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Following the family line
Page 126
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Fhere's very little the Beswick family doesn't know about Seddon Atkinson. Father ennis, sons Trevor and Steven and Thew Ian all work together on the ldham shop floor as a fitter, an ectrician, an inspector and a test river.
Dennis Beswick has been in the iotor industry since he left school, Ming Seddon Atkinson as a fitter 17 ?ars ago.
"Even before I left school, I'd already ane 12 months in the trade, in the renings at garages and such like," he !calls. "I was always mad about iything mechanical. Trucks, cars, .anes — the lot."
He arrives at the Oldham factory at )out 730am, bringing in his sons who )th live within a couple of miles of the rnily home. On the way he drops off is wife Sheila, who works at a local le-arm bandit factory. "First of all I ave five minutes' chat with the lads )out last night's football, and then I ?t into my overalls and away to my Ttion."
The major part of Dennis' job is .tilding brake looms, which can be le of 16 designs. "VVe have rigid 17inners, 6 x 2s, 6 x 4s, eight-leggers id municipals — I can do all these if :-2eded," he says. "If I'm taking a truck at for a test run, I'll go through all the .ars, testing the brakes for any brations or incorrect temperature :adings. When I get back, I complete a leek list for the whole vehicle."
One of the best aspects of the job for ennis is the men he works with. [They're a great set of lads. Some have ?en here a long time, 30 years or ore. We have a lot of laughs and give ich other as good as we get."
It seems his sons won't be the last ..swicks to work at Seddon Atkinson. .evor's six-year-old son is also "mad mut trucks", says his grandad: "He's ways coming up to tell me how many Taos he's seen that day."