Man behind the lens remembered through photos

Airbus is celebrating their 75th year of manufacturing at their Broughton site in Flintshire this year and the family of the man behind many of the shots visited the exhibition at Broughton Community Centre.  

Jackie Roberts joined Broughton as a joiner in 1948, working on the prefab homes that were being manufactured on site after the War.  He took up photography as a hobby a couple of years later, demonstrated a natural talent and was soon assigned the role of site photographer.

Airbus commissioned a photo exhibition that is touring various sites across Flintshire and Cheshire sharing memories of its 75 year history and it is currently on display at the Broughton Community Centre.

Now his daughter Carol Dinsdale and her husband Malcolm paid a special visit to an exhibition of his work at Broughton Community Centre.

Carol, who now lives in Buckley, said:

“Dad was self-taught and used to do his own printing. He enjoyed taking all kinds of photographs.

“Big bands used to play at the factory and he would go early and take all the pictures, come home and develop them, and take the prints back to the site before the evening ended so he could hand them out for people to take home.

Mr Roberts had his own dark room at the side of the main office block and it was during his time at Broughton that he met his future wife, Doris Roberts, who worked as an employment officer.

The couple married and went on to have three children. He was still working before his death age of 59, after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.

“As a man he has so much energy. He loved life, loved children, loved his work and his photography,” Carol added. “My favourite picture was one he took of a Vampire taking off which was auctioned for charity. It makes me very proud to see his pictures displayed in this way.”

Kath Hayes, Community Relations Manager at Airbus said:

“We were contracted by Carol after she heard about the exhibition and it was wonderful to be able to put a person behind the pictures. She has since shared some more photos of Broughton from her father’s personal collection and we will look at incorporating those too.” 

The photo exhibition will be on display at Broughton Community Centre, Broughton Hall Road, Broughton, CH4 0QQ until 7th April.

Photo: Carol Dinsdale holds a picture of her father, former Broughton photographer Jackie Roberts. She was visiting the exhibition at Broughton Community Centre with her husband Malcolm.