Photograph of Women's Hockey
A group of women playing field hockey at the company's recreation ground situated at Aspley Lane.
Player's provided sports facilities for its workers at a site at Aspley Lane. Built in 1906, the Recreation Ground, or the Rec as it was known, was a central part of life at Player's right up to the 1980s. The ground's club house was the site of a great number of social events.
P2525
1960-1978
Photograph from the 1955 Bonus Dance
Every year up until the mid-1970s, John Player & Sons gave its employees a money bonus in March. To mark this, a dance was thrown at the Astoria dancehall in Nottingham (this later became the Sherwood Rooms and is now Ocean nightclub).
This photograph is from the 1955 bonus dance and features, amongst others, Leslie and Sybil Briggs (née Simmonds). Leslie worked in No. 3 factory and Sybil worked in the offices. Sybil remembers that the female employees would talk about what they were going to wear to the dance for months in advance, and she would often buy a new dress for the occasion which she would have to pay off in monthly instalments.
Yvonne Dawson
1955