Ophir Catling
Ophir Catling was born in 1925 in Leicester, but moved to Oak Farm in Burwell in the 1960s. He became involved in Burwell Museum through Trustee John Wisbey, painting the plaster model of the barn owl, creating a lump of ham for the historic shop, and donating a variety of artefacts including children’s spinning tops and whips. ‘In the Forge there was a sack-weighing machine and I zero-ed it, so I could weigh the visitors as they came in and then speak their weight – it worked a treat.’
| Time | Topics described |
| 00:00:00 | Tape introduction |
| 00:00:15 | Ophir William Catling, 23rd March 1925, Leicester City |
| 00:00:30 | First home remembered in Loughborough |
| 00:00:45 | Father showing him the R101 airship |
| 00:01:30 | Went to Roseberry Street school in Loughborough. Remembers telling teachers the bell tower was moving when bell rang, causing them to stop using bell. |
| 00:02:30 | Father was a coachbuilder. |
| 00:03:15 | Playing with marbles and Dinky toys in Paget Street |
| 00:03:30 | Remembers baker leaving horse drawn shop in street while he went to pub |
| 00:04:15 | Brother is 5 years younger |
| 00:04:30 | Grandfather was a millwright. Had a model mill in garden and kept bees. |
| 00:05:15 | Marconi had a shed near his house where early wireless experiments carried out |
| 00:05:45 | Attended Loughborough College secondary school. Had rheumatic fever |
| 00:06:15 | Took weather readings for local paper |
| 00:07:00 | Was good at geometry. |
| 00:07:15 | Worked at Telecraft Aeroplanes, Thurmaston. Armstrong Whitworth, Coventry. Scottish Aviation, Prestwick |
| 00:07:30 | Story of seeing aeroplane fly backwards at Prestwick |
| 00:08:15 | Eventually joined Marshalls of Cambridge as a loftsman, which used his geometry skills |
| 00:08:45 | Rose to become chief loftsman and pioneered the introduction of CAD equipment (Computer Aided Design) |
| 00:09:00 | Was called to demonstrate CAD to dignitaries including King Hussein of Jordon |
| 00:09:15 | Moved to Oak Farm, North Street in Burwell |
| 00:09:45 | Early memories of Burwell. Steam trains, windmills, museum |
| 00:10:45 | Working in the museum |
| 00:11:00 | Weighing visitors in the forge |
| 00:11:15 | Painted the barn owl, created a lump of ham for the shop, and donated various items for shop window |
| 00:13:00 | Getting job at Marshalls |
| 00:14:15 | First job was a latch for Haile Selassie’s aircraft, which smelt of lions! |
| 00:14:45 | Worked on TSR2 airframes |
| 00:15:00 | Working on complex in-flight re-fuelling rods |
| 00:15:45 | Description of loftsman job |
| 00:18:00 | Progression from drawing on sheet metal to plastics |
| 00:19:00 | The move to Computer Aided Design (CAD) |
| 00:20:00 | Worked alongside son for a period |
| 00:21:30 | Hearing his first jet engined aircraft flying over |
| 00:22:15 | Volunteering to be ballast on training flights |
| 00:23:00 | Randolph Porteous test pilot invented the avalanche aerobatic manoeuvre |
| 00:24:15 | Met wife, Edna, when at Thurmaston, in he 40’s |
| 00:25:30 | Bought a caravan near where they both worked |
| 00:26:00 | Cycled to work and went home for lunch |
| 00:28:00 | Memories of a bi-plane when a young lad and being interested in mechanisms |
| 00:28:45 | Used to ride a pedal car around letter box and other childhood memories |
| 00:30:15 | Marshalls helped move to house in Gunning Way Cambridge. Remembers trying to “camouflage” the vent pipes |
| 00:32:00 | Sons born when living in Gunning Way |
| 00:34:00 | Moved from Cambridge to Swaffham Prior |
| 00:35:30 | Writing parody of “Mud Glorious Mud” when sewage system being laid in Swaffham Prior |
| 00:36:30 | Project to make kneelers for Church |
| 00:37:45 | Painting as a hobby and knowing painter Gerry Coulson who was also at Marshalls |
| 00:39:00 | Ophir would write verses to go along with paintings by Gerry |
| 00:41:00 | Gerry coached Ophir as a painter |
| 00:42:00 | Story of painting Princess Flying Boat |
| 00:43:30 | Talking about his paintings of aircraft |
| 00:44:45 | Moved to Burwell in 1960s |
| 00:46:30 | Talking about dogs the family had over the years |
| 00:49:45 | Dog recovering balls on Burwell Golf Course |
| 00:51:15 | List of house moves ending in move to Skye in 2003 |
| 00:52:30 | Supported son, Jonathan, in venture to create a new type of bicycle saddle, called Manta |
| 00:56:00 | Ophir’s hobby as a dowser in and around Burwell |
| 00:57:45 | Dowsing to help with model of Bournemouth aerodrome |
| 01:02:15 | Dowsing a house in Newmarket |
| 01:05:00 | Using Dowsing in the military |
| 01:06:45 | Found potential Viking remains on Skye through Dowsing with USA team |
| 01:08:33 | Finish |