ONCE upon a time, when people worked for a living, Coopers Mechanical Joints was a major employer in the Abergavenny area.

In the beginning the building was owned by the Lang Pen Company and made radiators for that most British of planes - the Spitfire.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the factory lay abandoned before Coopers Mechanical Joints of Slough took over and turned it into a booming business.

Coopers main products were engine components and it soon became a badge of pride that most vehicles on our roads contained a part manufactured at Coopers.

In 1966, a Manchester firm called Turner and Newall, who knew a good thing when they saw it, bought the Llanfoist powerhouse and renamed it Coopers Filters.

In 1988, the filtration company Fiaam Spa took over and invested eight million pounds worth of new machinery and equipment into Coopers.

Business had never been better!

But as we all know, after every boom comes a bust. In January 2004, Coopers Factory was subjected to the ignoble verdict of the wrecking ball and the bombastic glee of the bulldozer.

The site was purchased by a company with an eye to building a new housing estate, and the rest is history.

Yet the old factory lingers long in the heart of many, such as Cornishman Tim McQuay who told the Chronicle, "Many years ago, I worked for J & F Pool in Hayle, we used to manufacture perforated and fine mesh for use in Coopers ( and Framm ) products. With one of the managers, I went on a factory visit in the 1990's.

“We were shown around the works by Mr. Tony Brain, who I used to liaise with for production matters.

"Before entering one part of the works, Tony warned us about the noise levels in that area, so we wore hearing protection. The machine noise we were accustomed to, what we were not prepared for was the middle-aged workers listening to local radio in Welsh and the younger section of the group listening to Radio 1, in English, both at full volume!”

Tim added, "For us, the visit was a great success. I would speak to Tony on a weekly basis, and I used to use his local knowledge to plan our annual holiday, normally to Wales.

“As avid campers, we tried to pick the most favourable times, and as Tony's family were hill farmers, his advice was extremely helpful.

“I left Pools when the site was "redeveloped" for housing after being sold to a Birmingham company called Ash & Lacy, who ran the company into the ground. Many Cornish engineering companies held mining equipment patents and were asset stripped, Hayle alone had three such companies and it's quite a small town. I left the engineering field and unfortunately lost contact with Tony.

“I was appalled to find that a similar fate had befallen Coopers.

“On a cruise to Norway, I bumped into a couple from Abergavenny and asked how Coopers were doing, only to be told that it had been gone for years! A very sad end for us all, with skilled work being replaced by houses that few can afford. But while in existence, it was something of a miracle and a real asset to the local area.”