You can be in Runcorn in just two hours from London Euston—almost less time than many who commute to work in London.
So, Liveryman travelled from Cornwall, Hampshire, London, Cheshire, Yorkshire, and Kent to muster at Runcorn Station late Friday morning in late September.
Our goal is to visit ‘Glass,’ the core of our Livery Craft and one of the centers of Glass production, Liverpool and St Helens.
We boarded the waiting coach, our transport for the next 27 hours. Members greeted each other with the enthusiasm of children about to go to an adventure park – glass being made.
Our first stop Encirc, Elton. Encirc employs about 2,000 people and produces over 3 billion glass containers yearly. It’s one of the leading wine, beer, and spirit bottle fillers in the UK. We were greeted by Ollie, who escorted us to a reception area – a picnic luncheon, presentation, and then safety gear. Disposable overalls, shoes, protective glass, baseball caps and earplugs. Some were fascinated by the term and sight of the quad gob. As blobs of molten glass dropped from the furnace and passed through machinery that subsequently moulded and produced 500 bottles per minute, 11 lines were doing the same thing! Mesmerising is not the word. We tried to lip-read above the noise as explanations were offered but adjourned to an air-conditioned control room. Moving tables of millions of glass bottles travelling through coolers, xrays and then on to giant suction pads that lifted them for packing onto pallets and then wrapping. In the bottling plants gallons of wine syphoned into bottles, capped and boxed all under bond. Knowing about such things is not credible until you see it for real.
Returning to the coach, we headed for Pilkington, perhaps one of the UK’s most famous manufacturers of ‘float’ glass, in essence, windows of every shape and size one can imagine. The company had been founded by John William Bell and five other local men in 1826 under the name St Helens Crown Glass Company. It was renamed Greenall & Pilkington around 1829 and later in 1849 officially renamed Pilkington Brothers. It was in St Helens that the modern float glass process was invented. Today Pilkington is part of the NSG Group and is one of the leading glass manufacturers in the UK. The factory process stretches over vast acres, from the pouring of the molten glass to the cutting of sheets. Our guides walked us through the process, and again, we were stunned at the reality of seeing it for real.
Time was passing too fast to absorb the reality of these vast operations and it was time to board our coach once more. Hotel bound, check in and a short time to freshen up before gathering once more and off for Dinner.
Dinner was hosted at the local Catering College – Colours Restaurant. Billed as “Refined food cooked by catering students in a slick dining room with designer decor and glass walls “
We were joined by local MP Marie Rimmer CBE, Members of the local Council, Chief Executive of British Glass, Dave Dalton and others from the local Glass community. Reception drinks were served and we sat in convivial jollity for a splendid meal and camaraderie. A toast of thanks proposed to the students and staff, a few words from Past Master, Richard Katz and a toast of congratulations to Richard proposed by the Master for all the work and perseverance in making his dream of Glass Futures (which we would see on the morrow) a reality in the making.
Boarding our coach once more and returning to the hotel – some to slumber and a few partaking of a nightcap in the bar.
Saturday morning arrived, and after a hearty breakfast, we were summoned to board our coach once more, bound for the main part of our visit: Glass Futures.
This was an aspiration of Past Master Richard Katz and CEO of British Glass Dave Dalton. The company was founded over 10 years ago to make glass the low-carbon material of choice with the hope of building the world’s first global centre of excellence. They achieved that dream this year with the opening of the research development and training facility in Saint Helens and are currently installing an experimental-scale 30 tonnes-per-day test furnace.
The mission to demonstrate disruptive technologies and generate new ideas that support sustainability at this global centre of excellence bridging the technology readiness level gap between research and commercial viability towards implementation.
Our hosts greeted us at the impressive building—a shell as yet but in earnest refurbishment. We were given a tour of the facility, and the process of how it will all come together was explained, providing this unique opportunity for the glass industry.
We returned to our coach, headed for The World of Glass Museum, and were greeted by the new curator, Sarah Taylor.
The group were allowed to wander around the museum and also enjoyed an introduction, delivered by Liveryman Mark Holford to his displayed Glass Collection.
The museum re-opened in August 2023 after a £1m refurbishment, part of a wider investment in the Merseyside town.
We were then treated to a buffet luncheon. Several members had the opportunity to meet the museum’s patron, Lady Kirsty Pilkington, whom some had met previously when the museum officially reopened in 2023.
The clock and the time had passed quickly, time once more to board our coach and head for Runcorn station where members said their farewells and parted company heading off in the directions of their homes. A very interesting 27 hours of camaraderie, fellowship and learning, cementing our avid interest in this wonderful material
GLASS.
