Non-British Nationals working in the Yard
Lots of other nationalities worked in the Yard while it was operational.  The Chatham Dockyard Oral History Project would like to hear from non-British nationals about their experience of working in the Yard - either by leaving your comments here or by completing a questionnaire: http://chathamdockyard.net/id1.html.

Women working in Dockyard trades

Women started taking apprenticeships at Chatham Dockyard in the 1970s and for the first time started to take craft and trade careers there.  It has been suggested that some of the trades they enetered into, such as Slingers and Shipwrights, were not suitable for them because the work was too heavy and that they relied on their male colleagues to do the heavy jobs for them. 

The Chatham Dockyard Oral History Project would like to have your comments if you were a woman working in one of the dockyard trades or if you completed an apprenticeship OR if you were a man worked worked with women in traditionally male jobs during this period. 

The Project would also like to hear from women who worked in the Yard during the Second World War to know how you coped with the work.

1984

Chatham Dockyard closed in 1984 and over 7000 people lost their jobs as a result.  The Chatham Dockyard Oral History Project wants to know how the closure affected those who had worked at the Yard, those who worked for companies that supplied the Yard and those who lived in the Medway Towns at the time.  Did it really have a big impact or did life continue as normal? 

Add your comments below and have your say about the closure.