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A change of job...... The College years
After several months, and the improving situation with the work in increasing production, Joe and I were asked by Brian Welsby (the Research Director) if we wanted to go to Technical College to do a qualification in City and Guilds for Chemical Plant Operation. My initial response was no, (for the reason I turned down the maintenance apprenticeship), but “old head” Joe pointed out that we would get a day off with pay to attend college and persuaded me to go along with him. SO in September 1963 we started on the four year QCO course at Widnes Technical College and I soon found an interest in chemical manufacturing that was the start of my life time career in the industry at Moss Bank.
This interest in chemistry and particularly the manufacturing process industry saw me embark on 11 years of part time study at Widnes and St Helens colleges where I gained a Distinction in my City and Guilds QCO course which led me to study ONC and HNC Chemistry and then to go on to study for membership of the Institution of Works Managers when I became eventually a member of the British Institute of Management.
Interesting Chemicals.......
The main products at Moss Bank were Lactic Acid and Lactates for which we were world leaders having developed a solvent purification process (in the mid/late 1950's by Tom Reid and Peter Beattie) to produce a commercial food quality product which became the main use of the product.
Lactic was originally a technical product used in teh Leather tanning industry and the other plant at Moss Bank was an Oils Plant which manufactured emulsifyable Sulphated Fish and Whale oils for lubricating leather as well as other chemicals for the industry. The Bowman's archer symbol was well known in leather processing countries worldwide as a sign of high quality products.
During this time the "shabby" Pilot Plant became an important and growing facility with expansion and improvements happening yearly. The Sodium Glucoheptonate process became a full production plant, built behind the Pilot Plant building, and was ironically the last of the processes to operate at Moss Bank before it closed in 2005. In the meantime we developed and manufactured many products on what became the Special Products Plant. Some of the memorable ones were Nickel Napthalene Sulphonate (using Oleum from which Sulphur trioxide gas often escaped and evacuated the building!!), a top secret product known as XXX-44 (difficult to make and VERY expensive), 5-Sulpho Salicylic Acid (SSA), Maleic Acid, Hydroxy Ethyl Lactamide, Strontium Lactate (who wanted that one?), Alpha-Heptono-Lactone, Lactide (Poly Lactic Acid - the ORIGINAL forerunner of biodegradeable plastics decades before it was invented||) and Poly Vinyl Behenate to name but a few.
The one product we made which had a short, spectacular but infamous life cycle was "GL5". This was a mixture of Sodium Lactate (a product from the Lactic Acid plant) and Urea. It was a liquid which was sprayed onto snow and ice on football pitches to make them "playable during the winter months".
After several months, and the improving situation with the work in increasing production, Joe and I were asked by Brian Welsby (the Research Director) if we wanted to go to Technical College to do a qualification in City and Guilds for Chemical Plant Operation. My initial response was no, (for the reason I turned down the maintenance apprenticeship), but “old head” Joe pointed out that we would get a day off with pay to attend college and persuaded me to go along with him. SO in September 1963 we started on the four year QCO course at Widnes Technical College and I soon found an interest in chemical manufacturing that was the start of my life time career in the industry at Moss Bank.
This interest in chemistry and particularly the manufacturing process industry saw me embark on 11 years of part time study at Widnes and St Helens colleges where I gained a Distinction in my City and Guilds QCO course which led me to study ONC and HNC Chemistry and then to go on to study for membership of the Institution of Works Managers when I became eventually a member of the British Institute of Management.
Interesting Chemicals.......
The main products at Moss Bank were Lactic Acid and Lactates for which we were world leaders having developed a solvent purification process (in the mid/late 1950's by Tom Reid and Peter Beattie) to produce a commercial food quality product which became the main use of the product.
Lactic was originally a technical product used in teh Leather tanning industry and the other plant at Moss Bank was an Oils Plant which manufactured emulsifyable Sulphated Fish and Whale oils for lubricating leather as well as other chemicals for the industry. The Bowman's archer symbol was well known in leather processing countries worldwide as a sign of high quality products.
During this time the "shabby" Pilot Plant became an important and growing facility with expansion and improvements happening yearly. The Sodium Glucoheptonate process became a full production plant, built behind the Pilot Plant building, and was ironically the last of the processes to operate at Moss Bank before it closed in 2005. In the meantime we developed and manufactured many products on what became the Special Products Plant. Some of the memorable ones were Nickel Napthalene Sulphonate (using Oleum from which Sulphur trioxide gas often escaped and evacuated the building!!), a top secret product known as XXX-44 (difficult to make and VERY expensive), 5-Sulpho Salicylic Acid (SSA), Maleic Acid, Hydroxy Ethyl Lactamide, Strontium Lactate (who wanted that one?), Alpha-Heptono-Lactone, Lactide (Poly Lactic Acid - the ORIGINAL forerunner of biodegradeable plastics decades before it was invented||) and Poly Vinyl Behenate to name but a few.
The one product we made which had a short, spectacular but infamous life cycle was "GL5". This was a mixture of Sodium Lactate (a product from the Lactic Acid plant) and Urea. It was a liquid which was sprayed onto snow and ice on football pitches to make them "playable during the winter months".
My Working Life - continued - Page 4
Note of interest - I think that the next "office junior" was a girl - Elaine Dodd - who lived down the road from me. Elaine eventually married Eddie Fleming who was the R&D Chemist in the labs at Moss Bank and Eddie did all the lab development work on the Sodium Heptonate process which I started my plant life working on..... That’s what I call keeping it in the family..... Eddie and I meet up still for lunch with Tom Reid (Sales Director and MD at Moss Bank) Peter Beattie and Ray Wong (R&D Chemists in the Research Lab. during the early/mid 1960's) and on one occasion recently we were joined by Brian Welsby (who started my interest in chemistry - see below)