THE JOURNAL OF THE PLYSU GROUP No.

1 SPRING 1971

Getting the
message ... £40000
CAN EE
OPENED
Over 200 meals a day are being served in the new £40,000 Plysu
canteen. The catering is under the direction of Mr. Donald Pendle,
the Catering Manager, and a staff of 14 including chefs, service staff,
cashier, bar and kiosk attendants.
The Canteen has a floor area of 6,000 sq. ft. and is a Terrapin
prefabricated building. In addition to housing the main works canteen,
with a modern kitchen and service counter, there are separate staff
and visitors' dining rooms.

An army may march on its stomach but

it lives or dies by its communications.
When we first started in Woburn
Sands we had only the small square
building on Station Road and employed
about twelve people. Within the limita-
tions of our simple machinery we were
probably more efficient than ICI, General
Motors and the Post Office put together
-Births, Marriages and Deaths, racing
tips, local scandal, all circulated freely
(sometimes before the event)-because
we had the almost perfect .communica-
tions network produced by a small
community in very close personal
contact.
As we have grown through the years
we have tried to maintain this contact
This new magazine which we are
going to produce at quarterly intervals IN THIS ISSUE ...
I
but with more than 500 people spread is aimed to create a new level of
David Stapleton's Night Ride 2 11
over nearly half a square mile techniques communications in all directions. Any-
have had to change. By Tannoy, tele- body who has anything of general 280 Million Characters. .. 3
phone and messenger the word is passed interest to say will have a chance to say I
Cupid in Drag 4
down the chain of command - but it in print (if it's printable) and the·
there's not much traffic the other way. circulation will be such that anyone Sky Ride 5
If the chairman arrives in the morning connected with the company all over Mainly fo~ Women 6
with a good story it very rapidly spreads the world will have the opportunity of
Plysu People 7
through the factory. But if Jock on the reading it.
night shift produces a masterpiece it's So help get this new project off to a A Nautical Air ... 8
often shared by only those privileged good start by giving us plenty to write
few in the moulding shop. about.
DAVlDSTAPLETONS NI6,"RIDE with a hard base. The overall
(Or motorsport for insomniacs) average speed from start to finish
as required by law is 30 m.p.h.-
and by carefu I choice of roads
Last June, David Stapleton (who has written this article especially for this can often be quite difficult
PL YSU PEOPLE) and his partner were 3rd overall in a restricted event to maintain!
of 65 entries. In September, they were 6th in a closed event with 70 Basically rallying is a contest
entries and in November, they were 7th in a similar event, which is of wits between the crew and the
quite an achievement in the face of stiff competition. Also last August organiser who at times can make
on a special stage on a disused airfield near Windrush, they put up the the most simple route-instruction
second fastest time. look like a problem for a com-
puter to solve! The navigator,
Car Rallying has been my avoid disturbing all the non- having made sense of the route
hobby for the last two years, and rallying sleepers. card, then translates the informa-
whilst to some it may seem a Before a rally can be put on, tion to his maps and endeavours
rather obscure way of enjoying the route has to be approved by to guide the driver round the
oneself, I assure you that, unlike the R.A.C., the Ministry of prescribed route. For this he uses.
heavy drinking or over-eating, I Transport, and the Chief Con- the latest editions of 1 " ordnance
don't suffer any after effects the stables of the counties through survey maps, and everyone who
next day! For the uninitiated let which it passes. Residents of has had the occasion to use these
me explain what I mean. houses on the route are visited will realise their tremendous
Most of the rallies I take part by a public relations officer, value, because not only do they
in are held at night usually appointed by the orqanisinqclub, show every single road in the
between 10.00 p.m. and 6.00 and any really serious objections area including farm drives, but
a.rn., the reason for this being the he may encounter from house- also every bend and slight curve
extremely 'low density of traffic holders will cause the route to be on each of them.
on the back-roads between these altered. Everycompeting car is checked
times; indeed, I can't remember The length of the rallies varies before starting for lights, brakes,
ever seeing more than half a between 150-200 miles and of steeri ng, tyres, battery (whether
dozen non-competing cars in a this approximately 10 per cent it's fixed down tight or not),
night. Areas of large population would be farm tracks.vpot-holed' general road worthiness and
such as towns and villages are and grassy lanes, and loose- noise (checked by an M.O.T.
by-passed where possible to surfaced roads not necessarily approved Decibel Meter). Any

car failing to meet the required
standards, noise level especially,
will not be allowed to start.
So there you have it, the
navigator tells the driver where
to go (?) and the driver has to
maintain a certain time schedule
280 million characters
working for you.
In July 1969 a new computer,
the NCR Century 100, was
installed at Plysu. It came only 3
years after the installation of the
first computer, an NCR 500,
which had been outgrown by a
tremendous increase in turnover.
By April 1970 all jobs had been
transferred to the new computer,
which is many times faster than
its predecessor,and it was taking,
on average, about six hours a day
to cope with them compared to
about 18 hours on the old '500'.
Information for the Century is
encoded on magnetic tape by
two 736 encoders, and once the
Century 100 has digested the
information it is held on magnetic
discs, capable of holding over
four million characters per disc.
The computer can access two
discs at anyone time, thus being
able to get at anyone of over
eight million characters in under
1/1 Oth of a second. Another
feature of the Century is its high
, .
over various surfaces. Should
they follow the prescribed route
then they will encounter different
types of control at intervals
during' the rally. This is the
rallying I take part in, and enjoy
as a navigator.
speed printer, which, under cer-
tain circumstances can print over
900 lines per minute, each line
containing up to 132 characters.
Proposed work includes a con-
tainers orders system and an
extension to the wages system
which will enable you to record
your own working day direct to
the computer by using a clocking
in card and one of the "Addo"
terminals you may have already
seen in the factory.
Work on the Century includes,
Stock Control, Purchases and
Accounts, Housewares Orders
and Containers, Housewares,and
Industrial Sales and Wages.
Eight people run the Computer
Department under the instruction
of Alan Perry and Graham Shaw
who have been with the com-
pany 3~ years and 2~ years
respectively. Alan and Graham
do the majority of the Systems
Analysing and write most of the
computer programmes. Alan has
A breakthrough isn't it just grand
you hold the proof within your hand
with Uncle Jim and Rohan's blessing
to have your say with no messing.
Communications now can flow
from penthouse, to the floors below,
so here's your chance, but guard it well
'tis sense we want, not just a yell.
It's hard I know for any boss
ensuring he will have no loss
and in this time, it may well be
that he's forgotten you and me.
Forgotten! Maybe that's too strong
as new events have proved me wrong,
for on the notice board I see·
Shares on offer to you and me.
For me I fear the news is late
Bank Balance is in such a state,
I'd like to plunge, I'd give my all
but two pounds ten is rather small.
Still, better some, than none at all
the magazine is meant for all,
I'll shout out loud, repeat with speed
Communication's what we need.
Rhyming Rab.
Jock McGiII,
Moulding Room.
special responsibilities for
Housewares orders and Contain-
ers, Housewares and Industrial
Sales, and will have responsi-
bility for the proposed Con-
tainers Orders System. Graham
looks after Stock, Purchase and
Nominal Systems and is at
present responsible for the new
Wages System. Over 12 months
ago Geraint Hughes, a junior
programmer joined the· Depart-
ment to give a hand with the
proqrarnming load, and the team
is completed by June Slater and
Anna Susikow, who look after
the punching of all information
on the 736 encoders, and Susan
Hale, who operates the Com-
puter while Pauline Ikin checks
incoming and outgoing informa-
tion, and qeneral departmental
housekeepinq. We welcome a
new recruit to "the department,
Pat King, who is at present
learning the use of the 736
encoders.
3
CupidinDrag
Charlie Crooks, our engineer
storeman, as in our picture, can
produce a nifty change of garb,
did so at a St. Valentines Dance.
It was held on Saturday, 13th
February in the new canteen.
After feasting on Chicken and
Chips, the dancers were treated
to a cabaret starring Charlie !
Certainly not "dragging their
heels" were Mrs. Dora Buck-
thorpe, Mrs. Midge Hollier, Mrs.
Audrey Britten and MoulderTony
Hollis, who organised the
evening.
Over £35 was raised and this
will go towards more social
activities.
4
TWO NEWCOMERS TO PLYSU
-a "hot-panted dolly" and the
brand new R.70 five gallon'
container. Plysu are only manu-
facturing one of them though-
we needn't tell you which!
First shown to the packaging
trade at the Foodpack exhibition
in March, the R.70 container is
to form the spearhead of Plvsu's
drive to, enter the competitive
J
five gallon container market. The
R.70 will be produced on new
automated equipment, and the
installation of further automated
systems is planned to boost
capacity for this, and other five
gallon size containers, over the
next few months.
In case you're wondering what
a "dolly in hot pants" has to do
with the R.70 she was on the
stand at Foodpack.
 Up up and away..
As part owner of a glider, I have been
asked to write an article on gliding. This
has proved to be more difficult than I
thought. Gliding covers such a wide
field of subjects that it is difficult not to
become too technical when writing
about it. However, here goes on what I
hope will be of general interest to a
number of readers (writes B. Taylor).
Gliding is a sport which has steadily
increased in popularity over the last 15
years, when it came within the reach of
the average person's pocket: it is true to
say that having joined a club and paid
the subscription (£10 to £20), gliding
then becomes as expensive as you wish:
or can afford.
Gliding Clubs provide facilities for
training people to fly, usually a two seat,
dual controlled glider for initial training

and first solo flights: a single seater of a
similar performance to the two seater for
general flying: and a high performance
machine for- cross-country flying and
competitions. Most pilots aim to become
a member of a group of two or three
people who own their own glider, which
of course cuts down costs.
Getting launched
A glider is basically an engineless
aeroplane, which is very controllable
and does not, as is qenerallv believed,
rely on the wind to keep it up. It has been
designed for efficiency and can glide
perhaps 3 miles for every 1,000 ft. of
altitude. The latest machine can achieve
glide angles of 1: 50, i.e. 50 miles from
5.000 ft. of altitude, (this figure of
course would only hold good in fairly
still air).
There are two ways of getting a glider
airborne: either wire launched or aero-
towed. The wire launch requires a long
length of wire, one end of which is
attached to the glider by a quick release
mechanism, the other end is either
wound in on a winch drum or towed
behind a vehicle. The glider ascends
rather like a kite at about 45 to 55 knctts
airspeed, and with a verticle gain in
height of about 20 feet per second, until
a height of about 1,100 feet is obtained.
The pilot then releases the wire and
searches for a rising current of air
(a thermal) in order to obtain more
.height. The aerotow is more expensi,)e,'
but as you are towed by a powered
aircraft, you can get higher, and can
arrange to be towed to likely looking
clouds, where lift can be found.
Spins and stalls
The average person could expect to
fly solo after some 60 or more flights,
during which he will have been taught
airmanship, emergency procedures, and
recovery action from unnatural situa-
tions, i.e. spins and stalls etc. He will
also have learnt a little about soaring
but this is perfected with experience on
the single seat gliders. It is difficult to
describe soaring in an article such as
SKY RIDE
this, numerous books have been written
on the subject, but perhaps if I take you
on an imaginary cross country flight of
some 30 miles you will get an idea of
what it is like.
We arrive at the airfield at about
9.00 a.m. By about 10.30 the gliders
have all been inspected and towed to
the launch point. It is now our team's
turn to fly. We put on our parachutes,
get strapped into the machine and do a
control check; the wire is then hooked
on and we signal for the launch to
commence. We accelerate rapidly and
reach a height of 1,200 ft. before
releasing the wire; we must now find
some lift fairly quickly or we shall be
down again in about 7 minutes!
Flying high
We turn towards a village over which
a fluffy cumulus cloud is poised; before
we reach it we encounter some heavy
sink which brings us down to 1,000 ft.,
but underneath our cloud we feel the
glider shudder slightly and our instru-
ments tell us we are going up again. The
thermal (rising air current) is roughly
circular so we bank fairly steeply and
circle to stay in the lift. This has been
a fairly good thermal and we have
reached a height of 3,800 ft. before it
dies; we must now find another. Notic-
ing another cumulus cloud about 8
miles away, we head for it but about
half way there is decays and break up;
we must think again.
A good look around reveals some
gulls circling over to our left; so we alter
course and arrive above them. Sure
enough strong lift is there and up we go
again circling steadily. Up above us the
cloud appears and starts to grow and
develop. This time we reach 4,200 ft.,
and off we go in search of further lift.
Whilst we have been circling in the last
2 thermals we have travelled about 20
miles from our base. We have another 10
miles to go to reach our target. The next
thermal we find is weaker than the last
one and it takes us a long while to climb
to 3,000 ft., but at least we have made
another 20 miles over the ground. We
look around for more thermals but all the
clouds have decayed and there is no
more lift about; we continue to glide
downwind hoping for more lift, but at
the same time searching for a suitable
field to land in. We do not want to land
in a field of corn, or one which has cows.
We are now 'down to 1,200 ft. and
have found a large grass field where we
hope to land. We fly round it to make
sure that there are no obstructions,
power wires, electric fences, slopes,
gullies etc. It looks all right. A nearby
bonfire tells us the wind directions so
we start our approach, coming in and
landing as we would at our base, and
making sure that the glider will not
overturn in any sudden gusts by putting
the parachute packs on one wing tip.
The farmer whose field we are in arrives
and kindly offers the use of his telephone
to contact base while his wife provides
a very welcome tea. Our friends arrive
with the trailer, we de-rig and finally
stow the glider away. Off we go to the
nearest pu b for a beer, and then home.
Fellow travellers
There is already a considerable
amount of interest in gliding within the
company. Apart from myself, Heinz
Karney, Richard Large and Harry Purser
all have shares in different gliders (Harry
incidentally is a qualified instructor),
while Gerry Bounds, Terry Mason and
John Speller have flown and greatly
enjoyed the. experience. A number of
others have also asked for trial flights.
Perhaps when we form a sports and
social club at Plysu we may even have a
gliding section!

[

JUST THE THING FOR
HOLIDAYS
This beautiful soft cup bikini
in gorgeously printed Bri-Nova
is available in blue, orange,
lime or pink for only £2·95 and
is available in sizes 32"-36".
To complete the ensemble
how about this super matching
maxi cover-up. Both the bikini
and cover-up were the winning
designs in a project Silhouette
set at the Leicester College of
Art. They certainly make a
pretty picture.
Don't be discouraged if your contribution
does not appear in this issue. We had
tremendous response - far more than
eight pages will take - and hope,
therefore, to publish items held over
in our next issue.
6
Brussels bound
Bridget White from Plvsu's
Industrial Division is a member of
the Aspley Guise Women's Insti-
tute. She recently went on a day
trip to Brussels and has written
this account for "Plvsu People".
"We arrived at Luton Airport
at 8.15 a.m. The flight:' on a
Monarch 'plane took just three-
quarter.s of an hour. We landed
at Ostend and were then- met by
a Welsh lady courier, who stayed
with us all day. We were then
driven to Brussels on the motor-
way. Two hours later, we arrived
in Brussels.
"An hour later we were taken
for a tour of Brussels.We saw the
Palace and were told that the
Royal Family were in residence,
becauseflags were flyi ng outside.
We went to the site of Expo '58,
and then travelled to the market
square and took photos of a
buildinq which had just caught
fire! We were then taken to a
house where Brussels lace was
being made, and saw two ladies
who had been making lace
covers; blouses, handkerchiefs
and dolls' dresses for over 60
years!
"The afternoon passed very
quickly and soon it was 4 p.m.
and time for tea. Afterwards we
spent an hour shopping in some
of the big stores. It was interest-
ing to see, that in the majority of

•.
Caribbean Ring
4 oz. butter
6 oz. plain chocolate
4 oz. caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. baking powder
1 small packet instant potato
15 oz. can fruit salad
5 fl. oz. carton double cream

QUANTITY FOR 6

9", 3 pint ring cake tin,' piping bag with

star nozzle attached.

Preparation time: about 25 min.

Cooking time: 35 min.; Gas mark 4, 350"F

(180"C).

1. Melt butter in saucepan, add broken

chocolate.
2. Stir over gentle heat until melted, remove
from heat.

3. Stir in sugar. Separate eggs, beat in yolks.
4. Add vanilla essence and baking powder
sieved with instant potato.
5. Whisk egg whites until stiff, fold into
I line and a 10 lb. 10 oz. Carp!
chocolate mixture.
6. Turn into greased tin, bake for 35 min.
7. Cool slightly, turn on to a wire tray to
cool, then turn cake upside-down on to a
large plate.
8. Drain liquid from canned fruit and pile
fruit in centre of cake.
9. Whip cream lightly and place in piping
bag. Pipe stars round base of cake and
on top.
10. Serve as a special pudding or cake.
Plysu people
Mr. Jess Cook, our Security
Officer, should have received a
letter from his workmates but the
postmen went on strike. So we've
been asked to send a special
"Get Well" messageto Jess from
all at Woburn Sands.
* How could we refuse ?-Editor.
We welcome back Mrs. Violet
Twenty five new pence, a rod,
Jack Sorenson caught the Carp
just a few months ago.
Claude Phillips will give you
the details on how to join Plvsu's
Fishing Club. Competitions are
held most weekends beside the
Plysu Lagoon!
Mr. Slocock has won the mag-
azine name competition with his
entry / " Plysu People", but has
kindly donated the £5 prize to the

SHOP!
Mauve winter woolly suit, double
breasted, lined jacket, nearly new
Enever, forewoman in House-
wares, who started work again
on 1st March, after an absence
of 8 weeks, due to appendicitis.
fund for a Social Club. We were
delighted to receive nearly 100
suggestions, and the winning
title was chosen anonymously
from a short list.
Congratulations to:

£5. Apply Mrs. L. Whitbread, Mr. John 'Bunker, Technical
Industrial Department. Manager, who married Angela
Cannon E.E. 35 mm. Camera.
Automatic aperture setting. f 1·9
Carringion-Smith on 27th Feb-
ruary in Eversholt Parish Church.
lens. £25. Marion Kirvy, Print Depart-
D. A. Bennett - Ext. 225 ment, who married Mr. Philip
True, on 27th February in
Maulden Baptist Chapel. They
are now living in Luton.
Miss L. Peacock who married
cases, Belgian products were Mr. M. Whitbread on 27th March
more expensive than English at St. Margaret's Church,
goods. Lidlington.
"All too soon, it was time to go
home, we met the coach which Dave Willett, Engineering staff,
took us back to Ostend Airport who became engaged to Wendy
and boarded the 'plane at 8 p.m. Osbourne on 20th February.
During the journey we had a Gillian Murton, Containers
birds eye view of Southend Department, who became
Illuminations, which looked engaged to Liam Noone on 20th
absolutely marvellous! February.
Aidfirst
••
Plysu has several keen first-
aiders and some of them have
joined the newly formed Aspley
Guise Red Cross Detachment.
This Detachment meets every
Thursday at St. Marv's Church
Hall, Aspley Hill. Cadets at 6.30
and Adults at 8 p.m. Although
only a few weeks old, the Aspley
Guise Detachment has twelve
cadets and thirteen adults.
The Commandant of the De-
tachment is Claude Phillips who
told us that any person wishing
to learn first aid and who wants
to become a member should
contact him, or just go along to.
one of the meetings.
7
A nautical air
indespatch
You may have noticed the sailing boat taking shape in the old despatch
department beneath the main office. Let us dispel any speculation that
the Company is about to start the manufacture of plastic sailing boats.
The boat taking shape is the
spare time hobby of Housewares'
Director, Mr. Atkinson who
enjoys his sailing together with
his son, Richard at Emberton
Park, Olney. Since starting sailing
at the age of twelve, Richard has
taken over the helm and although
Mr. Atkinson is used to giving
orders on land, immediately the
boat takes to water Richard is in
command.
Olympic hopes
The combination has scored
some successes in club com-
petition winning a number of
series races and taking second
place in the major race "The
Helmsman of the Year".
Richard, sailing with another
Bedford Modern schoolboy was
successful in winning the All
England Championship organ-
ized by the combined Cadet
Force at Portsmouth this year
and is looking forward to the
launching of the new boat in
order that he can go on to take
more national titles. His dream is-
to win an Olympic medal
P YS Fe
If you possess boots, however
ancient, and are prepared to pace
your way around a football field
on spare afternoons, Mr. Ken
Wade of the Print Room would
be glad to hear from you. So far
an unofficial football team from
Plysu has played two matches,
but more volunteers are needed.
Mr. Wade suggests a meeting in
the Canteen for all those inter-
ested in joining Plysu F.C., with
the aim of entering the North
Bucks League. Plysu hope to
provide a pitch for practise and:
matches.
. . . And from these small
beginnings, who knows how
far it may be to Wembley!
8 Produced by Paul Winner Marketing
CABLES
CAPERS
It really is surprising the things
that come through the post
(when there's not a strike, that
is!) Here's something that
dropped onto Plvsu's doormat
some time back.
To: The Managing Director,
Plysu Products Limited.
Dear Sir,
You will, I am sure, appreciate
that it is embarrassing for mem-
bers of our staff .to refuse, in
conformity with a strict company
rule, presents of any kind from the
company's suppliers.
In order to obviate this embar-
rassment I am writing to you, as
one of our suppliers, to ask that
our views in this matter be
respected.
Yours faithfully.
And Mr. J. D. Cable's cryptic
response to this request:
D-ear Sirs,
We thank you for your letter of
7th December, which has we
must admit, stirred our con-
science.
efforts
We appreciate
to re-introduce
your
into
industry the rigid ethical codes of
behaviour which obtained in
bygone days .....
We are turning over a new leaf,
and so that we may start with a
clean sheet, we ask you to
co-operate by implementing the
return of the gifts which doubt-
less were the cause of your
communications. To assist YOLJ,
we append a list of presents
despatched to your firm during
the last financial year.
1. A pair of polished gunmetal-
skates, inscribed "To H.R.H.
the Margrave of Saxony in
memory of the hunting lodge
-Tanya".
Printed by The Mount Press Ltd.
Mr. Donald Pendle, Manager of the
Canteen is seen checking some of the
"Chef's Choice" 3-course meals that
are being served to over 200 employees
daily.
2. 1,000 Larranaga Cigars
(Corona-Coronas) .
3. A Mink coat.
4. 100 shares in Plysu Holdings
(Tel-Aviv) Ltd.
5. A week-end in Paris for two.
It may not be easy to trace the
recipients of these gifts, but a few
discreet enquiries at your next
Board meeting will no doubt,
clear the matter up.
The goods should be returned
in a plain case, marked promin-
ently for the attention of the
writer.
Yours faithfully,
J. D. CABLE.
P.S. Is Paris as gay as ever?
WANTED
This is your magazine, and
we're relying on you to provide
the sort of information you'd like
to read about. So, we are asking
each one of you to contribute
information of general interest
regarding your hobbies, partici-
pation in local events, special
activities, details of future events
that other employees may enjoy,
etc.
Just give this information to
any of the following who will
ensure it reaches the editor:-
M r. A. Perry-Computer Room
Mr. C. R. E. Phillips-New Office
off Canteen Hall
Mrs. Best-Housewares
Mrs. Ingram-Containers
Mr. D. Sinfield-Moulding Shop.
Communicetions Ltd. and