department of Mechanics of Materials
GB 249 OF/64/1 · Item · c. 1980 - 1986

Leaflet aimed at potential undergraduate students. Contains general information on the course; professional qualifications and careers; course curriculum; practical training; entrance qualifications.

University of Strathclyde | Department of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
GB 249 T-ALC · Collection · 1954 - 1986

Minutes and papers of Council meetings, including Chairman’s Committee and National Executive, 1957-1968, 1970-1984; Conditions of Service Committee correspondence and papers, 1959-1986; Regulations Committee minutes and papers, 1960-1966, 1971, 1975; Education Committee correspondence, reports and policy documents, 1964-1983; membership lists and lists of branch officials; general correspondence, 1958-1968, 1980-1983; correspondence and programmes for annual conferences, 1962-1974; newsletters and bulletins, 1961-1965, 1971-1975, 1979-1980, 1984-1985; ballot papers on the future of ALCES, 1974; liaison with trade unions and other organisations; branch meeting minutes.

Association of Lecturers in Colleges of Education in Scotland
Bulletin
GB 249 OS/81 · Series · 1974-1986

A regularly published newsletter for University of Strathclyde staff, containing short items of news about University events and activities, departmental news and small ads.

University of Strathclyde | Information Office
GB 249 OK/39 · Collection · 1930 - 1985

Notices of meetings and lectures, 1934-1958; notice of annual dinner, 1959; letter relating to history of Society, 1938; reminiscences about Society in 'Annals of the Andersonain Naturalists' Society', 1936; William Rennie, 'Smatterings: a brief outline of the early struggles of the Glasgow geologists to establish themselves within the city, their meeting places and notes thereon', 1946; poster advertising exhibition to mark centenary of Society, 1985.

Andersonian Naturalists' Society
GB 249 SOHC 1 · Collection · Original recordings, 1981-1985

A series of interviews with former employees at the motor manufacturing complex at Linwood, Renfrewshire, 20km west of Glasgow, Scotland.

Manufacturing activity first started at Linwood during WWII, under the government's shadow factory scheme, specialising in steel processing and gun barrels, managed by the Glasgow engineering company Beardmore's. After the war, the Pressed Steel company began to manufacture railway carriages, tractors, and body parts for cars and trucks. In the early 1960s, after government pressure, the Rootes car group built a new factory at the site, commencing the full-scale production of new motor-car models, including the Hillman Imp and the Avenger, massively expanding the Linwood site. The Linwood site was taken over by the American Chrysler corporation in 1967, and was again taken over by the French company Peugeot-Citroen in 1979. Following a prolonged period of financial difficulties and industrial unrest, the Linwood plant was closed by Peugeot in 1981. During its operation, Linwood was the only full-scale motor-car production facility in Scotland, employing 8,500 workers at its peak, one of the largest single manufacturing sites in Scotland. The former factory has now been demolished.

This project was a research project undertaken by Clifford Lockyer, an economist based at the University of Strathclyde, in the early 1980s. Lockyer had previously worked at the Linwood car factory, and in his own words, "sought to record the life of the Linwood factory from shadow war factory to closure".

The interviews cover the life-span of the entire plant, including a few workers who worked at the site during WWII. The evolving nature of the site, describing the varied work of the 1950s, is featured, including the production of car parts for Vauxhall, Ford, Rolls Royce, as well as the production of railway carriages, mostly for export, with India a main destination. The most significant development at the plant - the sudden move into full-scale car production in the early 1960s, and the resulting dramatic transformation of the site - is also strongly represented in the material (this expansion is often referred to in the material as a difference between the "south site" and the "north site"). Finally, the tumultuous years of the 1970s are also featured, including the events leading up to the plant's closure in 1981. Interviews cover a wide range of jobs roles at the plant, including operators, foremen, management, and trade union officials. A key division of labour at the site was between those operators in the "tool shops", and those who worked on the car assembly line "track", and both sets of workers are represented.

The overall flow of the interviews centres around the topic of industrial relations, which was Lockyer's specialist research area. Management policies, and their effects, as well as the changes in ownership are discussed by many interviewees. Management relationships with the shopfloor are frequently mentioned. Trade union activity at the plant is heavily featured in the interviews, and some interviewees describe their roles as shop stewards. Various industrial disputes and their consequences are also relayed in detail, including the trajectory toward plant closure. A large number of different trade unions operated at Linwood, and some workers describe the interrelationships and tensions between them, as well as the organisational structures and main personalities of each union group. Many workers also discuss their own attitudes and interactions with trade unions.

The Linwood plant was largely non-unionised in the 1950s, which some workers discuss, including its impact on working life. A strike in 1948, which led to the banishment of unions, is touched upon by a few interviewees. The unionisation process of the late 1950s, resulting in the comprehensive unionisation of the entire workforce, is featured in the material, including the impact on working conditions and management relations.

The working conditions of the workplace and the everyday routines of a car factory are highlighted. Interviewees discuss their own daily routines and the organisation of their particular work section. Some interviews go into detail about payment arrangements, including the "piece" system, and bonuses. The introduction of a nightshift in the 1960s is also mentioned. Health and safety risks are very occasionally alluded to. Workers discuss their own attitudes towards their job, their frustrations and motivations, and how this changes over time. The interviews feature discussion on day-to-day problems and difficulties at the site, commenting on production and design problems, as well as quality control.

Since many interviewees worked at the Linwood plant for many years, interviewees often comment on the rise and fall of the Linwood plant over time, making allusions to the wider economic and business climate. Interviewees chart the dynamics of changing workforce morale, changing work practices and changing management attitudes over time, and try to pinpoint "where it all went wrong", reflecting on reasons for the gradual demise of the Linwood plant and the motor industry in Scotland.

Finally, a handful of interviews feature the topic of women in the Linwood workforce. Women were typically employed in a few roles at the site, but changes to this configuration are also mentioned. One interviewee discusses how many women labourers were employed at the site during WWII, undertaking roles vacated by men. Another interview discusses how - in the late 1970s - women were employed in significant numbers in jobs which previously were exclusively performed by men, including on the car assembly line "track". At least one interviewee is a former female worker, who reflects on the lack of union representation among female workers.

Lockyer, Clifford, b. 1946, economist
GB 249 OM/329 · Item · 1985

Article by Arthur Midwinter, Director of the Public Sector Management Unit at Strathclyde Business School, in SLA News, No. 188, July/August 1985, pp. 3-8.

Midwinter, Arthur F., fl. 1985-1999, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde
GB 249 OS/85 · Series · 1963 - 1985

Press cuttings about the University of Strathclyde (mainly) but also about other universities.

University of Strathclyde | Information Office