Bucks League as well. From memory, it was called Hazells or Hazells (Aylesbury) because it played in the Hazells Sports Pavilion, rather than because it was exclusively their employees. Bucks also had ICI (Paints) at Slough while Berks had TRRL (Transport and Road Research Laboratory) as well as the Met Office (who moved to Devon), Premier Precision and ICL in Bracknell and Smiths of Basingstoke.Mike Truran wrote:Hazells used to play in the Oxfordshire League, but as I recall folded back in the 70s or 80s. They were connected to Hazell, Watson and Viney, a printing and publishing company in Aylesbury.
Chess in the factories.
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Re: Chess in the factories.
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Re: Chess in the factories.
Hazells were still playing chess in 1988 - I played against them for the last time in January of that year. I left Oxford shortly afterwards, so I don't know how much longer they carried on.Mike Truran wrote:Hazells used to play in the Oxfordshire League, but as I recall folded back in the 70s or 80s. They were connected to Hazell, Watson and Viney, a printing and publishing company in Aylesbury. It was taken over by Maxwell Communications Corporation plc in 1981, and that was presumably the end of that. BPCC Hazell Books was still going in 1995, but was a shadow of its former self. After that easily accessible records cease to exist.
There is still a Hazells Bowls Club.
Ian Kingston
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http://www.iankingston.com
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Re: Chess in the factories.
Thanks, Ian and Roger. I doubt Hazells continued much past 1988, if at all, but doubtless someone with a better memory than mine could confirm that one way or another.
The Oxfordshire League also had Morris Motors back in the 70s. Morris Motors morphed into Cowley Workers, who of course still play in the Oxfordshire League.
There's surely a book to be written on the subject! I'm not sure whether it would be quite up there with 'Fifty Shades of Grey' though in terms of a mass market, but as a record of how chess has reflected the UK's industrial rise and fall it would be fascinating.
The Oxfordshire League also had Morris Motors back in the 70s. Morris Motors morphed into Cowley Workers, who of course still play in the Oxfordshire League.
There's surely a book to be written on the subject! I'm not sure whether it would be quite up there with 'Fifty Shades of Grey' though in terms of a mass market, but as a record of how chess has reflected the UK's industrial rise and fall it would be fascinating.
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Re: Chess in the factories.
To add to what Neil Graham wrote about Nottinghamshire, the presence of company teams can be seen by viewing the league tables at http://nottschess.org/archive/league.html.
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Re: Chess in the factories.
There were a number of work-based clubs in the Thames Valley League within the past 20 years, probably more before that. I might rustle up a list later. There was a British Airways club. And a National Physical Laboratory club. There are also a number of working club based venues. Middlesex home county matches are played at Willesden Working Men's Club, for example.
A fuller list from Neil was posted here:
http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 45#p146963
A fuller list from Neil was posted here:
http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 45#p146963
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Re: Chess in the factories.
Looking through the "Monmouthshire Chess Review" for 1952, it can be observed that many of the teams had members involved in industry.
Oakdale, Abertillery, Brittania, Blackwood, Blaina, Tredegar, and Pontypool, represented the mining community. The Great Western Railway had several teams. The steel industry had Girlings, Noral (Alcan Industries), and Lysaghts. Also Monsantos, Black Clawson, British Gas, Newport Transport, Llanwern Steel, in later years.
London had a "Workers Chess League" in the 1930's. They even produced their own magazine, called "Time and Space". The editor was William Winter.
Oakdale, Abertillery, Brittania, Blackwood, Blaina, Tredegar, and Pontypool, represented the mining community. The Great Western Railway had several teams. The steel industry had Girlings, Noral (Alcan Industries), and Lysaghts. Also Monsantos, Black Clawson, British Gas, Newport Transport, Llanwern Steel, in later years.
London had a "Workers Chess League" in the 1930's. They even produced their own magazine, called "Time and Space". The editor was William Winter.
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Re: Chess in the factories.
These teams used to bring in a lot of players who would never join a chess club. Typically started by one or two keen players, who would recruit workmates who used to play at school but never kept it up. That's how I came back to chess.
We did very well for a while. But gradually the league's eligibility rules were eased. Clubs with four times as many members as us could apparently only run three teams if they were allowed to interchange players more and more freely. If a decent player joined our firm he could play a dozen games for us, or he could play a dozen for another club's second team in the same division. We had better facilities, and free membership, but they could offer him half a dozen games in the first team as well. And if it came to a promotion or relegation match at the end of the season you could be pretty sure some previously unseen star would emerge from the opposition woodwork.
Eventually we, and other similar teams, ceased to be viable. A couple of us joined other clubs, and the rest were lost to chess forever. Sad.
We did very well for a while. But gradually the league's eligibility rules were eased. Clubs with four times as many members as us could apparently only run three teams if they were allowed to interchange players more and more freely. If a decent player joined our firm he could play a dozen games for us, or he could play a dozen for another club's second team in the same division. We had better facilities, and free membership, but they could offer him half a dozen games in the first team as well. And if it came to a promotion or relegation match at the end of the season you could be pretty sure some previously unseen star would emerge from the opposition woodwork.
Eventually we, and other similar teams, ceased to be viable. A couple of us joined other clubs, and the rest were lost to chess forever. Sad.
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Re: Chess in the factories.
Would that be Maxwell or the Mirror pensions group Mike?
"When you see a good move, look for a better one!" - Lasker
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Re: Chess in the factories.
Jon
This from Wikipedia - not always entirely reliable I know, but looks pretty accurate in this particular case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Co ... orporation
Mike
This from Wikipedia - not always entirely reliable I know, but looks pretty accurate in this particular case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Co ... orporation
Mike
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