Now! Then! John Battle, MP for Leeds West, visits a constituent who had lived near the J.W. Roberts (Turner & Newall) asbestos works in Armley

Excerpt

Mr Walter Evans, a pensioner living in my constituency, at 68 years of age is seriously ill from mesothelioma, which is an asbestos-related cancer. In 1976, he lost a lung. For the past seven weeks he has been struggling to breathe with the help of a nebuliser machine beside his bed in the front room of his home. Mr Evans had the misfortune to live in Old Row, Armley, in my constituency, from 1939 until the 1970s. He lived close to the asbestos factory of J.W. Roberts. He can tell the story of how his wife used to wipe the greyish-white dust off the window sills of their home at 9:30 am, and that an hour later, if the machines at Roberts were blowing out dust, there would be another layer of dust half an inch thick. A neighbour of his grew up in Arley Place, which is nearby, and he is now 44 years of age. Both his father, who died at 50, and his mother at 53, were certified as dying of lung cancer. In the case of his mother, there was tearing of the stomach lining. He described how as young children they played in the dust. They scooped up the dust into piles with their hands to kick the little mounds down, he said. Others who went to the nearby Armley Clock Primary School described how the playground was always covered in dust. Children wrote their names in the dust. The girls marked out the hopscotch squares in the dust. Another resident, Mrs Shires, recalled: “If you walked right behind the factory it was like cotton. It was in the cracks in the pavement behind the factory.” Mrs Annie Muscroft of Nunnington Terrace has said: “It used to be blue-white. We used to sweep this blue dust up. It was blue fluffy stuff.” Jack Peat of Nunnington Terrace has said: “The dust was always there while I was at school, lying on walls or window ledges if it had been damp. It was like snow fall.” Mrs Annie Hall of Arley Place recalls: “I used to get up in the morning and the other side of the street always had a layer of fine dust with footmarks on it from the early morning workers.”

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:

ER: East Riding
GM: Greater Manchester
NR: North Riding
NY: North Yorkshire
SY: South Yorkshire
WR: West Riding
WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

I’ll return to these lightly skimmed links, which document the corporate manslaughter committed by J.W. Roberts/Turner & Newall, and the miserable role played by wealthy crooks like Sir Colin Hope, abetted by Leeds City Council, in evading corporate responsibility:

Alan Bennett’s dad worked next to the factory. Here he is, on the fundraising website of another victim, June Hancock.

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Original

Mr. John Battle (Leeds, West) Yesterday evening I visited Mr. Walter Evans, a pensioner living in my constituency, who, at 68 years of age, is seriously ill from mesothelioma, which is an asbestos-related cancer. In 1976, he lost a lung. For the past seven weeks he has been struggling to breathe with the help of a nebulizer machine beside his bed in the front room of his home. Mr. Evans had the misfortune to live in Old row, Armley, in my constituency, from 1939 until the 1970s. He lived close to the asbestos factory of J W Roberts. He can tell the story of how his wife used to wipe the greyish white dust off the window sills of their home at 9.30 am, and that an hour later, if the machines at Roberts were blowing out dust, there would be another layer of dust half an inch thick.
A neighbour of his grew up in Arley place, which is nearby, and he is now 44 years of age. Both his father, who died at 50, and his mother at 53, were certified as dying of lung cancer. In the case of his mother, there was tearing of the stomach lining. He described how as young children they played in the dust. They scooped up the dust into piles with their hands to kick the little mounds down, he said. Others who went to the nearby Armley clock primary school described how the playground was always covered in dust. Children wrote their names in the dust. The girls marked out the hopscotch squares in the dust.

Another resident, Mrs. Shires, recalled: If you walked right behind the factory it was like cotton. It was in the cracks in the pavement behind the factory. Mrs. Annie Muscroft of Nunnington terrace has said: It used to be blue-white. We used to sweep this blue dust up. It was blue fluffy stuff. Jack Peat of Nunnington terrace has said: The dust was always there while I was at school, lying on walls or window ledges if it had been damp. It was like snow fall. Mrs. Annie Hall of Arley place recalls: I used to get up in the morning and the other side of the street always had a layer of fine dust with footmarks on it from the early morning workers.

388 words.

Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

24 November 1988: John Battle, MP for Leeds West, visits a constituent who had lived near the J.W. Roberts (Turner & Newall) asbestos works in Armley

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