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| Article by Graham Penness, Cheshire, 2008 |
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Calor Gas
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Alternative Employment to the Footwear Trade A brief personal history of Calor Gas in Rushden |
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The Peck family had been local hauliers in and around Rushden for most of the 20th century, starting with a horse and cart. By the time, the road transport industry was nationalised in 1947, they had their main garage in Washbrook Road, opposite Spencer Park, and were carrying goods and services throughout the Country.
However, back in 1947, P.X. Carriers contracted to deliver all of Calor Gas Distributing Coy. Ltd., L.P.G. (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) cylinders of Butane and Propane on a national basis. Two new companies were formed: - Transport Consultants and Vehicle, Hire and Supply Co Ltd (V.H.S. Ltd) to achieve this, with V.H.S. receiving a monthly cheque from Calor for goods transported. This tie-up with Calor had culminated in the terrible winter of 1947 when the railways froze to a virtual standstill — this being the main way Calor had moved their cylinders up to then. So by June 1947, P.X. Transport were moving all Calor cylinders from the Filling Plant at Billingham, Teesside, to Calor dealers in 11 counties in East Anglia and the East Midlands. By the end of 1949, P.X. Transport had delivered over 1.25 million cylinders and was operating 75 vehicles. Many of these vehicles were ex W.D. (War Dept) surplus obtained and maintained by the Chief Engineer, Mr Ted Herring. Some time during the 1950s, V.H.S Ltd moved to the premises at 36 Higham Road, using the properties fronting onto Higham Road as their offices and building a large workshop on land at the rear. Here they built new cylinder trailers and bulk gas tankers of varying sizes for use in carrying Butane and Propane, all for Calor Gas, but still operating as a separate company. My own involvement resurfaced in May 1958 when I was fortunate to obtain the job as a Cost Clerk on a wage of £9.15s.0d. (£9.75p) under the watchful eye of the Office Manager, Cliff Perkins (husband of Councillor Audrey Perkins); my hours of work were 8.30am to 12.15pm and 1.30pm to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday! Calor's success in becoming the brand leader in the Bottled Gas market, meant that P.X. Transport also expanded and in 1957 became a full part of the Calor Group. During the 1960's "Calor" became quite a local force in the town, providing employment to skilled mechanics and office staff alike. A Social Club was formed, of which I became the Chairman, organising Car Rallies and Xmas Parties, plus the Annual 'posh do' at Overstone Solarium, Northampton - also owned by the Peck family! One annual event, was the visit to Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia every January – this was for the whole Peck family children, plus many of the employees' children also.
Sadly, all good things come to an end and on returning to work after the Xmas break 1969, the office staff were told that all office functions were being transferred to Slough, Berkshire at the end of April. By this time I was the Assistant Cost Accountant with supervision of 14 direct staff and 9 indirect staff. Only my immediate manager and myself eventually agreed to transfer to Slough where an 8 storey, glass and concrete building awaited us. Note: I too worked in that office! Other names I remember: Stan Lewis, Karl Zaremba, Mick Holyoak and Denise Bridgeford (married and moved near Boston USA), Margaret Shelton, Vivienne Fox, Danny Davis, Ron? Farar, Mavis Warbuton, Keith Brealey who recently sent the football and carnival pictures.(see links below) Another chap along was often saying "roll on Christmas and let's have some nuts" as he walked from office to office. An older lady used to come in to make the coffee, and brought it round on a trolley from room to room, along with a large tin of Tea Time Biscuits. I have often said we'd still have been there when we retired if only they hadn't moved and made us redundant. That was quite a new word in the 1970s. Kay Collins |
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