Anthony Bamford cuts the giant cake. Immediate left are JCB managing director and CEO John Patterson, product specialist George Heining and retired service director Bill Hirst.

JCB's diamond jubilee culminated in a reception last week attended by 60 former and current employees, one for each year of JCB's existence (Forkliftaction.com News #226).

Among those present was Bill Hirst, who was the third employee at JCB when the company was based in stables at Crakemarsh, near the current Rocester headquarters.

Hirst watched Sir Anthony Bamford, who took over as chairman from his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, 30 years ago, cut a huge cake shaped as a backhoe loader, the product that helped propel JCB to success.

On October 23, 1945, Joseph Bamford founded the business in a lock-up garage in Uttoxeter. His first product was a tipping trailer which sold at Uttoxeter market for GBP45 (USD80).

Two years later Hirst, then 14 years old, joined the business as the tea boy. When he retired 44 years later, Hirst, 74, had risen to service director.

"Joe Bamford was always very ambitious and very driven," he said. "I think maybe we were very lucky because there were no diggers about in those days - everybody was still digging trenches by hand - and basically the only excavators you saw were cable-operated drag lines they used to dredge out rivers and such."