What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

I was under the impression that all of those who worked on the extremely hazardous phosphorus canal waste carrying operation for Albright and Wilson by Alfred Matty’s of Coseley were gone.

But not so!

I have previously outlined this toxic trail from Albright and Wilson’s chemical arm (sometimes known as “The Houghton Arm”) to Rattlechain, and also how this hazardous waste affected the health of one of the men working for Matty’s, Enoch Clewes who described the lagoon as “a place in which nothing could live”. 

I was therefore stunned when Paul Bartlett contacted the blog to say that he was one of the very few men who operated the Matty boats on the phosphorus canal traffic and wanted to tell the blog his story!

Paul wrote

“I worked there for about two years starting in March 1972. As well as working the phos boats I also worked the tug Tycho on contract jobs such as laying down pipes ready to carry petrol from the North sea…. myself and Tom Heritage used to work on the canal boats taking the phosphorous waste to the Rattle Chain tip. It was a very heavy sludge which had to be stirred so that it could be pumped out of the boats. If the water / phosphorous mix was wrong and you bumped the boats in the locks or brushed against a bridge, the sludge would catch fire giving of blue flames. To give you an idea how much sludge is in the pool, we used to deliver 8 boats a day for 5 days and 4 on Saturday. Each boat had 20 tons in them.”

I met Paul and recorded his oral history of his time on the canals and specifically his recollections of the phosphorus traffic to rattlechain. He also kindly let me use some of his photographs and original work contract with Matty’s. This is the most compelling account ever described of this journey from a primary source, and the WLBRL team will be creating a youtube video of this using Paul’s record. Watch this space!

There is much to digest here about working practices and other matters, which I will look at at the end of Paul’s story. His words are in blue italics. I have used some links and also pictures from David Wilson and Roy Martin– previous primary witnesses to this trade  to illustrate the last phosphorus canal carrier’s tale…..

“My name is Paul Bartlett, and I used to work for Matty’s, a canal company. I used to transport the phosphorus waste from Albright and Wilson’s chemical arm to their Rattlechain Tip at Dudley Port.

(It was) out of an interest in the canals of being one of the founder members of the Dudley Canal Preservation Society. My Dad and I both joined together, and we were the 12th and 13th members. My Father finally ended up being one of the trustees of Dudley canal trust.

But I also used to like boats as I lived in Wednesbury. From the bottom of our garden you could actually see in the distance the Tame Valley Canal, and when I used to go to school, the playground, sports ground was right alongside the Tame Valley Canal. You’d see different boats coming by, which I later knew to be Caggy Stevens, and some of the Len Leigh people…… and I got to know them and I used to cycle along the canal and got to meet all the canal people and the Thomas Clayton people . I became very friendly with Billy Beech, and he taught me how to stem a pair of loaded boats. There was Dennis Moore who used to work for….Keays, Peter Keays- Ken Keay at Walsall, and they had “the Judith Ann” and the metal lister boat.

When they stopped carrying, Caggy took over their cargos, and the boats for them. Ernie Thomas was still about, he had contracts but Caggy used to do those, he was a real character. I met him a few times. I worked his passenger boat for him at times. Then the Lycits had got a contract coming up for Leigh Environmental for taking effluent, pumping effluent to Walsall Wood colliery , but before it actually got underway there was an explosion at the pit and they had to stop putting effluent down it. And with that when Billy Breech heard about it he asked me to go and work for Matty’s, so I went to Matty’s.

Matty’s boat yard in Coseley in 1975

It was quite comical, I went for an interview, and Sue Roberts interviewed me, although I got there and it was a foregone conclusion; they wanted me; they knew I could do it, she told me, she sat at this grand desk, and she said “you know Jimmy Yates don’t  you? . I said “yeah”. She said this desk is the one his Dad blew his brains out at because he couldn’t stand the trouble that Jimmy and his brothers were causing him!

Paul’s contract with Alfred Matty and Sons

And I went on the phos, I worked the phos for a bit, then I went on the Tycho and worked the pipe jobs. We had two boats on the pipe jobs, there was myself on the Tycho, and Jack Kent with the Pacific. We also had a tug called “The Governor”, and we had another little motorboat we used as a cabin cruiser that we’d use in an emergency. The motors we had, the Stratford, and The Aldgate which were Grand Union Motors, and The Maureen which was the boat I used which was built for Barlows. It’s got different stories about different names, I was told to call it “The Blake” but it ended up being called “the Maureen” and we believe that was after Neville’s fancy piece”, as he had.

The Matty boat Tycho, , at Factory locks Tipton. Pictured is Jack Kent. Copyright Paul Bartlett.

The manager there was a chap called “sarge”, he was a police sergeant from Bilston, and at the time on the boats, there was myself, Albert Brace, Tom Heritage and Jack Kent. There was a lad called “Raffy” on the boat dock, he used to paint and black the boats. And then we had the fitter…sorry I can’t remember his name. I can see him, but I can’t remember his name, he joined while I was there. And he was a good guy he worked on lorry engines and things like that but he got quite fascinated about the boat engines which was really good, he did a good job for the boats.

No pension or sickness benefit!

We had certain boats that were fitted with two stanks for the phosphorus. Basically there was a stank across the middle of the boat, and on either end a few feet back from the bows and the stern. They could also be used for dredging boats as well. The new railway boats, we had a lot of which were completely open so it could be used for anything, any normal cargo, and what Matty’s did, we had metal stretchers which used to go across the boats, and on quite a few we took the metal stretchers out and put chains in instead to hold the boats tight together. On the stank boats , I think we even had chain on those, ’cause we used to go down Tividale locks, they were quite wide, and sometimes the boats would get stuck in them. We got quite good at walking on the chains across the boats, we had a good tight-rope walk at the time.

The Maureen with associated apparatus. Copyright David Wilson.

Working the actual phos boats, we used to start at the arm, and we’d fit up at night, when we got back. I would leave the motorboat underneath (The Maureen), underneath the motorway bridge, because the boat cabin leaked, and the boats weight cabin kept it dry. Then first thing in the morning we would leave the chemical arm,  and it’s like an acute junction to get out.

The Houghton chemical arm from Albright and Wilson on right crossing underneath the M5 motorway

So what we used to do, we had two scaffolding poles, drove into the ground. So you’d come with the motorboat slowly and started off and jump off the stern end of the boat, and the rope, you’d warp it round one pole, feed it out to get the boat swinging, and then the next one to swing it right out, then jump back on the boat, wind the engine up and then you’d got straight up and it pulled the loading boat behind, what was called tail chaining. You had a piece of rope, what, the whole thing would be about 3 foot long, with a piece of rope ,a little length of chain, and a piece of rope again. You had 1 foot 6 of rope, 3 foot chain, then 1 foot 6 rope again, which would go on the stud, which we called “the dolly” on the back of the motor boat. That would go over the dolly on the railway boat that we used.

Matty Phosphorus waste boat Maureen 1972, about to descend the Brades Locks with the railway boat en route to rattechain. Picture Copyright. Roy Martin

We’d go along there till the top of the Tividale locks and turn with a right angle junction.  As you got the boat lined up with the lock, we’d approach slowly, then you’d make sure the railway boat caught up with the motorboat. Then you’d make sure the railway boat was on the inside of the motorboat turning right. You’d then take the chain off, the loaded railway boat would push the stern of the motorboat round at 90 degrees. And the railway boat would follow down the boat and because like after the locks at the roving bridge, there was like a seven foot or eight foot gap on the left where the motor boat would go in and the railway boat would right up straight into the lock. So we used to take the railway boat down first, and then we’d go back and take the motorboat down, and we’d couple up at the bottom lock, go down to Dunkirk Stop and we’d used to have to use the left hand side of the stop, because the right hand stop in those days was all silted up.

1965, Matty boat descending the Brades Locks en route to discharge hazardous cargo at rattlechain lagoon. Note the rattlechain brickworks buildings and stack still in evidence to the top left of the picture. Also the staining of chemicals on the boat. Picture Copyright David Wilson, reproduced with permission.

And one day I came down, and this was about 6 o clock in the morning, and a “Noddy boat” (pleasure cruiser) was tied up in the stop. I hoped we didn’t get stuck through! Luckily as my motor boat being loaded went to stop, it pushed all the water in the stop, and the surge against the Noddy boat ripped out his mooring stakes and shoved him out the stop. My words weren’t too pleasant to him!

Then we’d get to the tip, we pulled up alongside the tip. We had a big like log grate, I say log, it was a big chunk of metal, I think it may have been an old railway chair on the chain which was attached to the bank. We’d put that over the side of the boat. We then had like a long shovel, when I say shovel It was like a 90 degree long arm about 15 foot arm.

The Pumphouse

We used to go up and down the boat with that to get the sludge going again and we’d get the pipe out of the pumphouse, which was about 1 foot diameter , terrible trying to get it without being forced and a right game to get it out, and then we had to prime the pump and that was a right blighter. We had to get the water out of the canal, it was all like a little Villiers hand pump, though the pump was rotary, the main pump to get it going.

The Maureen passing Rattlechain on a return leg. Picture David Wilson

And because the phos. used to get into it, it was always corroded. So we’d have to pump like mad, and the one day the handle on it actually broke while I was pumping! So you’d get it all pumped out  and so once the motorboat was done, you’d get the two stanks of the motorboat done , you’d then pull the railway boat into position, stir that up, put the pump in that , while that was pumping, you’d then go down with the motorboat to the bank by the Netherton Junction  and turn the boat round and come back up, then you’d finish pumping the one stank out then put the pipe into the other one , pump that out. Then we’d then come up back the locks, back to the Dunkirk Stop up the locks, back to the chemical arm.

When we got to the chemical arm, what we used to do, we’d let the railway boat go by, come up alongside and then we’d reverse the motor up the chemical arm towing the railway boat up behind it in reverse. So then set ready to go off. We’d then go up to Albright and Wilson’s when they’d loaded. We’d leave the railway boat at the side for the staff to load. But we would then load the motorboat. And it was like a water crane What steam engines use – the arms swung over the boat and it used to pour it in again. We had like a metal log that dredged the bottom to fill it up.

The Albright and Wilson effluent plant on the left, intersected by the chemical arm, and to the right, boats of what appear to be two full cargos of the white phosphorus waste

So we’d do that ,we’d get the boat about loaded up , there would be another railway boat ready, so we’d couple up with that , take that and stop underneath the motorway bridge then carry on do another trip , we did two trips per day. So we did that twice a day with two boats. There’s two of us on it, so we used to do four boats each per day for five days a week. On Saturdays, we used to do two boast each on the morning. The boats would carry about twenty tonnes on the boat, so all in all we’d do between the two of us it was , (thinking) 8, 16 , 20 boats a week, we used to do with the phosphorus tonnage in the sludge. Sometimes, if they didn’t get the mix quite right, we’d get blue flames on top of the tanks in the boat, but we always got as the motorboat went along it sucked the water down and the water would come down about 5 inches either side of the bank and there you would always get a white colour – a greyey/bluey smoke come up all along the canal as you went along.

“The waste itself used to smell awful. You used to get a sting in the back of the throat, so you made sure you didn’t breathe too much in. It was obviously very corrosive, so I used to wear clogs with rubber bottoms on when I was on the phos boats, so you didn’t slip, because it just corroded everything.  We were given no protective clothing, no gloves or anything like that. You weren’t told exactly what it was. Our job was to just carry it and take it. In those days there was no health and safety.”

An advert for the company

 There are many interesting facets of Paul’s story.

Firstly and without any doubt whatsoever, we now have irrefutable evidence that the trade of carrying this hazardous and highly toxic waste by canal continued after The Deposit of Poisonous Wastes Act of 1972. Rhodia and Albright and Wilson , their antecedent, had attempted to claim that this ceased in 1969 and switched to road tanker- FALSE.

Matty’s did Albright and Wilson’s dirty work for them. It is clear that Paul was not given any Health and safety advice by either company- in those days it may not have existed, but even so, Albright and Wilson certainly were checking the health of their own employees and measuring their dental records, and had been for many years. This was obviously for their own litigation reasons. Management were fully aware of the dangers of this substance and of its chronic effects. It is bizarre that this did not extend to their contractors who were taking a far greater risk than the AW employees in being exposed to the deadly cargo- especially carrying it by water in boats that were according to all accounts of a very poor standard.

It is clear that Paul had no protective equipment, unlike the flame retardant Proban overalls or even Harris tweeds that AW staff were given when handling phosphorus at the factory.

An 1980’s A&W safety video emphasising use of PPE.

The employees at Matty’s were very skilled, hardened to the elements, mostly, but unlike Paul as he told me, uneducated and could not read or write. This made them easy prey. From Paul’s contract it is clear that he was given no pension or sickness benefit. This is unthinkable today. Paul also told me that the story of Enoch Clewes was well known and true within the company, and also that one of his colleagues who carried the phosphorus waste for AW before him had serious health and breathing difficulties before his death.

The environmental risks and problems were also well known and the issues affecting the wider canal area also known. Some of this waste undoubtedly ended up in the canal and made it smell and look foul.

I would like to thank Paul for his time and effort in telling his story, and I believe that it is important that records like this are kept for future reference of our social history. Though the canal carrying trade may be missed, the working practices and environmental deficiencies of hauling this particular cargo from Oldbury will not be. The toxic waste at the tip however is still all there….

THIS TIME IT’S PURRRRRSONAL!

The Oldbury smell– Everyone knew the source, everyone detected the odour of cat piss. A local councillor even waved her withered bush in front of a committee as to the effects it had blighted on the neighbourhood. I have unearthed the story of this pussy pong in several previous posts.

 But we are not done yet it seems from this article.

The bad smell appears to have reached Tipton, (and quite ominously Dudley Port),  in this article from The Birmingham Daily Post of 29 July 1967. The familiar themes emerge about the MO of the offending olfactory menace- sleepless nights, making people feel ill, and elusive to track down. But was this in itself “the Oldbury smell” of old, or a new “Lion King” on the block?

OH YES WE DO!!!!!

Though the source is suspected by an unnamed councillor, there is less of the vigour to do something about it as was the case with the indefatigable Councillor Gunn. It had already been noted that the lagoon was causing a stink in 1958, and making nearby factory workers feel ill. I would strongly suspect this to be down to phosphine gas.

How was this  remedied, who knows, though I suspect money would have changed hands somewhere to look the other way?

Some might say that the Rattlechain Brickworks and the man who operated them were cursed. Even in the days before any health and safety legislation- (we know that Samuel Barnett had lost an arm at the nearby Stour Valley Brickworks), calamity appeared all around the chain. The 1899 bursting of the banks  and emptying of 7 miles of canal into the 100 yards deep marl pit is well documented.

Not so well known are the deaths of two men, who were working on heightening the brickworks stack in 1906.

This post deals with another serious accident between the two World Wars at the brickworks, and interestingly gives an account of when they were still operating.

Position of the former Rattlechain brickworks superimposed on the current lagoon site.

From The Birmingham Daily Gazette of 7th March 1930 we learn that A Tipton man- Fred Turner was given a £90 compensation payment after breaking his leg three years earlier whilst working on the face of the pit. By now Barnett himself was dead, but his sons had obviously taken over the business. One wonders if the delay in payment and the long layoff of poor Fred was due to the litigious nature of this company and The Barnett’s in attempting to avoid blame. A job or business with them was a risk not really worth taking.

When industries involving dangerous chemicals fold there is a very big problem. Who picks up the mess when these companies shut their doors for the final time and the workforce move on? I have seen it many times and stories about how these sites are left are chronicled by so called “urban explorers” who photograph what is left behind. One such example is the former “shitehaven” factory of Albright and Wilson. Chemicals and leaking drums were mixed with a sea of papers, some of them containing personal information about individuals previously employed there.

Such sites appear to be like something out of the film 28 days later, as though abandoned by a catastrophic event that has mothballed them. Such sites become the target of looters, scrap metal thieves and worse arsonists. The dangers that such places pose to local residents and the environment from  left behind hazardous and flammable chemicals are real.

One such place locally that I have stumbled on is the former Liberty Drawn Tubes (previously Phoenix Steel Tubes) in West Bromwich. The site closed production in November 2018, but prior to this Persimmon Homes had gained an interest in changing the use of the site for residential development. This was approved by Sandwell council last year.

DC/18/62186 | Proposed erection of 128 dwellings and associated works. | Land Adjacent And Rear Of 37 & Land Adjacent 100 Phoenix Street West Bromwich B70 0AS

I have profound difficulties with using these contaminated industrial so called “brownfield sites” for homes. The former Tividale sewage works next to rattlechain lagoon is another example of how a “crap site” became what is now Callaghan and Wilson drives- right next to a hazardous waste site that prospective purchasers were not adequately informed about by the house builder.

But Persimmon have yet to make any appearance on the site, and no bricks have even yet appeared. This post is about the story of the disgusting manner in which those at Liberty Drawn Tubes- principally their directors and those with financial leadership of this company have left the site. It is quite apparent, as will be revealed that there is currently zero security.

Bollocks!

Firstly the site location itself. The Balls Hill canal branch passes to the rear of the sprawling factory. This canal has effectively been long abandoned by the former British Waterways and now the Canal and Rivers Trust. The fate was effectively sealed by the crooked Black Country Development Corporation, who in their wisdom built the Black Country Spine Road ( a gypsy pitch hard shoulder) through it at swan village. The canal still goes under the road, but its connection to the Ridgeacre branch is now unnavigable, meaning that no boats can ever go down there.

It is heavily silted and full of decades worth of  industrial pollution- principally from Robinson Brothers and their stinking factory located at its entrance near the 8 locks.

Unfortunately it appears that with the closure of the factory, someone used the opportunity to put pallets across the silt to gain access into the abandoned site. It is quite visible from the towpath that the thieves have been helping themselves to what was left behind- and of greater concern , have  been removing drums of toxic and hazardous liquids which have found their way into the canal. It is quite clear that tanks and barrels and potential vats of chemicals remain on site, which were not decommissioned by the abandonment. This is of course the problem- but whose problem is it to deal with?

I contacted the Environment agency who basically said if there was no pollution then its not us .GOV. So I then contacted Sandwell council, who of course in their wisdom have granted Persimmon planning permission. I’m not sure if a single planning officer has ever set foot on this site, or certainly any councillor who approved the application- but what a great place to live eh? I also contacted The Canal and Rivers Trust.

Persimmon’s “environmental consultants” (georisk) record what actually is on site in their site walkover in the application on behalf of Persimmon Homes, but this is where I have the profound difficulty. If both they and Persimmon are aware of the risk, and Sandwell council have approved an application knowing about this risk then why have all of them taken no interest in removing it, prior to said application being made? Here are selected extracts from the Georisk appraisal of the then  site conditions- which are now of course elevated due to the trespass and pollutant linkages which their report does not address.

Of course the house building lobbyists and their political shills claim that reusing such sites will get them cleaned up- well does this mean that they can be deliberately left like this, and are they being for this purpose? Why are house builders even allowed to submit planning applications and have them granted BEFORE they have cleared up the site, and not left it unsecured as is the case here? All three of these agents , house builder, environmental consultant and planning authority are complicit in knowing the dangers to members of the public, and of course the directors of Liberty Drawn Tubes for leaving behind such a fucking disgusting mess.

It was quite clear speaking to the perplexed guy on the phone at SMBC , that there were no adequate forms to record the type of complaint that I was making- but it has I’m told been recorded by their environmental health team. BUT

• THIS IS A SERIOUS ARSON RISK- INVOLVING DANGEROUS CHEMICALS THAT COULD BE RELEASED TO AFFECT RESIDENTS WHO LIVE ACROSS THE ROAD.
• IT IS A RISK TO CONTROLLED WATERS AND THE CANAL AND WILDLIFE.
• THERE IS ASBESTOS ROOFING AND OIL TANKS THERE.
• THERE IS A DANGER TO TRESPASSERS ON THE SITE.

The EA will act only if there is a pollution issue. The fire brigade will only come if there is a fire which may involve the abandoned chemicals that are now scattered everywhere across the site and beyond. BUT WHAT ARE THEY ALL WAITING FOR? Is the risk less important than an actual event that they are all  prepared for within their remits but will not act to prevent it from happening?

It appears that some urban explorers have entered the site and posted a youtube video, which even further underlines the point that I am making here. I don’t care about fucking boreholes and percussion tests to determine contaminated soils and if this can be remediated and sticking 600 cm of top soil over it to cover it up- Such desk studies by bookish theorics are worthless. The main issue is the current state of the place and the lack of security. But I just ask the question again- WHO PICKS UP THE MESS OF LIBERTY DRAWN TUBES BEFORE THE FIRST FOUNDATIONS FOR HOUSES ARE SUNK?

They say that life is stranger than fiction. A couple of observations just lately have left me with tears of laughter strolling down my cheeks.

I have outlined the full list of planning applications for the vile Trinity street chemical factory- source of all the associated toxic waste including the white phosphorus that poisoned birds at Rattlechain lagoon extensively on this website. The latest in this series had escaped me up until recently with the demolition consent granted of three buildings from the Albright and Wilson era- namely the Accomet store (described in HS21 as “a finished product of highly sheared silicon in chromic solution used in the metal finishing industry”) , phosphorus chlorides plant and the EO store. (phosphorus trichoride being a chemical weapons pre cursor.)

PD_18_01052-GRANT_DEMOLITION_CONSENT-969894

As part of the documents submitted, Solvay wrote to householders advising them of the scheme, and Mr Mike Jones is listed as “project manager- THE POSEIDON PROJECT”

DER, DER ,DER…….. Is this a top secret codenamed operation to develop trident in Oldbury?! 😆 Whatever could this project be in connection to this site and the associations with a macho God of the seas? I was even tempted to ask The tramp phosphorus living at Rattlechain lagoon if he knew anything, but as ever he has long standing grievances against the site operators and had not been given what he had requested.

But rather than alluding to Greek mythology , it only reminds me of that great disaster movie of the 1970’s- The Poseidon adventure.

Of course- Albright and Wilson are famous for polluting the seas- The Irish sea from their Shitehaven factory, and the Newfoundland Long harbour fiasco where they killed off thousands of fish with white phosphorus contamination.

In the movie the ship is hit by a tsunami creating disaster for all on board as “hell upside down” is created. 😆 There are explosions, fires, and general death and mayhem- sounds much like Trinity Street and a rather apt name for any project connected to the site.  😆

DISASTER AT PO BOX 80!

I have previously considered the lagoon being a brilliant setting for a film location in this post.

The other stranger than fiction moment occurred when I discovered that rattlechain lagoon itself has become the unlikely setting to feature in a murder mystery serial killer novel entitled “Fatal Promise” by Angela Marsons. 😆 

Here’s the direct passage from the novel in chapter 41.

I just can’t think where the local author’s inspiration came from for its inclusion in the book, but I’ll have to get a copy and review it. 😆

I hope Poseidon isn’t coming to rattlechain anytime soon. There’s been enough disaster down there when Albright and Wilson turned up with chemicals and started dumping them. Perhaps the song used in the film is befitting for that of Oldbury, on the morning after their dirty polluting factory finally shuts its bow doors for the last time.

“The Oldbury smell”– a cat pong bomb,

The Langley liquor with an odour of Tom,

It withered the bush of Councillor Gunn,

Kept people awake, released by the tonne

It drifted in plumes, turned chocolate white

Then disappeared to people’s delight.

But back it came with a fearsome roar,

The Felix bouquet from every pore

Oh Pussy most foul go away, be gone

With Albright and Wilson- Arthur and John.

Keep Le out!

Some time back- 26th July 2018, The Belgian Solvay , (former French company Rhodia, former American owned, former British company Albright and Wilson),  put in a rather clandestine Hazardous substance consent to Sandwell council.

Sandwell themselves were rather secretive  about this, with the documents associated with this application slow to be put up on their planning website. Similarly ever since there have been no updates whatsoever as to if the application had been approved or what exactly had happened with its “registered” determination.

Not one to rest on my laurels and as an objector to the scheme, I emailed the case officer listed on the website- one Dean Leadon, who failed to get back to me. After having made a complaint to Sandwell council about this, they now inform me that he left the authority in December of last year ,(I have since found out from enquiries that he has in fact joined a private planning advice consultancy 🙄 ), but without anything to state this on their website.

He’s still listed- and no environmental assessment requested- FFS!!

In the interim, I put in two FOI requests to the two main statutory consultees involved with the regulation of this Top Tier COMAH site.

Firstly the HSE- who if you recall took nearly a decade to conduct a prosecution into this company for one of the very same chemicals that they are applying to increase the pressure of at the site- namely phosphine.

I asked the HSE

“As a statutory consultee and competent authority for this Top Tier COMAH site, please provide all comments/correspondence with Sandwell council including emails and attachments in respect of this hazardous substance application consent which deals with modification to pressure of Phosphine used, and proposed storage and use of Hexene, Hydrogen Peroxide and Cyanex 923 on site.”

They replied stating that they had made only initial comment on the application, but very little else.

These were Email dated 17/8/2018 from Sandwell Council to HSE containing revised Application form, and their response Email dated 21 August 2018 to Sandwell Council with HSE attachment  Holding Letter.

The only information of note here is that the HSE stated that it would take them 26 weeks (i.e 6 months) to consider the application.

The Environment Agency response is even more useless.

“Hexene, Hydrogen Peroxide and Cyanex 923 The new chemicals are for use in a new chemical manufacturing process being installed by the Solvay Company. The technical details of the process are being assessed by the Environment Agency and HSE (Health and Safety Executive).

Having checked our records, the Environment Agency have had no communication with Sandwell District Council, over the permit application.”

It therefore seems that both of these organisations are keeping their cards pretty close to their chests- but let’s hope when they do finally respond to SMBC that they don’t give this prosecuted industrial polluter the usual free reign to do as they please. It’s been going on in Oldbury ever since the days of “The Oldbury smell”– it’s just the wind direction that masks the air pollution.

Stop Tom’s dirty tricks in their tracks

For the benefit of local residents, and the HSE and EA, I have set out the production of phosphine at Trinity street at the two plants. Number 1 plant- source of the 2009 fire. Number 2 plant- modelled on the same earlier plant. I do hope it’s useful.

I have outlined the history of this former neighbouring lagoon to Rattlechain HERE. Formed as a figure of eight shape pool by the merger of the former Samuel Barnett Stour valley brickwork pit and The Groveland colliery pit, it subsequently became  “a tipping area” like Rattlechain- in this case for waste arising from the VONO furniture and bedding mattress manufacturers.

One can appreciate, that at this point in post war Britain there existed “adventure playgrounds” , as vividly recalled by Malcolm Edge, who also remembers The Vono pool. But these were very dangerous times. The Rattlechain lagoon fatality was not the only death- The Vono lagoon also had drownings as evidenced by newspaper articles of the time.

Two lagoons- VONO at top , and Rattlechain below.

The Birmingham Daily Gazette of 9th July 1957 reported on the opening day of an inquest into the death of 12 year old Dennis Clarke of Coneygree Road Tipton. It appears that he and his friends had been swimming at the Vono Lagoon- “off Tipton road” before  he drowned.

A report from the following day in the same paper fills out the story. Dennis Clarke drowned in 8 feet of water at the named “Vono pool”- a disused marlhole. A verdict of “accidental death” was recorded by coroner Frank Cooper. Having claimed that two of his friends attempted to save him, the article also mentions that Cooper would be writing to the Vono company about erecting signs.

I think the criticism of two elder youths who it is claimed were at the scene but “slunk off” and did not jump in to “save” the drowning boy is totally misplaced. They did not invite the three youths to go into the water to start with;who did so at their own misadventure. It is also possible that they couldn’t swim themselves- and were rightly not prepared to risk their own safety for the foolhardy actions of those who were out of their depth. Unfortunately this takes the edge from the story- which should really have been about the foolish risks of swimming in such a dangerous place- and the limitations of a company who had not adequately secured their site from the obvious risk. I very much doubt that any life saving equipment was located near the pool at this point in history.

If the two youths had dived in to attempt to save Dennis Clarke- there may well have been more fatalities that day.

A dangerous unfenced magnet for local youths

As though to demonstrate the dangers of amateurs attempting to rescue others, the article from 24th August 1973 Birmingham Daily Post illustrates this perfectly- with another fatality at the Vono lagoon. By this point in history, the pool had vastly reduced in size, having been infilled due to the expansion of the rolling mill that had been built at the rear of the site. See this picture from 1971.

Arthur Stockford is named as the man who had drowned after attempting to save an eight year old who had fallen into the pool. The boy was rescued by his mother, who could not save the other man from drowning.

The 15th September report on the inquest tells how the 48 year old was a poor swimmer and the circumstances of how the boy ended up in the pool were not clear.

These two articles thus show how this site like Rattlechain lagoon were a very real danger to children as well as those who bravely  attempted to save them from drowning. Unfortunately every year youths and some adults still drown in open water in disused marlholes and open water, but it is their own foolhardy folly in doing so. Some lessons from history never seem to be learnt.

It is certainly known that Rattlechain lagoon contains chemicals (white phosphorus) that have systemically poisoned wildfowl. There have also been anecdotal claims of at least one dog entering the water and dying when Albright and Wilson were still depositing waste in the lagoon and the tanker drivers used to leave the gates wide open for anyone to enter between runs to and from the factory.

Before licensing and in the days when the tip was a free for all unregulated depository , there are strong anecdotal recollections such as those of Malcolm Edge recalling how youths used to enter the unfenced lagoon and also the chemicals reacting within the water.

This is supported by press reports of the day as to how the lagoon water was “a peril to children” in an article from 1957. But before this, another article from 6th July 1953 Birmingham Daily Gazette confirms how one unfortunate young swimmer at this site lost their life.

Local youth John Hickinbottom appears to have been swimming and diving in the lagoon, here named as “Barnett’s pool”.  There can be no other “Barnett’s pool”, and it is interesting to see how history at this point still links it to the rattlechain brickworks and former owner, even though at this time Albright and Wilson were undisputedly depositing their phosphorus waste into the site.

The article supports how children used to swim in the pool of “unknown depth”, though not mentioned are the toxic chemical risks of doing so.

A follow up article from the same title of October 14th 1953 confirms the youth’s death as well as the callous nature of the call operator when one of his friends had tried to raise the alarm. Such an incident today would undoubtedly have made national headlines.

I do find it very odd that the company who “acquired” this site for waste disposal are not named or even asked for comment about their appalling lack of security for what was a hazardous waste tip. But it is perhaps typical that they would have accepted “no responsibility” for the actions of others or their “misadventures”, and also typical that no one in authority had bothered to ask the directors of the company what they were depositing there. It would have been interesting to see a toxicology report on the unfortunate lad, though a “broken neck” no doubt provided them and the British Government to whom they supplied their phosphorus war machine with a convenient alibi.

I’ve detailed several images as well as recollections and stories concerning the former Rattlechain Brickworks already- that canalside enterprise which left us with a disused pit that unfortunately became filled with a chemical manufacturers toxic poison waste.

Rattlechain brickworks and former pit circa 1950; by now Albright and Wilson were tipping their poisonous waste into here- note the white stained banks.

A tool from the excellent National Library of Scotland allows composite present day  images to be superceeded onto old maps, showing the footprints of where buildings and other structures once existed. It appears to be remarkably accurate.

Shown below are several images which demonstrate where the brickworks buildings once existed in 1904,  now replaced by an abandoned and over tipped mound of foundry sand that has greened over.

At this point in time, the ground around John’s Lane was also at Water level. The adjacent pool on the left of Rattlechain was the Vono waste dumping lagoon which has now been concreted over to form The Autobase trading estate. Also shown is the former Groveland Colliery which together with the pit from Samuel Barnett’s other works “The Stour Valley New Brickworks” formed this figure of eight pool.  I will be writing more about this in an upcoming blog post.

At this point in time, the area was still a part of Staffordshire. It can be clearly seen how the tramway entered the pit from the works, as well as where former pit shafts were located on the North embankment and towards the South of the site and the former sewage works where Callaghan Drive now forms a border . Several footpaths cross the site.

The most striking picture shows an elevated overview of the site.

Though these buildings and what went on there are now lost to history, the name “rattlechain” given to the type of chain and the noise it made used in the brickmaking process lives on.

Barnett’s brickworks From Conurbation 1948 Crown copyright, as seen from The Birmingham canal.

The two images below show the brickworks and basin the early 1960’s at its demise, with the rattlechain bridge over the basin being the constant witness.  The brickworks replaced by shoddy over tipped mounds of  foundry sand , with the basin infilled.