Author Archives: swanny

  Samuel Barnett was quite clearly a local rogue in the Tipton area, and with the involvement of his sons into the brickmaking empire things don’t appear to have got any better, even after his accidental bizarre death. The canal … Continue reading →

As evidenced in the last post, matches containing white phosphorus were deadly for consumers, but even more so for the poor unfortunates who made them, particularly for scumbag Quaker companies like Bryant and May. The toxicity of these matches had … Continue reading →

  This white phosphorus misadventure concerns a monsieur who got more than he bargained for when striking a light in Paris. The newspaper reporting the matter on 24th August 1878 was the Kenilworth Advertiser. He had struck a match using his thumb … Continue reading →

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU, except if you worked for Albright and Wilson or Rhodia, in which case UP YER BUM!! Yes it’s that time of year when Solvay push a calendar through local doors blowing their own trumpets, and … Continue reading →

  The list of deaths at Trinity Street caused by incompetent systems and management failures and the dangerous chemicals being made and stored there have been well documented on this blog- they are part of the Albright and Wilson story, … Continue reading →

  There is one thing that is certain with major chemical industrial polluters, they not only pollute the environment and despoil people’s lives when in business, but when their plants and associated waste dumps are left behind, the toxic legacy … Continue reading →

DODGY REGULATION In this post I wanted to look and delve more closely into Sandwell council’s “regulation” of this site whilst it was still being used to deposit waste and subsequently after waste had ceased to be delivered to the … Continue reading →

  It appears that Solvay/Rhodia or whoever the entity in charge of this site like that at Rattlechain is intent on covering up the legacy of one of the worst environmental contaminators to ever come out of the UK- namely … Continue reading →

Only this week we have seen the stench of corruption engulf politics and one who was caught out lobbying for two companies in a paid role standing down, not after admitting any wrong doing, but after the public outrage that … Continue reading →

    A curious tale from down under concerning an Antipodean ignis fatuus in human form. It appears that in Christchuch, New Zealand something strange was stalking the lands in the Australasian Winter of 1905, as revealed in two articles … Continue reading →