The picture below was sent me by Sharon Ellis. It shows her Great Uncle, James Charles Emberson, working on the construction of the Selo Factory. James Charles is seated on the bricks, at the far left.

More recently, Ingrid Billings (nee Emberson) has also been in touch. James Charles Emberson was Ingrid's Grandfather. The Emberson family lived in Woodman Road almost next to the Selo Works and Ingrid's father, John Emberson, was born there. Unfortunately, a fire in the 1930s destroyed the terraced house, and also the one next door.

Ingrid tells me her father, John, worked at the Selo factory for many years and was also on the Selo Works Fire Brigade Team. Eventually, when the Selo factory closed (early 1980s), Ingrid's father ransferred to the Mobberly site, commuting weekly from Brentwood.

He was a very keen amateur photographer and she has pictures and slides of herself when young, taken by her father. John worked in the Testing Department (Ingrid thinks) and she has pictures of him with others he worked with. He played for the Selo Bowls Team that had a Bowls Green further down Woodman Road. As a child of one of the workers, Ingrid remembers going to the social club Christmas party and also on a summer trip. A name that comes to her mind is "Uncle Taffy". She also recalls how the original social club transferred to a larger site.

Apart from her own family connections with Ilford, Ingrid has discovered that her husband's Grandmother also worked for Ilford Ltd, in Ilford, plus some other relatives as well.