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Part of Tyneside’s industrial past re-desk-covered
HISTORIC ... Jamie Clarke, Jamie Peterson, Ryan Chapman and Andrew McAlindon try Alphonse Reyrolle's desk for size.
PAST and present came together when a historic desk belonging to one of South Tyneside’s industrial pioneers was unveiled.
Frenchman Alphonse Reyrolle established the internationally successful engineering company which bore his name in Hebburn, more than a century ago.
The company employed 10,000 people in its 1960s heyday and supplied electrical switchgear to companies across the globe.
Modern engineering giant Siemens, which now occupies the former Reyrolle site off North Farm Road, Hebburn, has unearthed the desk where Mr Reyrolle toiled as he developed his industrial empire.
A group of the firm’s modern-day teenage apprentices were allowed to sit at the famous desk, which was rediscovered after energy company Narec vacated part of the Hebburn site.
An archive photograph shows Alphonse Reyrolle working at the desk in 1911, and 16-year-old mechanical and engineering apprentice Ryan Chapman recreated the exact pose of the famous industrial magnate.
Ryan said: “I’ve learned about Reyrolle in my studies as part of my four-year apprenticeship.”
A Siemens spokesman said: “It is assumed that the original Alphonse Reyrolle desk was used by senior management at Reyrolle until 20 or 30 years ago.
“It was then used, and eventually stored, at the British Short-Circuit Testing Station, off Victoria Road West.
“When clearing the Narec site, the desk was found, and the connection to Alphonse Reyrolle was made.
“Des Young, our director of service, received a phone call advising him of the discovery and was asked if he would like to preserve the desk.
“Mr Young quickly arranged for it to be collected and it has since been stored in Reyrolle Works, which is part of the original site.
“We have not yet decided what’s in store for the desk, but we will certainly uphold its heritage and ensure it has a safe place on the Reyrolle site.”
Alphonse Reyrolle came to England in 1901, initially establishing a small engineering operation in London.
After transferring to Hebburn, the company grew from a small venture employing 58 people to providing jobs for 10,000 staff half a century later.
Reyrolle joined forces with Henry Clothier in 1904.
The business partners developed the company’s famous electrical switchgear, which was a world leader in its field.
The Hebburn factory became a major supplier to the National Grid and a significant exporter, while the site developed the UK’s first short-circuit testing facility.
Company mergers followed with C.A. Parsons and VA Tech, of Austria, before German-owned Siemens acquired the site in 2005.
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