EPW029510 ENGLAND (1929). The Darlington Chemical and Insulating (Darchem) Works, Darlington, 1929

My father worked here from 1935 to his retirement in 1978. A colleague and family friend died from his exposure to the asbestos produced in the factory.



It is a shame that there is almost nothing available on the internet about this company which meant a lot to many people. As a small child, the works was a paradise: it had its own electric railway to carry materials to the Barnard Castle line which ran alongside (that was closed around 1980); there was a huge slag heap with a system of overhead lines and tippers; the insulation production rooms - staffed mainly by women - were warm and smelled so interesting to my childish senses that I always longed to visit my father.

View looking west.