History
Brunner, Mond and Co. was established in 1873 by John Brunner and Ludwig Mond. Their journey began when they set out to find a suitable site for an ammonia works in the Cheshire salt district. They selected Winnington, near Northwich, as the location for their first plant. This was followed by three other sites in the area.
Here are some key milestones in their history:
1874: The company built Winnington Works in Northwich, Cheshire, and produced their first soda ash. Their goal was to make soda ash using the new ammonia soda process, primarily for the cotton industry.
1881: Brunner, Mond and Co. was officially registered as a limited company. John Crosfield, their largest customer, became the first chairman.
1886: They installed coke ovens at Winnington to produce ammonia for their soda plant.
1887: Ludwig Mond introduced a process for recovering chlorine from waste calcium chloride, using waste zinc oxide from lead production in Wales.
1894: Brunners opened a plant in Silvertown, east London, to make soda crystals and caustic soda from Winnington soda ash.
1895: They acquired the ammonia-soda plant in Middlewich from Murgatroyd and Co. Ltd, reopening it after reconstruction.secca
1897: Brunners induced Bell Brothers to cease alkali production at their Port Clarence plant, which they subsequently bought and demolished soon after 1900.
1926: A second Winnington plant came into production at the Wallerscote works.
1928: The Brunner Mond Group became part of the ICI Alkali Division.
1990s: The name Brunner Mond returned after the soda ash businesses were demerged.
1998 the company acquired the soda ash production capabilities of Akzo Nobel in The Netherlands to form Brunner Mond B.V., now a wholly owned subsidiary company of the group.
2006 Brunner Mond Group was purchased by Tata Chemicals Limited.
2011 Name changed to Tata Chemicals Europe Ltd
Soda ash and calcium chloride production ceased at the Winnington plant in February 2014, marking the end of 140 years of soda ash production in Northwich
Today, the legacy of Brunner, Mond and Co. lives on as part of Tata Chemicals Europe. Their contributions to the soda ash industry remain significant, and their story is a testament to innovation and industrial progress.
Explore
Visited with PV early hours on a cold March day. Had to dodge secca a few times driving round the site when crossing the roads and ended up to be quite a relaxed explore spending plenty of time mooching around.
Winnington B Control Room
The power station was demolished in 2007, leaving only the vintage control room behind
Thanks for looking
Brunner, Mond and Co. was established in 1873 by John Brunner and Ludwig Mond. Their journey began when they set out to find a suitable site for an ammonia works in the Cheshire salt district. They selected Winnington, near Northwich, as the location for their first plant. This was followed by three other sites in the area.
Here are some key milestones in their history:
1874: The company built Winnington Works in Northwich, Cheshire, and produced their first soda ash. Their goal was to make soda ash using the new ammonia soda process, primarily for the cotton industry.
1881: Brunner, Mond and Co. was officially registered as a limited company. John Crosfield, their largest customer, became the first chairman.
1886: They installed coke ovens at Winnington to produce ammonia for their soda plant.
1887: Ludwig Mond introduced a process for recovering chlorine from waste calcium chloride, using waste zinc oxide from lead production in Wales.
1894: Brunners opened a plant in Silvertown, east London, to make soda crystals and caustic soda from Winnington soda ash.
1895: They acquired the ammonia-soda plant in Middlewich from Murgatroyd and Co. Ltd, reopening it after reconstruction.secca
1897: Brunners induced Bell Brothers to cease alkali production at their Port Clarence plant, which they subsequently bought and demolished soon after 1900.
1926: A second Winnington plant came into production at the Wallerscote works.
1928: The Brunner Mond Group became part of the ICI Alkali Division.
1990s: The name Brunner Mond returned after the soda ash businesses were demerged.
1998 the company acquired the soda ash production capabilities of Akzo Nobel in The Netherlands to form Brunner Mond B.V., now a wholly owned subsidiary company of the group.
2006 Brunner Mond Group was purchased by Tata Chemicals Limited.
2011 Name changed to Tata Chemicals Europe Ltd
Soda ash and calcium chloride production ceased at the Winnington plant in February 2014, marking the end of 140 years of soda ash production in Northwich
Today, the legacy of Brunner, Mond and Co. lives on as part of Tata Chemicals Europe. Their contributions to the soda ash industry remain significant, and their story is a testament to innovation and industrial progress.
Explore
Visited with PV early hours on a cold March day. Had to dodge secca a few times driving round the site when crossing the roads and ended up to be quite a relaxed explore spending plenty of time mooching around.
On with the photos....
Winnington B Control Room
The power station was demolished in 2007, leaving only the vintage control room behind
Thanks for looking
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