THESE workers spent their days in the offices or on the factory floor at the Pressed Steel company at Cowley.

But this was an occasion to forget the daily routine of making cars, put on some finery and celebrate in the grand surroundings of the Randolph Hotel in Oxford.

The company had booked the hotel ballroom in early 1964 to honour 205 workers who had joined in 1938 and completed 25 years’ service in 1963.

The pictures come from reader Leo Catney, whose family, like many others, worked at the plant for many years.

He writes: “My father, Les Catney, completed his 25 years in 1963 and was at the Randolph Hotel award dinner in 1964. Many in the photographs were still at the factory when I joined in 1972 and I then completed more than 30 years, also receiving a 25-year watch.

“Many families worked there for long periods and my in-laws, the Pope family, had a father and many sons there.”

Mr Catney has also sent pictures of a group of workers at one of the tables, a young Bob Monkhouse, who appeared as the cabaret star, and a list of those who attended, which the company published in the Oxford Mail.

Mr Monkhouse, billed on the programme as a TV, radio and stage personality, was among five acts in an 80-minute cabaret.

The other artists were Felix Bowness, the radio and TV comedy compere, who later starred in Hi-Di-Hi, the Coleman Sisters, who promised Dancing for your Delight, singers Gwen Overton and Clive Stock, and pianist Trevor Smith.

That year, guests enjoyed a menu of smoked salmon, roast duckling and bombe glacee cassata.

Bob Monkhouse apparently had a drink with some of the workers beforehand to find out any funny stories – or scandal – about the bosses which he could use in his act.

The dinner was held every year and workers’ long service would be recognised by the presentation of a 25 Year Club pin and an inscribed gold watch by the company’s managing director or senior official.

The 1964 dinner was the 12th to be held and the 205 new members brought the total number in the 25 Year Club to 1,997.

Workers were well-known for their long and devoted service to Pressed Steel, which was set up in 1926 to supply steel bodies for cars being made at the neighbouring Morris Motors’ factory. Good wages and job security meant many workers stayed for years, hence there was always a good supply of guests at the 25 Year Club dinner.