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This
is a series of articles on the
history of Taff and Oxford Diecast and how it all started. With any
article such as this it's difficult to portray events other than in
the way the author has seen them, so I make no apologies for the way
in which I tell the story. In addition I am including some detail on
how I became involved and more importantly, why I became involved -
the story starts quite early.Living in Swansea in the 1960's was quite hard and many of us at school were prepared for a life in industry. Anyone who lived in Swansea was aware of the toy companies who made products here, if only as it presented the possibility of cheap Christmas presents. Mettoy employed thousands across factories in South Wales and at its birthplace in Northampton. Around the age of nine I remember a craze in school with plastic monkeys and lions, all the kids had them it wasn't until later that I realised they had originated from the toy factory where Mettoy (one of their brands being Corgi) were producing Daktari and The Lions of Longleat gift sets. No doubt the factory manager was puzzled at the
shortage of their plastic
figures.A few years later the company was nearly crippled when a massive fire broke out in its warehouse in Fforestfach. To all the employees this was a crisis, as there were rumours that the company would go bust. To us kids nearby it was a goldmine, the chance to salvage some of the burnt out toys that remained. I recall that my loot amounted to 4 Batman Cars, 3 Walkie Talkies, half a plastic train set and a Corgi Rockets Track. Unfortunately all the James Bond cars had been sold and none were held at that site.
From those difficult times Mettoy recovered and prospered and it was with same excitement that I saw the job advert in the paper - Commercial and Production Management Trainee required - 4 O'Levels. I wanted that job and the thought of a warehouse full of toys brought a smile to my face. There was only one thing for it I had to start revising for my exams right now.
