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Handy hoists

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the early history of Abbott and Co, the Newark boilermakers, from its foundation in 1870 through to the early years of this century.

In an age which relied heavily on steam for both its motive power and industrial production, boilers of all sizes were in heavy demand and Abbott's prospered.

By the mid-Twenties the company, then under the control of Robert Abbott (son of the founder) calculated that, since inception 50 years earlier, it had made more than 13,000 boilers for clients all over the world.

An account of the factory published in the local press at this time makes for interesting reading.

Steel plate for making up the boiler, it says, arrived at the factory via the company's private siding from the Northgate railway station.

Once inside the factory the plates were cut to size by an electric planing machine before being rolled into a cylindrical form to create the basic boiler shape.

The edges of the plates were then joined together either by rivets (hydraulically inserted through previously-drilled holes) or welding using one of three methods: lap welding, electric welding, or oxy-acetylene.

The techniques of electric and oxy-acetylene welding are still generally understood today, although lap welding - a process in which overlapping metal surfaces, raised to white heat, were fused together by pounding with sledge hammers - has long since disappeared.

Once the main cylinder shape of the boiler had been made, circular flanged pieces were riveted to the cylindrical body, and the whole vessel tested for pressure by force-filling it with water - usually to twice the pressure it would sustain in normal use.

With the wheels of industry still largely reliant on steam power right up to the Fifties, Abbott's works were seldom short of contracts.

When a hiatus did occur, however, the company had one other product which could be brought into production at a moment's notice.

Abbott's Handy Hoist was a patented hand-operated worm-geared lifting device capable of lifting loads up to 5cwt. They were made by the company as early as the 1880s and continued in production until quite recently.

Over the years they sold in their thousands finding a ready market with such diverse organisations as farms, shops, schools, zoos and theatres - anywhere, in fact, where small weights needed lifting.

On the boiler side of the business, meanwhile, the Fifties and Sixties proved to be an era of great change.

With the decline in the use of steam power on the railways and in industry, Abbott and Co reduced its production of boilers, and moved into the more modern, but related, field of pressure vessel manufacture - an area of business with which the firm is still very much involved today.

In 1965 Robert Abbott, who had been managing director of the firm since 1908, died, aged 89, at his home in Fiskerton. He was succeeded by his son, Evelyn Thomas, who had previously pursued a career with an engineering firm in Bombay.

During the second world war Evelyn Thomas had joined the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners, serving with them as a lieutenant colonel in the Middle and Far East with the 14th Army.

After the war he had returned to Newark to join the family firm, first as a director and later (following the death of his father, Robert) as managing director.

Evelyn Thomas remained at the helm, however, for only four years before his own death in 1969 at the age of 73. The death of Evelyn Thomas Abbott brought to an end 100 years of family ownership of the Newark company.

With no further Abbotts, Asburys or Wrights (members of the original shareholding families) available to take over, the business was ultimately acquired in 1974 by Mr John Price of Morton Grange near Southwell.

Mr Price had already pursued a successful career in the textile industry, founding and developing a knitwear manufacturing business in Arnold in Nottingham and serving on the board of two of his family's lace businesses.

It was following the sale of his interest in the Arnold company that Mr Price took over at Abbott's.

Under Mr Price's management Abbott's moved from strength to strength, developing, modernising and broadening the product range to supply expansion vessels to the water industry.

In 1994 an additional 50% of production area was brought into being and, coupled with improvements in techniques, helped to ensure that Abbott's continues to enjoy a healthy order book to this day.

John Price retired as managing director in 1995 leaving the business in the hands of his son, Henry, who, having gained a degree in engineering, continues at the helm today.

In compiling this article I am indebted to Mr J. H. and Mr H. Price, current owners of Abbott's in Newark, for their invaluable assistance.

ABOVE: A photograph taken in 1996 shows some of Abbott's employees with a range of the company's products: pressure vessels for the compressed air industry and other specialised markets. Left to right they are plater Mr Mick Daley, foreman Mr Roger Bamford (retired since this picture was taken), welder Mr Nick Booth, Mr Dennis Shutler (burning and rolling) and Mr Paul White (testing and painting). The photograph was taken by Abbott's managing director, Mr Henry Price.

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