Workers ‘created a legacy’

Gary Beels: sad day

Countdown to BAe closure
GARY Beels was like most on their first day at Greengate — in awe of the vast site.

Being straight out of school, the fresh-faced teenager from Failsworth felt like he was a “drop in an ocean”.

He said: “First impressions when walking through the gate — I thought, I am never going to find my way around this fantastic and amazing place.

“But you quickly get used to it.”

Roll on 26 years and Gary, now 43, has worked on a number of jobs and aircraft, from the Harrier to Tornado and Airbus to Boeing.

The facilities manager remembers with pride, like many current and former employees, the many open days which took place where family were invited down to the factory.

He said: “They were always highlights for me.

“I have got three nephews, who were under five at the time, and as we were walking through the bays there was a big bouncy castle and the children absolutely loved it.

“When they finished they said to me, ‘I want to go and work there’. I think they thought I spent all my time on a bouncy castle.

“I never wake up in the morning with the feeling that I don’t want to go to work.”

Gary, who is transferring to BAE’s Samlesbury factory, will be one of the last people to leave the Chadderton plant when the keys are finally handed over.

He said positively: “It’s the end of a era for BAE Systems here and a sad day it will be, but it’s not the end of an era in the North-West.

“The history will always be there, it will never be forgotten.

“The site is bricks and mortar, but a lot of it was carried by the passion of the people working here who have created a legacy.”