A FIRM that was based in Ilminster has met one of the first eight employees.

Norma Knapp, 92, was one of the first employees at Gooch & Housego headquarters in Ilminster in the post-war 1940s.

Norma Knapp (née Simpson), who now lives in Devon, met the G&H team in Torquay accompanied by the neighbors who have helped prepare this entire get-together.

Her family lived in Eltham, United Kingdom, near Greenwich in South East London, where her father used to work for Standard Telephone and Cable.

In 1940, as World War II was setting in the country with more serious repercussions, Norma had to be evacuated from London together with her younger sister Eileen to a tiny rural village called Ugborough in Devon, leaving her parents and two older siblings, Audrey and George, behind.

Due to the high bombing risk, during the war Standard had to be relocated to Ilminster.

Her family settled in their new home, so much so that Norma herself joined Standard after leaving school when she was only 14 years old.

For some time, the family worked tirelessly to make the best out of the situation, much like all the newly arrived in Ilminster.

But when the war ended, many employees from Standard decided to return to London, when it was deemed safe to do so.

An immediate exodus took place in that small village after 1945, except for two young men who had decided that this new chapter in their lives could be expanded even further from where they had put down roots.

Those two were Archie Gooch and Leslie Housego.

Norma said: “Father met Archie Gooch in the pub and asked him how business was going, because he knew these two young chaps were starting up on their own.

That’s when father said, ‘my Norma is looking for another job, she’s a bit fed up where she currently is at the moment’.

“Archie said to send me down for a talk, so I went down and had a talk with Archie, who said yes, we’ll give it a try.

“That’s how I got the job here, all those years ago. The rest is history: I came in on my first day, put my overalls on and started working for Gooch and Housego.”

She added: “Especially during my formative years, it was a privilege to be part of the team.

“The experiences and skills I gained during my time there have stayed with me throughout my career.

“Everyone in the company at that point in time, we were all like brothers and sisters, really.

“We knew one another from the old days. For example, I’d known Archie and Les for a long time, as they all came to Ilminster with us from London, and everybody knew one another.”

After seven years with Gooch and Housego, Norma felt it was time to move on. Standard had announced its intention to relocate to a new purpose-built factory in Paignton, South Devon.