Planning for War: how the carbide factory came to Kenfigutton Text

​KENFIG FACTORY A SOUVENIR HISTORY
by Denis H Jones
 
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CONTENTS
Chapter
1       Early days 15
2       Royal year 1941 22
3       Getting on with the job 29
4       An explosion 33
5       Under new management 36
6       The post war effort 41
7       The new projects 44
8       A disappointment and a take-over 49
9       Sports activities at Kenfig 52
10     Goodbye to all that 55
11     Annus mirabilis 59
12     In pastures green 63
13     Accidents will not happen 67
14     Kenfig in the mirror 70
15     A matter of dispute 72
16     The voice of the factory 78
17     The inventive mind 82
18     Exodus 87
19     The low melt carbide venture 93
20     Productivity year 98
21     Notice to quit 103
22     The quarter-century 108
23      The closure 113

Chapter 1
Early days
In the early days of the war against Hitler's Germany, the resources of
Britain were geared immediately to the machinery for defeating the enemy.
Armament factories were planned and would speedily mushroom up all over
the country.
The Ministry of Supply, mindful of the fact that the large-scale production
of the smokeless explosive, cordite, depended on the free availability of
acetone, discovered that the acetone supply in Britain was strictly limited.
It was known that acetone is easily derived from calcium carbide, a
chemical that, on account of its cost of manufacture in this country, had
always been imported, mainly from Scandinavia, Jugoslavia, Canada and
Germany. The problem, here, however, was that Hitler threatened to wipe
out Norway and Yugoslavia as sources of supply. Shipping lines from
Canada would be almost completely engaged in the transfer of men, arms,
and above all, foodstuffs. The alternative was to manufacture calcium
carbide here in Britain, despite the high cost of electric power. The plant
must be large enough to meet the total needs of the country, for carbide
of calcium, apart from its use in acetone, had other important outlets such
as acetic acid, synthetic rubber, acetylene gas welding, acetylene lighting
on marine buoys and as a raw material for making chlorinated solvents,
used in the production of certain plastics.
While the Ministry was engaged in selecting a suitable site for such a
factory, a small delegation was sent to the carbide plant of the Shawinigan
Chemicals Limited of Quebec, Canada, to study its techniques. The site at
Kenfig was ultimately chosen in the Spring of 1940. Principally, it lay near
ample and suitable supplies of coke, bituminous coal, anthracite and
limestone. Then an adequate supply of water and electricity was available
from the River Kenfig, if necessary, and two neighbouring power stations,
respectively. Again, there were good opportunities for distribution of the
product by sea, through Port Talbot docks, by rail, as the main line ran a
few yards from the boundary of the proposed plant. Another prime reason
was that as the particular site lay well to the West of the British Isles, it
was felt that it would be less likely to receive the attentions of enemy
aircraft. Other considerations may have been the ready availability in the
area of 'heavy' labour, experienced in quarrying and steelmaking, and
finally the absence of any built-up estates in the immediate environs of a
factory, which is inevitably dirty and dusty in its operations. Now that the
location of the plant was a known fact, the implementation of its design and
erection was passed over by the Supply Ministry to British Industrial
Solvents, a subsidiary of The Distillers Company Limited. The man chosen
to act as liaison between the Ministry and the Company was J. Everett, a
director, who, with Graham Hayman and Eric Stein as colleagues, was to
supervise and take the keenest interest in every stage of the factory's
growth. These men were assisted by G. W. Daniels, O.B.E., engineer, and
E. E. Gross, plant buyer from within the organization. The process was
based on the one used in Canada by the Shawinigan Chemical Company.
Mr Everett, in the company of Mr Daniels, Mr Hastings and Dr Thompson,
visited Canada and returned with comprehensive and detailed data on the
workings on the Canadian plant. He brought back with him W. F. Archibald,
who was to become the principal engineer at the new plant; to be joined
later by five other Canadians, namely the two Renaud brothers and Vallee,
Varley and St Hilaire. In the meantime, work would begin on the
foundations of the factory by Messrs F. W. Chandler, Civil Engineers, with
the steelwork fabrications to be set up by Messrs Dorman Long,
The man appointed by the Ministry of Supply to the post of Clerk of
Works was Ernest Turner; he was to play a leading role in the factory's life
from its very inception and was one of the first administrative men on the
site, keeping a watchful eye on surveyors, labourers, electricians, builders
and all others whose work was crucial in the formative stages of the factory.
The summer of 1940 was spent in digging out the footings of the new
plant, the laying of cables and the making of access roads.
The main units of the factory were an electric arc furnace house, lime
kilns, a coke preparation plant, an electrode paste plant, a screening and
packing plant, a steel drum making shop and an electrical substation;
alongside the process buildings a large open stackyard to take in the
supplies of raw materials; an administrative office block, a canteen, a
storehouse, a security gatehouse and a medical centre incorporating A R P
cleansing facilities. According to the schoolboy chemistry book the making
of calcium carbide in the laboratory would be carried out by the fusion of
calcium oxide and carbon under heat with carbon monoxide as a byproduct,
expressed in a simple chemical formula : CaO + 3C = CaC2 +CO.
In actual manufacturing process the raw materials were to be limestone,
converted into lime, fed with coke, as the carbon, into a three-phase electric
arc furnace. Electric current would break down the mixture, leaving fluid
carbide of calcium which would then be tapped off into small low trucks;
after cooling off, the carbide ingot would be turned out, broken up, graded
for size and packed into drums in readiness for shipment.
This, then, was to be the practice once the Kenfig factory was ready for
use, But a lot of hours and toil had to be put in to the pioneer work of
getting the plant set up. Besides, a suitable quarry had to be found; it was
decided to open up a face in South Cornelly on the slopes of an old road
called Heol-y-Splott. Work was carried out here for several months getting
to grips with the upthrust of carboniferous limestone. A prerequisite of
limestone for use in carbide making is that it must have a high content of
free lime and consequently a very low yield of impurities, in particular silica
and phosphorus. When samples from the newly excavated Pantmawr
quarry were analysed, it became clear that the stone produced did not
match the high standards necessary. In any case there was too much clay
in the area to be worked. This quarry was abandoned and was to remain
unused for a long time.
In the Autumn of 1940, when the struggle for the skies was waged in
what became known as the Battle of Britain, there was a struggle at Kenfig
to find a quarry that would give the right type of limestone, if carbide was

ever to be made. It was at this juncture that the aid of Professor T. Neville
George, a geologist of Swansea University, was enlisted. He concentrated
on Newton and Stormy Downs. Eventually he pointed out a spot near
Tythegston Court, high up on the crest of Stormy Down and some five miles
south east of the factory site, which he considered the best possible source
of high grade limestone. His advice was followed and happily was found to
be correct. The quarry installations were put in by Messrs Frederick Parker.
The electrical work was carried out by a Londoner, T. A. Felton, on behalf
of British Industrial Solvents. T. A. Felton was later to become Kenfig's
electrical engineer.
Meanwhile, down on the factory site itself, there took place some very
interesting developments in the search for water sources. As three furnaces
were to be built, it was necessary to set up at least two open cooling ponds,
with a pumphouse to provide the requisite circulation. The River Kenfig and
the small stream (artificially created in the 12th century by the Monks of
Margam Abbey) which runs from Margam Park alongside Water Street
under PontBwrlac into the Kenfig river some little distance from the factory
were both examined; but their pollution varied from day to day, subject to
the amount of effluent discharged by neighbouring collieries, New- lands in
the case of the Water Street leat and Aberbaiden in that of the Afan Kenfig.
Plans to use this water were halted when a water hole was found on the
southernmost side of the factory site itself. A well was constructed to
contain this water which mysteriously went completely dry after a few
months. The possibility of obtaining clean water from Kenfig Pool was next
explored and was found to be some 16 feet in its deepest parts, a quarter
of which was soft mud. Plans were drawn up to pipe this water to the Kenfig
site and a tunnel was actually begun from the factory end. Work was again
halted when a second source of water was found within the confines of the
factory.
Some temporary lighting poles were in the course of erection to provide
light in the vicinity of the almost completed substation (Building No. C9) at
the western end of the site. During the excavation of a hole for one of the
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poles, water sprang to the surface. The steening of this well was walled up
to a depth of twelve feet below ground surface and, although there was
apprehension for a long time lest this source should be exhausted, it has
continued to form the basic supply to the factory right up to the closure.
Eighteen years after its discovery, the water was declared unfit for human
consumption, with the result that the Port Talbot town water supply was
connected to the factory; this, however, is used only for purposes of
hygiene and drinking.
When the Lime Skip Hoist foundations were sunk at the beginning of
1941, water was again encountered some 23 feet below surface level. It
was necessary to keep nineteen pumps working simultaneously by day and
night during the 'hardening off’ period of the concrete. This operation had
its effect elsewhere. The C9 well level dropped appreciably, but the
domestic supply well at Morfa Bach Farm, fifty yards beyond the southern
boundary fence failed completely. For two days the Guilfords, tenants of
the farmhouse, had to transport their water requirements in milkchurns,
while some Kenfig labourers hastily laid a one inch pipeline supply from the
C9 well to the Morfa Bach well. Again, during the laying of the coke tippler
foundations, water proved troublesome and had to be pumped away in the
settlement period of the concrete. It was now apparent that the water ran
underground roughly in a line from the C9 well to the Morfa Bach farm.
Some years later, when the fourth lime kiln footings were dug out, it
was anticipated that water could again be a nuisance, in view of past
experience and a knowledge of the approximate subterraneous course.
Consequently, the concrete was suspended in position on a tarpaulin, to act
as a 'skin', and lowered into the excavated earth. The following morning
the building foreman and his men, among them Herbert Preedy and Harold
Cox, discovered twenty eight tons of concrete actually floating on the water.
Preedy recalls that, by standing on it, it could be rocked to and fro at this
stage. Yet within twenty-four hours, the entire mass had settled to within
an inch and a half of the originally planned depth. Some estimating - and
some execution of the job !
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The C9 well is in the open air; access to the three subsidiary points
formed was maintained so that any one point could be used in an
emergency; but the need has never arisen.
It was realized all too plainly that all the water stemmed from one
source, as explained, so it seemed advisable to call in Messrs Legrand
Sutcliff to carry out test borings elsewhere on the site. Not a drop of water
was found as a result of these operations !
Towards the close of 1940, the company began to add to its own scanty
staff at Kenfig. Tom Felton had arrived in the previous June and Edward
Gough in early November; now more people were appointed to do various
jobs in makeshift shack-type buildings until permanent constructions were
completed. J. J. H. Hastings was the first Works' Manager, J. Fairgreaves
the Works' Accountant, W. T. Sheppard the Chief Draughtsman and Miss I.
Cox the local Purchasing Agent. R. D. Williams came in to prepare himself
for supervisory process work and B. Jones to keep the ledger work up to
scratch. Within the next few months, staff and hourly-paid personnel were
built up in number at a steady pace. As each unit of the factory neared
completion the men who would be responsible were given adequate time
to familiarise themselves with it and were instructed in the theory of the
whole carbide-making process. Work went on by day and night on the
construction of the plant.
Occasionally the labourers were interrupted by an air raid alarm; on two
occasions bombs were dropped near the factory, probably from an errant
bomber whose pilot was anxious to get home as quickly as possible. W. F.
Archibald relates the following in a letter to the writer:
'A German reconnaissance aircraft visited us on a regular basis during
the construction period of Kenfig. At the times of preparing our own
progress reports, we seriously considered negotiating through neutral
channels to have copies of the reconnaissance reports sent to us'.
The blackout precautions were carried out as carefully as possible from
the beginning, and the security responsibilities were entrusted at this stage
to one man alone named Hurley. He is said to have been almost military in
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his duty to discipline. The factory, when completed, would be subject, as a
Ministry undertaking, to the Official Secrets Act. Hurley could not await the
placing of the final girder to implement his own Secrets Act, in that he
subjected visitors to the severest screening. It is alleged that his forbidding
manner frightened off more potential employees than the greatest number
ever on the Kenfig payroll. To judge such a man's behaviour nowadays
would perhaps be unfair, set against the criteria of those early days of World
War II. Be that as it may, the name of Hurley is still recalled by some Kenfig
folk with amused awe.
The worst air-raids in Wales were experienced during the three nights'
blitz, February 19th – 21st 1941, on Swansea, rivalled in intensity only by
the raid on Coventry the previous November. Blast damage affected homes
in the Cornelly district, ten miles away.
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Chapter 2
1941
Anyone who looks at a map of the area will notice that, apart from a few
scattered farms and cottages, Kenfig Factory stands alone in the middle of
green fields, surveying the sand-dunes to the south and the mountains to
the north. The whole area is steeped in history.
In a field near Ty'n-y-Seler Farm at the entrance road to the site stands
a menhir which was placed there about 1500 B.C. The road that passes the
factory inlet is none other than the Via Julia Maritima, a military highway
that brought the Roman soldiers from Caerleon in Monmouthshire to Neath
and Carmarthen in the west. South of the factory stands the twin stumps
of masonry, the sole vestiges of the old Town centre of Kenfig that was
burned and rebuilt many times only to have its final death in the vast sand
incursions which took place in the 12th century. What factory would be
more romantically and historically placed than Kenfig surrounded by a
medieval castle, a Roman road and a prehistoric standing stone?
The fact is that as there is no township on the factory's doorstep, Kenfig
factory has always been a heterogeneous unit, drawing its workpeople from
the outlying towns of Kenfig Hill, Port Talbot, Porthcawl, Neath, Maesteg
and Bridgend. During the first years of its life, when labour was scarce, a
whole bus load of men came from the Swansea district alone, passing their
travelling time away in playing cards. E. T. Parker, in 1966 the sole survivor
at Kenfig of the original crew of 'Swansea Boys', recalls a time when gaming
on the bus was so intense that a man would often overrun his destination
in the hope of walking back a mile or two to his home to the jingle of extra
unexpected cash. People at Kenfig as elsewhere during the war, worked
hard and played hard - and who could blame them, when the tomorrow
was so uncertain ?
By the summer of 1941, things really began to move. Tythegston quarry
began to yield the first of its huge resources of limestone. July saw the
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completion of the laboratory and canteens. About the same time, all
essential plant in the drumshop was ready. Within a week, three presses
were in full swing. A number of female operatives underwent training in the
use of the machines consisting of shears, presses, scaling machines,
forming rolls and spot welders. Such was the speed with which these girls
acclimatized themselves to the work that before a month had expired,
production was slowed down, so as to put quality above quantity. With the
increase in scrap metal ends, the need to economize in the national interest
came into play, so that the management immediately ordered a scrap
baling press together with plant for painting and stencilling the drums
turned out.
While these girls were hard at it in the drumshop, the five young
assistants in the laboratory were familiarizing themselves with the
techniques of analysis of the raw materials, used in the making of carbide,
namely limestone, coke, anthracite, kiln coal and tar. Dr R. G. Davies, Edgar
Hooper and their young staff concentrated mainly on the numerous samples
of limestone taken from various parts of the quarry face at Tythegston.
Up at Tythegston quarry itself, it was full speed ahead, once the
necessary plant had been installed. W. Rook, H. Shirley and W. Tunningley
exhorted their men to work long hours in that splendid summer (for rainfall
is the biggest enemy of quarry operations). Every effort was made to get
the quarry face cut back to a clean, lofty upthrust. The crushing machines
were smashing down the blasted stone to the requisite dimensions, and a
small railway conveyed all waste materials to a refuse dump nearby. The
age of steam never entered the life of the quarry because, from the outset,
a small diesel locomotive was used for waste disposal. The Ministry of
Supply provided the lorries and it took the quarry stone hoppers only five
minutes to fill each lorry. Though quarrying was an old- established industry
in the area, many of the first workers at Tythegston were new to the work.
They were quick to cotton on to the requirements of their occupations,
however, and the stone tumbled out of the earth in increasing quantities.
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By the beginning of August 1941, the electrode paste plant was
completed. The calcining furnace was charged with anthracite and awaited
power to set things in motion there. The emergency diesel generating plant
was all ready too, and time was passed in testing these standby sources of
power. This was purely an exercise, because the main intake of power direct
from the national grid system was imminent.
Now it fell to the Canadians, who had spent some weeks studying the
layout of the plant to direct operations. The elder Renaud brother, Joseph
Emile, was given full responsibility for deploying work to his colleagues,
brother Albert Renaud, Lucien St Hilaire, Armand Vallee and George Varley
- work for which they were specially equipped by dint of their past
experience as supervisors at Shawinigan.
At the same time, a proper works' security force was formed with ex-
Metropolitan police officer W. E. Jones as its inspector and carried out varied
functions, including the wartime regulations governing blackout and
secrecy. For example, as the factory came within the scope of the Official
Secrets Act of 1911, it was a case of instant dismissal and possible court
proceedings against anyone found carrying a camera. This accounts to a
large extent for the almost complete absence of any group photographs of
early Kenfig workers. When the factory became freed from the Secrets Act,
if ever, is not known, since the warning sign still appeared at the entrance
gates in 1960 though the war had been over for more than fifteen years.
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General view of the factory
Labour was a thorny problem because of the acute manpower shortage.
The factory Management had to beg, borrow or steal, so to say, as many
men as the Ministry of Labour would allow - and there was never enough.
At times the quarry was hard hit because men who wanted to work there
were refused permission and were drafted into the collieries. If it rained,
no work was possible at the quarry anyway and there was one occasion
during this period when the whole of Tythegston quarry had an enforced
holiday; a barrage balloon, which had escaped its moorings at Port Talbot,
floated over the factory towards the quarry where it fouled up the overhead
power cables so that the supply was necessarily discontinued.
At Kenfig, the management busied themselves with many problems.
They embarked on the selection of the men who would produce the main
product, calcium carbide. Because carbide making is a continuous process
provisional shift systems and the necessary remunerations were worked
out and submitted to the unions for endorsement. Arrangements were
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made, too, for the issue to every employee of a pass-card-cum-identity
card with photograph. A number of old employees still retain these passes,
valuing them as a wartime souvenir rather than a link with Kenfig.
Thursday September 18th 1941, saw the first (No 1) Lime Kiln ready to
produce, and it was planned to connect the electricity supply to the furnace
house on the following day. With luck, the first-ever Kenfig carbide would
be tapped within a week.
Everyone was working at a tremendous pace in an effort to get carbide
production under way. It was nothing unusual for people like Edward (Ted)
Gough to be in the factory for three whole days at a stretch, because
manpower was below strength.
Glyn Wellington switched on the first lime kiln, supervised by the two
Canadians, Varley and Vallee in alternate twelve-hour shifts, and it turned
out the required quantities of lime. But as the first furnace had still not
operated, output on the lime kiln was deliberately checked much to the
annoyance of the personnel of that unit. With frequent teething troubles
here and there in the plant, irritability among the men generally increased.
At this stage, officers of the Amalgamated Engineering, and Electrical
Trades Unions paid their first official visit to Kenfig in order to discuss the
pay and working conditions of their members. Remarkably in the circumstances,
the meetings had an unclouded atmosphere and concluded with
full agreement between the two sides.
Early in October 1941 the first carbide, all forty three tons of it, was run
out of the furnace. The quality was so inferior that it was set aside and was
excluded from any factory production record. The main difficulty seemed to
lie in the proportion of lime and coke used. Eric Stein and Graham Hayman
looked in on a one-day visit to keep themselves abreast of developments
and, although the initial, much awaited carbide output had been abortive,
they returned to London well satisfied with the way things were going.
The labour position was still fluid : Ministry of Labour inspectors were
for ever on the door asking for the transfer of skilled men to other factories,
east and west of Kenfig. Where such transfers, could be reasonably
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effected, this was done, even to the accompaniment of hard and bitter
words from both sides. It developed into a labour tug-of-war, in which men
were shunted here, there and everywhere. Yet, as it was wartime,
everything went. Many personal freedoms had to be sacrificed in the
struggle to preserve national freedom.
Soon, carbide of the right quality and standard was issuing through the
Kenfig furnace. The furnacemen were given an encouraging fillip in the form
of a basic hourly increase of 4d, bringing their rate up to 2s per hour. This
was much nearer the 2s 6d a steel furnaceman could earn for an hour's
work, so there was general satisfaction among the men of Kenfig, who
worked with a will, in spite of all the teething troubles. Not a day passed
without some piece of machinery breaking down. G. G. T. Poole, the
company's process superintendent, appointed in February 1941, had his
hands full with numerous problems that cropped up. Much of his time was
spent in getting in touch with the plant suppliers. His exasperation reached
breaking point when, at the end of October, the entire limestone feeding
system broke down. The diverse woes, large and small were systematically
overcome and as Autumn came to an end, there was a much improved
situation all round.
No better stimulus exists than success. As the problems involved in the
technique of carbide-making were surmounted, the feeling of really getting
down to the job at last swept through the plant like a tidal wave. The factory
was well and truly launched and, to mark the occasion, an official visit to
the site was made on Friday November 25th, by Eric Stein, Graham
Hayman and T. H. Board of the Company directorate and higher Distillers
management, as well as local and neighbouring parliamentary members,
the Mayor and Town Clerk of Port Talbot and the Clerk of Porthcawl U.D.C.
A lunch followed at the Old Town Hall, Kenfig. The location was appropriate
in view of the centuries of history that this long barn-like room has locked
within its walls since those pristine days when the major part of the town
of Kenfig, huddling up to its castle, was surrendered to the sand invasion.
It was appropriate, too, because the Old Town Hall happens to be the upper
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room of a public house, the Prince of Wales, which had provided
accommodation for many of the early pioneers of the factory.
A more exciting visit to Kenfig was made a fortnight before Christmas;
more exciting since all employees were able to partake in the welcoming of
their King and Queen. This was a gala day, unsurpassed, it is said, by any
other before or since. The Royal visitors were received by Thomas Board,
Eric Stein and John Hastings and were shown around the various
installations of plant and buildings by supervisory staff. Edward Gough and
Tom Felton were selected to show the Royal Party through the Fitting Shop.
The banquet, for it was nothing less, was laid out in the present Drawing
Office, whose windows afforded a splendid view of the undulating sanddunes
and the tiny village of Maudlam, with its church and inn, against the
skyline. The food was imported from a large catering firm, but several of
the Kenfig canteen ladies were given the honour of waiting on the tables.
Mrs Vera Pugh and Mrs Richards remember the day as vividly as if it were
yesterday.
Thus the year 1941 came to an end on an unforgettable Royal note, with
a happy recollection of achievement in the face of many vicissitudes.
Perhaps it had been the most difficult part of the formative period with its
nerve-racking false starts, but the New Year was viewed with greater
optimism and a fuller resolve to boost Kenfig's contribution to the war
effort.
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Chapter3
Getting on with the job
In January of 1942, the second furnace was well under construction. The
Company and the Ministry of Supply were pushing for all they were worth
to get more carbide much faster from Kenfig. They knew they would have
to contend with certain curtailments of raw materials at times and they
were preparing to meet this contingency when it arose. They also realized
that the most crucial impediment to any large scale production could be
labour problems which could arise almost without warning. With this in
mind, the appointment of Ernest Turner as Labour Manager was
announced. He had had a good deal of experience in his capacity as Clerk
of Works with the Ministry of Supply but was now called upon to serve in a
larger capacity in organizing the labour of an entire plant. He was to carry
out his duties with ruthless efficiency and make his mark as a shrewd
negotiator for some two decades in the company's service. He preferred
the spoken word to the written word, with the result that many of the
agreements he was to make with the men were purely verbal and thus a
matter of honour between two parties. This may seem, and probably is,
outmoded by modern standards, but in the case of Ernest Turner, he was
outstanding in that he never did any sitting on the fence. He combined a
toughness, stubbornness and singleness of purpose with a rare streak of
compassion. No-one was in the dark concerning his decisions. This meant
that people either adored him or detested him - and there were plenty in
both categories.
In May of 1942, the second furnace was started up. Extra men were
engaged and houses were taken en bloc at Cefn Ffynnon and Heol-y-
Gwrgan, Margam to provide homes. These two streets were subsequently
to earn the nickname 'Carbide Alley'. No sooner was the second furnace
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yielding carbide than a Ministry of Supply agent Dr Shatwell, was at Kenfig
to discuss the proposed construction of a third furnace.
The factory suddenly went all democratic, when it was announced that
a Works' Council would be formed. Elections were held to choose twelve
good men and true, representing all parts of the site, in readiness for the
Council's first meeting to be held in July. This took place on July 29th 1942,
and the meeting was taken up chiefly with ratifying the constitution and
with the formation of three sub-committees to deal with co-operation,
safety and welfare.
At the second assembly of the Works Council, the delegates strayed from
the aims to which the committee had been set up by touching on the thorny
topic of labour relations. They ran into serious trouble and the Council was
condemned to a premature death. There was no reprieve and it was nearly
twenty years before a similar venture, under a different administration, was
undertaken.
Trouble at Tythegston and again the valuable services of Professor T. N.
George were summoned. He examined the quarry face and found faults
comparable with those encountered at the earlier discarded quarry at Heoly-
Splott. He reported that he was convinced that once the offending rock
was removed, there lay in this spot unlimited supplies of the right
limestone. His opinion was again found to have substance, and the quarry
has never known another such bad spell in its working life.
Although the war had been going on for nearly three years, the
Camouflage Officer of the Ministry of Home Security was dissatisfied with
the overall appearance of the plant from the air. The furnace house (C2)
had originally been screened by an ingenious canopy of asbestos sheeting.
The Officer felt that the two cooling ponds were an absolute giveaway to
any hostile pilot flying overhead. They were thus both covered over with a
screen of feathered steel netting. One night in July, bombs fell in the
neighbourhood of the factory causing no damage to the plant. It was feared
that the air raid took place because of a fleeting emission of light from the
furnace house. Anyway, the day after, Inspector Folland of the Glamorgan
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Constabulary was on the site, insisting on a stringent adherence to blackout
regulations and the implementation of fire- watching duties. F0r the next few
nights carbide production was suspended - and there were no further airraids.
Visits from the governmental and ministerial officials were commonplace
at the time. Eric Stein, whose interest in the plant was patriarchal, was
never absent for long - he seemed always to be at Kenfig, smoothing out
the difficult patches. There was one occasion when Stein had to placate
representatives of the British Oxygen Company, who had come to Kenfig
to complain that a consignment reached its destination in a very
unsatisfactory state. Some of the drums had actually lost their lids. Stein
promised to remedy the trouble, the representatives left Kenfig satisfied
that something would indeed be done. The outcome was an improved drum
lid, designed by Rhys H0well, a newly recruited engineer. The products of
Howell's fertile brain will be dealt with in a later chapter.
The total fleet of fourteen lorries carried on with the job of supplying the
lime plant from various quarries and the resumed operations of the
Tythegston quarry. In an effort to get to the plant faster, a plan was devised
to set up an aerial ropeway from Tythegston to Kenfig, but was later
scrapped.
The plant personnel grew tired of wrangling. What with the long hours
in pursuit 0f their jobs and the additional hours spent in fire- watching or
taking part in the Home Guard duties, they were only too glad to reach their
homes eventually to rest.
Two incidents relating to the Kenfig Home Guard merit recollection. One
day, the British Industrial Solvents unit (part of the 20th Glamorgan
Battalion) were taking part in a mock military exercise in defence of Port
Talbot. The unit, posted at the Blacksmith's shop (Cwrt-y-Defaid) at the
junction of the A48 and Water Street, were equipped with Machine guns to
stop the 'enemy', who were attack-ing from the direction of Pyle. The four
Kenfig sergeants, T. A. Felton, Stacey, Jones and Tom Rees, were taking
part in the exercise. Sgt. Felton was lying in ambush alongside a stone wall
- 27 -
when a 'hostile' aircraft, a Fairey Battle, on loan from Stormy Aerodrome,
flew in very low, dropping books for bombs. On a second fly-in one of the
wing tips caught a tree, and the plane broke up, crash landing in a field
south of the A48 road. Sgt. Felton raced to the scene to find the wreckage
in flames. Despite the intense heat from the upturned plane, Sgt. Felton
risked his own life in an effort to save that of the rear-gunner, who was
hanging from the bomb rack. It was impossible to reach the pilot, who was
trapped in the blazing cockpit. The rear-gunner was rushed to hospital but
was dead on arrival. In recognition of his action, Sgt. Felton was awarded
a Certificate of Good Service issued by the Chief of the General Staff,
General Headquarters, Home Forces, Home Guard.
On another occasion, the factory party were out on the sand-dunes at
night carrying out their patrol. The nocturnal silence was shattered when
one of them shouted out that he could spot enemy invaders crawling nearer
over the sands. So sure was he that he fired a shot from his rifle into the
darkness. This brought a host of British soldiers, who, unknown to the
Kenfig group were camping in a nearby wood, to the scene. For a time,
there was pandemonium on the dunes, but panic soon gave way to mirth,
for everyone burst out into laughter. Happily the darkness concealed the
blushes of the Kenfig gunman and it is not the intention here to reveal his
name. It was all part of getting on with the job.
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Chapter 4
An explosion
By the middle of September 1942, work was proceeding happily and
satisfactorily throughout the Kenfig plant. A good deal of excitement existed
among its workpeople, from manager to tea-boy, over the proposed official
visit of company and political dignitaries. Whereas the royal visit of the
previous year had been a closely-guarded secret until almost the last
minute, this Autumn visit of 'big-wigs' was common knowledge weeks in
advance. The factory buildings and their environs, as yet only slightly
ravaged by the disfigurement of carbide dust, were spruced up as best as
possible.
The actual day chosen was Friday September 25th. At ten o'clock in
the morning, the visitors started to arrive, headed by Lord Forteviot,
Graham Hayman and the ubiquitous Eric Stein. The other principal guests
were Sir Robert Webber, Sir Charles Hambro, six parliamentary members,
civic officials of Port Talbot Council and Superintendent Doolan of the
Glamorgan County Constabulary.
The early part of the day was passed in showing the visitors around
the plant, with the main interest, naturally enough, centred on the thrilling
and awesome spectacle of the furnace tapping operation. The sightseeing
over, the party moved on to the Old Town Hall, Kenfig, where they sat down
to luncheon.
Back at the factory, Ronald Harris and his afternoon shift came in at
2 o'clock and carried out their work without the distinguished surveillance
that had been the lot of the previous shift. By late afternoon, however,
Stein, Hayman, Everett and Randall broke away from the gathering in the
Prince of Wales to look again at the factory. Perhaps they wanted to gauge
how well the visit had been received by the local management. At all
events, they were to remain on the site for many hours to come, on a night
they were never likely to forget.
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Arthur Saunders, a security officer, was patrolling the plant and at
exactly ten minutes to nine, was passing the Packing and Screening
building (C24) when a terrible explosion occurred. It was as if all hell was
let loose, as the blast tore through six floors of the building. Poor Arthur
Saunders was knocked unconscious, and died in hospital three days later.
Another employee Alban Havard, a plant operator was so severely injured
that his arm was amputated as a consequence. There was a rush of other
workmen to the confused scene of the explosion which developed into a
melee in the pitch darkness.
In the investigation that followed the tragic occurrence in C24, no
conclusive reason was determined. One suggestion was that a water pipe
passing through the Screening Plant to feed the drum- making machinery
was fractured when a balance weight of the overhead Carbide Hoist fell on
it. The whole of the Packing and Screening building became flooded with
water. An electric generator in the same building possibly emitted a spark
which ignited the acetylene given off by the wet carbide.
The work of repairing the damaged building was put in hand almost
immediately. With time and production at a premium, it was essential to
create temporary packing premises. Despite all endeavour, no more carbide
was produced until well into October, when George Macdonald and Tom
Storey were transferred from Dagenham to supervise the temporary
Packing Plant. On Tuesday October 27th, 1942, the inquest was held at Port
Talbot into the death of Patrolman Saunders. Here again, no conclusive
cause of the explosion was given, and probably never will be.
For some time past, the four shift superintendents, Vernon Upton,
Ronald Harris, Richie Williams and Eric Kelley held the view that they were
ready to take control of the work and that they had no longer any real need
for the presence of the Canadians. Varley had left first by air, followed by
the Renaud brothers; two of the other Canadians, St Hilaire and Vallee did
not like the idea of making a flight back home, preferring to await a suitable
boat. When they finally left, the boat, the 'F. S. Vibrant', was torpedoed by
an enemy submarine and both men were drowned.
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With such sad incidents in mind, a fatal accident occurred at North
Cornelly on November 4th, when one of the factory's limestone lorries ran
over and killed a four-year-old child. And as if this were not enough, tragedy
struck again when, late in December, an employee of Messrs F. W.
Chandler, engaged in the final stages of reconstructing the damaged
Screening and Packing plant, fell from scaffolding and died later in hospital.
These events, sadly upsetting as they were, had to be submerged in the
face of the constant threat of enemy air attack and possible large-scale
death. So the year 1942 drew to a somewhat miserable end with home
aircraft flying over the factory site to examine the camouflage
arrangements once again. This flight was a reminder to Kenfig work people,
if they needed one, that the war was still very much on.
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Chapter 5
Under new management
Following the tragic ending to 1942, the year 1943 opened rather
gloomily at the factory. Among the men, there was a general under-current
of dissatisfaction and unrest.
The management were plagued with complaints especially ovei the
question of production bonuses. A firm of industrial consultants was called
in to rationalise the position and to submit fresh pro-posals on an
independent basis. Before these proposals had time to materialise, the men
had raised another bone of contention: they were unhappy about the
company's alternative arrangements where their own jobs were at a
standstill, as for example, when necessary repairs or maintenance work
was carried out in any particular unit An industrial dispute was brewing,
and, when a strike seemed im-minent, the National Service Officer warned
the workers that any stoppage of work would be against the national
interest; further-more, legal proceedings would be taken against offenders
in this respect.
There was peace for a short time, during which the management turned
their attention to the chronic shortage of raw materials especially coal and
anthracite. An impassioned plea was made to the Fuel Supplies Officer of
the Ministry of Fuel at Cardiff with the favourable release of greater supplies
of the wherewithal to manu-facture essential electrode paste.
On February 10th the men walked off the site over the recurring
question of alternative work despite the warnings previously given. This
time the Conciliation Officer of the Ministry of Labour was brought to the
site, and, following brief discussions, the strike was over.
Against this background of industrial strife, Frank Newport was
appointed Works' Manager in succession to John Hastings, who took up a
new position at the penicillin factory at Speke.
Newport had begun his career with The Distillers Company almost a
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lifetime before, in 1911, as a laboratory assistant at the Vauxhall Works,
Liverpool. He became Works' Manager at Dagenham in 1935. He had been
at Kenfig since 1942 as Assistant Works' Manager, so that when his
appointment as Works' Manager was announced, he already possessed a
detailed knowledge of the ramifications of the carbide plant. Besides, he
was a man with his own dynamic ideas. His aim was to boost production,
and from the beginning of his period as manager, he was one hundred per
cent production-minded. He spoke, wrote and thought carbide.
His team of senior staff was a formidable one. Ernest Turner was
created Deputy Works' Manager in addition to his duties as Labour
Manager. The relationship between Newport and Turner was a happy,
friendly and successful one right from the start to such an extent that the
two names are inextricably linked for many years of the factory's life. For
his assistant, Newport chose Jack Mansel, who spent a lamentably short
time in the post, for he was unfor-tunately killed in a motor-cycle accident
in June of 1944. Basil Williams was the Works' Accountant, having replaced
Fairgreaves the previous year. Mr Poole continued as Process
Superintendent and Dr Davies as Chief Chemist.
In his first months in control of the factory, Mr Newport had the pleasure
of seeing the repairs to the C24 packing and screening plant finally
completed and the commencement of operations of No 3 furnace by
November, 1943. In the interim period Kenfig was graced with a visit, on
Sunday 3rd June 1943, from H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester, who showed
keen interest in the factory's workings. He was escorted around the site by
Lord Forteviot, J. Everett and Eric Stein.
A new recruit at the factory was Denzil James, a Time and Motion Study
expert. His main attention was directed to the quarry where he carried out
considerable research. A long-term programme for the quarry which had
been in the offing for some time came to fruition late in 1943, when largescale
mechanical handling reduced labour force by seventy-two hands.
Work study was to play an ever-increasing part at Kenfig.
- 33 -
Frank Newport had to learn to live with the atmosphere for a long time,
and there were many trying moments for him. Wherever possible, he
combined toughness with tact, although he was not above using a few
choice expletives when things looked desperate.
The incentive Bonus Scheme, which was finally prepared by Associated
Industrial Consultants, was introduced early in 1944. But it was only
partially applied to begin with, as the employees of the larger sections
refused to accept it. Absenteeism on the grand scale was prevalent and on
one occasion during the Summer, there were insufficient men to man the
furnaces. This was a bad state of affairs, because, even though three
furnaces were operable, only two-furnace production was ever carried out
right up until the September of 1946. The exasperation of 1944 carried
over to the following year. The winter was so severe that it interfered with
output. No electricity, no carbide ! When the weather moderated and
supplies of electricity were resumed, the men again became involved in a
dispute. This time, the management played no part, for it was an interunion
struggle concerning the question of whether a man should be a
member of this union or that one. This strike lingered on for a period of
seven weeks before a settlement was reached. All this was rich but costly
experience for Frank Newport, for he had never witnessed the like of this
before. This was something quite new and startling, that workpeople should
be at variance among themselves to such an extent that they would leave
their jobs on account of it. Something was required to break the mood that
was prevalent. In fact it came appropriately at a time traditionally
associated with the solidarity of labour - the beginning of May -and also
coincided with the cessation of hostilities in Europe.
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Production Supervisors: left to right Gwyn Wellington, Alf Worlock, Haydn Thomas,
Cliff Dethloff, Gwyn Jones, Maxie Mathews Maintenance Staff: left to right Norman
Slater, Gwyn Chambers, Rhys Howell, Alan John, Evan Rees, Bert Preedy, Len
Taylor
- 35 -
After a short holiday to celebrate Britain's victory, work was approached
with a new zest. As the blackout regulations were re-laxed, there was much
needed ventilation in the furnace house, and indeed, in all other units.
Further celebrations were held in the August of 1945 to mark the ending
of the war in Japan. Frank Newport, whose efforts were recognised by the
award of the M.B.E. is recorded as saying Thank God, it's all over'. These
were apt words which could have applied also to the subject of labour
trouble, for Kenfig was to enjoy in-dustrial peace for many years to come.
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Chapter 6
The post war effort
In the immediate post-war years, there was no recession in the demand for
carbide; it was actually increasing steadily. The labour force was gradually
built-up with employees who were re-instated on release from the forces.
In the three years 1946-49, more than a hundred men were absorbed into
the Kenfig payroll bringing the
number in excess of 700.
There was plenty of work for these men to do. The factory got down to
the basic aims of stepping up production, and labour troubles were a
forgotten tribulation. Perhaps the atmosphere felt by the advent of the exservicemen
had something to do with this, since many of them were weary
with war and its attendant regimen-tation. Now they just wanted to settle
down to rehabilitate them-selves in civilian life, avoiding any form of strife
which might inter-fere with their livelihood.
Other problems arose, which were often beyond human agency. In the
Autumn of 1946, the three furnaces were running at top production, when
suddenly, there was, as elsewhere, a spate of electric power cuts. This was
a bugbear, inasmuch as there was often little notice served on the factory
site that such cuts would take place. Besides, there was a genuine desire
on the part of the management to ascertain just what the three furnaces
would make in a protracted period, with optimum conditions.
The first months of 1947 saw Kenfig, as indeed most of the country,
plunged in the grip of one of the worst winters ever known. There were
heavy snowfalls and thick ice to contend with. One night the workpeople
were unable to reach their homes and were compelled to sleep en masse
in the present canteen block. The harsh weather must have reminded W.
F. Archibald of his native Canada, since this was the time he chose to return
home. To fill the post of Chief Engineer, Frank Newport engaged C. J.
Beavis, who must have wondered if he had joined an arctic group. The
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climatic conditions had broader effects, for there was a fuel shortage on a
national scale, putting the factory's supply of coke and anthracite in
jeopardy. Power failures became commonplace, so that produc-tion of
carbide was necessarily spasmodic. The last kick of this cruel winter was a
fierce gale on the night of April 23rd 1947, which sent the S.S. 'Santampa'
to her doom, with the loss of all thirty-nine crew, on the dangerous Sker
rocks, some two miles south of the factory. The Mumbles lifeboat, in a
gallant effort to rescue the men from the stricken boat, was itself
overturned in the storm and not one hand survived. The police inspector at
Porthcawl, handling the nasty end of this tragic affair was J. William Jones,
who nine years later joined the Kenfig staff in charge of the security force.
As if to compensate for its outrage, the weather did a complete
turnabout, and there followed a scorching summer. What with prolonged
sunshine and a reduced working week from forty-eight to forty-four hours,
the men of Kenfig were gleeful.
The following year was unshackled by outside influences. Pro-duction
was kept on a two-furnace basis for about four months, then switched to a
three-furnace operation. The men were young and strong with an average
age of thirty-seven years. They were exhorted to do their very best, and
with a trained labour force, the management made determined efforts to
establish carbide manu-facture in the United Kingdom as a truly economic
peace time proposition.
This turned out to be an experimental year. Gas coke was tried instead
of metallurgical or hard coke; this was an expensive item on account of the
freight charges incurred in transporting it from the Midlands. But there
would be greater benefits in the form of lower ash content and less ferrosilicon,
the bane of carbide mak-ing. In addition Duff coal was tried with
satisfactory results in the lime kilns and coke fires in the Paste Plant for the
first time. This meant a considerable saving when compared with the
formerly used Kiln coal and anthracite. Moreover, the range of packing was
extended from the previous grading of 1 to 80 millimetres by the
introduction of a grade known as 14 ND. This obviated the import of this
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particular size from the United States, thereby saving precious dollars.
Last but not least in the drive for greater economy and efficiency,
empty drums were returned to the factory so that they could be re-shaped
and re-used for further dispatches. In this undertaking, Rhys Howell
invented the drum fettling machine, which was later patented. This
procedure had the effect of easing the shortage of steel, which had made
itself felt more acutely as the carbide output began to soar.
Some new faces were seen at Kenfig during the year; T. Ivor John was
recruited as a Technical Assistant, Ralph Patterson as the factory's Safety
Officer and Geoffrey Willsdon as Welfare Officer. Geoff Willsdon was
brought in to assist with the implementation of the National Insurance Act
of 1946, taking effect in July 1948.
In spite of a record tonnage of over ninety-three thousand tons, there
was still not enough carbide to satisfy the home demands. For the first time
since pre-war days, it became necessary to import from abroad, only this
time as a purely supplementary measure.
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Chapter 7
The new projects
No factory can remain stagnant; it must either expand or decline. If there
is to be expansion, this creates a spontaneous impetus and surge of
enthusiastic activity. The year 1949 was a milestone in the life of Kenfig,
for at no other time did the enterprise have greater promise 0f things to
come.
This was by dint of three major schemes. The first of those was the
conception of a fourth furnace. When the factory was planned, only three
furnaces were envisaged, but with mounting demand for carbide it had
been Frank Newport's dream since 1947 to make the fourth furnace an
accomplished fact. The initial scheme was ready for submission at the end
of 1949, to the higher Distillers manage-ment and the Ministry of Supply.
It was held back for the time however, because home demand had shown
a slight temporary abatement. Wait for the demand figures to rise again, it
was reasoned, and then would be the time to push in the submission of the
plan.
The Second scheme was one to cope with handling and packing
carbide in bulk. Steel shortage was still an intermittent nuisance, and even
the use of second-hand drums could not fully solve the problem, of packing
all the carbide made. Thus it was planned to bulk pack into five-ton
containers, for daily dispatch to Kenfig's largest customer, the British Geon
factory at Barry, within easy reach by road. This became the method used
for supplying British Geon from 1950, which was a measure of its success.
The third scheme came from the Ministry of Supply in the form of
proposals to manufacture at Kenfig a new product with the tongue-twisting
name Dicyandiamide. This was to be used at Ministry Ordnance factories in
the manufacture of a smokeless explosive for the navy. It was a second
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stage product of calcium cyanamide, which itself used carbide as a principal
raw material. These proposals were eagerly snapped up by the local
management, who set about without delay collecting information on the
subject.
A small pilot plant was set up on the Kenfig site, which proved
invaluable in gauging the various units that would be required by the
Ministry. So rapid and satisfactory was the progress made in this direction
that early in 1950, the Ministry of Supply were notified that all was ready
for the new dicyandiamide plant.
The new project was endorsed by the Ministry and work was started
on the building of the new plant with the assistance and co-operation of the
Central Engineering Department, under the direction of Sydney Shingler.
The whole undertaking was shrouded in mystery and it came under the
strictest security measures.
A world shortage of carbide, coupled with the fact that the new plant
would require a substantial amount of carbide, made the idea of a fourth
Kenfig furnace more tangible, if the largest customers were to be satisfied.
As it was, these customers were compelled to apply to the Board of Trade
for special import licences before they were allowed to order auxiliary
supplies from overseas. Frank Newport was most interested in world
movement of carbide. He therefore obtained a copy of the annual report of
world carbide statistics, by Dr Arnold Lang of Geneva. Newport's attention
was directed to the idea of a 'closed-type' furnace which was a departure
from the old-fashioned open-fronted furnace in use at Kenfig. This new
furnace feature might even mean the absence of a tapper.
In an endeavour to build up the Technical Department, which was enjoying
its hey-day of interesting and varied work, three new recruits named
Palmer. Whittam and Corbet were engaged. Jack Sloper was taken from
the laboratory to understudy the Shift Superintendent's job, so that Eric
Kelly would be switched to technical work. The extra staff proved a great
boon to Idris George, the Technical Manager. Now that he was freed from
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a lot of routine work he was able to concentrate on a study of almost every
technical aspect of the plant. He became the most prolific report-writer
Kenfig had known, setting down the results of his investigations as soon as
they were completed. This delighted Frank Newport, who felt the boys were
always coming up with something fresh.
In 1951, the number of personnel came up to almost 750. Extra staff
appointments were made to take care of the additional work involved.
Geoffrey Willsdon became Labour Officer to ease the increasing burdens
taken on by Ernest Turner, when Frank Newport was so often away from
the site on business. Willsdon welcomed the appointment of Jack Whitaker
as Welfare Officer, for these two had shared the same Prisoner of War Camp
in the Far East during the war. R. M. Howe was made Purchasing Officer.
William Rees created assistant to Denzil James handling time study and
bonus investigation, and Russell Hodson a section engineer. There was one
noteworthy departure, when Arthur Davies. who had proved such a popular
drumshop superintendent, took himself off to Australia as ono of the first
post-war emigrants of the factory. His position was filled by J. Evans.
There was anxiety at times when raw materials stocks reached a
dangerously low level, for they were still subject to strict Government
quota. To make matters worse a strike occurred in the steel industry
making it necessary for Kenfig to buy foreign steel. These factors did not
prevent the outstanding production of well over one hundred thousand tons
of carbide in the year up to March 1952. The whole lot was sold on the
home market. Even this vast quantity was apparently insufficient, as
Kenfig's British customers found it necessary to import some twentythousand
tons from overseas.
This intake of carbide from abroad would make a lucrative addition to the
home market, if only Kenfig could supply the extra tonnage. Early in 1952.
there were good grounds for believing this might soon be the case, when
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approval for the setting-up of a fourth furnace was received from the
Ministry of Supply. The latest furnace would indeed be of the 'closed-type'
hearth, as this was believed to obviate to a large extent atmospheric
pollution by dust.
In fact the fumes given off during the furnace operation would be used as
a fuel in an extra lime kiln to be built shortly. This sanction brought
jubilation to Kenfig, in particular the Technical Group, who absorbedly
undertook the preparatory work. Ultimately, the tender was put out to the
Knapsack-Gresheim Company of Germany, who agreed to give Kenfig the
assistance of some German engineers in the initial stages of operation.
To some, it seemed ironical that it was only five years since the end of
World War II and to note that only ten years earlier, the Canadians had
come to give the benefit of their 'know-how'. Still, times change and people
are changed by them.
- 43 -
- 44 -
Chapter 8
A DISAPPOINTMENT AND A TAKE-OVER
The story of any industry is one of rise and fall in its fortunes. Kenfig Factory
had been favoured with fortune's smile from the beginning, and 1952 was
a year which promised even greater things to come.
Albeit that the three furnaces did not all operate simultaneously
because, in its fickleness, the national demand for the product suddenly
dropped, there were no grounds for pessimism. The train of thought ran
something like this; that the present shift in the position was purely
temporary and would soon correct itself. Once the pendulum of requirement
swung the other way, Kenfig would be ready to step up the output again,
It was a known factor that Kenfig's customers were making do with the
stocks they had built up. As soon as these customers ran low, they would
be back for more, it was reasoned.
By November of 1952 the Dicyandiamide (DCD for short) plant was set
for production. With a scheduled target of some fifty tons a week the new
venture was able to make roughly half this amount in the first instance.
This was not the cause of much concern, as the Royal Ordnance Factories
in which it was intended to use the product, were still under construction.
Meanwhile, all the Ministry of Supply could do was to store the new powder.
Early in 1953 came a bombshell. After all the exploratory work that had
gone into the preparation for the fourth furnace, and despite the approval
previously granted, the Ministry of Supply now an-nounced that they had
decided to shelve the entire project. This was a bitter blow to Kenfig and a
crushing disappointment to Frank Newport in particular. The annual male
staff dinner, which was held every year at the Esplanade Hotel, Porthcawl,
as near as makes no difference to St David's Day, was in 1953 not its usual
mirthful and carefree gathering.
The mood of disappointment lingered a long time. Early in the
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summer, the demand for carbide swiftly climbed again, as was predicted,
and with chock-full order books, there was furious activity in the furnace
house to produce every ton possible. In post-war years due to the vast
strides in the development of mass-killing nuclear weapons, The Distillers
Company, in co-operation with an overall government plan, implemented
in all its undertakings a general policy of establishing a Civil Defence Unit,
based purely on voluntary membership.
Kenfig, in common with other factories, established its own industrial
Civil Defence group, comprising the four main sections, Rescue, First Aid,
Wardens and Fire Fighting. Eighty-seven recruits were registered on the
Civil Defence Roll, with good prospects of augmentation as time went on.
G. G. T. Poole formed the unit but when he left J. E. Whitaker was asked to
take on the responsibilities of Civil Defence Officer. He, in common with
others who were to have supervisory functions in the corps, left for training
courses at Home Office schools. T. Felton and R. D. Williams proved themselves
able and active teachers of the rescue section. The small warden
group came under Inspector J. W. Jones. R. D. Thomas, Safety Officer, took
control of fire fighting. The first-aid team was tutored by ambulance-man
Dan Suter.
Kenfig's Headquarters was set up in the basement of the General Office
block. Whatever the attitude of the reader to Civil Defence in general
concerning its utility or futility, there is no doubt that the execution of
training sessions proved an interesting pastime for those Kenfig employees
who took part in them.
On the first day of October 1953, the factory was taken over by The
Distillers Company Limited as one of the company's own units, having
secured a lease on the land from the Ministry of Supply. At long last, the
plant came well and truly into the DCL fold. It was an excellent feature than
an undertaking, whose genesis stemmed from a purely wartime
requirement, should now foresee continuity as a commercial enterprise in
peacetime.
From the Ministry itself came a request that the Kenfig manage-ment
- 46 -
should carry on the agency of the DCD Plant. This request was gladly
granted.
*-
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Chapter 9
Sports activities at Kenfig
Anyone who imagines it was all work and no play at Kenfig would be in
grave error. At no period was the participation in various sports by factory
personnel more active than during the nineteen-fifties.
Let us begin by dealing with the cricket club. This was formed in 1948
by some employees who had been at Kenfig for several years, among them
Evan Rees, Harry Williams, Tom Felton, William Rees and Geoffrey
Willsdon. It was all very well to set up such a club, provided a suitable
ground could be found on which to entertain visiting teams. No club could
get away with a fixture-list permanently composed of away venues; this
would soon have drained its meagre financial resources, if only on the count
of transport costs. The idea of having a pitch within the confines of the
Kenfig site was intensely disliked. With a predominantly south-westerly
wind blowing, bringing its showers of carbide dust, a cricketer's 'whites'
would soon be grey. No visiting team would come a second time, that was
sure. The factory was on good terms with Arthur Guildford at Morfa Bach
Farm. An approach was made to rent a field alongside the railway line and
adjoining the farmhouse. From the cabbage-patch soon emanated a
cricket-pitch. The hard preparatory work was well worth the effort, giving
a lot of fun and exercise to the workpeople who popped along to Morfa Bach
during their lunchtimes. G. Willsdon was particularly conspicuous with the
mower and roller. The club made itself financially self-supporting by a
weekly sweep which proved so popular that people who never saw a single
game knew well the existence of the cricket club at Kenfig.
In 1957 the Steel Company of Wales built extensive railway sidings on
the sand-dunes and fields south of the factory. The Guilfords lost their
arable land and were compelled to leave Morfa Bach Farm for one in
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Peterston-Super-Ely, near Cardiff. The other victim of this transformation
was the Kenfig Cricket Club, whose leased field was lost to them for ever,
when the course of the River Kenfig was artificially diverted, through the
square. The club, finding itself without a ground, lost both heart and
support, and was eventually disbanded in 1961.
The tennis club was not quite such a corporate body as the cricket club.
Its mainstays were the Works' Manager's secretary, Jean Jolliffe, and Olwen
Harris, who ran it successfully for a number of years. Its only base on the
Kenfig site was a captive practice ball adjacent to the General Office block,
where the players, principally composed from the lady members of the
staff, could indulge their energies during lunch breaks. For matches with
local clubs tennis courts were hired at the Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl, or at
the Pyle Welfare Hall. In common with the cricket club, the tennis players
were good at making money (how the non-sportsmen must have groaned
every week!) through the usual fund-raising activities of sweeps, raffles
and dances.
Most ephemeral of the factory's sports organizations was the Kenfig
factory Rugby XV which began in 1949 and ended in 1953. This is what one
would not have expected in South Wales, a region where rugby football has
something of a religious fervour attached to it. Perhaps its over-enthusiasm
caused its death, as there were too many applications for time-off in which
to practise or play. Without a club-house, ground or adequate financial support,
it was confined to a few annual local fixtures.
The game of the season from the standpoint of interest, was the
match with neighbours, Kenfig Hill XV, producing some rumbustious play
and a gigantic tussle. No-one can inform the writer just how successful the
factory team was in its short lifetime, since no record survives.
The most enduring sport enjoyed by the staff, seems to be golf. In the
early years, Newport and Turner, both lovers of the game, joined the Pyle
and Kenfig Golf Club and spent nearly all their free time there. Many Kenfig
players including J. Bowcott, C. Dethloff and E. Morgan gave good account
of themselves in games organized by the DCL Western Golfing Society.
- 49 -
Bowcott has captured more trophies in the Spring and Autumn Meetings
than any other Kenfig participant. He, Newport and Turner held the
captaincy of the Pyle and Kenfig club in subsequent years.
Last but not least was the Bowls Club, which was started in the late
fifties by A. Merrifield, Paddy Waters and a small band of plant personnel.
Games were played regularly throughout the summer season on
neighbouring greens, and a dance held annually. The most successful
players in competing for the championship trophy and cup were A.
Merrifield and I. Boydell.
Plans were often talked of from time to time over the years to form a
sports club at the factory, but as the writer has pointed out on an earlier
page, the complete absence of any built-up area in close proximity to the
factory has always proved a stumbling block. The fact that the workpeople
were drawn from so many different towns in the surrounding area proved
a self-limiting factor on proposals to form a club, for there was never any
real agreement on which town should be selected for its location.
- 50 -
Chapter 10
Goodbye to all that
For the first time since the factory came into being, 1955 saw an easing of
the position of raw materials supplies, which made the lot of Kenfig
management easier. Many of the quota restrictions were swept away. It
seemed that in the future Kenfig might do its own shopping for goods like
coke and steel, instead of just taking whatever was available, and being
glad of it to boot !
The winter months began the year exceptionally coldly: one occasion
which was definitely memorable (a word often used too loosely) was a
Thursday late in February when the annual staff dinner was held at the
Esplanade Hotel, Porthcawl. John Street resembled the main thoroughfare
of a ghost town. Bits of newspaper and other abandoned litter were
whipped up into the air with scudding snowflakes that would have settled,
had the biting wind allowed. It was a relief to get into the warmth of the
hotel, where the meal served was hot, tepid or cold, depending at what
part of the table one sat. The guest speaker was Graham Hayman (he had
been knighted the previous year, and between 1955 and 1957 was to
assume formidable responsibilities as President of the Federation of British
Industries). Never was there a more down-to-earth industrialist, as he
clearly showed that night, with a rare ability to combine seriousness with
humour, neither being too remote nor too familiar. Younger employees who
lacked the awe in which older Kenfigians held 'Mr' Hayman (as they
remembered him best) quickly felt the impact of his presence. Then there
was a series of long-service awards; to Frank Newport, recently created a
Division Director, who had completed forty years with the company, and to
- 51 -
Ted Gough, Tom Storey and George Macdonald, who had each given
twenty-five years service, less than half of it at Dagenham. A newcomer to
Kenfig was Renice Williams, who had come to replace process
superintendent Gordon Poole, soon to retire. Hailing from the Rhondda,
Williams was a willing and able recruit into the band of choral singers (the
inevitable group when Welshmen meet to let their hair down) under the
batonless direction of Tom Rees: while Ron Harris evoked thoughts of
sunshine with a rendition of 'torna a Sorrento', by now there was a thick
layer of snow outside. Some of the younger people left the smoke-filled
atmosphere, spinning their way through the revolving doors of the 'Esp', to
play snowballs on the Promenade. This was a wonderfully cooling entr'acte
between spells of beer-drinking.
In May there was a railstrike which lasted long enough to make quite a
dent in Kenfig's stock of raw materials. This stoppage had little effect on
outgoing dispatches which were switched immediately to a full road
programme. In a sense it was fitting that some difficulty should have
marked the last period of George Poole's service with the company.
Throughout his years with the company, this silver-haired and rather dour
but distinguished-looking man had experienced many trials in his reign as
process superintendent. Now, in June 1955, came his retiral. This occasion
was marked with a gathering of his old colleagues, among them Daniels
and Gross, at the Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl, when a suitable presentation
was made. Poole must have loved Kenfig dearly for in after years, of all the
people who have departed before or since, he has never failed to write a
greeting or letter to his colleagues at some time or another. There were
other movements of personnel too: earlier Geoffrey Willsdon had taken up
an appointment as Labour Manager at Hull, his previous duties at Kenfig
entrusted to Harry Edwards. W. P. Phillips, Assistant Works' Manager, was
transferred to London and replaced by J. B. Moller. From Hull, George
Timms came to Kenfig as assistant Works' Engineer.
The summer of 1955 was one of the finest on record, with long, sunny,
dreamy days. In the factory, the supervisory personnel were still
proceeding with their training courses, whilst in the manufacturing units,
the men were asked to co-operate in a scheme for planned maintenance.
The young engineer Russell Hodson, who had been at Kenfig from 1951
was given charge of this new aid to increased productivity.
Kenfig had received some of its biggest setbacks when the proposed
scheme for new office accommodation was suspended and the fourth
furnace project once and for all time was thrown out. In the December of
1955, the decision by the Ministry of Supply to close the DCD plant was a
further blow. The personnel involved in the new venture either left or were
absorbed into the Carbide Section. The Ministry had accumulated sufficient
stocks of the product for about two years, and ordered the Kenfig unit to
be placed on a care and maintenance basis from New Year's Day 1956.
There was no problem in finding an outlet for the surplus carbide as the
markets were still wide open. All the time extensions were going on in the
cyanamide plant, it was believed just a possibility that with reasonable
notice, the plant might be re-manned for resumed production at some
unspecified date in the future. It was kept under care and maintenance
until the factory closed in 1966.
A few miles away, the giant Steel Company of Wales were carrying out
big programmes of expansion. Their need for extra men proved to be a lure
to Kenfig workpeople, many of whom gradually sought employment in
steel.
Kenfig blinked its eyes when hopes of its own expansion were dashed.
No fourth furnace and no DCD Plant. It was goodbye to all that.
- 54 -
Chapter 11
Annus mirabilis
Speculation is always rife when a new manager takes over the reins of
office. It was no different when Stanley Philbrick came to Kenfig. The annual
staff dinner took place at the end of February 1957. Among the guests were
old friends like Eric Stein, J. Riming- ton and Dr R. Owens of the Ministry
of Supply. The principal speech after dinner was made by Sir Graham
Hayman who surprised everyone with an important piece of news. Frank
Newport would leave Kenfig at the end of March to join Murgatroyd's Salt
and Chemical Company full time instead of sharing his time between this
Company and Kenfig as he had for a few years.
Mr Philbrick was a new broom - would he make a clean sweep ? Bits of
contradictory information had preceded him from Hull. He was this, he was
that, he was the other. Only time would tell what he would be like. His first
few months were naturally spent in getting to know the plant and personnel
as well as possible. There was no doubt that he had his own ideas on many
things in the factory life. Gradually, his main policy began to show its shape
in the form of a big drive on housekeeping, safety precautions and welfare.
On the 1st April 1957, the name British Industrial Solvents was dropped,
when Kenfig became part of the newly-formed Chemical Division. Much of
the work done at Kenfig during the Spring of 1957 was 'overspill' from the
previous administration. This was continued and finalized, whilst new
proposals were set in motion. In the packing plant (C24), the Engineering
Division of Southern Office were busy installing a new bulk loading plant.
This meant that the bulk containers which carried the carbide to one of
- 55 -
Kenfig's largest customers, British Geon Limited, at Barry, could be filled
more quickly and easily. Chain reactions always follow such developments.
The increase in bulk supply traffic resulted in the lowering of drum
manufacture in the drumshop. Moreover, larger numbers of returned drums
were put through a reconditioning process to make them suitable for reuse.
This action, too, had its reaction in the embarrassing situation which
arose, when many of the old drums, absolutely unfit for re-issue, built up
into an untidy stockpile. Two moves were made in this direction. The first
was to get a new baling press; under this the totally mis-shapen drums
were crunched into scrap lots and were then sent off to the steelworks for
melting down. The second was to put a lot of work into designing improved
equipment for re-shaping used drums. This undertaking was put very
largely into the hands of Rhys Howell, whose style and duties as a C24
Section Engineer were extended to embody development.
There was great activity in all units of the plant. The technical boys were
experimenting with schemes to make use of coke and carbide slack. They
concluded their researches within the scope originally outlined into the
extraction of furnace gases. Data was collected and put into digestible form
so that Philbrick could present the results, in his first attendance as
delegate, to the annual meeting of the Commission Permanante
Internationale.
Another recruiting drive was initiated to get more members for the Civil
Defence Corps and First Aid sections. At times, enthusiasm waned to such
an extent that the interest remained with only a handful. The first aid team
selected to take part in the Hague Competition in London (Kenfig, had won
the cup in the previous year), worked diligently under their trainer, Dan
Suter, but they had to be content with second place in 1957, even though
tying first on points, but losing on the leaders score. A bigger shock than
their loss of the competition was felt by the team when the death of Dan
Suter occurred at the end of June.
The rescue team was trained by Tom Felton and D. R. (Richie) Williams,
who put much effort into preparing their men for competitive work - the
- 56 -
only real stimulus that existed in the Civil Defence movement. They had
many successes. Williams could rap out his orders, when things were not
going the way he thought they should, in stentorian voice. If this did not
produce the desired effect upon his listeners, he would descend into a
dulcet and soothing tone, in the hope of 'getting over' his wishes. Halfway
between dictator and preacher, Richie Williams was a rare character.
Late in September 1957, T. Ivor John left the company to take up a post
in the Steel Company of Wales. He had spent his last two years or so at
Kenfig as a design engineer in the packing plant (C24), but had not the
same heart in the work now that the DCD plant had faded out. Others like
Haydn Thomas, Jimmy Thomas, Hedley Marsh, Douglas Miller, Leslie Powell
and many plant operators were absorbed from the Ministry's DCD plant and
had settled down quite happily in various units of the carbide works. To
some, the lure of the Steel Company (at this time given the magical
nickname of Treasure Island' and where, it was said, a man could fall over
his pay packet and break his leg!) proved too strong ; this same lure made
the recruitment of men for Kenfig extremely difficult.
October saw the making of a new agreement between the factory and
the South Wales Electricity Board, an agreement which was financially more
beneficial to Kenfig than the previous one. The cost of electricity was of
paramount importance in its bearing on the profitability or otherwise of
carbide making. In Scandinavia and Canada, electricity is a relatively cheap
item on account of the vast hydro-electric schemes which have harnessed
the natural resources of these countries. In Britain, power is geared to the
price of a ton of coal, which is indicative of its costliness.
Throughout the summer and autumn, some members of the staff were
sent to the Company's residential training centre, where they underwent
rigorous management courses. The hours were long and the curriculum
very concentrated. All sorts of hypothetical situations were imagined at
various levels of factory life to illustrate how management should behave
in a certain set of circumstances. An incident on one of the courses (recalled
by T. Vernon Upton) was a simulated interview between a man, who had
- 57 -
arrived late at work, and his manager. Upton took the part of the man and
in the 'interview' indulged in some typical Kenfig responses to the delight
of the rest of the students, who were more accustomed to formal answers.
A Work Study department was officially started, though initially this
consisted of one man only, William Rees. In December, he was sent to
Cranfield for a course in the applications of time-and- motion. Later, Leo
Moore, an ex-RAF officer was taken on to assist Rees in the many
investigations they were to carry out.
Christmas 1957 saw a change in venue for the children's party, from
Coney Beach to the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, where there was more
scope. The youngsters ate their cakes and jellies in the Lesser Hall, then,
at the given signal, swarmed up the steps of the main body of the Pavilion
for their sing-song. The afternoon was rounded off with the presentation of
a gift to each child by Father Christmas. It was delightful; but it meant a
lot of hard work in making preparations. Anyone can cater for a group of
adults, but to control for several hours more than 250 excited children
between the ages of five and ten called for considerable patience.
Early in 1958 a new water main was introduced into the factory by Port
Talbot Council. Mention has already been made in the first pages of the
importance of a water supply. At Kenfig, the pumps worked from cooling
ponds something in the order of twenty-five thousand gallons in one hour
for furnace cooling operations. The new connection with the town supply
was made principally for hygienic reasons and only as an auxiliary measure
for industrial considerations. For although the water table of the C9 well
had fallen from time to time, it had never become alarmingly low. The year
ending March 31 st 1958, was a marvellous year. A new record of carbide
production was reached which has never been beaten. Well over one
hundred and fifteen thousand tons of molten calcium carbide had gushed
out of the three furnace tapholes in twelve months, an unforgettable event
in the annals of Kenfig.
- 58 -
Chapter 12
In pastures green
By the late Spring of 1958, substantial capital expenditure was approved
to acquire much needed new plant and machinery replacements. The
rapidity with which these applications were sanctioned appeared
phenomenal. To make any attempt to catalogue these schemes in detail
would be exhaustive and boring and would have little meaning to the reader
in retrospect. Suffice it to say that the factory was given a complete
overhaul.
Far and away the best remembered work of that period, because it was
so apparent to all, was the grassed areas scheme. Nobody will ever forget
the flood of remarks from all levels of factory personnel provoked by the
seeding of several acres of land between the plant and office buildings. It
must be recorded that, hitherto, there were tracts of ground here and there
which became nothing less than morasses after heavy rainfall. At best,
carbide making is literally a dirty industry. The centrepiece of the
housekeeping campaign was to eliminate the muddy wastes by the
extensive sowing of grass. When the grass was cut, the fresh verdure gave
the site some semblance of a presentable look.
A young engineer, Sidney Flower, whose associations with the company
went back as far as 1940 when he worked as a boy at the Pantmawr Quarry,
was put in control of the seeding project. His most interesting and amusing
experiment was the trial on a plot outside the fitting shop of a newlymarketed
type of grass, claimed to produce a fine emerald turf, capable of
retaining its colour and vigour in long periods of drought. Flower cossetted
- 59 -
the spindly- looking plants day after day until the first shoots made their
appearance. Caring very little for the ostensible results at this stage, Flower
swore he had been sold quitch-grass. Some weeks passed and he was so
dissatisfied that he contacted the vendors of the new herbage. A
representative was quickly at the factory, assuring and re-assuring Flower
that, with time and patience, all would be well. Our man at Kenfig argued
that the new grass might be drought resistant, but certainly did not look
dust-resistant. The upshot of it all was that Flower, still convinced he had
been hoodwinked, arranged for normal grass to be set around the original
plants, with protestations that he was not as green as he looked.
All the while this ado with the grass was proceeding, there was plenty
of bother in the offices too. The Hollerith machines which Ken Wadsworth
was nursing continued working their way through the routine clerical jobs
during the spring and summer of 1958. Programmers from the
manufacturers came to examine the work entailed in transferring the works
payroll from the manual to the mechanical system. The complicated
structure then in existence at Kenfig, was bogged down with innumerable
sundry payments. It was going to be a gargantuan task mechanising this
lot.
The Sales Section were engaged in trying to sell return drums which
were corroded beyond the state of repair, and coke fines, which had
accumulated well in excess of Kenfig's likely requirements. Such sales, it
was thought, would be on a slow basis. But as the sales were stepped up,
three-shift working was introduced on the baling press to speed up the
clearance of rusty drums. A certain amount of coke slack had been in
operational use for some time. When the carbide production performance
tended to fall, the Shift Superintendents hotly blamed the use of coke fines
for troubles in the four lime kilns and in the furnaces. Renice Williams
contested this, attributing the difficulties to the very wet weather, which
had left the fuel too damp to be adequately dried. There was general relief
to men and management when the August Holidays came, so as to give the
plant a week's respite. This hiatus afforded the maintenance boys their
- 60 -
annual chance to inspect the furnaces thoroughly and without the pressures
to act as quickly as possible, which was the directive for the rest of the
year.
In the August of 1958, S. Philbrick and J. B. Moller went off to Germany
to inspect furnaces at Knapsack. Kenfig knew that the day might come
when modernization of its furnace plant might be necessary, so it was
deemed prudent to see how other carbide factories were meeting the need
for change.
At the end of August, as the new (or main, as it was afterwards known)
office block opposite the general stores was under construction, Sidney
Flower left Kenfig to take up a post as chief engineer at Murgatroyd's Salt
and Chemical Company, at Sandbach, where his old boss Frank Newport
was waiting to welcome him. Kenfig's Works Manager had for some length
of time been convinced of the need for more engineers at the factory to
deal with the very special problems that existed. C. J. Beavis became the
Works Electrical Engineer (though an unfortunate illness prevented him
from fulfilling even this function for some three months) and a newcomer
D. L. Rees, was appointed on September 1st as Works Mechanical Engineer.
He was not quite a newcomer, inasmuch as he had been draughtsman at
Kenfig back in 1941. After an interruption in his employment with the
company, due to military service, he had been assistant engineer and later
resident engineer at Barry with the DCL Engineering Division Southern
Office. Other engineers were to follow within the next few months, among
them J.Jennings (from DCL Hull) and A. Gallimore (from Engineering
Division Manchester).
October 1958 witnessed the first planned restriction of production, when
one furnace ceased operation, to save electricity costs. There was in the
Company's contract a penalty clause (applicable to winter months) which
caused the Company to reduce its maximum load intake to thirty-eight
megawatts from fifty-five megawatts. Earlier in the year, a power factor
correction scheme was installed with consequent large savings in electrical
- 61 -
costs. Now, in October, the electrical tariff came under the closest scrutiny
again.
With only two furnaces working, some small reduction in manpower
was an expedient. Some temporary workers were released, and the
company stressed that redundancy would be kept to an absolute minimum.
British Geon Limited had reduced its requirements of carbide slightly, so
that, with the rumblings of these difficulties in mind, Stanley Philbrick made
one of his most perceptive observations in his own inimitable way;
‘The sword of Damocles is hanging over our heads, and if we are not
careful, it will cut the ground from under our feet !’
At the month end, Idris George left for a job with the Rand Carbide
Company of South Africa. He nearly sailed prematurely, because exdrumshop
supervisor Jack David, mine host at the Prince of Wales, Kenfig,
provided a free barrel of beer for George's farewell 'do'. It was a sad event
to see him sever his connections with the factory, and his associations with
the Kenfig Hill Rugby Club where he had won great popularity.
November opened with a shock announcement that, due to a change in
company policy whereby the accounts mechanization would be centralized
at Hull, the Hollerith installation would be withdrawn from Kenfig early in
the New Year.
Christmas 1958 was heralded by a cheerful note, in the form of a
teleprinter message from Eric Stein, who congratulated the factory on its
past year's achievement of carbide production. This was put on the noticeboard,
and was much appreciated by employees.
Upstairs in the room of the old office block he would shortly be leaving,
the Works Manager gazed out of the windows on to the factory site. Even
the damp, cold and foggy December outlook could not conceal that dusty
old Kenfig was at last well and truly in pastures green.
- 62 -
Chapter 13
Accidents will not happen
Not only the making of carbide, but also the handling of it could prove a
pretty hazardous affair. The arch-enemy of carbide workers was moisture
which could be reconciled with the product only in a generator. Caution,
even here, was necessary as was clearly demonstrated in the one
laboratory accident of Kenfig's life, when, (on the morning of March 8th
1950) a laboratory assistant placed a hot carbide sample into a generator
that had not been drained of wet sludge. As a result of this the employee
suffered superficial burns to the face and severe shock.
Over the years, there has been a chapter of unpleasant incidents. In the
carrying out of actual process work, five employees have died. These were
R. J. Ashton and D. J. Wellington in December 1944, S. Rees in November
1947, W. Davies in April 1950 and H. G. Dyne in December 1952. Apart
from fatalities, other employees have been badly maimed or severely
injured in a series of falls, fires and explosions, which it would be unpleasant
to catalogue. Many of these occurrences were regarded as beyond human
agency, whereas others were thought to have arisen from ignoring safety
regulations.
Whatever the causes, Kenfig's record was a black one by Distillers
standards. When Stanley Philbrick came to the factory as works manager,
it was an avowed part of his programme to reduce the accident rate
drastically by making the entire personnel safety conscious. Following the
departure in February 1953 of R. Patterson for a post in the Steel Company
of Wales, the work of Safety Officer was performed by R. D. Thomas, The
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Works Manager wanted to eliminate all accidents that could be attributed
to carelessness or sheer disregard of the rules. Every incident or mishap
throughout the years had been properly investigated, documented and
followed up by preventive action. But there was a tendency in jobs of
repetitive and routine nature to shrug one's shoulders in case of unusual
occurrence with the cliche 'Accidents will happen'. Mr Philbrick's intention
was to inculcate the idea that accidents must not take place and set about
at once to improve the position.
The first shot in his campaign was a safety competition (with cash
prizes as the incentive) held in April 1958. This was open to all employees
and was enthusiastically received and entered into generally. There were
minor cries that the whole thing was as dry as dust. Perhaps it was, though
its aim was to serve as the first plank in an effort to save life and limb. In
this respect, the response was good, because safety was on everyone's
lips.
[in a hand-written note “competition won by M. Berry “Safety First” £6
prize, I think]
H.M. Medical Inspector of Factories was at Kenfig about the same
time carrying out an investigation of the dust nuisance in the paste plant.
Anyone in that building on a sunny day might have seen the dust particles
like millions of tadpoles milling around in the shafts of sunshine. The
problem of the paste plant buildings brought to Kenfig Sir George Barnett
- ex H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories - DCL Safety Consultant and Dr
Kennedy, Company Medical Officer, for urgent discussions on the matter.
As a consequence, the dust suppression plant (a sort of large-scale vacuum
cleaner) was ultimately installed.
In September 1958, R. J. Jones was transferred from London office to
strengthen the safety department. R. J. (Bob) Jones was to make a
formidable impression on the factory life, especially as his scope was
extended to embrace control of the Civil Defence units. One never knew
when or where he would turn up on the site and as the incidence of
- 64 -
accidents gradually dropped, he made it known that anyone who did
anything foolish that would upset the accident downtrend would be very
unpopular with him. After only two months at Kenfig, he was host to the
DCL Safety Committee, which, under the chairmanship of Dr Roffey, held
their first ever session at the factory, followed by a tour of the site buildings,
so that the committee members might see for themselves the hazards incidental
to a heavy industry.
In the world of safety every reasonable contingency was accounted
for with whatever preventive measures thought necessary. In April 1959,
another safety competition was held, which again drew a lot of attention
from personnel. In December 1959, more lectures, instructions and safety
propaganda leaflets were given to personnel, in the drive from which there
would be no let-up until the 'black sheep' of Kenfig Factory was
transmogrified into the 'white lamb'. Steadily, the situation reached a
measure of real improvement, and a conspicuous notice-board on the
recently laid- out car-park proclaimed proudly, that the factory had gone X
number of days without a lost-time accident. Of course, the record would
be upset at times by some event or other on the plant. As if to show that
some accidents could be unique, an incident took place on May 14th 1960,
in which Cyril Jones (clock no 26), who was engaged in cleaning duties on
the lime skip hoist was buried up to the neck for several hours. It was a
painful business for the victim at the time, though, having the constitution
of an ox Jones quickly trepaired and today relates enthusiastically how he
cheated possible tragedy. At last, however, Kenfig was operating with a
safety-conscious manpower. Happily, there has been no serious mishap
since.
R D Thomas was released from the company's employ in June 1962 and
R j jones in February 1964, so that the safety depart-ment as an entity the
fascinating personalities changed and the work was assigned in later days
to J. W. Jones, Security Officer, who now carried dual responsibility for
security and safety.
- 65 -
[note reads: Cyril was saved by the jib of the crane that John Berry was
operating. He dropped the jib to stop more stone falling on Cyril]
- 66 -
…..
Chapter 14
Kenfig in the mirror
The new office block was occupied in February 1959, which meant that
those who had worked out their years at Kenfig in the wooden shacks
(previously referred to) could at last have a decent office in the old block.
Quite a bit of prestige attached itself to those who moved to their new
quarters, which gave rise to cynical remarks by one wit who joked that
'more elbow room was provided for the pen-pushers'. The remarks might
have been more numerous, but for the fact than an influenza epidemic hit
the area, causing widespread absenteeism among works and staff
personnel.
At the height of the summer of 1959 (and what a gorgeous copybook
summer it was) a Labour Manager, Rex J. Chambers, was appointed to cope
with the many complexities of dealings with the hourly-paid personnel and
the trade unions. Ernest Turner concentrated his efforts in attending to staff
matters and co-ordinating factory functions, a diminished role for one who
had been so much in the thick of things hitherto. Turner welcomed the
change to some degree, feeling he had burnt himself low during the war
and immediate post-war periods, when transactions between employers
and employees probably took their toughest turn this century. As one new
face appeared, an old one passed from view. So it was that W. Ivor Davies,
yard foreman since the beginning, took his leave of Kenfig. In the staff
canteen, he delivered a short oration in his own crisp Welsh tones, the gist
of which was that if he ever visited the factory during his retirement he
wanted to hear more about carbide and less about grass seed.
- 67 -
By the end of September, the newly-recruited technical officer, Edward
Barnes, had settled down to his post, which had been vacant for many
months since the emigration of Idris George to South Africa.
Simultaneously, C. J. Beavis was leaving for a situation with a Midlands
firm. Beavis had suffered quite extensive spells of illness and felt the need
for a complete change of environment. He had won himself many friends
in the Porthcawl area, on account of his active association with the
Conservative Party and the Kenfig Sailing Club. Saddened though he was
to leave his associates, he chose to get the carbide out of his bones (or
lungs) and by the late Autumn, was gone from the locality.
A certain restlessness pervaded the plant, as the factory gave itself a
vigorous re-appraisal. Some workers felt they were always being watched,
like microbes under a microscope. Industrial consultants had just
completed their researches into the bonus scheme: the correlation of all
jobs on the site was well under way, with the help of the central labour
department, and now, in the November of 1959, the packaging committee
of the company was at Kenfig to revolutionise the future of the drumshop.
Prior to Christmas 1959, fifty-five hundredweight Mauser drums were
ordered from Germany, which brought the reduction of the drumshop
labour force by half over the next four months. Among the dozen drumshop
ladies who left were some who had performed sterling services to the
factory for many years past. Over a period of the next three years, the
increased use of drums and a mammoth order of about twelve thousand
'cyclops' drums (of five-hundredweight capacity) reduced the labour need
even further. Thus, fewer ladies remained in the service of the factory's
drumshop, where, in later years, the manufacture of new drums became a
comparative rarity.
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Chapter 15
A matter of dispute
Trade unionism, as a movement, was a deeply entrenched feature of
industrial life at Kenfig since the factory's early period. Apart from the seven
week stoppage of 1945, the union efforts have been concentrated on
improving and safeguarding the worker's lot by firm and rational
negotiations. The dispute of 1945 arose through the attempts of various
sections of the plant to set up a multiplicity of trade unions on the site.
Obdurate resistance by the management to these propositions resulted in
the crystallisation of trade unionism in the recognition of five representative
bodies, The Bricklayers (shop steward, F. Quick), the Painters (shop
steward, J. Graham), the Electrical Trades, the Amalgamated Engineering
and the Transport and General Workers Unions.
As for the Amalgamated Engineering Union (A.E.U.), its unusual feature
lay in the fact that it was a tripartite entity, having for its secretary a fulltime
official named R. W. O'Neil at Neath, whilst its factory representatives
were G. McKenna, convenor (allied to the Port Talbot branch), T. Reed,
chairman (Kenfig Hill branch) and Aneurin Davies, shop steward (Maesteg
branch).
The first secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union (T. &
G.W.U.) was W. Ivor Davies, who, upon his transfer to the staff as yard
foreman, was succeeded by Idris Lewis, with S. (Garw) Evans as chairman.
In July 1956, these officials resigned. Elections were held from which Jack
Hayes emerged as secretary and John Lloyd as chairman. Earlier officials
prominent during the war years when many of Kenfig's customs were
forged were Fred George (Snr.) and Paddy Waters.
No record exists of any major negotiations involving either the
Bricklayers or the Electrical Trades Unions at Kenfig, possibly because of
the limited number of workers attached to each. The greater the number
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of personnel in any unit, the greater the number of problems that are likely
to arise.
In the late Autumn of 1958, the District Secretary of the Amalgamated
Engineering Union was at Kenfig to talk over with management the
possibility of a seven day rota system for day workers, which was rejected
by the factory. Accordingly, the union official submitted the idea of a five
day week, which was held over by the management for lengthy
consideration.
The following May it was not working hours but earnings that bothered
the larger body of the T. & G. W. Union, who initiated negotiations with the
Company. The men's production bonus earnings had dropped and many
had claimed that they suffered financial hardship in their way of living as a
result. The factory's management explained that the lower furnace output
(which resulted in the reduced bonus) was due to extraneous circumstances
beyond local control. The quality of the coal was poor (remembering that
Aber-baidan Colliery had recently closed) and much of the limestone from
the second face at Tythegston quarry contained enough clay and dirt to
cause furnace troubles. The workers were not very satisfied with the
outcome of these talks, even though they believed the reasons to be valid
ones. Some sections showed their dislike of the see-sawing bonus rewards
by refusing to carry out sundry jobs, which had always been considered
part of their general everyday duties. This form of protest, which, the men
claimed, was born out of a sense of frustration rather than sheer wilfulness,
was strongly condemned by the union officials, who urged their members
to avoid rash acts pending further talks with the management.
This appeal to reason bore fruit, so that there was a temporary lull
as the men eagerly and anxiously awaited the outcome of renewed
discussions. At this point, a three man team, comprising C. C. Denard, chief
labour officer, N. H. Dennis of the central work study department and W.
P. Phillips, divisional personnel officer, were called to the factory in order
to re-examine the overall production bonus scheme. Eventually consultants
were requested to carry out the appraisal independently.
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The following month, June 1959, negotiations were still proceeding
between the management and the T. & G. W. Union, special emphasis being
given to the furnace group of workers. The consultants were immediately
engaged on preparing an alternative bonus scheme for this particular
group, to be followed up with a general review of labour. A further part of
the plan to iron out anomalies resulted in a team, drawn from the
Company's central labour department and other DCL units to come to
Kenfig and perform the task of comprehensive correlation of plus rates.
By now the A.E.U.'s earlier request for a five-day working week had
received the consideration promised, and was met with a counter-proposal
by the management to the effect that the company would like to inaugurate
a ten and a half day fortnight. This the A.E.U. flatly refused to accept.
Many of these proposals and counter proposals were long, tedious and
complex affairs, which proved stiff tests of the shrewdness of both company
and union. Pitfalls could be plentiful for anyone who attempted to rush at
bargains for labour. There were times, too, when a union negotiator had to
know when not to look a gift horse in the mouth. For example, in the
December of 1959, the 'On Peak' maximum tariff was implemented,
whereby the factory decided to work pell-mell on production during 'Off-
Peak' hours. This could have severely affected the earnings of any workers
whose labours were available between 7 am and 7 pm Monday to Friday,
for the next few months. The management put forward a plan to compensate
any loss of earnings by paying a 'make-up' allowance. This was
actually an artificial production bonus, which the unions accepted
immediately, regarding it as a generous handout.
1960 opened with the completion of job correlation covering all jobs held
by members of the T. & G. W. Union. The whole under-taking had been swiftly and efficiently concluded within a few months, so that the results were submitted to the union in conjunction with
the revised production bonus scheme. Simultaneously, the company
announced its intention of shortly bringing into effect the forty-two hour
working week throughout the factory. Members of the A.E.U. refused to be
a party to any agreement whereby working hours would be changed, for
these men recognised the jurisdiction of the Welsh Engineers and Founders
Association (W.E. & F.A.), who had not sanctioned the 42 hour week,
whereas the company had for many years attempted to get the craft union
to recognise the authority of the Association of Chemical and Allied
Employers (A.C. &A.E.).
Although the A.E.U. members were unwilling to accept the shorter
working week, the company considered it quite inexpedient to have one
section working forty-four hours, and another forty-two hours, since the
transport costs, already heavily subsidised to give the men a daily sixpenny
return journey from their homes anywhere in the surrounding area, would
have rocketed.
The T. & G. W. Union felt that A.E.U. members were not entitled to the
shorter working week (in the absence of any finalized agreement between
the company and the W.E. & F.A.), so why should the craftsmen benefit by
having reduced working hours. In retrospect, it appears incredible that all
this charivari should have stemmed from the company's desire to SHORTEN
the working week of plant personnel. The situation became even more
complex, when from within the ranks of the Transport Union came fresh
demands, concerning the implementation of the new hours. The
management had decreed that the new weekly position would be 7.30 am
until 4.30 pm for five days: the men requested a week of 7.30 am to 4 pm
with alternate Saturdays free. Long negotiations were again set in motion,
but, impatient for results and in spite of all pleas from their own officials
and management, members of the Transport and General Workers Union
walked out on March 7th 1960. Male staff personnel were called from their
desks to help keep the Packing and Despatch Department in full swing, and
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office and laboratory girls were enlisted to cook and serve meals in the
canteen. These arrangements did not go down very well with the strikers,
who soon got to know in pub and club what was going on at Kenfig.
Meanwhile, in the factory, a meeting took place between a Ministry of
Labour official named Carter, and representatives of the T. & G. W. Union,
including R. Mathias (regional secretary), T. Roberts (district secretary), J.
Lloyd and J. Hayes, Others present were shop stewards T. Jones, H. Roach,
W. Jones, J. Taylor, D. Mackie, D. Stanton, G. Thomas and 0. James. All
strove assiduously to find some formula for getting the men back to work.
Carter left the meeting several times to consult management on various
points and suggestions raised. He returned time after time with the news
that the company was unchanged in its attitude. Next day the union officials
re-submitted the management's ideas to a meeting of four hundred carbide
workers, adding their own conviction that the company's proposals were
indeed the most practicable, and in the best interests of the factory. After
much heated verbal cut-and-thrust the chairman deferred further
discussions until the following morning, in the hope that commonsense
would prevail over stubbornness. At the resumed meeting, a motion was
put forward to continue the strike indefinitely, but an amendment by union
officials that the strike be called off was carried by 204 votes to 173, several
members abstaining. Work was started again at 10 pm March 9th 1960,
and the plant breathed a sigh of relief.
Staff were glad to be back at their desks, being more used to absorbing
their calories mentally! They were shown the company's appreciation of
their versatility during the difficult three days when the Works Manager
entertained the men to a beer-and-skittles evening and treated the ladies
to a pair of nylons each with a lunch at the Park Hotel, Cardiff, for those
who had worked at the canteen.
The following May, R. Mathias (regional secretary) was again at Kenfig,
but this time it was a social occasion on which he met the management and
shop stewards of the T. & G. W. U.
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On the site, the climbdown on the strike still rankled in some quarters
so much that a serious attempt was made by the furnace- men in October
1960 to form their own branch of the union, a proposal which gradually lost
force and died out.
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Chapter 16
The voice of the factory
Mention has already been made of howa Works Council was formed in 1942
and was disbanded after only two meetings, because it had impinged on
labour matters beyond its scope.
After the March 1960 strike, it seemed bold to set up a Works Council
again at Kenfig after so many years. The idea, however, had been the
Company's wish long before the dispute arose.
Hence the plan went ahead with the drafting of a sixteen-rule
constitution based on practice in DCL elsewhere. The committee, which
would be styled the Kenfig Works Joint Consultative Committee (W.J.C.C.
for short), would comprise eleven representatives elected by employees
throughout the factory. The permanent Chairman would be the Works
Manager and the vice-chairman would be elected annually. Management
representatives were limited to four ex-officio members. The Secretary,
appointed by the Works Manager was Jack Whitaker of the personnel
department, whose function was the formidable one of keeping the minutes
of all future monthly meetings. Without enumerating the entire
constitution* the salient points were that the representatives' duties were
to consider any method of improving efficiency, production, welfare,
discipline, co-operation and timekeeping. Taking a lesson from past
experience, a limitation of function was written into the constitution
whereby it would not be competent for the W.J.C.C. to discuss any matter
which was the subject of an Operative Agreement between the Company
and any trade union, nor discuss wage rates and national agreements.
Perhaps the most significant point was the freedom of employees'
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representatives 'to discharge their duties in an independent manner without
prejudice to their individual relations with the company in respect of any
statements made by them, in good faith while acting in a representative
capacity'. This all-important privilege of free speech would serve to
overcome inhibition and guarantee effectiveness of discussion.
Towards the end of March 1960, the Hull Works Council came to Kenfig,
inspected the plant and were entertained in the evening. They returned
home conscious of the palliative qualities of Welsh beer for absorbing
lingering carbide dust in the throat.
A few weeks later, the Kenfig W.J.C.C. constitution was printed and
seven hundred copies of the little blue booklet were circulated to
employees. It was hoped to get the committee formed by the end of May
in time to arrange the first meeting in June.
There was great interest in the proposed new committee and twentyeight
nominations were submitted for the eleven vacant seats. Polling was
heavy, with only ten per cent of factory personnel not exercising the vote.
The inaugural meeting held in early June, was mainly concerned with the
clarification of the Council's constitution and introduction of three ex-officio
members, J. B. Moller, R. J. Chambers, and D. L. Rees.
On June 16th 1960, the infant Kenfig Works Council, accompanied by
Stanley Philbrick, paid a visit to Hull to see how the Yorkshire committee
conducted a normally convened meeting.
The transactions of the Kenfig body would fill several volumes, covering
such topics as the wages payout system, bus services to and from the
works, production, housekeeping, sickness and accident benefits, shutdown
periods, lighting and heating amenities, the company's pension scheme and
requests for charities. They took over the arrangements for the children's
Christmas parties, and so successfully initiated a works dance that it
became an established occasion at Kenfig.
This group of personnel was a vital one. The members could be brutally
frank, puerile, pompous, reverent, generous, mean, sympathetic,
incredulous, prosaic and brilliant, all depending on the mood and subject
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under discussion. Sometimes they would raise a matter regarded as
anathema by the department involved, earning them the label of
meddlesome. The molars of the committee were J. Dixon, W. Howarth and
I. Denley - and how they could bite ! In control of the fusion of duff and
dynamite was the works manager, Stanley Philbrick (Evan Rees taking the
chair in his absence), who could out-talk the lot of them. The thematic
material was inexhaustible and so were the discussions, producing at times
some very colourful words in a variety of disputes.
Bill Howarth once lamented at length about canteen cutlery, especially
'one-prong forks'; Jim Dixon, who tried unsuccessfully to get permission to
share a table-tennis table which had been in use by the staff for twenty
years, gave up finally in despair. 'It's like the Grand National, too many
hurdles', he quipped.
These committee members were pledged to submit complaints made by
'constituents'. It must be admitted that some Kenfig folk had a churlish
streak. When the price of a cup of canteen tea was increased from 2d to 3d
in 1962, there was loud indignation, followed by large-scale boycott of the
canteen. When bus running costs (by the operators) were increased, any
suggestion of passing on the extra charges was regarded as heinous, and
many men still expected a door-to-works return service for sixpence a day.
Some baulked at any attempt to alter bus routes, whereby they would not
reach the 'local' in time before stop-tap.
A canteen sub-committee, an offshoot of the main Council could be even
more sensitive, reaching its nadir when a representative once protested
thatthe chips were getting thinner. The W.J.C.C. matured with time, as it
came to consider the heartbreaking problems of the last years of Kenfig.
Members were never more in deadly earnest than when they seriously
discussed the implications of redundancy and eventual closure of the plant.
The Council minutes, often cast aside before as tedious, were avidly
awaited, read and respected, for Kenfig realised that the voice of the
committee was the voice of the factory.
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Chapter 17
The inventive mind
The inventive mind of the factory was fully plumbed by the introduction in
the Autumn of 1960 of a suggestions scheme. Such a conception was
common to many factories but nothing like it had existed at Kenfig
previously. The scheme, intended for hourly-paid personnel only, worked
in this fashion; anyone who had some constructive suggestion to offer was
expected to outline the notion on a form to be posted in one of the boxes
provided, which were dotted around the site.
The idea then came under the examination of a Suggestions Committee,
of which Jack Whitaker was first-appointed secretary. The majority of
proposals entered the industrial limbo, though many were quite sound,
indeed, were adopted for practical implementation. Depending on the value
of any particular idea, the company gave financial awards, ranging from
ten shillings, to ten pounds. Remuneration acted as the most certain
stimulus !
At the onset of the scheme, there was naturally a surge of mental
creative activity on the part of the plant workers. All sorts of notions, which
were reckoned by their originators to save time and money, and to improve
productivity and efficiency, poured in to the committee for investigation
and judgement.
Whitaker piloted the scheme through its early period, which was perhaps
the most interesting and productive, if only on the score of novelty. The
secretaryship subsequently devolved to Emlyn Davies (transport manager),
who performed his function well until his untimely death in 1964.
If a Suggestion Scheme had existed earlier it would have presented a
medium for one Oliver Butler to have examined his bright idea. For it was
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he who, in the nineteen forties, manifestly showed the potentiality of
calcium carbide as a firelighting fuel. Finding himself one morning without
wood or sticks, he placed some carbide lumps into the fireplace and added
a drop of water. When he applied a match, the entire grate was blown out
in far quicker time than it has taken to set down these words. What the
blackened Butler saw was a shambles of broken brickwork and plaster dust.
Word of this occurrence soon spread, and delighted the wartime factory,
which was hugely amused by the comic outcome of what was, after all, a
perilous act of derring-do.
On the subject of the inventive mind, two names, those of Tom Felton
and Rhys Howell were eminent.
In the late forties, Felton developed a flexible electrical connection for
use in the furnaces. The device, used for the first time in the Autumn of
1951, was suitable for carrying a very large amperage current and for
withstanding excessively high temperatures. It proved a boon in the saving
of expensive furnace contact shoes, so much so that, when its ingenuity
was established fact the company forwarded the details, naming Felton as
the inventor, to the Patents Committee. In 1955, the case was considered
by the 225th session of the Committee, who decided not to grant a patent
applying to Great Britain, since the device had been in use for some four
years. Instead, they took steps to guarantee patent rights for the invention
in America, Canada, Norway and Germany. The electrical connection was
later used, with the sanction of the company, as assignee, in India and
South Africa.
Some people dismissed Felton as an inventive one-shot because he has
never again scored such success. This was probably unfair. Tom felt it was
far better to score once than not at all.
For those who liked a man to follow up success with success, Rhys Howell
more than filled the bill. This humble man formulated original patterns in
his mind and developed them into useful products over a period of twenty
years.
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His earliest triumph was the design for a drum opening and clenching
machine, which was registered at the Patent Office in May 1940, under the
title Tools for use in opening and sealing drums and similar containers'. In
the Summer of 1956, two patents were applied for in connection with a
labelling apparatus and a related cutting apparatus. The first was conceived
to facilitate the labelling of carbide drums, the second for mechanically
cutting printed adhesive tapes, (though equally suitable for labelling any
industrial products, whether in cans or boxes); both inventions were
granted separate letters of patent in April 1959. While these plans were in
the 'pipeline', so to speak, Howell was in the throes of working on a drum
body fettling machine. Some years before, he had perfected a machine for
restoring the mis-shapen necks of drums. Now his attentions were riveted
to the building of a machine for re-shaping the bodies of damaged drums.
As mentioned elsewhere in the text, steel shortage and the myriad of used
and battered drums scattered around the site dictated the positive
necessity of devising some way of re-using the second-hand drums. The
plan and description of Howell's device, a multi-roller affair, was submitted
to the Patent Office in July 1959 and was ultimately accorded full patent
protection.
Braced with success, Howell next worked on a flame torch cutting
device, concerned with cutting holes of a particular size and shape in
cylindrical or flat surfaces, without the aid of patterns or templates. The
provisional specification for this invention was lodged with the Patent Office
in April 1961. Having read the foregoing lines, the reader will assume that
this latest effort, too, was granted a patent. But he would be wrong. What
happened was that, early in 1963, news came from the Distillers Company
Limited, Development Division, Research Department at Epsom (which
screened and examined every aspect of every invention claimed by employees
of the company). Apparently, two earlier patents, ante-dating to 1941
and 1956 respectively, relating to a flame torch cutting device, had been
unearthed by the Patent Office Examiners. Thus it was recommended that steps to patent Howell's invention be abandoned.
As if all this were not enough, Howell took one more bite at the cherry,
when he designed an apparatus for emptying drums and other types of
container. The principal aim was to collect and discharge material residue
or sediment, and the device could be used for solids or liquids, such as oils,
paints and chemicals. This invention was granted patent protection in 1963,
and looked like being the final jewel in the crown of the inventive King of
Kenfig.
However, there was to be yet another contribution before the end. This
time a relatively simple device but it solved a difficult problem. Production
was ceasing at the end of July 1966 but British Geon would require normal
supplies of carbide for a few months yet. The Production Manager had to
find a means of emptying 5-cwt drums from stock at a sufficiently high
rate. Rhys Howell rose to the occasion again by designing an ingenious
grasping hook and this meant that the furnace house crane could be
successfully used in the operation. Thus Kenfig, which had never failed to
meet British Geon's demands, satisfied requirements until the last gasp.
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Chapter 18
Exodus
A crucial time for the people of Kenfig was the Autumn of 1961. An almost
intangible element of uneasiness existed, a sort of recondite exasperation
that all was not quite as it should be. A few alarmists, who ought to have
known better, gave voice to fears and forebodings, believing that the
company had a preconceived plan to shut down the factory on the most
threadbare excuses. Such absurdities found currency in some quarters.
Regretfully, it was not a case of roses all the way for Kenfig. Quite soon
the management had to squarely inform the Unions that certain workers
(many of whom were already over sixty five years of age) must be declared
redundant from 1st September, and that certain other workers must
transfer to other work on the site. The Unions accepted the position though
some regarded it as an ill omen. A policy decision was framed whereby
production would be limited to two furnaces. This was a result of the large
stocks on hand which were ever increasing. The likelihood that sales would
further subside convinced management that resumption of three- furnace
output ought to be deferred until April 1962, when power would be cheaper
anyway.
The first batch of workers, all members of the T. & G. W. U. were
released on 1st September, and a second group, members of the A.E.U.
about a week later. The A.E.U. withdrew their ban on overtime working,
then re-imposed it for a time because the management refused to reinstate
two of their members made redundant. This issue was soon
resolved, and the men went about their work again, hoping that this taste
of redundancy would be the last.
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In reality, forward-looking schemes designed to guarantee future factory
operations were either in being or in mind. Anticipating the time many years
ahead when the strata of Tythegston quarry were exhausted, the Company
was already searching for other sources of limestone. Throughout
September, test borings were carried out in fields on the escarpment of
Stormy Down overlooking Porthcawl. Unfortunately, results of these
investigations eventually ruled out the suitability of stone in this immediate
area. Nothing daunted, the Company went further afield to Ewenny. In
November 1961, similar work brought the same negative outcome, on
account of excessive silica content in the stone.
A more adverse occurrence, affecting the more immediate future came
in the form of an indication from another of Kenfig's principal customers,
I.C.I., that purchases would be very substantially reduced the following
Spring; hardly the best news for a factory bulging with stocks of its product,
and working at an already restricted level.
At the end of November, none other than Eric Stein (in the company
of W. E. Cash) looked in on the factory. It was a courtesy call as much
appreciated as it was unexpected. Mr Stein was actually on his way to
inspect the plant of British Hydrocarbon Chemicals Limited, just completed
over on Baglan Moors, but would not pass Kenfig's door without a greeting,
however brief. Only one heave of time ago, he had inspected the newlybuilt
carbide works. In those dark wartime days, Kenfig had taken its
setbacks on the chin. Now, in days of economic blizzard, it would show the
same resolution to survive its difficulties. The local press carried a report
that a large number of manual jobs at the Baglan plant awaited filling.
Union officials of Kenfig's Amalgamated Engineering Union, with an eye
westward, asked the management to intercede in an effort to get some of
the lower-paid Kenfig craftsmen transferred to more remunerative positions
in the new works, which was jointly owned by The Distillers Company
Limited and the British Petroleum Company.
A very successful first Kenfig Bowls dance, organised by Aubrey
Merrifield and Paddy Waters, helped to brighten the gloom of Carbide life
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for a large number of workpeople. Prior to Christmas 1961, Stanley
Philbrick originated a Staff Dance, which was attended by well over a
hundred, at the Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl. It was exceptionally well stagemanaged
by Secretary, Miss P. J. Jolliffe, who saw the arrangements
through from start to finish. W. Rees reported in the DCL 'Gazette' that
such a function had been tried out unsuccessfully fifteen years before,
failing through lack of support.
Christmas came with its party for the youngsters at the Grand Pavilion,
Porthcawl, and as usual, Ivor Jones delighted all and sundry with his
unaffected role as Father Christmas. The disguise needed by him was
scanty, in view of his ample silvery hair and chubby red cheeks.
What would 1962 bring with it? A very poor start, as it turned out. The
Barry plant of British Geon Limited, the largest consumer of carbide, was
closed for longish periods in January so that Kenfig moaned even more.
The Warehouse was bursting at the seams. Management of Kenfig did not
hesitate to decide on the need for a compulsory fortnight's holiday from
30th July, two weeks in which no carbide would be made. All supplies could
be met from existing stocks, there seemed no doubt.
Summer seemed a long way off in the bleak weather of February; to
brighten up the dark nights, the Staff organised its first International Long-
Alley Skittles Tournament between the Factory's English and Welsh
contingents at the Globe Inn, Newton, Porthcawl. The trophy, a skittle
mounted on a plinth, was contested for with greater emphasis on national
fervour than on the rules of the game, few as they were. For all that, the
skittle was gracefully presented by the English Captain, S. Philbrick, to the
victorious Welsh Skipper, Ernest Turner, a Cambrian by adoption.
On St David's Day 1962, the male staff held what was to be the last
Annual Dinner at the Esplanade Hotel, Porthcawl.
Gordon Hanford, Kenfig's own quarry specialist, left at the end of March
1962, but a few new appointments were made on April 1 st, with the arrival
of A. P. Preece (to replace Clyde Collins, who had emigrated to Nigeria) as
a technical assistant and the re-arrival of Brian Shambler. The latter had
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been a laboratory assistant at Kenfig some years earlier. Now he was
returning to the more important post of Shift Superintendent, replacing
George MacDonald who would retire in the Autumn after close on forty
colourful years with the Company.
On Easter Tuesday April 24th 1962, three W.J.C.C. members, I. Denley,
J. Boon and T. Jones, organised the mammoth scoop of the factory's life,
when they arranged a Dinner- Dance for over three hundred people at the
Park Hotel, Cardiff.
A week later, it was announced that an important assembly, to be
addressed by J. H. Dunn (Managing Director, Chemical Division) would take
place the following Friday May 4th 1962. When Friday came, with tension
at its zenith, a representative body of staff, followed by a subsequent body
of Union and other employees, received the following news from a sadlooking
Managing Director:
'Kenfig has now been operating at only 70% of its capacity for eight
months and there is no prospect of the demand for carbide increasing
substantially in the foreseeable future. Under these circumstances, the only
way to keep the factory open is to make an immediate reduction in the
number of both staff and hourly-paid employees at Kenfig.
'This reduction in carbide demand, which began about a year ago, is due
to the increasing availability both here and abroad of materials obtained
from petroleum and natural gas which can be used more cheaply than
carbide acetylene for the manufacture of chemicals and plastics. All carbide
factories in Europe are being affected in a similar way to Kenfig, and as a
result there has been a fall in the selling prices obtainable for the business
that remains.
'We are thus faced with falling selling prices which can be expected to
continue falling in the future, and costs which have been gradually
increasing over the past few years and have now increased sharply because
of the reduced output. These conditions have resulted in Kenfig running at
a loss since last Summer.
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'This cannot continue and if Kenfig is not to be shut down for good, ways
must be found of reducing the cost of carbide. The Company has been
working hard on this problem during the past six months; every aspect of
cost has been studied and the maximum possible reductions in the price of
electricity, coke, etc, have now been obtained from our suppliers. A still
further reduction in cost, however, is absolutely essential if we are to make
carbide again at a competitive price. This can be achieved only by a
substantial reduction in the number of both staff and hourly-paid
employees and will entail changes in the manning of the various operations
at Kenfig bringing these more closely in line with competitive carbide
factories.
The overall reduction necessary is just over 20% in both staff and
hourly-paid employees
'. . . . I much regret that we have been forced to take these steps after
so many years of steady operation at Kenfig. The Distillers Company and
its senior officials, many of whom were directly concerned with the building
of Kenfig, will, on their part, continue to do everything they can to keep the
factory open, but I must emphasise that the co-operation of all concerned
will be essential to achieve this'.
This announcement came as a great shock to the majority of Kenfig
workpeople. Friday 4th May 1962 was immediately dubbed 'Black Friday'
and it was a very sad thing indeed to witness the departure over the next
six weeks by retirement and redundancy of one fifth of the works and staff
personnel, some of whom had been in the plant from the first years.
First to go into early retirement was Ernest Turner, the lion- hearted
deputy works manager, of whom W. Rees wrote in the DCL'Gazette':
'He was forged in the hottest of industrial furnaces but won through to
earn the respect and friendliness of all'.
A host of staff members including Basil Williams, Mrs E. K. Jones, Miss
K. Folland, N. Cox, T. G. J. O'Leary, Fred Roberts, P. Hicks, W. J. Jones,
Sidney Thomas, Arthur Thomas, J. McDonough, D. J. Tossell, R. D. Thomas,
A. L. Griffiths, J. W. Davison, J. Ivor Jones, D. R. Williams, E. J. Oliver, G.
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Vincent, W. T. John, C. N. Pegley, W. J. Williams, G. Austin and T. Mizen,
drawn from all parts of factory units, offices and gatehouse, all went
through the carbide gates for the last time.
About one hundred and fifty hourly-paid personnel left en masse
including day process chargehand D. Griffiths and C5 welder R. Bearcroft
each with 21 years service; C24 fitter E. J. Jones with 20 years service;
welder's mate T. Long, garage mechanic E. Lawson and diesel attendant G.
Lewis, some with more than ten years service; and F. Burden (stores
labourer), W. T. John (rigger, fitting shop), A. Butler (fitter's mate), W. R.
Parks and A. Blackwell (floaters), F. Robinson (paste plant operator), S. J.
Bennett (C1 greaser), J. Morgan (painter), J. Hooper (dump marshall), R.
Rowley, W. J. Greener, D. F. Preedy, W. A. Greenwood and J. Jones
(labourers) all with at least six years service. This whittled down the payroll
strength from 710 to 560. One of the most poignant remembrances of the
exodus known to the writer was a note sent into the factory some weeks
later by L. Tobin, in which he said :
'Thank you for your kindness to all us redundants'. The unpleasantness
of the demanning programme lingered for many weeks, as a stunned
carbide factory gradually found its new norm.
Sir Graham Hayman had retired from the DCL Board at the end of March
at the age of seventy. Always a friend of Kenfig's, it must have revived
memories when he made his final comment on a factory he knew so well in
the few telling words from his Annual Report for 1961 /62 to DCL employees
:
'Sales of our general chemicals held up very well. The exception is
calcium carbide, which is being replaced to some extent by our petroleum
derivatives'.
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Chapter 19
The low melt carbide venture
Two papers were published in the German Technical Press in the Autumn
of 1958, on the use of a eutectic calcium carbide in the acid cupolas of iron
foundries.
In 1960, a paper on the use of low-melt carbide in foundries was
prepared by F. Newmann, and was read at Dusseldorf. Gradually the idea
was taken up in the United States, when R. Schulze wrote a composite
article incorporating his own researches with the findings of Timmerbeil and
Newmann, for the American Foundryman's Society. This article was
included in the Society's annual transactions, and also appeared in the
technical journal,'Modern Castings' of July 1961.
The sudden fall in demand for carbide in 1962, which caused the
three-furnace production at Kenfig to be a thing of the past, and led to the
redundancy referred to in earlier pages, made the idea of developing a
market for low melt carbide a desirable aim. On Friday April 19th 1962, the
first practical move in this direction resulted in a visit to Kenfig of J. D. Hill
and H. J. Leyshon, two officials of the British Cast Iron Research
Association, of Birmingham, to discuss eutectic carbide in the iron industry.
Helpfully, the Association furnished a selective but formidable list of
possible customers, namely the major light cast iron founders in the United
Kingdom. Samples of Kenfig low melt carbide were manufactured and
despatched to the foundry of John Williams and Co., Cardiff. What was
different about this type of carbide was that it was to possess a low gasyield
of 4-1 cubic feet of acetylene per pound, as compared with the normal
4-8 cu feet per pound of commercial carbide, required for ordinary
acetylene generating.
Some discussions took place regarding the name this carbide should be
given. 'Eutectic' was disliked, 'Low Grade' and 'Low Gas Yield' were each
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thought to give the product a label of inferiority. Hence, the name 'Kenfig
Low Melt Carbide' was finally adopted, and this was popularly contracted to
'K.L.M. Carbide'. Finding a name was easy, compared with the unravelling
of the complexities of the patent rights, which the factory ran into as the
iron founders were approached. It must have been quite an exercise for the
Company's Patents Department, in Epsom, when they scrutinized the
technically verbose coverages of the patents found to govern injection of
carbide into cupolas.
The first official reference to this new venture was made by the Works
Manager at a W.J.C.C. meeting on December 17th 1962. The news was
released that Brian Richards was to be seconded to London Office to
promote sales to British foundries. At the February 1963, meeting of the
Council, Production Manager R. R. Williams amplified the position, stating
that 'the Company had received some orders, and though not very large,
they are enough to create production problems - particularly in meeting the
sizes specified by customers'. Within a few weeks, orders amounted to
between seventy and eighty tons a month, which, albeit a spot in the
carbide ocean, was an encouraging beginning.
April 1963, saw a change in the industrial organization of the Company,
whereby a large degree of decentralization was introduced. Kenfig Factory
was now styled the Carbide Division, and its works manager, Stanley
Philbrick, was designated General Manager. A marginal, but significant
feature of the new set-up related to the Division's own responsibility for the
commercial function of selling carbide. As a consequence,
E.W.C.Clutterbuck,M.B.E., was transferred to Kenfig in the capacity of
commercial manager.
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Girls of Kenfig
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On May 16th, the general manager gave the latest progress report of
K.L.M. carbide:
'A lot of work is now being carried out in promoting its use in foundries
throughout the country. The new Commercial Manager, E. W. C.
Clutterbuck and B. Richards, with the help of the Technical Department,
are carrying out an intensive sales campaign. Sales so far are not great,
and no-one should get an over-optimistic view that the third furnace will be
required to meet the demand. It should be possible to cope adequately on
two-furnace production'.
The same month, E. Barnes, Technical Manager, published an
advertising sheet, which might well have been an edition of the 'Kenfig
Clarion', supposing such a publication existed. It was set out on vivid yellow
paper in typical journalistic style : 'West Riding Foundry cut cost of castings
- Claims made for BIS0L Low Melt Carbide more than justified', the
'screamers' or headlines proclaimed proudly. The whole thing was a
schedule of the benefits of Kenfig's latest product/tied up with chemical and
technical data, percentage costs and foundry temperatures.
Later, in 1963, a seven-minute colour film on the application of Low Melt
Carbide was made which was circulated in Europe by the Distillers
Company, and earned the extra distinction in November 1965, of being
'dubbed' with German soundtrack.
In the Summer of 1964, the fate of K.L.M. carbide was in the balance.
Iron Foundry demand seemed stagnant at the rate of twelve-hundred tons
a year; market research indicated no likelihood of any appreciable increase.
However, there was just a chance that the new product would be of value
in the gigantic steel industry. An experiment was arranged whereby a
hundred tons of selected low-melt carbide, packed in twenty-eight pound
canisters, would be consigned to the Steel Company of Wales at Margam,
for trials. A successful outcome to these tests would open up a vast new
market, so that it can be imagined how impatiently and anxiously Kenfig
awaited the results. The experiment was to have lasted several months,
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but the results came faster than even the most impatient Kenfigian could
have expected.
On Thursday August 20th 1964, a Works Joint Consultative Committee,
depleted on account of some members being away on
holiday, heard the worst possible news from R. R. Williams, described in
the following excerpt from the transactions of the Committee:
The trial had been carefully conducted with two furnaces. Each furnace
had operated under as near identical conditions as possible. One had
worked with normal charges, the other with carbide added. The report
(issued by S.C.O.W.) stated that there was a noted improvement in the
furnace using carbide and it was thought that the trial would be successful,
but at the same time there was also comparable improved performance in
the other furnace not using carbide. The conclusions drawn by the Steel
Company of Wales Manager in charge of the experiments is that there is no
indication that any advantage is to be gained from the use of carbide in
blast furnaces to make the proposition worthwhile'.
Kenfig Low Melt Carbide was made and supplied to foundries right up to
1966, but was rarely mentioned in later days, since that disappointing
announcement was made in August 1964, ending the dreams for good and
all of those who saw the 'white hope' of the carbide industry's future
existence shattered in the furnaces of their next-door neighbour, The Steel
Company of Wales.
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Chapter 20
Productivity Year
The Government ordained that 1963 be devoted to a special drive for
increased productivity throughout the land. Kenfig had a profound interest
in this movement, perhaps more profound than many other industrial
undertakings. It had only just revived after the shock of mass redundancy,
and the Managing Director's letter of May 1962, had stressed the need for
all carbide workers to do their utmost to keep the plant in operation. At a
further meeting with Unions and the W.J.C.C. on Wednesday November
14th 1962, J. H. Dunn had outlined proposed changes in the organization
of The Distillers Company, by which Kenfig would be an integral and
important part of the Chemical and Plastics Group, illustrating clearly that
there was no substance in rumours that the plant was to be closed down,
and certainly not within two years.
Kenfig had plenty to think about and plenty to do, embarking on the
greatest policy of self-imposed stringency it had ever known. Every
economy, (of the most detailed, even trivial, kind) that could be devised
was put into practice with the purpose of showing the most favourable cost
of carbide in the books of account. William Rees played a formidable part
in this efficiency drive.
National Productivity Year came in with plans for special activities in the
form of lectures, conferences and meetings, all relevant to greater output
per man. It was heralded, too, with the advent of a new Personnel Manager,
James Fleming, to succeed Rex Chambers who had left to take up a similar
appointment with the Regent Petroleum Company's new refinery at
Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. The newcomer was a Scotsman, who had
lived long amid Englishmen, with a deep insight into the Celtic mind; so
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ingenuous, amenable and natural was he that he made an immediate
impact on the entire personnel. With no disrespect to his predecessors, it
was as if Fleming had always been at Kenfig. His sympathetic treatment of
the person as an individual was to be reciprocated with a sympathetic
understanding of, and implicit trust in him by the entire plant in the trying
period that lay ahead.
At the first meeting associated with National Productivity Year, stress
was laid on the significance of relating improvements in the standard of
living to increased productivity. Lectures on simple economics and finance
were delivered by N. H. Dennis and C. C. Denard, who had come from
London for this particular purpose. Considerable interest was shown by the
listeners, composed of staff and members of the factory's Unions. An
account of this meeting appeared in the Productivity Council's news-sheet
'Target'. During the year a series of such meetings were held in the factory.
Speculative hearsay became once more a pestiferous bogie at Kenfig,
cutting across the full force of the productivity drive, by dint of the immense
feeling of uncertainty within the plant. With a modicum of understandable
irritability, Stanley Philbrick went to some lengths to spell out the position
as it was imagined by the men, and as it actually stood as far as the
company was concerned :
'Current rumours include one which fears the shut-down of the factory in
June (1963). Another is that further redundancy is imminent. The factory
is not closing down in June. In respect of future production and redundancy,
the situation is the same as it was when the Managing Director made his
statement in November 1962. We have orders for carbide for the next two
years, but we have no specific guarantee that our customers will continue
to take our carbide indefinitely. It depends on our ability to supply at the
right quality and price. Our future on a long-term basis rests on being able
to do so .... The situation the factory now faces is one for cautious optimism
but not pessimism. So much depends on how much everyone is prepared
to contribute to making the factory an efficient producing unit in a buyers'
market'.
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There was talk of diversification. Manufacture of cement was examined,
though the idea was not considered economic in view of the necessary large
capital expenditure.
In May 1963, two teams of the Wardens' and Rescue sections went to
the Civil Defence Regional Competition at Bristol. The Rescue Team was
beaten, and so had to rest on past laurels; the Wardens topped the honours
and earned themselves a trip to London, where, on June 13th, they
competed in the finals. The three wardens were, K. C. Rymer, L. G. Cooke
and D. H. Jones with 0. A. James as first reserve. They were accompanied
by J. Fleming. He had successfully converted Kenfig from the harp to the
bagpipes in his first six months. Kenfig lost the Final by a mere half-mark
to the Scottish team of DCL Kirkliston. This was Kenfig's last Civil Defence
Competition, for in December, a notice was posted on the factory notice
board disbanding the movement.
J. B. Moller left Kenfig to take up his position as Factories Manager of
the Carbon Dioxide Division. He had been appointed to this post the
previous November, but had remained at Kenfig whilst he organized the
framework of his varied duties. The sweet sorrow of seeing J. B. Moller
leave was tempered by the knowledge that he had won the promotion he
so richly earned.
On Friday July 12th 1963, the management faced a meeting of
T.&G.W.U. members in the works canteen. The Union wished to have more
definite information about Kenfig's future, by now almost an obsessive topic
throughout the factory. All management could do was to guarantee
production for two years ahead, a period based on the order book position.
The General Manager was still under pressure on the subject at the July
meeting of the W.J.C.C. W. Howarth commented that two-year forecasts
did not give workpeople a feeling of permanency. C. Jones remarked that
the promise of two year production in no way dispelled the gloom felt by
many regarding the future.
On October 16th, Eric Stein made what proved to be his last journey
to Kenfig. At a luncheon held in his honour and attended by a cross-section
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of long service works and staff employees, Stanley Philbrick presented him
with a handsome replica acetylene lamp, made in Kenfig's workshop by
coppersmith Gwyn Williams. This gift was a cherished possession in the
Stein homestead at Churchill, Oxfordshire. Not only did it symbolize his
long acquaintance with the Carbide Works, but it also demonstrated the
versatility of the individual who faithfully and painstakingly made it.
Versatility was an accepted feature of the Kenfig character. Not many
small factories could rival it for the high proportion of people with marginal
interests, amateur and professional. Mention of a few men will serve as
examples of the numerous. R. Walker (who specialized in
chrysanthemums), R. Jones (Clock No. 1257), an encyclopaedia of
horticultural matters and D. Layland. Layland (colloquially 'Dai Farmer') had
been known to walk with his mechanical cultivator from Pyle to Portchawl
and back, just to dig the allotment for a carbide pal. J. Lloyd, when spared
from work and trade union affairs, was well known for his fox-hunting
activities. No horse or hounds for him - he arranged Saturday morning
shoots with the benediction of the Ministry of Agriculture. While Lloyd was
on Mynydd Margam after foxes, J. Bell (the factory's unlicensed
bookmaker) proved the mainstay of Kenfig Hill Rugby Club, to which, as
chairman, he devoted most of his free time. Service to the public was the
keynote of philosophy for G. M. Hicks and I. G. Denley, using their leisure
hours driving buses in Pyle and Porthcawl. Teased by his fellow men of less
serious outlook than himself, was I. Ball, the factory's numismatist, who
built up a fine collection of coins. In the world of music, T. C. Hayward, E.
Hanford and J. Hier were all prominent members of dance bands in the
area. Latterly, Hayward was the regular organist at the Porthcawl Hotel and
Crossways Country Club, Bridgend.
From the staff personnel, foremost among the versatile men was R.
Harris, who re-opened a long-closed forge at Nottage to fulfil the needs of
the increasingly popular riding schools in the area. His speciality was
wrought iron gates (welded or with old-fashioned ties) made to last a
lifetime. A. G. Davies, who has spent all his days at the wheel, decided to
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pass on the benefit of his knowledge by giving driving tuition in his sparetime
to anyone who disliked being a learner driver for too long. From
carbide-making to catering led the path of J. Sloper, for his pastime was
never happier than when spent helping a friend of his, an Italian
restaurateur, at Port Talbot to lay on banquets and parties. In fact, he
organized an annual function for his shift men which was the envy of his
fellow Shift Superintendents. One of these, B. Shambler thought it a good
idea to take up archery. During his laboratory days, he had proved a
savagely fast-pace bowler for the Kenfig Cricket Club. In late years he
showed that he had lost none of his old impetus when he bowled at the
Globe Inn skittle alley with such speed that he frightened the guts out of
the 'picker-up', an old age pensioner who nearly met his maker
prematurely. No-one has reported seeing the toxopholite at work, which
was perhaps just as well.
Late in Autumn of 1963, a small group of the W.J.C.C. undertook to
carry out the arrangements for the Children's party. At Christmas 1962, the
size of the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, had manifestly exposed the reduction
in Kenfig's labour force and the resultantly diminished number of children
who could attend the party. A sensible decision was taken to alter the venue
to the Miners Welfare Hall at Pyle, where the splendid facilities (including a
separate cinema room) brought out all the natural and spontaneous delight
of children enjoying themselves at Christmas 1963.
National Productivity Year ended. One man, Edward (Ted) Gough, whose
productivity was enormous not just for twelve months but for over thirty
years, twenty-three of them at Kenfig, retired. At one of several farewell
parties held to mark his departure, he confessed that the early years at
Kenfig were, for him, the best, since they were the most hectic, giving the
greatest sense of purpose. In those days, Gough might be called from his
bed without warning to get plant or machinery working again, even if it
took thirty-six hours to do so. Edward Gough was 'John Blunt' incarnate,
calling a spade a sanguinary spade. As he was wont at all times to exert
himself in his labours to the maximum, he was impatient and dissatisfied
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with anyone who gave less than best. A strong man with strong language
and stronger principles, he was a real gentleman.
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Chapter 21
Notice to quit
The year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four opened with the
blackest record of absenteeism that Kenfig had ever known. National
Productivity Year had died in a blaze of Hogmanay celebrations on a scale
previously unknown South of the border. A factory with such a finelybalanced
labour force was bound to notice and miss its recalcitrant
employees, and management quickly showed the iron fist of intense
approbation.
The reproofs delivered, Kenfig settled down to map out its future
operations for the year. At this time, a temporary deficiency in the supply
of polyvinyl chloride for use in plastics fabrication called for greater
quantities of carbide. The plastics industry itself was involved in a very 'cutthroat'
competitive market; indeed, British Geon Limited (plant jointly
owned by DCL and the American Company, B. F. Goodrich Chemical
Company), were already investigating the possibility of obtaining supplies
of carbide overseas, as they considered that the home price per ton was
far too high. Out of loyalty, they had always placed their position squarely
on the table before Kenfig. In any case, could Kenfig, handicapped by twofurnace
production, provide the extra tonnage needed as and when they
were required, perhaps at reasonably short notice, even if British Geon
were prepared to pay the top price per ton ? Investigations into the
economics of re-starting up the third furnace proved beyond doubt the
hopelessness of trying to compete with foreign prices, especially as extra
labour would be needed to meet the requirements of a fluctuating market.
The idea of customers making their own arrangements to import carbide
was disagreeable to the Carbide Division, who wished to keep control of
such movements within its own power. Consequently, Kenfig itself arranged
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for substantial imports to be made, though only domestically-produced
carbide was ever sent to Barry.
S. Philbrick made his first reference to the developments of the oil
industry and the effects of these on the use of carbide as an acetylene
derivative. Cliff Jones protested that as Kenfig was now an outmoded
industry, it should not be written off without having the advantage of
changing to new methods. W. Howarth wanted any new factory envisaged
to produce acetylene from oil to be located at Kenfig, but was informed by
R. R. Williams that it was impossible to 'transfer in isolation that part of the
oil industry which is the substitute for calcium carbide'. Only six months
before, C. Jones had raised the question of obtaining PVC solely from oil
derivatives, at which time the re-assuring information was that such a technique
was possible 'but at the moment the process was too expensive to
make it worthwhile'. At the beginning of 1964, things looked none too rosy
again at the factory, and ugly rumours were once more in circulation, with
talk of closure very much uppermost. The General Manager addressed the
February meeting of the W.J.C.C. with an account from the technical press
concerning the projected change from carbide to the oil naptha-cracking
method of obtaining acetylene by the British Oxygen Company, which
operated a single 50,000 ton capacity carbide furnace in Londonderry,
Northern Ireland.
Throughout the Spring of 1964, it became increasingly difficult to
maintain a healthy trading position, and the factory was under constant
pressure to reduce its prices. Further pleas were made to all personnel to
do their level best to cut costs to the bone. A rigid drive on economy was
set in motion to improve on an already severe budget. Most people were
already very cost-conscious, though/ it/
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Clenching the drums closed
/it must be recorded that a minority of workers thought the whole business
of redundancy which had gone before and the economic severity now
practised were one big bluff on the part of the Company to contain wages
and maintain profits.
Three familiar faces disappeared from the Kenfig scene within a short
time. Mrs M. L. Wall, so often in the past at the centre of the abusive
maelstrom, which is the lot of any canteen manageress slipped quietly into
retirement. R. J. Jones, safety officer for the past five years, left the
Company's service, leaving behind him a much improved accident situation,
an achievement that had brought from Dr Roffey to Stanley Philbrick the
previous year a very complimentary letter, praising the fact that Kenfig had
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moved from the worst accident record to one nearer the company's average.
Arthur Gough, son of the previously mentioned engineer, left the
drawing office, which he entered twenty years earlier at the tender age of
sixteen, to take up an appointment with the Steel Company of Wales.
In mid May 1964, Stanley Philbrick was unable to take the chair at the
W.J.C.C. monthly meeting. He did, however, attend long enough to make
an important statement, prior to the committee's normal business. Such an
unusual precedent set the members wondering what tidings were
forthcoming. The General Manager's declaration concerned the strong
rumours reported as stemming from the Barry factory about a date of
closure for Kenfig. Although admitting that the future did not look too
optimistic, in the light of developments in the chemical industry, yet he was
able to asseverate categorically that 'a check at a high management level
has been made regarding the rumours' and that 'no official statement has
been made at Barry, and as yet no decision has been made regarding new
developments'. Production was safely guaranteed for the next two years,
based on the position of known commitments. The members of the
committee accordingly breathed a sigh of relief. This feeling persisted to
the next monthly session, at which no further apprehension was expressed.
On Monday June 22nd 1964, a shocked factory learned of the death two
days before of Emlyn Davies, Transport Manager. The previous Autumn,
three members of the staff, Leo Moore, Hedley Marsh and Marcus Kent, had
passed away within a short time of each other. The same Monday, it was
announced that J. H. Dunn would be in Kenfig the following Friday, June
26th, to address representative groups of works and staff on an important
matter. For the large number who attended the interment at Nottage of
Emlyn Davies on a brilliantly sunny Wednesday afternoon, Friday's meeting
was pushed to the back of the mind.
Well, Friday came and with it the news from J. H. Dunn that Kenfig would
close down on July 31st 1966. The production of carbide after that date
would not be economical, for within two years, it was hoped to have a new
plant built at Barry. This new plant, producing acetylene from oil, would
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feed the acetylene directly into the polyvinyl chloride plant of British Geon
Limited. Simple economics and technological changes, features that can
affect even the most industrious of factories at any time had overtaken
Kenfig and led to a period of final eclipse. The whole affair was widely
reported in the 'Western Mail', 'South Wales Echo' and 'South Wales
Evening Post', over the next few days. On the release of the Annual
Statement for 1963/4 by the Company Chairman, Ronald S. Cumming
(later knighted), the carbide plant's obituary notice was again underlined :
'As the high cost of electricity has inevitably resulted in expensive
carbide, it has been decided that acetylene must be obtained by a more
economic method. We greatly regret that this will entail the closing of the
carbide factory at Kenfig in two years' time'.
Once and for all the air of uncertainty was dissipated. At long last, the
five hundred odd employees knew their fate, that, provided the plant would
meet its production obligations, work was available for another two years.
Failure to fulfil known orders might well mean closure earlier than planned.
By the Autumn of 1964 Kenfig hoped that it could survive until the end
came. We were now without a single draughtsman, transport manager,
canteen manageress and safety officer. Bill Rees, work study, had been
transferred to Barry. 'Dil' Rees, Chief Engineer, had returned to engineering
division and these departures added extra burdens to those who remained.
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Chapter 22
The quarter-century
Throughout the Autumn of 1964, the factory settled down to its new
position; full realization that the plant had a limited life promoted a spate
of enquiries about rights and benefits at the W.J.C.C. meetings. The death
in November, 1964, of Cyril Nelson, electrical supervisor for twenty-three
years, was an indication to many that the factory closure was not in itself
the be-all and end-all, when compared with the larger issue of living.
The Personnel Department had a hectic time complying with the
Contracts of Employment Act 1963, issuing to every employee statements
showing the terms of employment between Company and man. In addition
to this, J. Fleming, personnel manager, undertook, with the help of J. E.
Whitaker and R. Moss of Central Labour Department, the interviewing of
four hundred workpeople to acquaint each individual of his redundancy
terms and to find out how each man could be helped towards finding a new
job. It was a major and not very pleasant task but it was carried out
speedily within the short space of a fortnight.
Hearsay still nagged at some sections of the workers, the latest rumour
purporting to claim that Kenfig would not run its full course. The
management quickly scotched this tale, explaining that during the period
that the new acetylene plant at Barry was under construction and
commission, British Geon Limited, must be assured of supplies of carbide
right up to July 1966; only a labour stoppage, or some such incident, could
possibly mean an earlier shut-down.
Oddly enough, one of the three transformers on No. 1 carbide furnace
was severely damaged, and the job of repairs was estimated to take a year.
Kenfig, working on two furnaces only, would carry on quite well, just so
long as nothing untoward happened to a second furnace. Kenfig tried to
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hire one from Shawinigan Falls, but without success. The job of repairs,
apart from the time factor of twelve months, constituted a pricey item at
around £15,000. Finally, the management decided to trust to luck and rely
on the two good transformers, which held out well.
The year 1965, Kenfig's quarter-century, entered with a high degree of
production due to fewer power cuts than anticipated. The furnaces were
working at the maximum possible capacity, a fact which bemused some of
the workers. How, they wondered, could Kenfig work at top rate only to
stop abruptly at a given date? Stanley Philbrick explained again that carbide
at Kenfig would be totally uneconomic after the new acetylene plant at
Barry was ready. In any case, other carbide factories in the United
Kingdom, the British Oxygen Company, Northern Ireland, and ICI were
simultaneously working to produce acetylene from oil. Furthermore, the
pattern abroad showed a tendency to petro chemicals, for all over the
world, the carbide industry was contracting. Recent experience at Kenfig
must have been first-class for a technician like Idris Price, who had just left
to take up the position of production manager with the Rand Carbide
Company of South Africa. Soon E. W. C. Clutterbuck, Kenfig's commercial
manager, would be returning to a post of Marketing Manager in the
company's Industrial Solvents Division in London.
Surveying the prospect of the quarter-century and reflecting on Kenfig's
numbered days, J. E. Whitaker, who replaced William Rees as Carbide
Division correspondent of the DCL 'Gazette', commented:
'It is interesting to speculate whether the new method of pro-ducing
acetylene will be used in 1990' so mutable is the pattern of the chemical
industry.
The carbide was oozing out of the two furnaces in greater quantities than
anticipated. When the figures for the year ended 31st March 1965 were
issued they showed a manufacture of well over eighty-two thousand tons
(see Appendix I), a tonnage never reached during the war years when three
furnaces were available. This feat earned a mention in the Company
Chairman's annual letter for 1964/5:
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'Calcium carbide production at Kenfig set a new record for two-furnace
operations over a period of twelve months'. A wonderful thing that a
doomed factory displayed no operative atrophy. Among the men, however,
there were still worries about the future position of employment when DCL
had left the plant. John Lloyd, on behalf of the members of the Transport
and General Workers' Union, addressed a letter to the Ministry of Defence,
with copies to Frank Cousins (Minister of Technology), James Griffiths, M.P.
(Minister of State for Wales) and the industrial journal 'The Voice of Welsh
Industry'. This letter which appeared in the April issue of The Voice', asked
the Ministry to 'give early consideration to the possibilities of using this site
for other purposes .... as we accept that the manufacture of calcium carbide
is not likely to be profitable'. Redundancy due to closure was not the shock
that it had been under the selective pruning policy of 1962, but the prospect
of being jobless in the near future was no less vexatious to the men
involved. The Ministry replied that, 'provided no other government
department required the site, it would be disposed of on the open market'.
Helpfully, the Board of Trade would draw the attention of the site's eventual
availability to any firms interested in the area.
On Easter Tuesday April 17th 1965, the works personnel held their
annual dance at the Dolphin Hotel, Swansea, where they hoped to repeat
their previous year's successful function. Hopes were fulfilled, due to a very
high attendance of carbide workers and their wives. The atmosphere was
more carefree than ever before, making the evening a delightful affair. By
virtue of considerable practice and an inherent flair for organization, J.
Boon, one of the principal sponsors, accounted it the best get-together to
date.
Talks were proceeding around this time between Management and Union
over the proposed reduction of the working week from forty-two hours to
forty hours. In addition, the announcement was made, as was general
throughout the giant Distillers Group, that the cash bonus, paid at the
Company's discretion on a percentage fixed by the Board of Directors,
would be henceforth integrated in the general remuneration of employees,
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and wages and salaries were increased by eleven per cent. The new policy
was much welcomed at the factory since it would enhance the redundancy
payments.
T. A. Felton, with some of his electrical staff, assisted by the factory
painters were busy renovating and refitting a scale working model of a
carbide furnace, originally constructed in 1952 in the factory's workshop for
a trade exhibition at Port Talbot. Now that the process of carbide-making
in Great Britain was a moribund industry, the model was offered to, and
gratefully accepted by the National Museum of Wales for the museum's
industrial annexe, soon to be completed. Felton was the first man to
complete twenty- five years at Kenfig. Amid a representative gathering of
old and new colleagues on May 28th, it was a joy for him to receive from
the hands of J. H. Dunn a watch and certificate marking a quarter- century
of service with The Distillers Company. In a colourful acknowledgement,
Felton briefly outlined the chequered days of Kenfig, stressing that,
although the first years were exciting and the last few years dour, it was
the middle period that stood out in his mind as the most satisfying and
enjoyable.
As June came to a close, the last lorry load of limestone brought in by
Rees and Sons, Grove Quarry, South Cornelly, was unceremoniously
delivered. D. Rees, the driver who had made several journeys a day for
many years remembered it as just another trip, and left the site without a
word from anyone.
The next day, a mass assembly of workpeople saw Bertie Edwards, one
of the factory's own limestone lorry drivers, receive his watch from the
General Manager. Edwards was the first hourly- paid man to complete
twenty-five years at Kenfig. Before 1965 was out, seven more employees
would complete the quarter-century, and by July 1966, another fifty-two
employees were to qualify for a long-service award.
A ripple of unrest occurred on Monday night of July 5th 1965 among the
process workers over the allocation of duties to a trainee process worker.
Personnel Manager J. Fleming and Production Manager R. R. Williams were
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quickly at the plant to investigate the source of the trouble, stating the
Company's attitude in the matter. The General Manager was away on
business in London at the time. The following afternoon at one o'clock, the
men assembled in front of the canteen block on the car park to decide their
course of action. Half a dozen or so had already made up their minds and
drove off through the gates. Any further departure was halted by Jack
Hayes and Idris Denley, who, perhaps fearing that any industrial stoppage
might impair Kenfig's chances of continuing to the date planned, begged
their workmates to think again and discuss the position much more fully
before walking out. Talks between management and shop stewards led to
the two parties coming to terms, a relief to all involved.
On Thursday November 18th, the plant was shocked and grieved to learn
from the newspapers of the tragic death of Eric Stein. At the November
meeting of the W.J.C.C. Stanley Philbrick paid tribute to the part Mr Stein
had played in the foundation of the Kenfig Factory.
Soon afterwards, Kenfig was treated (like some other factories in the
DCL group) to a vodka tasting party in the staff canteen. Here, was D. J.
Hayman, recently created Managing Director of J. & J. Vickers Limited
(which was responsible for the marketing of 'Cossack' vodka), trying to
persuade a body of people more accustomed to beer, whisky and gin to ask
for a specific brand of vodka better known perhaps in the Kremlin. D. J.
Hayman was unknown to Kenfig. A quarter of a century earlier his father
had used the same charming persuasion in an effort to get Kenfig producing
carbide with the minimum delay. A lot had happened in twenty-five years.
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Chapter 23
The closure
Signs of growing apprehension were apparent among the folk of Kenfig in
the Spring of 1966; men began to realize the nearness of the closure and
its implications perhaps more fully than ever before. Anxiety was more
marked among the middle-aged and older men, whose preoccupation dwelt
on where the next job, if any, was to be found.
Although essential repairs were still carried out on the two furnaces, old
stocks of raw materials were dug into and used to coincide with the general
running-down programme for the next few months. Some of these old
stocks at times proved so inferior that their use led to a series of
breakdowns; these setbacks, coupled with the men's feelings, evoked from
Idris Denley at a works committee meeting the impassioned cri-de-coeur:
The plant is cracking and so are we' Against this background, a Ministry
of Labour sub-office was set up on the site, manned by two officials from
the Ministry's Port Talbot office. In the ensuing period, Messrs Gault and
Sheppard, assisted by Kenfig's own personnel manager, carried out
personal interviews with every single employee and maintained liaison with
every potential employer in the area. Welsh labour is notoriously static, and
as the men did not in the main want to work beyond reasonable daily
travelling distance, the Ministry's undertaking proved a difficult one; their
efforts of resettlement were reasonably successful.
Where transfers and movement of labour to other employers could be
effected without prejudicing the essential production of carbide to which
the management was committed, these were carried out. In some cases,
departmental work decreased so fast that it became expedient for certain
employees to leave as soon as they could be accommodated elsewhere.
Job-switching between the factory's units became commonplace, and
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served to show the versatility of the work-people when need was the
deciding factor.
The Government scheme whereby a man could undergo a period of retraining
in order to change the nature of his work was welcomed
wholeheartedly, for the sense of future hope contained in it.
The company, mindful of the precarious position of the older employees
improved the terms of its Kenfig pension scheme to encompass among its
beneficiaries men of sixty years and above, thus making it possible for men
to receive pension between one and five years earlier than under the old
order. Everything that could be done to ease the Kenfig burden was done.
As if to demonstrate that Kenfig still existed, a team of First Aid
personnel was sent to Cardiff on April 21st 1966 to partake in the Hague
Cup Area competition and won handsomely. At the final in London some
time later, the necessary slice of luck was missing, and Kenfig came a lowly
fourth. But there were no complaints. The Hague Cup had been contested
over a ten year period during which Kenfig had successfully captured it no
less than five times. At this time, in order to beguile the feelings of preclosure
nerves, any excuse for a party was seized upon. As an increasing
number of Kenfigians attained their twenty-fifth year of service, watches
and scrolls of honour were presented at a number of gatherings within the
factory and without. One of the most memorable took place at the Prince
of Wales, Kenfig, when seventeen presentations were made. The
distinguishing feature of the evening was the presence of Ernest Turner,
erstwhile Deputy Works Manager, and George Poole, ex Production
Manager. Poole was on holiday in the area at/ /
- 113 -
Tom Felton throws the last switch
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//the time and was delighted to have an opportunity of talking over the
good old days in the carbide industry with his former colleagues.
The end of Kenfig was now very much in sight, the difficult days nearly
over. Writing at this particular time in the DCL magazine, the Kenfig
correspondent observed:
'Closing down a large factory is neither a pleasant nor an easy task, but
to do it with two years' notice, preceded by a similar period of rumour and
counter rumour, creates pressures unique in industrial management'.
On Friday 29th July 1966, Tom Felton was given the sad task of throwing
the last switch. He had been the first man to switch on the furnace on a
trial basis long ago in 1941. The final occasion was played out with due
ceremony. J. H. Dunn, Stanley Philbrick and a large representative group
of officials and work people were present to hear Felton give a thumb-nail
sketch of the factory's history, stressing the valuable part played in
establishing the industry in Britain by Eric Stein and Sir Graham Hayman.
Both men were now gone, Sir Graham having passed away in his seventythird
year on March 10th previous. It was ironical that only days before the
Kenfig furnace ran out its last tap of calcium carbide, Sir Ronald Cumming,
DCL Chairman, had received from the hands of the Lord Provost of
Edinburgh the Queen's Award to Industry, in recognition of outstanding
achievements by certain of the company's enterprises in the field of export
and technology. Technology had brought Kenfig to its full productive circle,
and no more Welsh carbide would ever be produced.
All but eighty of the men collected their final payments, and on the
Friday night of July 29th, met for the last time as a body at the Pyle Welfare
Hall for a barnstorming farewell party. The managing director (chemicals),
J. H. Dunn took this opportunity to present a further group of sixteen men
with twenty-five year service awards.
A new duty awaited the eighty men still on the Kenfig payroll. The
operation of the newly-constructed naphtha-cracking acetylene plant at
Barry encountered technical troubles; hence the PVC unit was found to
require a substantial supply of carbide in the coming months. Such a
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likelihood had been anticipated, and arrangements had already been made
against this contingency to import large shipments of foreign carbide from
France, Norway and some of the Slav, countries. The prospect of extended
employment naturally pleased the small remaining labour force at Kenfig,
whose task was to check and open the drums and re-pack the carbide into
bulk containers for road transportation. This procedure was carried out with
perfect success, so that the Barry undertaking never suffered from lack of
supplies right up until the end of November 1966, when the men were
finally released.
Until the close of 1966, work at Kenfig was confined to a skeleton
security staff. On New Year's Day 1967, George (Jock) McKenna was
awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Honours List for services
rendered to the carbide industry. The same day, the site was taken over by
the Board of Trade for the purpose of development of new industries, this
function to be carried out by the Welsh Industrial Estates Corporation. All
previously unsold plant and equipment came under the hammer of crownappointed
auctioneers in February 1967.
One ton a day was the output of the world's first carbide furnace, built
in 1891 at Spray, California, by Thomas Wilson, the original discoverer of
carbide on a commercial basis. The acetylene lighting era, from which arose
the carbide works at Leeds and Falls of Foyers, Inverness, and the
numerous ancillary manufacturing units of generators and gas purifiers - a
principal one was the Acetylene Gas and Calcium Carbide Company at
Pontardawe, near Swansea - passed into oblivion two decades before the
conception of a plant at Kenfig.
Kenfig carbide factory, a direct result of the exigencies of the Second
World War, was in its turn overtaken by technological progress. In twentyfive
years, it produced well over two million tons before outliving its
usefulness.
I
- 116 -
Appendix 1
The following is a record of the production of
calcium carbide at
the Kenfig Factory:
1942 whole year 28,493 Tons
1943 whole year 55,706 Tons
1944 whole year 61,884 Tons
1945 whole year 61,645 Tons
1946 whole year 82,238 Tons
1947 whole year 78,012 Tons
1948 whole year 93,550 Tons
1949 January 1 st - March 31 st 20,473 Tons
Apr 1st 1949-March 31st 1950 79,124 Tons
Apr 1st 1950-March 31st 1951 96,493 Tons
Apr 1st 1951 - March 31st 1952 101,640
Tons
Apr 1st 1952-March 31st 1953 90,177 Tons
Apr 1st 1953-March 31st 1954 104,003 Tons
Apr 1st 1954-March 31st 1955 111,040 Tons
Apr 1 st 1955 - March 31 st 1956 111,457 Tons
Apr 1st 1956-March 31st 1957 105,194 Tons
Apr 1st 1957-March 31st 1958 115,529 Tons
Apr 1 st 1958 - March 31 st 1959 100,482 Tons
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Apr 1 st 1959 - March 31 st 1960 107,326 Tons
Apr 1st 1960-March 31st 1961 112,231 Tons
Apr 1st 1961 - March 31st 1962 95,438 Tons
Apr 1st 1962-March 31st 1963 70,949 Tons
Apr 1st 1963-March31st 1964 76,591 Tons
Apr 1st 1964-March 31st 1965 82,91 5 Tons
Apr 1 st 1965 - March 31 st 1966 80,153 Tons
Apr 1st 1966-July 1966 22,100 Tons
M.O.S. Period 896,416 Tons
DCL Period 1,248,427 Tons
- 118 -
DCL Long Service Awards
These men received their long service awards during the years covered by
this book after working at other DCL units.
Frank Newport MBE 40 years
George MacDonald 25 years
Tom Storey 25 years 'd. 1971
Edward Gough 25 years
Seventy-one 25 year awards were also made to men who achieved
this service entirely at the Kenfig Factory.
Tom Felton Eddie Evans Evan Hopkins
Bertie Edwards Ray Rees Tim O'Leary
Aneurin Davies Selwyn Evans Eric Leigh
Emlyn Evans Alwyne Davies Vernon Upton
Maynard Hicks Sam McMurtrey Jack Davies
Bryn Jones d.1972 Graham Jones Evan Roberts
Gwyn Thomas Eddie Parker Billie Davies
Idris James Ted Manley Tony Barnes
Glyn Jones Evan Rees Arthur Gibbon
Rhys Howell d. Denzil Meyrick Len Taylor
Tom Phillips Morgan Francis Roy Evans
Stan Richards David Jenkins Albert Holcombe
Eddie Thomas Jim O'Kane William Pearn
Trevor Thomas Jim Dixon Sid Allen
Harry Williams d.1979 Mervyn Davies Reg Morgan
Gwyn Roderick Dick Clarke Bernard Lewis
Jack Duff Tommy Jones Ray Harman
Edgar Hooper Jack Hier Jim Passmore
Brian Richards Glyn Wellington Paddy Waters
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Dai Lewis Gwyn Chambers d. Morgan Moore
Leslie Regent John Power Alan John d.1974
Glyn Davies Jack Hook William Paterson
Ted Danter Gwyn Jones d. Eddie Richards
Harry Bahlert Joe Mason
- 120 -
Notes on the Author Denis H. Jones
The idea for this booklet was born during a W.J.C.C. meeting in April 1965,
and it was appropriate that Denis Jones a member of the Committee should
be appointed to undertake the task.
Denis was 23 when he joined the Accounts Department in January 1955.
He was appointed Assistant Works Cashier in 1961, a position he held for
six years and which brought him into close contact with almost everyone in
the factory. He acquired an intimate knowledge of the plant and its
personnel. These qualifications combined with a literary bent and a passion
for local history made him well suited for the job.
This book is the result of many hours of work delving into the factory
archives, and spending a great deal of his own time writing and meeting
ex-Kenfig personnel. His story will stir the memories of all one time carbide
workers, and places on record much of the character of Kenfig which made
it unique in the activities of the D.C.L. Industrial Group.
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