Description:Mary Wayte is on the left. Together with her husband, Ernest, she managed the Frobisher Hall hostel during and just after the 2nd World War. She was the daughter of Henry Steele, a pottery artist at Minton. The other woman is believed to be June Luke of Worthing, Sussex.
Frobisher Hall was a hostel for workers at the Royal Ordnance Factory at Swynnerton during and just after the 2nd World War. Workers at R.O.F. Swynnerton, a high percentage of which were women, filled shells, bombs and other armaments, including 20mm shells for Spitfires, detonators, boosters and tracer shells. The work was unpleasant and dangerous and the explosive powder could turn skin and hair yellow. Even worse, a number of women lost fingers, hands or even limbs in explosions at the factory. 5,000 people started work in 1940, many of whom came up from Woolwich and the east end of London, housed in hostels built near the factory at Swynnerton, Yarnfield and Coldmeece. By 1942 the workforce had increased to 18,000, may of whom were recruited from the Potteries, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stone and other local towns and villages. New housing was built in Walton and Coldmeece to house the workers. The factory reduced in size after the war, but remained open until 1958.