Are these the ‘Synthetic Offices’ in Chilton Avenue which were camouflaged during the last war? There is a similar photograph on Picture Stockton titled Headquarters of ICI…
Photograph and details courtesy of Derek Buttle.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
I am amazed that an organisation that employed so many people and had made such a significant impact on the local community is not represented in any way in local museums or local history books. I am proud to have worked in “the” ICI but saddened that there is nowhere to mark its existance. In the north east we have Beamish to remind us of the mining industry. Museums in Hartlepool, Sunderland and Newcastle remind us of our shipbuilding and engineering industries but on Teeside there is nothing… not even a book on the local history of ICI.
What a shame for an organisation that contributed so much to British industry.
There is a workers memories book which was published a few years ago in which Dennis Carroll did a lot of work in it being published.
Not quite John, you need a copy of ‘Life at the ICI: Memories of working at ICI Billingham’ which was published in 2008 and is still available through many local bookshops. Mentioned in the ‘Gazette here; http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/happy-memories-the-ici-new-3732429 .
There was also a book published about the ICI Wilton site in hardback and it is mostly a photographic history but Google has failed me!
There is also a small display about ICI, mainly the Wilton site, in the Dorman Museum near Albert Park. I know too that the Stockton museums service have some ICI Billingham memorabilia but don’t have it on display as far as I know because I donated some of it!
Does anyone know when it was demolished? Only the half oval driveway (seen bottom left in this picture) is still there. In the middle of the oval was a grassed island with a war memorial erected by ICI, which can be seen in situ here:
http://picturestocktonarchive.wordpress.com/2005/03/10/ici-in-billingham-22/
and in it’s new location here:
http://www.hidden-teesside.co.uk/2011/11/03/billingham-war-nuclear-test-memorials/
Yes – in 1960s/1970s this building was known as Organic House and at that time the whole building was covered in ivy.