The Trade Training Workshop at Cherbourg c1950

1951 – A part of the manual training school is renovated and becomes the Trade Training Workshop. The workshop offers extra training to young men past school age.

Erwin Fuller wearing dark clothes, Cecil Brown (Snr) wearing hat (front – from left to right)
Les Stewart wearing green shirt, Robert Dalton wearing white shirt, John Gundy. (back – from left to right)

“In 1951,after alterations and repairs were made to a portion of the old manual training school (rural school). The Trade Training Workshop since it’s inauguration has not lacked orders and often the volume of work on hand taxes the capacity of the plant and buildings … Work turned out is first-class quality, both with respect to workmanship and materials. the variety of articles manufactured varies from simple laundry trolleys to specialised joinery, office and household furniture. The aim of the workshop is to train promising men and lads in joinery and modern furniture manufacture while at the same time producing such items for Settlement and Departmental use which included a silky oak pedestal office table which was a part of a Department of Native Affairs display at the 1954 Royal National Association Exhibition in Brisbane.
Manufactured items have also been supplied to the Torres Straits, Palm Island, Fantome Island, Woorabinda, Mona Mona Mission, as well as Cherbourg.
Some of the items manufactured at the Trade Training Workshop included; E.C. (Earth Closets or “thunderbox”) cabinets, kitchen cabinets, tables, chairs and stools, wardrobes, dressing tables, foodsafes, children cots and commodes, mirror stands, office desks, double sided black-boards, (old style) school desks and stools, pine dual school desks and pine chairs, teacher’s tables and chairs, filing cabinets, book cases and coffins.”
— 1951 Annual Report