Inside the Essex and Flintshire Paper Sack Company, stacking the paper rolls"
Essex and Flintshire Paper Sack Company, Castle Cement Works, Padeswood, Buckley
1956
Follow the hotspots for "Essex and Flintshire Paper Sack Company" to see the production processes of the factory. The sacks are today (2006) being sourced from Turkey - ed.
The series of photographs was taken by Stewart Bale Ltd. who operated in Liverpool from c. 1911 to the early 1980s. The firm documented many subjects during this time, resulting in a valuable archive. This archive is being curated by the National Museums Liverpool and details of the firm and the archive can be found on their web site:
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/displayGuide
Below is a short account of the factory. The photo shows reels of paper being stacked using a squeeze truck, at the start of the manufacturing process.
Mr. Arthur Davies wrote this in October 2006. He is the retired General Manager of the sack factory.
The Essex and Flintshire Paper Sack Co.
In 1954 the then Tunnel Cement Co. decided to build a new Sack Factory at Padeswood
The Company closed their Essex based Sack Factory in 1971, hence the name of The Essex and Flintshire Paper Sack Company.
The Padeswood Factory started production in January 1955 with most of the 40 employees coming from the Buckley and Mold areas.
In 1975 the "Tunnel", now named "Castle Cement Company", sold the business to Robert L Fleming Ltd. of Dundee, Scotland, who were part of The Stora Billerud Group of Sweden, who were paper manufacturers.
In 1982 a new Production Line was installed at Padeswood and the Labour Force was reduced to 30, producing 80,000 x 50 kilo sacks per day and in the 1990s, 25 kilo sacks were introduced.
The sack factory closed in December 1997 and the Dundee Factory in 1999.
Paper sacks from the Padeswood Factory were supplied to many companies world wide: countries included Cyprus, Jamaica, Africa, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
The Factory Building is now the Castle Cement Main Stores.
Author: Davies, Arthur
Tags
Year = 1956
Building = Industrial
Gender = Female
People = Single
Work = Heavy Industry
Extra = 1950s
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