Description:From 'Drake Hall - A War-Time Hostel', a souvenir book produced for staff and residents at the Swynnerton Royal Ordinance Factory hostel at Drake Hall, produced in 1945.
A. D. Robinson was Hostel Superintendent at Drake Hall. Here are his comments on his time at Drake Hall:
"I have followed the progress of Drake Hall with considerable interest since the early days of its opening. As Factory Superintendent I realised that when all our directed workers arrived they were, literally, very fed up and far from home. Our own Factory difficulties were considerable, as, to start with, nothing we could do was right. The Hostel Management on the other hand had the more onerous task of providing our girls with a substitute, in most cases, for their own homes. In other words, they had a very much more difficult job.
In those early days it was impossible to note progress day by day, but as month followed month, the improvement in the atmosphere at Drake Hall, as indeed in the Factory, was remarkable. I know well how active the Management at Drake Hall have always been in looking after the best interests of their guests, and I realise how major a part they have played in making our many workers living there feel thoroughly at home, thereby enabling them to come to their work and to give of their best cheerfully. I shall always remember what a magnificent effort the lassies have made during the long years of war, and particularly, with what cheerfulness they have given of their best.
As far as the girls themselves are concerned, I am certain that the community life they have enjoyed in the hostels will be of real benefit to them later on in life. They have made life-long friends, and apart from that, they have had an opportunity of meeting girls with entirely different points of view, and in that way must have gained considerably one from the other.
I shall always have a warm corner in my heart for Drake Hall, because it was Drake in the main who received our transferred workers from my old Factory at Aycliffe, and although at one time I thought they would never be happy anywhere outside Durham, they have, I believe, been quite happy in their temporary home in Staffordshire.
Another of my Drake memories is the magnificent pantomime "Robinson Crusoe" which they put on especially for the Children's Parties early in 1944. I saw the Show myself several times, but with all respect to the artistes performing,
my keenest enjoyment was in watching the real pleasure these children had when they saw the Show.
Finally, I would like to wish each one of you at Drake, workers and staff alike, every good luck in the future, and to tender to each one of you my very sincere thanks not only for the work you have done, but the very fine spirit of co-operation and cheerfulness with which, on the whole, that work has been carried out."