An oil works converter is hoisted back into position after a periodical overhaul. 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
An oil works converter is hoisted back into position after a periodical overhaul.
My father, Ron Stewart, worked in the picric acid plant at Billingham in 1939. I remember him telling me that one night as he finished his shift, the man coming on allowed him to go home a few minutes early, since he was newly married. As he cycled away the plant, which was housed in a concrete bunker, blew up and chunks of concrete flew over his head. The other man was killed. Does anyone have any information on this incident?
I have been doing research with Ancestry and found that my granduncle was killed in this explosion, aged 19. I would love to learn more about this if anyone has any more info?
Hi Joe,
I haven’t any more information other than the explosion was in the picric acid plant.
If you have any more, please let me know.
This was originally designed to produce petrol from a coal gassification process. After the war, it was modernized to produce phenol, propolene, butanol, ethelene. A by product would also be petrol. The pressure vessel in the picture is a converter which contained a catalyst and weighed approx 200 tonnes. Normal life for a converter would be three to six months before they would have to change the catalyst.
What went on in the Oil Works? Was it a coal or oil hydrogenation plant to make petrol? What did the pressure vessel that is being lifted by the crane contain? How many vessels were operating at once? How long did it take to run a batch?
My grandfather Alfred “Cal” Marquis from Maple Street Middlesbrough, worked in the oil works from 1931-1961, and was injured in an explosion in the 1950″s with another worker Ernie Harrison from Billingham. Does anyone remember Cal or the explosion? Apparently it was quite widely reported in the press at the time.
I remember when I was on A-shift stalls maintenance,my mate was Sam Chaffe, I relieved Neil Smith who was on D-shift.I believe his mate was Jackie Baister? Does Neil remember the reactor that was being transferred in the transfer bay when the brakes failed on the Titan crane and the reactor buried itself in the cement, which resulted in a 200 tonne crane being brought in to reposition it in the transfer bay so that it can be brought into the main stalls building for repair. I also remember Dennis Brookes, I believe he was Operating Engineer on either 6 or 4 stall. Does anyone remember Smudger Smith who used bring in home made wines? He was charge-hand on days at Stalls Maintainence. I also remember Bob Harbron on day shift in the Stalls maintainence Squad.
I was an apprentice electrician in 1938 and spent 6 months on Oil works. From 1945 to 1979 I was on Oil Works,first as a day electrician and finishing as electrical engineer. I worked many bitter cold hours on the top of the Titan in the early days replacing insulators and cross travel wires, One of my main jobs was to make sure the “dead man”s handle” worked but I knew the rubber band was there. I knew Eric Foster from playing together as boys as well as on the works. Len Rodgers
Although I never worked in Oil Works when i was at Heysham between 1965 and 1970 as a section Engineer I had responsibility for the similar unit at heysham. The crane there was a 150 ton semi goliathe with a subsidiary crane running the length of the superstructure. The crane took the better paret of a shift to travel from the maintenance bay to the further stall no 5. Fortunately 3 stall was out of use and could be used for overnight parking.
My late father, Dennis Brookes, worked in Oil Works from the late 50″s for 10 or 12 years. Does anybody remember him?
I worked in Oil Works from 1968 to 1974. I started in what was known as the “Day Gang.” It was full of colourful characters and despite the often risky work it provided me with a great insight into human nature! It”s strange but although I can remember people”s nicknames I think I never learned what they were actually called.
I was a fresh faced Engineer straight out of university when I worked on the Stalls. Whenever there was a leak of hydrogen we engineers had to go behind the fire wall and flog up the joint. It was the only time we engineers were allowed to use “tools”. The first time I had to flog up a joint, I gave it a little tap and it started to leak even more. Fortunately for me Eric Foster the Maintenance Superintendant whipped the hammer out of my hand and flogged the joint tight before the hydrogen had chance to ignite. I look back at my time on the Stalls and Machines with great nostalgia I learnt so much from my colleagues.
The crane was known as the Titan. It could lift 100 tons. I worked in Oil Works as it was then known in the late 60″s. It was supposed to be operated by a “dead mans handle” but this was often held down by a rubber band because the crane moved so slowly. That particular part of Oil Works was known as The Stalls.
I worked on the Oil Works as an apprentice for 8 months during 1957. The thing I remember most is the fact that mice were kept in cages to detect gas leaks. With the typical British sense of fair-play the mice “worked” in shifts to equalise their chance of survival. The mice not on duty were kept in individual cages in a safe part of the Oil Works. We apprentices took up the cause of the common mouse and let several of the not-on-duty mice escape. This caused mayhem and there was an inquiry in which the apprentices were the prime suspect but no individual was actualy named. I guess that after all these years I can let the cat out of the bag.