Special guest at Walter and Rita Nurnberg Norwich exhibition

Taking pride of place in the display of magnificent photographs by Walter and Rita Nurnberg, taken at three large city factories in the 1940s and 50s, is one of a young woman working at Mackintosh/Caley in 1958.

It captures the flavour of life in the big city centre factory so well it was enlarged to take centre stage on one of the walls surrounded by dozens of other pictures which make up this wonderful exhibition.

The photograph was one we used in our story about the exhibition and family members recognised the woman concentrating so hard on making marzipan foure’es.

Cousin Leon Carrara visited the exhibition with his daughter Mia and they were delighted to see Margaret at work all those years ago.

Within days Margaret, now aged 90 and living at Poringland, was the guest of honour at the exhibition, looking at herself pictured hand-dipping the treats.

“I remember the photograph being taken,” she smiled. He gave me a copy.”

Norwich-born Margaret worked at Bally’s before moving to the chocolate factory and then became secretary in the architects department at Norfolk County Council.

“This is a dream come true,” said one of the curators of the exhibition, Dr Nick Warr, lecturer in Art History and Curation at the UEA.

Both he and Dr Simon Dell, Associate Professor of Art History at the UEA, spent a long time discovering the story behind photographer Walter Nurnberg and his wife Rita, who visited Norwich to take photographs at Mackintosh/Caley, Boulton & Paul and Edwards & Holmes.

“When we were selecting the photographs we hoped people who knew or were related to the people in the photographs but we never thought there would be anyone who would be able to see themselves,” said Dr Warr.

Among the events taking place at the exhibition, which runs until April, this week is a fascinating film produced by the East Anglian Film Archive at 2.30pm on Wednesday February 7.

*Coming up. More stories about the people in the photographs.