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Not everyone's cup of tea, but a rare machine I should think.

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I too have fond memories of working at Peter Simper. I was on my OE at the time, 1978 I think.
I was the New Zealander working in the store room. I remember painting the white wire in the various colours for the factory.
Fond memories of a great bunch of people. I was presented with a bottle of Logan whisky when I left which we drank at my oldest child 21st some 28 years later.

What a pity that there are (probably) no BMCo employees left to tell workers tales, or other well known makers employees such as Bryans, R & W etc. This of course is one of the problems of not documenting information early enough for future generations who may be interested in the hobby. It has, and probably always will have, a certain air of secrecy, mystique and mystery about these old machines.

Yep, totally agree with you, it needs to be recorded before it is too late....

glittering-prize67 wrote:This Chris Powell - is he anything to do with Powell's Automatics, restoring old bandits and putting some on new themes?

Chris Powell has the arcade in St Ives I think.

Arrgee wrote:What a pity that there are (probably) no BMCo employees left to tell workers tales, or other well known makers employees such as Bryans, R & W etc. This of course is one of the problems of not documenting information early enough for future generations who may be interested in the hobby. It has, and probably always will have, a certain air of secrecy, mystique and mystery about these old machines.

If you know where they were based it might be worth contacting the local newspaper. They are always looking for stories with a slant that will generate interest with their readers and who knows what response it may turn up.

An excellent suggestion! It's how the authorities caught up with me the last time!

Jonesthegarage wrote: If you know where they were based it might be worth contacting the local newspaper. They are always looking for stories with a slant that will generate interest with their readers and who knows what response it may turn up.

I have tried this a few times with newspapers & libraries etc. when looking for information. Unfortunately, they only tend to become interested when a fee of some kind is offered I have found very few who are willing to help for nothing. When I researched the Whales family a few years ago it cost me over £400 by the time I had finished, and I lost count of the man hours involved.
Would I do it again??? Yes all the time because the history is as important as the wooden boxes we all cherish....
Talking of History?? HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! that's another year gone.

slotalot wrote:...the history is as important as the wooden boxes we all cherish....

Point well made. I'm surprised how some collectors' interest in the 'wooden boxes' doesn't extend beyond acquiring them and what they're worth.

Arrgee wrote:This of course is one of the problems of not documenting information early enough for future generations who may be interested in the hobby, it has, and probably always will have a certain air of secrecy, mystique and mystery.

It's always the same with subjects like ours - back in the day no one thought anyone would be interested in years to come. If you had told them people would collect the machines and write books about the industry they would have laughed. Especially with the amusement machine industry, the general public have always shunned those involved, wrongly assuming them to all be crooks and conmen, spivs at best. My recollection of those my father knew in south London is of a tight knit group of well dressed, slightly flashy people whose friends came from the same industry. They had money but were not generally accepted as "the right types" by the public when in fact it was some of the operators and those who frequented their clubs and sites who gave the industry its bad name, not the machine makers.

Fifth from the left is one of my father's best friends. As a very small boy I remember that whenever he came to our house he always had the prettiest of girls in tow. Looks like he did it again at this party.

It's nice to read about these Peter Simper machines. It's nice that people have recollections of them. Also what comes over is what a happy ship it was there. People seemed to have really enjoyed working there.

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I worked for Peter Simpers at Bordon in 1970-73 and made the reel units. Where I was working was a room of three stages. The cards were all soldered by the girls using single core wire covered by a coloured sheeth. I always wondered how they knew where to solder their point. I suppose they must have used a jig of some sorts.

Once finished and tested for dry joints they would come to me for general assembly. I would then knock out about eight units a day, then they would each go across the room for testing. They would all be connected on the test bay to listen for noisy solenoids, by the way another product made by Bordon Electrical, before haing their fruit bands stapled on.

My boss was Neal Coates followed by John Smith and a dear old mate Sandy Sherridan who handled the testing.
The General Manager at the time was Terry Jenkins who was also one of my adversaries on the football field.
Peter Simper was in partnership with Mr Hardy the FIAT dealer next door.

I worked for PS Bath from Feb. 3rd 1969 to Dec.1991 when they sold out to Stretton Leisure. I have fond memories of the years I worked there and the engineers I worked with. As others have stated, Simper senior was a great chap to work for. I was only sad he didn’t live longer to progress the company into the 21st century. I’d be pleased to hear from any people that worked there at the time I did. Eddy Priest. eddypriest@lineone.net

I seen a couple on ebay. I had one a few years ago, very nice as well. Mine had a road theme with some traffic signs on the reels. To be honest, the cabinet looked more like a jukebox. I do believe that Simper did one off artwork on machines to suit where they were sited. I'm guessing mine may have been in a motorway services hence the road theme. Extremely well made and very reliable, certainly up with Bell Fruit in my opinion, but as mentioned, the electronics age killed them off and they were scrapped. The few survivors, I believe, were what some staff members managed to save. Great shame.

Hi, just in case anyone's interested, I am selling an old PS machine that my dad left when he passed on. Needs some attention but somebody may be interested in it for parts/repair.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143164003457

I'm fascinated by these PS machines. I have one, and it has real character. You can hear all sorts of things ticking away during play. I looked inside once, and it was absolutely PACKED with gear.

Yours is 275 miles away, which is the only thing stopping me bidding on it. There was a 'Wild Anchor' by the same maker on not long ago, which was even further away. I suppose they are liable to be in the South or South-West. I never saw them in NE England at the time.

chris rideout wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:57 pm Does anyone remember which machine it could be?

Hi everyone!
Anyone have an idea how much a PS Spinnaker is worth?

Although hard to find, you literally couldn't give them away until a couple of years ago. Now there seems to be a small niche of interest which, if the condition of the machine is good, seems to push prices achieved up around £50 to £150. They look massively over engineered inside and a load of dry joints to contend with to keep fully working.

Happy memories,
I joined Peter Simpers, Milk Street, City of Bath during 1966. Thanks to my neighbour Ann Harrison, Peter Simper's secretary. I was interested in electrical gadgets and mechanical things ever since I can remember. I was mesmerized by the busy workshop and one arm bandits, juke boxes and pintables. I remember well Bud Holly, work shop manager, Roger Ghatley from 'upstairs', fellow engineers Roy Carpenter, Chris Powel, Dave Powell, - the Carpenters, John and ? name escapes me.

Anyway I just want to say that it was very interesting and I soon became a fully fledged engineer and was given a 1965 Green Ford Cortina,CGL 143 C, gosh I remember the registration... later a Silver Fox 1968 Cortina. Me and Chris Powel were very good mates/ I remember on one occasion in Bristol, he lent into the back of a machine fiddling with a relay and the "switch mech" at the top of the machine gripped his taupe and took it off his head...oh we did laugh. There were occasions when we gave a Landlord a hand full of tokens, and in return we had a pint of beer each. I hasten to add we never ever touched the coin boxes full of sixpences! Oh John Carey was a very jolly personality and collector. Mr. Simper senior was a very immaculate business man, very well respected and drove a beautiful Ferrari, to and from Duckmead House where he lived. Peter Simper Junior was a dapper kind of person who had to let everyone know who he was.

Later in life I went on to Rotork Controls, Brassmill Lane, Bath City. Peter Simpers taught me the foundations of becoming a good Electrical /mechanical Engineer in life. I later designed and invented my own Alarm System and called my Company Alert Systems Co. Ltd. A company "Telesurvelance" merged with me and together we were recognized by Police Central Stations all over the country. I have lived in the Philippines following retirement 18 years ago. Thank you for reading, it has been a wonderful career and life. I am now 73 yrs old, I enjoy flight simulation, the most realistic for reality ( Xplane11 ) and Art, water colors, landscapes....best wishes,
Martin