Steely Margaret had to be on her mettle
Margaret Scott always thought she was destined to become a nurse but instead found herself working among an army of men in the steel industry.
Often when she walked into a factory in the 1960s the male workers would often greet her with shouts of "hello love, are you lost?". But this did not deter the strong-willed saleswoman and she went on to spend more than 30 years in the industry, becoming the first woman to sell steel for Dunlop and Rankin, ending her career in the Black Country.
"I was going to be a nurse. But I took an office job when I was 20 in a steelworks near Glasgow, while I waited to start my training, and I liked it so much that I never left," the 68-year-old said.
Mrs Scott, of Parkfield Road, Stourbridge, became fascinated by the industry.
Her job rarely involved sitting behind a desk and she was expected to know everything about the manufacturing process, including learning how to weld.
"It wasn't just sitting in an office. I had to get my overalls and hard hat on and get my hands dirty. I had to visit power stations, chemical works, oil refineries and even an oil rig. I'd come back from some jobs with holes in my clothes and my hair singed. But it was a lot of fun. It kept me busy and kept me interested," she said.
She also worked for British Steel becoming known as the British Steel Gypsy as she clocked up thousands of miles travelling to the firm's bases across the country, including Halesowen. She also travelled the world including the Middle East, Europe and South Africa. On one occasion she was sent out to inspect faulty pipes in Egypt where she was the first Western woman to step foot in an oil refinery.
Mrs Scott, who originally hails from Lanark in Scotland but moved to Stourbridge 20 years ago, said: "I think the men were surprised when they first met me.
"They weren't used to seeing a woman working in the industry. Everything was geared up for men, I even had to use the men's loos."
Mrs Scott, who ended her career at Wolverhampton's Priory Woodfield three years ago, was honoured by the Institute of Sales, Marketing and Management for her long and high standard of service in 2002.
She now gives after-dinner talks and tonight will be at an evening at St. Augustine's Parish Church in Holly Hall, Dudley.
