Flixborough Disaster 50 years on – poignant exhibition goes on display in Scunthorpe

A poignant exhibition has gone on display at a Scunthorpe museum as the region prepares to remember the tragic Flixborough Disaster half a century on.

Marking 50 years since the explosion of the chemical plant close to the village, Flixborough 1974 launched at North Lincolnshire Museum with a special open evening for those affected by the disaster, and those who have contributed to the collection. It will be on display until November and focuses on the tragic events at the Nypro chemical plant during and after the horrific incident that happened at around 4.53pm on Saturday, June 1, 1974.

Although the disaster occurred on a weekend when a smaller workforce of 72 people were at the plant, 28 workers tragically lost their lives and 36 were injured at the site. The disaster struck after a huge vapour cloud of hot cyclohexane found an ignition source and resulted in a massive explosion, virtually demolishing the site.

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As well as the 28 lives lost and 36 injuries on site at the Nypro chemical plant, 50 further injuries were also reported offsite, while around 2,000 properties in surrounding villages and towns were affected.

Gina Robinson was among those at the opening night for the exhibition. Her father, John Smith, was a power plant superintendent who was working that day, and survived the explosion. His story features in the exhibition where he is quoted from the time saying: “I just got to the door which was ajar as normal and then there was a violent explosion. It shook me up and down and I felt that it was all around me. Masonry was falling around me.”

After the explosion, John went to the fuel storage tanks to isolate them and later went back on site with the intention of shutting off the gas main. He received a Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct from Lord Halifax, which is also on display. Speaking about her father, Gina said: “He didn’t really speak about it much, in them days you didn’t call it but I think he did have post traumatic stress disorder afterwards – it stayed with him his whole life.

“In the beginning, it was a long time till he slept or even laid down. I think he just kept going through it all in his mind. He lived a good life, was lucky he survived and lived to 81. There’s a map of what he remembered from the day in the exhibition – the wellies he’s wearing in the Scunthorpe Telegraph picture is two left feet, he found them because he had his shoes blown off. His 1974 diary which was in his pocket that day features too, it shows injury for 1st June, he went back after three weeks but then went off injured again. It shows him back and forth from injury until he ended up leaving in November.”

David Meyrick also attended the special evening to launch the exhibition. David worked at the plant for two years and was due to work that fateful day but was fortunately on paternity leave. He sadly lost many of his friends and colleagues. He said: “My youngest boy was born on the 28th May so I was off for that week. If I hadn’t been I would have been there, probably loading lorries with the caprolactam liquid or working on the oxolation extraction part.

“I remember Albert Nutt, he had a lab glass beaker rather than a drinks cup or mug. I remember Wayne Bradshaw also, he was a youngster, a nice lad, we used to get on well together. Harry Stark was a foreman and I remember I regularly swapped shifts with John Barrett. Also Geoff Twidale and Ronald Cribb, I knew quite a few of them, they were all nice lads.”

The exhibition features personal memories, eyewitness accounts, photographs, video, audio from firemen, nurses, survivors and those living nearby as well as historical objects including firemen’s suits worn at the time, debris from the site, bricks from the demolished homes and the original Nypro workforce name badges of those who survived and those who sadly lost their lives. A map also features, showing the scale of the disaster, with memories shared of it being heard as far away as Grimsby, Hull and Pontefract.

Thomas James was a maintenance officer for Boothferry housing department on scene the evening of the blast and also attended the museum’s launch night. He said: “I got called out by my temporary chief, he heard a possible pipe had gone up and could I investigate. Someone else from my street was St John’s Ambulance and they were on their way so I was following them.

“We split off – they went to Scunthorpe and I went to Amcotts and into a mess, the biggest mess I’ve ever seen. I’ve dealt with a few fires but to see houses with all the windows gone, and you had to think about all that smoke because all the smoke was coming in our direction. We covered all the homes with polythene sheeting. I can’t imagine what residents thought coming home to their homes all covered up in sheeting.”

One of the most poignant features at the exhibition is a huge wall featuring all the faces of those who sadly lost their lives – giving descriptions of the men’s lives, characters, interests, careers and families.

A huge collection is also on display of the tragic events that unfolded, the lead up to that fateful day, as well as the aftermath. It tells the full story of what happened on the day of the blast.

Duncan Stocks, who worked at the plant before and after the disaster, features in one of the many memory booklets. He attended the opening night with his wife Audrey, and spoke of how he was on a weekend off work and what he remembers of that day. He said: “I worked at Nypro before and after the explosion. Two of my ex workmates, Thomas Leighton and Ian Kidner, died that day.

“Luckily I wasn’t working, my wife’s mother and father were on holiday in Skegness and we went over with our three boys so we were with them. We were asked if we were from Scunthorpe and were told there was a terrible explosion. I asked where, expecting to hear the steel works.

“When we got back to Scunthorpe that night, I went down to see if I could see anyone. It was so devastating but the police had blocked all the roads. You could still see it from across the fields, Stather Road was demolished. Another lad I worked with, John, he was blinded. He was in the workshop looking out towards the plant and all the glass just came in. We kept in contact with him for quite a while afterwards but sadly lost touch after he moved to Doncaster. We’d hoped he would be here this evening but unfortunately we haven’t found him.

“It doesn’t seem like 50 years ago. I knew so many of them, I was on the union and we went to a lot of funerals at that time. Very sad times – my wife was baking one morning and just burst into tears, that day we were going to funerals all day.’

Flixborough 1974 is now open to everyone to remember or learn about the horrific blast that shook North Lincolnshire and beyond. North Lincolnshire Museum, in Oswald Road, Scunthorpe, is open between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Saturday, and from 1pm until 4pm on Sundays.

Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe