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DEDICATION: Mayor Councillor Jack Davies and consort with council leader, Councillor Roy Oldham, and St Peter’s Pupils
DEDICATION: Mayor Councillor Jack Davies and consort with council leader, Councillor Roy Oldham, and St Peter’s Pupils

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Remembering Hooley explosion

by Eve Dugdale
18/ 6/2008

A PERMANENT memorial to those who died in an explosion at a munitions factory 90 years ago has been placed in Ashton’s Henry Square.

And the sculptor behind the impressive artwork says his design was inspired by drawings by local school children.

Mayor, Councillor Jack Davis joined pupils from St Peter’s primary and sculptor Paul Margetts at the unveiling of the sculpture on Friday.

Seven children from St Peters school were among the 46 killed and 500 injured when Hooley Hill Rubber and Chemical Company on William Street, Ashton, blew up in 1917.

There is a blue plaque in the school to remember pupils who lost their lives.

Paul said: "The sculpture was designed in remembrance of the munitions factory explosion in Ashton in 1917 so I wanted to create something that signified an explosion and also something that reached upwards to remember those who died. Stainless steel seemed a very vibrant material to use, especially with the modern architecture around the site.It was really good working with the council and the kids as well. The sculpture came about after I did a project at the school around 12 months ago.

"We did some metal work and that’s what started it off.  "The kids did quite a lot of drawings and the drawings inspired my design."


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Most recent 2 of 2 user comments

   Good to see that there is a proper memorial at last. The explosion was a direct result of the great pressure to replace the vast amounts of explosives being used im the war. My grandfather was a chemist working at the factory and, following the initial explosion and subsequent fire, realised that there was another very large vat of explosive that had not yet ignited - so he re-entered the burning building and opened a valve that drained the explosive away from the factory thus averting another huge explosion and thus probably saving further lives. He was badly injured by falling debris but survived and was awarded the OBE which I believe was then the highest civilian honour available.
PeterB, Shropshire
8/07/2008 at 12:45
   Why is the Mayoress always holding her head with her hand?

And what is it with these wacky sculptures across Tameside. First off we had the "T", then we had Roy Oldham's Bronze Map (Can someone please tell me if there is one in Ashton, Dukinfield, Droylsden etc???), then we had that "sundial" in Stalyvegas and now this in St. Peters.
Tameside Eye - http://tameside-eye.blogspot.com/
19/06/2008 at 16:21
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