Gerards Soap Works, Basford

[Guest Anne]

This topic has been split by an administrator

Not that I'm givin me age away..burr I'm sitting here drooling at the Fry's adverts cos I can remember em anall.

I can remember different smells...like Players and the Raleigh factories and Shippo's brewery and there was a soapworks at Basford that I could always smell..especially in the wintertime. Can't remember it's name though.

I remember upstairs on the buses being filled with smoke and people with dogs had to take them upstairs and pay half fare for them LOL

Anne

[Caz 25]

Would that be Gerards soapworks Anne? it seems to ring a bell for me.

Caz

[Guest Anne]

You were right Caz, Gerards soap works later turned into Cussons soap factory, and it's closing down after all these years.

Funny how the smell of soap on a foggy morning can linger in your mind.

Can any-one tell me if this is true.

[Bip 88]

B) Hi Anne, the answer to your question, is the soap factory at New Basford closing down [ Cussons ] the answer is yes, please read below...

UK : Soap maker Cussons to shut factory at Nottingham

9th February 2005

PZ Cussons, the Imperial Leather soap maker today said it was closing a soap plant in Nottingham, England by 2007 throwing 160 out of job citing shifting markets for bar soap products.

Cussons informed that entire operations would be transferred to a new factory in Thailand and at an the existing plant in Indonesia.

While customers in the UK and Australia were increasingly buying liquid soap products, the group said two-thirds of the market for bar soap was now located in Asia.

A spokeswoman for Cussons said it would gradually phase out production at the factory at New Basford in Nottingham, which the group bought in 1955.

The employees at the plant were informed this morning and the company has begun consultations with trade unions, she said.

The company’s UK managing director, Philip Smyth, regretting the decision said, “However, as a global company, we need to secure our long-term competitive position in the bar soap market. Demand for bar soap has been changing in the UK as liquid products have become more and more popular.”

“With great reluctance, we have decided to move production of all bar soaps to our plants in Thailand and Indonesia, while our UK facilities will concentrate on the growing liquid product sector.”

He concluded saying the staff was offered a “comprehensive range of support” including job search programmes.

[admin 21]

They Mean Cheap (slave) labour = HIGH PROFITS!

[angi 3]

I lived in Basford as a kid and remember Gerards.My aunt+uncle both worked there and as a kid my mum never had to buy soap. Any that were damaged the workforce had.We had soap in all the clothes draws to make them sweet smelling+ keep out the moths. Also we never had to buy washing powder as we got huge bags of Ino soap flakes.

I think I was 1 of the cleanest kids around. :D

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

The thought of smells, reminds me of Bitterlings glue factory on Meadow Lane

[Caz 25]

My most nostalgic smell of Nottingham is of the wood we used to light our coal fire when I was a kid,mmmmm still get a stomach lunge even now when I think of it!!

My partner's nostalgic smell was on his first visit back to the Uk after 30 odd years,he went to Bakewell & it was the burning of the coal coming from the chimmneys,he has tears in his eyes as I type :lol:

[ilkolad 9]

The thought of smells, reminds me of Bitterlings glue factory on Meadow Lane

ah, Bitterlings! . now there was a smell!

living only a matter of a few hundred yards away from this enterprise the putrifying stench was with us 24/7.

I had a mate who lived on Holme street which looked out onto Bitterlings, I recall the time when they once opened the gates, and saw the mountains of decaying and rotting flesh, being only a young lad at the time, the sight was very upsetting.

ilko..

[ilkolad 9]

and back onto the Gerards theme..

another aspect was the pre war period before the advent of the unions, I remember my grandad telling me of the crowds queing at the gates looking for work only to be turned away, and the time he witnessed a man snatch a brush out of another man's hands for fear of looking idle - the men with stop watches hiding on the rooftops, and the health and safety aspect of working with unknown chemicals, coming home with streaming eyes. also the management warnings re anyone thinking of joining the union - "any man deciding to join will not be looked on favourably" !

in other words , the sack!

ilko..

[Andrewrobinhood 0]

i used to live in whitbread st, Basford which was at the back of the Shipstone Brewery.

I remember Gerrards soap factory-Wasn't there a massive fire there?

I seem to remember watching it from a distance.

[Nottscops 2]

Shame about all those jobs being lost at the soap factory

Looks like the management are washing their hands of the whole situation :lol:

[Caz 25]

Yeah it is Bob, I heard they are in a bit of a lather over it :D :lol: :D :lol:

[Daphne 0]

It

[smileysal 3]

Hi,

sorry for opening this up again, but, just wondered, has the factory closed down yet? if yes, what has happened to the building? is it empty or has it been turned into yet more upmarket apartments? if no, when is it likely to close?

Sorry,

Sal

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

On 3/17/2005 at 8:06 PM, Andrewrobinhood said:

used to live in whitbread st, Basford which was at the back of the Shipstone Brewery.

I remember Gerrards soap factory-Wasn't there a massive fire there?

I seem to remember watching it from a distance.

I'm confused here. Was Gerrard's also known as Lindley's?

 

As a small child, I remember watching a serious fire from a bedroom at the back of our house in Bobbers Mill Road and seeing the flames lick around a tall chimney. My parents said it was Lindley's factory on fire.

 

I was also told that my paternal grandma, the volatile Kate Hudson, had worked at Lindley's as a girl but she was a silk worker. Perhaps it had once been used for textiles?

 

I do recall my sister going on a trip to Gerrard's when she was at Peveril. She came home with lots of free samples but said it was an awful place.

[trogg 2,014]

Jill the fire at Lindley and Lindley was on the 26 April 1957 at that time it was a textile factory as it contained different types of synthetic fibres and large quantities of cotton lace.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Must have been a different fire, Trogg, because I wasn't born until November 1957. The fire I remember occurred in the early to mid 60s.

[DAVIDW 1,681]

Jill there was another fire in 1963

 

"Nottingham Textile Mill Fire Damage About firemen with 13 appliances. fought a blaze at the factory of Lindley and Lindley. textile bleachers and dyers. in Bobbers Mill. Nottingham. last night. The two-storey building, nearly 100 yards long was severely damaged......"

13 May 1963 - Coventry Evening Telegraph "

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

That would be the fire I watched as a child. Thanks.

[jonab 1,644]

Jill,

One of the directors of Gerards, when I was there, was a David Linday. Perhaps that is the cause of your confusion with Lindley. 

The Linday family had their own soap manufacturing business, I think it was in Sneinton, where they specialised in industrial (laundry) soap products. Gerard's bought out the Linday company, closed it and moved the industrial soap (and detergent) manufacturing to the Wilkinson St. site. As a sop (note the funny there) the last survivor of the Lindays, David, was given a job on the Gerards board. I think, for a time, that Linday was incorporated into Gerard's company name.

 

The industrial division was where I worked as a product development chemist creating laundry detergents, cleaning products and suchlike.

 

I had very little contact with Linday himself possibly because I was too old (I was about 29) to arouse his interests (if you see what I mean) but he always made sure that new young, male employees had his approbation.

[trogg 2,014]

Sorry Jill  with never having met you I never knew your age, so I apologise for making assumptions, I was taught a long while ago that a ladies age is a subject that you don't discuss. Unless of course you are bad mannered, very brave or have a death wish. 

[catfan 14,793]

2 hours ago, DAVIDW said:

Jill there was another fire in 1963

 

"Nottingham Textile Mill Fire Damage About firemen with 13 appliances. fought a blaze at the factory of Lindley and Lindley. textile bleachers and dyers. in Bobbers Mill. Nottingham. last night. The two-storey building, nearly 100 yards long was severely damaged......"

13 May 1963 - Coventry Evening Telegraph "

I remember seeing the damage after the fire. We always walked past the factory on the way to Noel Street swimming baths. My brother actually worked there for a short while after leaving schoo las a van lad before he commenced his apprenticeship at the ROF.

 

Following this path from Bobbers Mill to Hyson Green went past Lindley & Lindley works.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9661748,-1.1809587,3a,75y,66.26h,84.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srGja-83dOlOgeWiqRn1aeg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

2 hours ago, trogg said:

Sorry Jill  with never having met you I never knew your age, so I apologise for making assumptions, I was taught a long while ago that a ladies age is a subject that you don't discuss. Unless of course you are bad mannered, very brave or have a death wish. 

Don't apologise, Trogg! My age is on my profile for all to see!

 

It seems that Gerrard and Lindley's are two separate entities. I do vaguely recall my mother mentioning, while we were watching the 1963 fire, that it had happened before.

[catfan 14,793]

NEP article about Gerards here .

 

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/history/basford-factory-leading-role-britains-1628425