ATTINGHAM, 1966-J. SHORT

Attingham 1966

James Short, Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, Burgh of Paisley, gives his impression of the recently held residential mid-week school.

Such is the popularity of the Residential Mid-Week School that of one hundred and eighty persons who made application to attend, sixty~nine were allocated places. This is a tribute to the orgamsers of the course and to the attractions of Attingham Park, a stately home of rare architectural beauty bequeathed to the National Trust by the eighth Lord Berwick and now used to house Shrop-shire Adult College. Situated in wooded and landscaped surroundings and bounded on one flank by the River Tern, a tributary of the Severn, it provides a happy atmosphere where study can be combined with the pleas~re of living in a fine building and the enjoyment of relaxmg in the surrounding grounds. However, in spite of its secluded setting the modern age did intrude and several students were confronted on arrival with a parking prob-lem until the staff put matters right. The old Dining Room with its Italian ceiling painted throughout in 'Pompeian Red' broken with white and gold, now used as the lecture room, was the focal point of the course and it was in this room that an official welcome was extended by the Deputy Warden, Bryan Podmore, B.A. He outlined the work of the College, which was open to adults of all ages and varying backgrounds to work together on a subject of common interest. On the previous evening the old Dining Room had been trans-formed into a setting for the presentation of Rossini's Opera The Marriage Contract. Thereafter, students assembled in their syndicates and exchanged views on their particular problems until the late evening. The morning of the second day saw the introduction of the first lecturer, W. M. Lewis, F.R.I.C., City Analyst, Coventry, speaking on the "Nature of Petroleum-Spirit and its Hazards". One's basic knowledge of chemistry learned many years ago was soon revived as he juggled with atoms, valencies and molecules to show the different attachment of carbon and hydrogen atoms to form the constituents of petroleum-spirit. He was followed by C. S. McDonald, M.A., Senior Assistant Solicitor, County Borough of Solihull, discussing the Acts, Regulations and Orders collectively known as the Petroleum (Regulation) ~cts, 1928-36. In his early remarks he referred to the ma<;Iquacy of present legislation and, in dealing with various aspects of existing law, forcibly illustrated prob-lems of interpretation which petroleum officers have in the past found difficult to reconcile with the practical side of their duties. After lunch a demonstration by the Pyrene Company, Ltd., on the use of water carbon tetra-chloride foam carbon dioxide, and dry powder type fire extinguisher~ w.ent ?ff smo<;>thly until the wind momentarily changed ~1rect1on, leavm~ some spectators choking with fumes and lightly coated with a deposit of white powder. Returning ~o th~ lecture room, W. C.R. Dale, A.F.Inst.Pet., Admin-1strat1v_e Officer, Licensing Department, Greater London Counc1l, presented a paper on "Planning and the Petroleum Officer" and left students in no doubt as t<;> ~he requirements of his Council in relation ~o the prov1s1on of stores and the layout of ancillary eqmpment. Unfor-tunately time did not permit this lecture to be completed, a disappointment to many who realised t~at they wJre listening to a man at the top of his profession. Th;etr~ concluded with K. Sherwood, A.F.Inst.~et., Esso d f leum Company, Ltd., illustrating the vanou_s metho ~ ~f installing underground storage tanks and his accoun f the development of a resin bonded fibre glass tank was 0 particular interest. Sir George Trevelyan, Bt., M.A., Wa_rden of ~he C?lle~~ addressed the School on the last mormng, addn~g ht! ~t personal welcome to that already extended by h1~ D P Yd John Beer, M.l.W.M.A., Chief I!-'lspector of We1gh~~ea~n Measures, City of Worcester, ~c::hvered the first l~~t With the "Testing of Petroleum-Spmt Storage Tanks · d th the aid of.apparatus of his own design he demonstrate. d'e · · them 1-effect of temperature and pressure vanat10ns on . . cated pressure on a guage. It was indeed dis~ppo_m~~~ that due to lack of time he was obliged to restr_ict ~is well to the testing of new tanks when he was obv10us Y . 1 · fi Id "Th Pract1ca equipped to cover a much wider e · . e f the Application of the Electrical Recomm~ndat10ns 0 J A Association" was introduced in a concise talk b~ di· d · Sharp, A.l.E.E., Senior Assistant Engineer, Mi ~fre~ Electricity Board, with specific reference to the. re~ out ments of the Home Office Model Code. H;e pomte t that current thinking on the types of electncal appafira ~s . · d'd not t m that could be used m hazardous locat10ns 1 . d with the requirements of the Code and that a .. i;v~~~e version was now needed. The afternoon lecture ?11• u ff t Trends in Petroleum-Spirit Dispensing': was ha/ f Mt ~ a~d by G. M. Steer, Merchandising Executive, S e. ~xecuB. P. Ltd., and M. T. R. Bowen, M.A., Ma~ketmg in the tive, B.P. Trading, Ltd. They forecast the mcrease rs and consumption of petroleum-spirit in the next ~ve yea 1 illustrated diagramatically and with the aid of co ou~ slides of overseas sites, the use of ~ost and pre-p~~~~~r self service stations to speed up service and reduce d t costs. In anticipation of these develop!flents, stu .:r J realised that their authorities wou~d reqwre to b,e ~Ulth:t on policy decisions regarding their acceptance an d · b · to amen -considerable thought would requJre to .e. given S h ol ment oflicensing and pre-licensing cond1t1ons. Th; 1t 0 d concluded with reports from syndicate chairmen ° owe by open discussion. A Vote of Thanks to all who had contributed in any w'ij' to the success of the School was ably proposed by J · H. · Hornby, Deputy Chief inspector of Weights and Measures, City of Oxford. . . . . f tl e Uniformity in Petroleum Admm1strat10n is on~ o .1 Association's objectives. Evidence of lack of um_fo_rmity was apparent even among the lecturers, e.g. the i:n1111mu: height for vent pipes was stipulated as 12 feet 6 mches Y one lecturer and 16 feet by another; the cl~aran_ce between a suction line and fill pipe was giv~~ as~ mch m oned~a~f and 2 inches in another. The Bnt1sh Standard Co , Practice 1003 differs in the definition of dangerous areas from the Association's Model Code. Ideally, con:ipl~~e agreement on every aspect of administration is desi~a. e though perhaps impracticable, and _it is only ~y o~gams!ng Schools and thrashing out these diffe~ences m d1scu~s10n that something approaching uniformity can be attamed.

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