Hi Geordieboy ns
l served my time in Hebburn Palmers in 1950 -55 in the joiners shop as a woodcutting machinist l don't know what years you worked there l agree with what you said about working conditions in the shop,compared to yester year,where there was no HS.At the machine end of the shop going back some 60 odd years we like many workers on the river worked with Asbestos we used to volunteer to work with it to enable to get an extra tanner an hour,if only we knew then how such a terrible descease it was and still is it takes it toll many many years laterq we did not have masks the extraction was inadequate we used to have our bait in the shop on the job we would use the windy pipe to blow off any dust then go home in our overalls and hang them in the kitchen cupboard so the family breathed it in.
Asbestos was a killer and still is. It was used in many industries thank fully it is Banned as late in the1980s l started in Palmers in 1955 l would hazard a guess that over the years thounsands have in the yards died or have been affected by Asbestosis l know of three lads that served there time with me have sadly died after being exsposedto it,that was not 133 years ago but 60 odd.years ago,as for my self l am surviving ok.
To Geordieboy ns l remember the galvinised sink it reminded me when l used to wash my face and blow my nose to get rid of the dust.
What years did you work in Palmer.?