Found Voices & Town Trail

Listen to The Work Furnace Found Voices

Listen to former workers share their stories of working inside the factories of Ipswich.

How to listen:

On a mobile or computer device, click the link below

Download Soundcloud and search The Work Furnace.

We recommend listening through headphones for the best experience. These recordings have been voiced by actors but the content remains true to the words of each person we spoke to.

Click here to listen to the Found Voices collection on Soundcloud

Walk The Work Furnace Town Trail

IPSWICH TOWN CENTRE

13 Carr Street (Specsavers) / East Anglian Daily Times

8 Buttermarket / W.S. Cowell Ltd.

12 Turret Lane / Trident Cars

Tower Ramparts / William Pretty & Sons Ltd.

Linda Grey, a seamstress who worked at Pretty's from 1969, shared her story with us - click on the link above to listen.

Tower Street (Yates) / Chamberlin Signs and Display Ltd.

Ken Nichols trained here from 1954 as a silkscreen printer at Chamberlin's - click on the link above to listen to his story.

Old Foundry Road / Phillips & Piper Ltd.

Jenny Laughlin shared her memories of working in the Phillips & Piper Ltd. factory - click on the link above to listen.

Tudor Place / Jaegar

Woodbridge Road (Atlas House) / Britten & Bannister

Norma, Jill and Chrissie worked together in the 1950s covering heels in the Britten & Bannister factory - read their conversation looking back at their time at the shoe factory here.

Click here to see the stops and follow the route on Google Maps.

Click here to download the Walking Tour Guide pdf.

THE WATERFRONT

Ipswich Waterfront (University of Suffolk) / Orwell Works

Dr Albert Grant OBE worked at Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies Ltd. from 1956 (he also worked Crane Ltd for many years) - click on the link above to listen to his story.

Coprolite Street / Fisons Fertiliser Ltd.

Mervyn Russen was a chemist in the company's Horticulture Division at Paper Mill Lane in Bramford; he worked for the company for almost 40 years - click here to read Mervyn's story.

Terry Titshall worked for Ransomes & Rapiers Ltd. from 1959 - click on the link above to listen to his story (including his time fitting the rotating restaurant floor at the top of the Post Office tower in London).

Patrick Boughey worked for Cocksedges from 1953, read his account and see his hand-drawn sketches here.

Graham Clifford shared his memories of working at the Cliff Quay Power Station for nearly 20 years as a labourer in ‘The Yard Gang’, a Craftsman’s Mate and a Work Study Assistant - read his account here.

13 Regatta Quay (Pizza Express) / Ipswich Steamship Company

Mike Farthing started his career at the Ipswich Steamship Company at the age of just 14 in the late 1950s, click here to read Mike's story.

Foundry, The Mill (Dance East) / Cranfield Brothers Ltd.

Cranfield Brothers Ltd. employed thousands of people including Tony Grey - click on the link above to listen.

R & W Paul Ltd.

1-5 College Street & Cardinal Lofts / Burton, Son & Sanders

Ken Nichols shared his memories of working for Burton's - click on the link above to listen.

Portman Road & Princes Street / Churchman's

Click here to see the stops and follow the route on Google Maps.

Click here to download the Walking Tour Guide pdf.