Title:
Oral history interview with Jill Atlee about the Bank of England Printing Works, Loughton, 16 February 2005
Level: Category
Sound Archive
Level: Fonds
EPPING FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL
Level: Sub-Fonds
Epping Forest District Museum
Level: Series
Changing Perceptions oral history project
Scope and Content:
Interview with Jill Atlee, primarily about her time working at the Bank of England Debden site.

Part 1
[00:00:] Early life in Hackney, London; attending grammar school and secretarial course; memories of visiting her father's office; her first job working for the same company, the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation, until the company relocated to Bristol; looking for other work.
[03:55:] Getting a job as typist at the Bank of England Printing Works at Debden Estate, Loughton; her interview for the job in the 1970s; different pools of typists; use of electric typewriter.
[09:35:] Managers of typing pools; prioritisation and allocation of work; taking tests as part of application process; benefits of working for the Bank and available facilities.
[15:55:] Further details about job interview for Bank of England; first impressions of the printing works; large work force.
[19:25:] Signing Secrecy Declaration for work; different buildings on site; distinctions between office staff and factory staff; dining area for office staff; officials' flats dining area for senior managers.
[25:50:] Management hierarchy of the office staff; her first time seeing the officials' flats; accommodation for official-in-charge.
[29:45:] Memories of her first day at work as a typist for the confidential section; learning Bank's method of producing documents and checking over work; high standard of work required.
[35:55:] Method of working on the accounts in the general section.
[38:10:] Her hours and daily duties on an average day; use of Banda duplicating machine; dictation work; tea breaks and lunch breaks; early finish one day a week.
[45:05:] General working atmosphere; divisions between the general and confidential typing pools; her former colleagues; leaving work to raise children; returning to work at the Bank of England part-time in 1986.
[51:20:] Changes in the work since leaving with introduction of computers; taking computer course in London and adapting to work.
[55:25:] Extension of her temporary job contract; becoming secretary to deputy general managers.
[01:00:45:] Reduction in staff and departments; demolition of additional buildings; becoming secretary to general manager; her early retirement in 2003; changes in the working environment; working at special needs school after taking specialist training; receiving help from the Bank to find another job.

Part 2
[00:00:] Memories of Alex Jarvis, General Manager at the Bank of England site in Debden when she was secretary; disappearing traditions at the Bank; merging of dining areas with demolition of canteen block; retaining officials' flats for entertaining guests.
[05:15:] Promotion of greater unity across all departments; takeover of printing works by De La Rue.
[08:15:] Reflections on her time working at the Bank; fighting to gain permanent contract.
[12:00:] Story of theft from site; being interviewed for investigations; memories of the incident; typing reports for Head Office.
[17:30:] Changes to security after the theft [some drops in the audio]; memories of the 'Burma Road' corridor in the main building.
Dates of Creation:
16 February 2005
Extent:
90 minutes 9 seconds
Creator Name:
Carien Kremer
Admin History:
Jill Atlee was born and grew up in Hackney, London. She completed a one-year secretarial course as part of her education and gained her first job doing office work for the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation. She married and moved to Lougton. She worked as a typist at the Bank of England Printing Works at Debden Estate, Loughton, from 1973 to 1979, when she left to raise children.

The family moved to Buckhurst Hill in 1985. Soon after, Jill returned to work part-time at the Bank of England, and eventually became full-time again until 2003. She finished work as secretary to the general manager.

She took early retirement and re-trained to start working as a teaching assistant at a special needs school.
Archivist Note:
SJM 10/10/2017
Custodial History:
Original reference number CP/EFDM/2004/077. Originally deposited as two CDs (Part One on first CD and Part Two on the second).
Acquisition Source:
Received from Epping Forest District Museum
Copyright:
Interviewee transferred her copyright to Epping Forest District Museum. Contact the Museum prior to use for public performance by the public, for non-Essex Record Office publications, for broadcasting on the radio or television, or for broadcasting on non-Essex Record Office website.
Physical Characteristics:
MP3 files created from two CDs
Originals Location:
Epping Forest District Museum
Related Unit of Description:
See SA 61/1/1/7/4 for a biographical summary from the interview.
Not Available:
Essex Sound and Video Archive: use digital copy available on Soundcloud

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Personal Names Jill
Atlee 		Oral history interview with Jill Atlee about the Bank of England Printing Works, Loughton, 16 February 2005
Place Names Loughton, Debden Oral history interview with Jill Atlee about the Bank of England Printing Works, Loughton, 16 February 2005
Document Types Sound recording Oral history interview with Jill Atlee about the Bank of England Printing Works, Loughton, 16 February 2005
Institutions Bank of England Oral history interview with Jill Atlee about the Bank of England Printing Works, Loughton, 16 February 2005