COUNCILLORS WOWED
BY ROF 59 PLANS ON
AYCLIFFE BUSINESS PARK
A team of councillors were wowed
by plans to create a permanent
memorial to the Aycliffe Angels at
one of the Royal Ordnance Factories
on Aycliffe Business Park.
Six of Newton Aycliffe's Durham
County Councillors - Jed Hillary, John
Clare, Kate Hopper, Eddy Adam, Joan
Gray and Mike Dixon - visited the
former Presswork Metals factory,
which is being turned into a mixeduse leisure facility by local family
construction firm Finley Structures.
The company's Managing Director
Julie Finley showed them ambitious
plans to preserve the heritage and
memory of the Aycliffe Angels, who
worked at the ROF during World War II.
As we approach the 70th
anniversary of the end of hostilities,
Finley Structures has revealed it
wants to name the complex ROF 59,
standing for Royal Ordnance Factory
59 - the original name of the group
of Aycliffe factories built in the early
1940s which created the New Town
of Aycliffe.
The
huge
munitions
factory
employed some 17,000 workers,
Julie and Gary Finley, from local firm Finley
Structures show Durham County Councillors
Jed Hillary, John Clare, Kate Hopper, Eddy Adam,
Joan Gray and Mike Dixon their plans to create a
permanent memorial to the Aycliffe Angels.
By Martin Walker
mostly women, between 1941 and
1945 and was an extremely important
part of the country’s war effort.
The work was highly dangerous as
the women filled bullets and bombs
for the boys in the battlefield. There
were a number of serious and fatal
explosions, with eight women being
killed in one blast.
Much of the original brickwork as
well as some of the 1960s Presswork
Metals building has been preserved,
with the 21st Century steelwork
creating a palimpsest effect of
building through the ages.
Staff working at the new ROF 59 will
wear overalls, like the Aycliffe Angels
did when they risked their lives working
there 70 years ago, while several other
features will enable Aycliffe's proud
history of the munitions-making
factories to live on.
Part of an old railway line, used to
transport the munitions to the main
railway line which was uncovered
during foundation works, will be
incorporated into other memorabilia
features and archive photographs
from back in the day.
Cllr Hillary revealed how his parents
- Bob and Millie Hillary - met in Aycliffe
after working there during hostilities.
"It's really quite amazing," he said.
"My mother and father actually met
in School Aycliffe during the war, my
father was stationed here with the
Army guarding the place and my Mum
worked here in the Ordnance Factory.
"So I've always known about the
ROF and the Aycliffe Angels, and to
see - after such a long time - some
kind of honorary tribute to them is
a really positive step forward for
Newton Aycliffe.
"Although it's a new town, it has
got a lot of history. We're steeped in
history. But this area, where the Royal
Ordnance Factory was, is a really
important place in the history of the
country. It provided munitions during
the whole of the Second World War
and kept the troops fighting across the
world, so to actually commemorate
this is really important, and would be
part of my family heritage.
"I don't think people realise just how
big a footprint the Royal Ordnance
Factory had. There are still bunkers