| Description | Tape 1 Side A ARTHUR MOULTON TILLING born 31 March 1916 Lambeth, London. Background to names. Second of three boys. Brother was in Chester Yeomanry, sunk twice at sea, later worked for Shell. Younger brother died recently. Details re their names. Recalls discipline in family. Boys slept 3 in a bed. Compares attitudes to discipline, punishment then and today. Recalls childhood days when you had to cry for a crust. Father was in Grenadier Guards, later joined Shell. Uncle went to New Zealand. Parents didn't talk much with children. Describes parents. Recalls being made to walk in military fashion when out with parents. Father worked at Shell Haven refinery. Recalls going to school in old army wagon, then walking 3 miles home. Never argued with father. Recalls discipline at mealtimes. Details re mother. She was one of 13 children. Describes her relationship with sisters, her attitudes to people. Recalls parents' relationship, anxieties about money. Attitude then to borrowing money, compares with situation today. Own attitude to borrowing. Childhood home at Shell Haven was a company house. Not told about family background by parents. Reference to book on family history. Details re names in own family and wife's family. Maternal grandfather worked for railways building engines. Paternal grandfather was a captain. Father was a process operator at Shell Haven in distillation unit. He was posted to Borneo, worked as an operator in a refinery. Recalls living in a raised bungalow in Borneo jungle aged 4-9. Details re servants etc. Refinery was a mile away. Details re house, animals etc.
Tape 1 Side B Travelled to Borneo by boat with mother, joined father. Stayed at Raffles Hotel. Details. Lived in bungalows in jungle. Only children there. Recalls intense heat, family routines, games with brother and coolies, Jubilee railway, playing on crocodile-infested river, punishment from father. Describes complications of daily trip through jungle to school by Ford 'Lizzie' and launch. Details re home routines, mother's role. Relationship with older brother. Recalls sole teacher, Captain Brennan. Didn't get to school every day. Details re routine. Recalls going into opium dens, cinema shows on the beach and other entertainments. Parents went to annual dinner dance, left children at home. Recalls Sikh police, close call with a possible fire. Recalls procedures of loading tankers at Lutong, use of a buoy. Describes laying of new pipeline, use of rollers, Jubilee trolleys, towing out of pipe by tanker etc. Importance to own education of seeing work such as pipe laying. Recalls new pipeline getting stuck in sandbank, celebrations when pipeline opened. Recalls playing with a whisky-drinking orang-utan. Details re an accident to finger, lasting effects even now. Father played rugby. Changes in Borneo since time there when things were primitive. Returned to UK via Singapore, Raffles Hotel. Recalls missionary nuns on ship coming home, fear of them, mother's attitude. Stopped at Suez to pick up coal, locked in cabins because of gangs of natives. Taken by nuns to see church in Marseilles. Details. Returned to Southampton, stayed with mother's people. Father found house rented by Shell in Havant. Mentions arrival at Ellesmere Port.
Tape 2 Side A Describes home at Havant, railway to Hayling Island (Hayling Billy), watercress farm. Recalls going to English school after experience in Borneo, difficulty catching up. Mentions move to Ellesmere Port. Was bullied at school. Details. Father worked at Stanlow refinery. Recalls house that came with promotion, mother's feelings about her place in society. When at Stanlow, driven to school, walked home. Father's reaction to bullying. Explains inferiority complex. Often waylaid by bullies when doing shopping for mother. Met one of them later. Recalls getting up at 5am, walking dogs. Father involved in shooting game etc. Comments on his giving up job in oil industry, buying a farm in slump time, not knowing much about it. Details. Helped him with a milk round in Chester. Mentions leaving school at 14. Father went bankrupt, became a labourer, later worked in haulage business. Details. Own first employment at soapworks which never made soap. Effect of father's situation on family. Own next job was in farming. Details re hard work, wages. Describes changes to old home since time there. Family moved to Chester when aged 16. Cycled in all weather to work, saved up for own bicycle. Father got job with Lobitos at Ellesmere Port. Recalls smoking Woodbines. Brother got job with Colas at Ellsemere Port. Reference link to Shellmex. Had no career aspirations. In spare time went tenting with friend, canoeing. Details re oil-related industries in Ellsemere Port. Explains father's work. Recalls getting work as sampler tester, 1934, in lab at Lobitos. Details re colleagues, work, atmospheric distillation vacuum unit process, production of bitumen.
Tape 2 Side B Details re Lobitos which specialised in lubrication, non-sulphurous oils. Crude oil came in Lobitos tankers. Details re ships, route via Manchester Ship Canal, offloading procedure, pipelines. Explains pigging process to clean pipes. Own work in processing lab, sampling, testing. Describes different techniques, testing for flashpoint, viscosity etc. Details re blending process for different oil companies. Qualified chemists worked in white oil lab. Describes own daily routine, wages, working conditions. Explains sampling procedure, doing tankage. Importance of correct cleaning process. Further details re working hours, (7 days a week), shift system. Mentions mother's cleaning work to help pay rent. Paid parents board till married. Further technical details - Heath Robinson way of keeping Bunsen burners operating. Little concern in early days about safety. Background to getting job, c1936, on lube oil plant, details of work, equipment, treating oil. Recalls work making medicinal paraffin. Had to pass White Oil Manufacturers' Society test. Details re working with oleum acid, handling it without goggles etc. Big achievement of making first batch of medicinal paraffin. Got acid burns in clothes. Had to buy own overalls etc. Recalls getting rid of acid sludge, repeated treatment that was necessary, tipping skips of acid in open drain. Describes related processes, interceptor to trap oil waste, reprocessing. Recalls state of water leaving refinery, going into river. Compares with requirements today. Explains final draining of acid from lube oils, neutralisation, pressurisation, monitoring processes. Saw a lot that others didn't see in refinery. Details re own suggestion, later followed up, of catching, re-using acid that was going down drain, saving to company.
Tape 3 Side A Didn't hear much about English oil fields. During war, Peruvian government stopped supply of crude oil to Lobidos through price rises etc. Sulphurous feedstock came from parts of Britain. Details. Recalls looking after presses, neutralising treatment, use of Fuller's earth. Big rats came with Fuller's earth from Germany. Describes building of Edleanu plant, a solvent extraction and de-waxing plant. Explains its function. Involvement with Benzol. Discovery later that Benzol detrimental to health. Details re work (using Edleanu plant) necessary on water content in feedstock. Explains conversion of distillate to graphinate. Recalls German, Dutch chemists etc who didn't know how to work the plant. Later on became superintendent of the plant, then it ran like a sewing machine. Details. No-one else knew how it worked. Married, 1943. Details re wife, her names etc. Mentions being in Home Guard. Recalls pay rise, c1936. Called up during war but sent back because in essential occupation. Details re activities in Home Guard. Recalls social life before marriage. Worked as operator with Lobidos during war. Unpleasant, dangerous conditions. Explains remedial actions taken. Learned job by hit and miss, reading etc. Recalls promotion to Chief Operator. Dubbs Cracking Unit built. Before that, in early part of war, went to Swansea to help commission BP plant. Explains. Reference to Germans. Several bombing scares during war. Comments on building of air raid shelter alongside Edleanu plant. Recalls bomb hit near a very dangerous tank, dousing fire bombs with foot pumps. Describes function and working of Dubbs Cracking Plant which processed fuel oil etc surplus to sale at a time when gasoline very sought after.
Tape 3 Side B Details re various homes after marriage. Birth of first child. Details re father-in-law's situation, his establishment of a general store in Ellesmere Port which wife came to run. Mentions her previous experience in this field. Details re purchase of first house, wife's involvement in her parents' shop, changes to arrangements resulting in constantly changing homes, eventual building of house on present site. Mentions land development tax under Labour government. Describes wife, her skills. She did all the correspondence. Recalls family caravanning, holidays, misadventures when towing caravan with a Jeep. Toured in caravans for years - positive effect on marriage. Recalls doing night school course in Sheffield, having to give up because of fees. Became part-time fireman. Promoted to Leading Fireman after doing exams. Mentions call bell place in house etc. Promoted at work to Process Plants Superintendent c1954. Held this position for over 25 years. Explains job, being in charge of solvent extraction and de-waxing plant, dealing with shifts, rotors, holidays etc. Explains in detail the de-waxing and recovery processes. Mentions dangers of overloading vessels, everything being on hand control, changes to processes. Explains production of bitumen and fuel. All work was done to specification. Explains role of marketing side of operation, preparation of material according to what customers wanted. At one time made Curzon oil for steam engine lamp oil. Describes its characteristics, burning qualities etc. Product could be tailored to requirement of customer. Recalls regular schedule of what products were to go through plant. Explains the sequencing of the processing of various products, the most efficient use of the plant.
Tape 4 Side A Solvent extraction and de-waxing (cont'd). Detailed description of process, problems involved, equipment used. Change from rapinate to filtrate solution. Good and bad operators. Explains results obtained by good operators. Recalls continuing responsibility as superintendent, even through holidays, for maintenance shutdown period when tubes decoked, rings changed etc. Some staff not good. Mentions accounts of domestic violence. Explains procedure when plant shut down. Compares with restrictions applied today. Many jobs now franchised out. Explains earlier roles of General Manager, Process Superintendent, Chief Engineer, Section Heads (chemical engineers). Own position was Process Plant Superintendent, also covered for weekend rotors on new big complexes. Was Supervisor on commissioning of hydrogenation unit - a platformer unit. Describes plant and process in detail. Recalls being on white oil plant, use of centrifugal treatment, making medicinal paraffin, transformer oils. Describes lie treatment - methylated spirits treatment, use of sulphuric acid, problems that arose with machines. Recalls ability to recognise sounds of machines, motors, pumps, pistons etc that weren't working right. Had to avoid overloading system. Explains efficiencies introduced. Details re process of dealing with oil in wax. Describes temperature sweating process arriving at required grade of wax, other uses of oil through separation processes. Worked for Lobitos 1934-77. Company was taken over by Burmah Oil, later BP. Father retired at 72 as Safety Officer. Recalls relationship with parents in later life. Father toned down in old age. Recalls parents' relationship, effect of mother's attitude to other people. Recalls time in fire brigade, driving fire engines, fire routines. Describes a fire exercise. Recalls working colleagues, ways of dealing with disputes.
Tape 4 Side B Own attitude to fellow workers was that everybody is an individual. Explains. In early days men understood their machinery. Compares with situation today. Details re hierarchies, control rooms. Recalls cleaning, manual monitoring of equipment. Comments on reliance today on automatic systems, decisions made in offices. Recalls solvent treatment plants which were monitored manually. Criticism of economies taken by people sitting in offices, losing sight of operations. Mentions current trouble with railways, economies taken in their operation. Took early retirement in 1977. Refinery closed 5 years later. Explains. Details re golden handshakes for younger people, own situation. Feelings about changes in way refinery was being run, attitude of younger staff etc. Had much more learning to do after age of 60. Recalls people being burned during phenol treatment of oil, precautions that had to be taken, difficulty getting people to take safety precautions, financial inducements etc. Explains dangers of phenol. |