Syngenta (formerly ICI), Huddersfield – 2013
Visited with drhowser, bigjobs, Hidden and millhouse.
History
Syngenta could be quickly summarised as a large, global agro-chemicals company, that markets seeds and pesticides, with plants worldwide totalling over 90 countries. But the roots of the interconnected industries here on the eastern edge of Huddersfield are considerably older than a Swiss multi-national formed in 2000...
Read Holliday & Sons Ltd
In 1830, an enterprising, 21-year old by the name of Read Holliday set himself up in the business of distilling ammonia on a premises off Leeds Road, Huddersfield. At that time, gas was produced by carbonising coal at relatively low temperatures, a process which yielded large volumes of coal-tar and liquor as by-products. The gas industry had no use for these, so Holliday began to distil ammonia from the liquor and sell it to the clothing industry as a scouring agent in place of the more traditionally used ‘sig' – that’s stale piss to you and I. Soda Ash and washing power were also produced. The coal-tar was initially just used as a fuel, but in 1845, Holliday began distilling that too producing naphtha and creosote. The latter found a ready market for treating railway sleepers at the height of ‘railway mania’.
In 1848, Holliday obtained his first patent for a namptha lamp in 1848. Holliday’s Peerless Lamp was a self-vapourising gas lamp, operating without a wick, and became a household name, winning a premier award at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Tar distillation plants would become common through the 1850s but by the end of that decade Holliday’s was the largest such business in the North of England. The emergence of paraffin threatened the namptha lamp market, but it was at this time that Holliday switched his efforts to a new industry for which his company would become best-known.
Dyestuffs
The firm went on to make a wide range of dyestuffs, including the original Magenta, Spirit Blue, Basic Green and many others. They also made raw materials like nitrobenzene and aniline for other dye-makers and came to dominate dyestuffs as they had tar distillation earlier in their history.
Trade Ad for Germol, A Mixture of Carbolic, Cresylic and Naphthenic Acids, 1897
British Dyestuffs Advert in China, 1922
British Dyestuffs Corporation, 1924
Read Holliday retired in 1861 leaving his sons to manage the business, which they did until the outbreak of the First World War cut off British firms from German Suppliers, and drastic measures were called for. Holliday’s was bought up and forcibly merged by the Government with several other businesses to become British Dyes Ltd in 1915. After subsequent Government-sponsored mergers, this time with Levinstein's of Manchester, British Dyes Ltd became the British Dyestuffs Corporation in 1919. In this year, a new site was built at Dalton. By 1926, British Dyestuffs Corporation was merged with further chemical giants to become ICI. The ICI name would become become synonymous with Huddersfield.
ICI, August 1938
ICI, May 1973
In 1993, in response to takeover fears, ICI split itself into two parts, ICI and Zeneca. Zeneca was the higher-tech part made up of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and specialties.. Zeneca sold the textile dyes business to BASF in 1996, retaining the newer and more profitable ink jet colours interests. The remaining parts of the specialties business were sold in 1999 to a management buyout backed by venture capital which was called Avecia. By that time the major remaining dye works at Huddersfield and Grangemouth were about 50 percent devoted to agrochemicals manufacture. These parts of the works were retained by Zeneca and finally became part of Syngenta. Also in 1999 Zeneca merged with Astra to form AstraZeneca, which is now entirely a pharmaceuticals business, and well over ten times the size of the restructured ICI. Syngenta was formed in 2000 by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca Agrochemicals.
Conversations with drhowser in Spring got severely out of hand, as they often do, and we ended up scouting the periphery of this massive site. We loosely worked out our access together using the tried and tested ‘strategic perimeter reconnaissance walk’ and we made plans to return to exact our planned route on site. That we did, but our progress that evening was thwarted by the combination of an untimely monsoon and a preposterously close encounter with a worker – a swift awakening to how busy and open our surroundings were. It was a case of rain stop play... but at least we now knew we could get in undetected.
Howser prompty left the country, so I called upon the troops to see who might fancy making it further around the site. Bigjobs, Hidden and Millhouse answered the call. For our return, we mobilised, kitted out and re-traced the earlier access plan. Upon approaching, it became clear that parts of the facility were not floodlit like that had been on earlier visits. We knew that this part of the plant was still very much on because we could hear the steam emissions and the constant hum, but we assumed this *might* mean we had free roam in the shadows amidst the pipes once on site... we were a bit wrong. It quickly became apparent that there were regular patrols. Frequent vehicular passes, as well as security patrols on foot, sporadically illuminating the dark with torchlight.
We decided on the policy of ‘keep moving’. Working our way around the processing plants, taking photos in the areas we felt we could stop. It was frequently being proven to us that there were no real hiding places. Cue lots and lots of whispering and frantic pointing. Bowel movements were noted. I've never been caught in Huddersfield as yet, and I certainly didn't want that record to come to an end here.
fold in film fuck up courtesy of max peelman
Dawn was approaching, and somehow, we’d ludicrously found ourselves perched up high, looking down across the entire valley floor and at the plant which dominates it. Eventually, we settled for what we had achieved and got out before sunrise.
A lot still to go at here, but for me, a personal ambition for 2013 was realised.
tweek
Visited with drhowser, bigjobs, Hidden and millhouse.
History
Syngenta could be quickly summarised as a large, global agro-chemicals company, that markets seeds and pesticides, with plants worldwide totalling over 90 countries. But the roots of the interconnected industries here on the eastern edge of Huddersfield are considerably older than a Swiss multi-national formed in 2000...
Read Holliday & Sons Ltd
In 1830, an enterprising, 21-year old by the name of Read Holliday set himself up in the business of distilling ammonia on a premises off Leeds Road, Huddersfield. At that time, gas was produced by carbonising coal at relatively low temperatures, a process which yielded large volumes of coal-tar and liquor as by-products. The gas industry had no use for these, so Holliday began to distil ammonia from the liquor and sell it to the clothing industry as a scouring agent in place of the more traditionally used ‘sig' – that’s stale piss to you and I. Soda Ash and washing power were also produced. The coal-tar was initially just used as a fuel, but in 1845, Holliday began distilling that too producing naphtha and creosote. The latter found a ready market for treating railway sleepers at the height of ‘railway mania’.
In 1848, Holliday obtained his first patent for a namptha lamp in 1848. Holliday’s Peerless Lamp was a self-vapourising gas lamp, operating without a wick, and became a household name, winning a premier award at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Tar distillation plants would become common through the 1850s but by the end of that decade Holliday’s was the largest such business in the North of England. The emergence of paraffin threatened the namptha lamp market, but it was at this time that Holliday switched his efforts to a new industry for which his company would become best-known.
Dyestuffs
The firm went on to make a wide range of dyestuffs, including the original Magenta, Spirit Blue, Basic Green and many others. They also made raw materials like nitrobenzene and aniline for other dye-makers and came to dominate dyestuffs as they had tar distillation earlier in their history.
Trade Ad for Germol, A Mixture of Carbolic, Cresylic and Naphthenic Acids, 1897
British Dyestuffs Advert in China, 1922
British Dyestuffs Corporation, 1924
Read Holliday retired in 1861 leaving his sons to manage the business, which they did until the outbreak of the First World War cut off British firms from German Suppliers, and drastic measures were called for. Holliday’s was bought up and forcibly merged by the Government with several other businesses to become British Dyes Ltd in 1915. After subsequent Government-sponsored mergers, this time with Levinstein's of Manchester, British Dyes Ltd became the British Dyestuffs Corporation in 1919. In this year, a new site was built at Dalton. By 1926, British Dyestuffs Corporation was merged with further chemical giants to become ICI. The ICI name would become become synonymous with Huddersfield.
ICI, August 1938
ICI, May 1973
In 1993, in response to takeover fears, ICI split itself into two parts, ICI and Zeneca. Zeneca was the higher-tech part made up of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and specialties.. Zeneca sold the textile dyes business to BASF in 1996, retaining the newer and more profitable ink jet colours interests. The remaining parts of the specialties business were sold in 1999 to a management buyout backed by venture capital which was called Avecia. By that time the major remaining dye works at Huddersfield and Grangemouth were about 50 percent devoted to agrochemicals manufacture. These parts of the works were retained by Zeneca and finally became part of Syngenta. Also in 1999 Zeneca merged with Astra to form AstraZeneca, which is now entirely a pharmaceuticals business, and well over ten times the size of the restructured ICI. Syngenta was formed in 2000 by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca Agrochemicals.
Conversations with drhowser in Spring got severely out of hand, as they often do, and we ended up scouting the periphery of this massive site. We loosely worked out our access together using the tried and tested ‘strategic perimeter reconnaissance walk’ and we made plans to return to exact our planned route on site. That we did, but our progress that evening was thwarted by the combination of an untimely monsoon and a preposterously close encounter with a worker – a swift awakening to how busy and open our surroundings were. It was a case of rain stop play... but at least we now knew we could get in undetected.
Howser prompty left the country, so I called upon the troops to see who might fancy making it further around the site. Bigjobs, Hidden and Millhouse answered the call. For our return, we mobilised, kitted out and re-traced the earlier access plan. Upon approaching, it became clear that parts of the facility were not floodlit like that had been on earlier visits. We knew that this part of the plant was still very much on because we could hear the steam emissions and the constant hum, but we assumed this *might* mean we had free roam in the shadows amidst the pipes once on site... we were a bit wrong. It quickly became apparent that there were regular patrols. Frequent vehicular passes, as well as security patrols on foot, sporadically illuminating the dark with torchlight.
We decided on the policy of ‘keep moving’. Working our way around the processing plants, taking photos in the areas we felt we could stop. It was frequently being proven to us that there were no real hiding places. Cue lots and lots of whispering and frantic pointing. Bowel movements were noted. I've never been caught in Huddersfield as yet, and I certainly didn't want that record to come to an end here.
fold in film fuck up courtesy of max peelman
Dawn was approaching, and somehow, we’d ludicrously found ourselves perched up high, looking down across the entire valley floor and at the plant which dominates it. Eventually, we settled for what we had achieved and got out before sunrise.
A lot still to go at here, but for me, a personal ambition for 2013 was realised.
tweek
