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Midland Woodworking Company

About Midwood

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The Midland Wood Working Company was founded in the early 1920s by Mr Ernest Bailey.

The Midland Wood Working Mill specialised in joinery and producing window frames and stairs. The company was located in Snow Hill, Melton Mowbray. From the 1920s - 1970s it was a major employer in the town, playing a large part in the social and cultural life of the community.The works canteen and skittle alley was made available for weddings and other occasions, not only to staff, but also to the staff of other employers, even the local Police.

Edward Gunby recalls the workforce at Midwood

During the Second World War the firm was taken over by Boulton and Paul of Norwich (1941). As a subsidery company, MidWood manufactured products essential to the war effort. This included noses for gliders used at Arnhem, wooden prefabricated huts and bunk beds for the army, as well as ammunition boxes and aeroplane engine boxes.

When the War in Europe had ended and the troops had returned home, MidWood went back to window production, building window frames for post-war council houses. The work they did after the War was less specialised and custom built.

In the 1950s and 1960s MidWood provided many of the lorries used for the Melton Carnivals, which were raisong money for the swimming pool.

MidWood was a family run company, with Ernest Bailey's son Frank Bailey taking over as Director, until the early 1960s Frank severed his connections with the business. Wally Bowes clearly remembers Mr Bailey as the director of the company, as he explains in these sound clips:

Wally recalls an incident where Mr Bailey proved his skills as a joiner

Wally fondly remembers the strong work ethic which Mr Bailey instilled in his employees

Frank Bailey's son Paul was 14 years old when his Father left the company and he has his own recollections of this time.

Click here to read Paul's recollections of his father

In the early 1960s (circa 1962) there was a major fire at the Mill in which some of the stored timber and a garage full of fuelled lorries was destroyed.

The Wood Working Mill is still a subsidary company of Boulton and Paul, Norwich and is still located in Snow Hill, Melton Mowbray, although the comany is now called

Jeld-Wen Uk ltd - a joinery manufacturer.