Tuesday’s announcement the mill would close was a sad day for Mr French, who is one of three generations of his family to have worked at the local mill.

It was the end of an association that began in 1954 when his father George moved the family from Dartford in England to install the machines at the new mill.

Roy was one of eight boys, seven of whom went on to work at the Shoalhaven mill.

“It was part of the arrangements for families who came out from England to work at the mill that their children were also guaranteed jobs,” he said.

“I was 12 when we came here but when you were 15 you were marched into the front office and given a job.

“I actually met the then mill manager George ‘Pappy’ Gall out on the entrance road as I came in and he asked where I wanted to work.

“I told him I wanted to be an electrician, so that’s where I started.”

His first official day was January 14, 1958 and he has been associated with the mill in a variety of roles ever since.

“Back then you had to have two tradesmen to each apprentice and as they had just put on another apprentice months before me, I didn’t get to finish,” he said.

“I went into the laboratory, doing testing work and general laboratory work before moving on to the machine floor.

“You had to be 18 to be allowed on the floor and work on the paper machines.

“The place was in full swing. We had one mill but it housed two machines.”

He continued to work on the paper making machines until 1999, being promoted to shift manager in 1983.

Along the way he saw the operation grow to have a second mill and two more paper making machines.

“At its height we had more than 800 people employed here,” he said.

A downturn in orders saw machines close and he moved to contractors CIBA, working with the dye products and products for the specialty security papers.

There have also been numerous changes in the contractors, with Mr French working with BASF and Chemiplas, a role he continues in today, as well as dealing with the broke movement, reducing the waste paper levels.

“I’ve seen some changes, from boom to bust,” he said.

“This place was huge. There were around 820 employees at one stage, from paper makers and finishers, to the sorting areas, the yard and everything in between, as well as pay office, canteen and even a credit union.

“I’ve worked with every boss from ‘Pappy’ Gall through to our current manager Bruce Borchardt.”

There have also been different owners including Wiggins Teape and Nash which started the mill, through to APPM, North Broken Hill, Amcor, Paperlinx and now Nippon.

“This place was the jewel in the crown, it had an incredible reputation for the paper it produced,” he said.

“We did everything from cigarette paper through to paper for banks and bonds and cardboard.

“We produced everything from 16-gram cigarette paper through to 398-granm cardboard.

“We even made envelope grade paper and Christmas cards.

“The number 3 machine, which is left now, is one of the most versatile machines around.

“It is able to make everything from 65-gram paper up to 350-gram board, black and white and every colour in between.

“The machine is also capable of watermarking and producing security papers.

“That machine came around 1964 but the companies and particularly Nippon of late, has spent a lot of money on modernising and upgrading it and is probably in the best condition it ever has been.

“It’s a Ferrari in a T Model Ford.

“It has the capability to change grades [of paper] quickly. It might make four to six tonnes of one type of paper, and then change to another and may make five different grades in a day, where some other mills are lucky to change grades once a month.”

THREE generations of the French family have worked at the Shoalhaven mill.

Following his father George, Roy was joined at the mill by his brothers Alan and Colin on the machine floor, Vic in the powerhouse, Cliff as a fitter, Nigel, a lab technician, and Phillip in quality control on the cutters.

“Our eldest brother didn’t come over from England, he already had a job – he took one look at the paper mill with Dad back in England and said that life was not for him,” Mr French laughed.

“My son Steve now works here as a fitter.

“I feel for the younger guys who now have to go and find work.

“This was such a secure place. I always thought this place would be going long after I retired.

“It’s unfortunate it won’t be here for the next generation. But how do you compete with cheap Asian imports?

“The paper mill was our life and still is. There would not be too many people in Nowra who either haven’t worked here or don’t know someone who has.

“It was a steady job, a secure job and good pay.

“I loved working here and loved coming to work.

“It is more like a family here, its own community – close knit.

“The mill became part of Nowra.”

At 72 he said he won’t be retiring.

“I’m not the retiring type of guy.  I’ll fund something to do.”

ROY French says he has met some wonderful friends and real characters at the Shoalhaven mill.

“There were lots of fun times and some memorable people, like Jack Crawford and the guys in the yard, Big Lurch and Neville Anderson,” he said.

“I remember George Gall Jnr, Pappy’s son. He was a real bugger. He worked in the powerhouse and you’d be taking visitors around to have a look at the mill and he would do a blowdown and steam would cover the people.

“They would end up with little black and red specks all over them.

“What could you say he was the boss’s son?

“If guys fell asleep on nightshift they might get some powder dye in their hair and when they showered they would be covered in red or blue or whatever colour it was.

“I remember one night Dave Byrnes rode a motorcycle down the floor of the No 2 machine, and chucked a wheelie.

“Guys always played practical jokes. They were harmless and nobody ever got hurt, but it was a fun place to work.

“It was also a very social place. We used to have a ball each year and a giant Christmas party where all the families would get together.”

BEING located on the Shoalhaven River also created problems, especially during times of flood.

“The ’74 and ’78 flood were big,” he said.

“I remember being driven to work on the back of a semi-trailer being towed by a tractor and we could feel the trailer moving with the water pressure as we came past Manildra.

“At night in one flood we had water coming up through the pumproom of the No 3 machine and we had to try and stop it.”