FORMER car workers shared memories of life on the production line to mark 100 years of the city’s Cowley works.

Ernest and Kathleen Wright, Roger Needle and a host of others met to celebrate 100 years since William Morris kick-started Oxford’s car heritage.

They visited the Oxford Bus and Morris Motors Museum in Long Hanborough at the weekend to see some of the Morris motors that rolled off the production line.

William Morris, later Lord Nuffield, opened his first repair shop in High Street in 1901 and then began producing the Bullnose Morris from Long Wall Street.

In 1913 he began production at Cowley and the rest, as they say, is history. Pressed Steel opened in 1926 to support production.

Summertown resident Mr Needle, 73, started a five-year apprenticeship at Morris Motors aged 16. Here he got to see every department at work and it was the start of a career spanning more than 30 years in the industry.

He rose to chief divisional facilities engineer for British Leyland and was instrumental in securing a licence from Honda to build Triumph cars in Cowley.

He is now the national events secretary for the Morris Register fan club, keeping 2,000 fans informed about rallies and shows.

He said: “When you realise what William Morris did in Oxford and the amount of money he put into hospitals and education – it’s tremendous.”

“It was nice to see other people there who I used to work with.”

For Abingdon’s Ernest and Kathleen Wright, the plant spelled love as well as a career.

They met when he worked for Morris Motors and she was at Pressed Steel.

One day he saw her cycling home from work and said to his mother: “I’m going to marry her”.

Mr Wright, 84, was the firm’s first electrical trade apprentice in 1944, aged 16 and stayed for 50 years, retiring as a plant engineering manager in charge of 500 staff.

He said after Sunday’s reunion : “I spent my whole life there and enjoyed it all. It changed drastically over the years. When I started, all the cars off the production line were black.

“I remember when the first dark green car came down the line. Everyone gathered around to see it – it sounds silly now.”

Joining them was Madelaine Morris-Penn, from Oxford, who remembered her father William Morris’ amusing first encounter with his famous namesake.

The entrepreneur did not believe the employee had the same name as him, and suspended him on the spot for his insolence.

Once he realised his mistake, he reinstated his employee, and offered him some Mars bars by way of an apology.

Mrs Morris-Penn, who worked for Morris Radiators for two years, said: “I am told he was very tight fisted on his own account, but he was so generous to Oxford.

“He funded the college and the hospital, he did a lot for the city.

“When I was growing up every family had someone working for William Morris.”