At the grand old age of sixteen, I went to the final closing sale at the Singer plant in Singer, Glasgow.
It was an auction, and there were the usual buyers there for the machinery, sewing machines and crates of spare parts. It was a very sad day. The whole town had been built around that factory which had survived the wartime Clyde shipyard bombings. There were hundreds of the local workforce there - a final farewell for many of them. I found myself in what would have been the tool crib, which had been stripped bare. There was an elderly gentleman sitting in the corner and we had a wee chat. Turns out that he was a machinist and had worked there since he was thirteen.
When I left, he handed me a box which contained a brand new 1/2" Jacobs chuck, JT mount, and some drills. It was a real treasure back then. I still have the chuck and mounts fifty years later.
And you are correct - the craftsmanship and pride of work were top of the line. Scots engineering at it's best.
