Dear Sir, as an ex-employee of West Yorkshire foundries I was interested to hear of the exhibition at Armley Mills. I wonder if you could post me a copy of the book "meltdown" As I am totally blind is there a possibility that the book could be translated into Braille. I am the youngest of 3 brothers who all worked at WYF with a total service of nearly 100 years. Eldest brother, Arthur Ryder was a foreman for several years in N0 4 foundry in the 60's/70's. My other brother, Lawrence Ryder, was a rate fixer in the iron dept during the same period. I, frank worked in the 23 dept under Arthur groom, then as core maker in 54-core shop and 56-core shop. My sight deteriorated then I was transferred to pressure dye dept where I completed 30 years service being made redundant in 1979.
Best wishes to all ex-employees.

Conversation with Frank 1 Feb 2005:
"I am totally blind now I cant tell the difference between night and day, but I get by, I have my garden and my green house. My friend got a copy of your book so my daughters have been reading me bits from it. There's a lot in it - I've really enjoyed some of the stories, its brought back loads of memories. I used to work with Clem Ford. There were good to me WYF when my eye-sight went they sent to Torquay for three weeks on a rehabilitation course and tried to find me a job I could do. They were a good company to work for.

Ian, I remember the Ryder brothers well. When Frank became blind we were asked if he bring a guide dog with him to work and for us to provide suitable accommodation for the dog on site during the day; we couldn't, so we employed Frank's wife instead! Are you able to assist with a Braille version? Kind regards, as always."
Philip