The Fairey Aviation Company Ltd Works Rules

Fairey Aviation was a British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1915 by Sir Richard Fairey as the Fairey Aviation Company Ltd manufacturing seaplanes based in Hayes Middlesex and Heaton Chapel, Ringway in Greater Manchester. They made a number of famous aircraft in WWII including the Swordfish, Fulmar fighters and Barracuda dive-bombers. Fairey's also built 498 Bristol Beaufighter aircraft and over 660 Handley Page Halifax bombers in their northern facilities. Post war they produced the Firefly and Gannet for the Fleet Air Arm and assisted with sub-contracts from de Havilland for Vampire and Venom jet fighters. In the late 1950's Fairey developed the Fairey Rotodyne, a unique aircraft that was probably ahead of its time, an example of which I well remember building as an Airfix kit as a boy in the 1960's. The company subsequently diversified into mechanical engineering and boat-building and the aircraft manufacturing arm was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960 and following a series of mergers and takeovers, the principal successor businesses now trade as FBM Babcock Marine Ltd and Spectris PLC.

Here we have a set of original hard cover bound 'Woks Rules' that remain in very crisp overall condition. The booklet contains 10 pages of regulations and details exactly what employees can and can not do whilst on the works premises including smoking restrictions, payment arrangements and even the official secrets act! The front cover carries the Fairy logo and the binding remains strong. The rules are not dated but clearly must date from pre 1960. A fascinating insight into one of the great names in British aviation.