BICC War Memorial, Prescot

[Stephen Nulty]

At the time of the Great War, the firm of British Insulated & Helsby Cables was less than 20 years old but already occupied large areas of land on the southern edge of Prescot, Lancashire. Like so many factories and workplaces, the men of BI & HC Ltd joined up in droves on the outbreak of war.

The staff magazine 'Link' published regular updates of the progress of the war and the part played by the men of the factory, also recording an ever increasing Roll of Honour as the casualties grew.

In 1921, a memorial was mounted on the wall of the factory inside the man gates, recording the names of 116 men of the company who had fallen in the war. Then after the Second World War, another panel was added with the names of 73 men who had fallen in this conflict. Around this time, the company was renamed British Insulated Callendars Cables, Ltd, ultimately being simplified to BICC Ltd.

In 1991, the factory, which had employed over 10,000 people in its heyday of the late 1960's and early 1970's, fell victim to the decimation of the British manufacturing industry and closed, with just one or two smaller, specialised units sold off and remaining in operation. The factory was demolished and a retail park and housing now stands on the site.

When demolition took place, the war memorial plaques were taken into the care of Knowsley Council who relocated them into the grounds of the Pirelli factory, close to the M57. This has previously been the Continuous Casting and Rolling (CCR) unit of BICC Ltd. However, this location was hidden away on private property down a long country lane, and so it was felt that the memorials needed to be moved once more, into a more publicly accessible location. The council therefore removed the memorial plaques in 2007 and placed them in storage

It was decided to place them onto a purpose built memorial wall in the grounds of the old churchyard, about 100 metres from the location of the main civic memorial. The planning process has now been concluded with permission granted, and work begins in a few weeks on preparation of the site, which is currently under about two foot of grass and weeds.

The current plan is for a dedication of the memorials to take place on Wednesday 11th November this year and I have been asked by the council’s Project Manager to help in providing details of the men named on the panels in order than an appropriate program or other publication can be produced for the service.

I already had details of lots of the men as they were inhabitants of Prescot and formed part of my Roll of Honour, but I had not researched those from outside the town. I have now identified 96 of the 116 Great War names, and 67 of the 73 Second World War names and work continues to accurately identify the few remaining. A few of these are a result of more than one 'possible'; for example, the memorial records 'W Hornby' and I have two Prescot casualties by that name, both William Hornby. I am in the process of trying to identify which of these men worked for BI & HC Ltd.

Although there has long been criticism of the local authority for the neglect of the old churchyard, it is hoped that this positive step of bringing this memorial back to public accessibility will be the beginning of a new era, with more care and attention taking place.

The image below shows the two memorials when they were located at Pirelli, the Great War memorial being the one on the left hand side.

I hope to have the final names confirmed within a few weeks and I will post updates to the forum on the work to relocate and rededicate this memorial.

[andalucia]

Nice to see they have been saved. They look in pretty good nick on that photo. Will look forward to seeing them return.

[Stephen Nulty]

Initial preparation of the main site for the BICC Memorial is now complete and building of the wall on which the plaques are to be mounted is due to commence shortly.

The picture shows the area which has been prepared for the memorial. In the background, circled in red, are the isolated CWGC headstones for (on the left) Pte Michael Henry of the South Lancashire Regiment, died of wounds on 8th February 1916 and (on the right) Private James McCracken of the King's (Liverpool) Regiment, who died on 13th March 1917.

The memorial dedication is scheduled for 11th November this year.

[daggers]

Look forward to seeing the finished work!

D

[centurion]

The company was not "renamed" in fact there was a merger between BIHC and Callenders Cables to form a new company. As Callenders were around during WW1 one wonders if their fallen were subsequently included in the memorial after the merger. Incidentally BICC Construction (which did things like power station construction work, railway electrification etc) finally disapeared into Balfour Beaty. My Father was a senior BICC Construction manager who joined BIHC in the late 20s. Even as late as the 1990s people uses to say "oh hes a BI man" or "he's a Callenders man" at BICC pensioners' dos. I think BICC India still survives.

[Stephen Nulty]

My dad worked as a foundryman in the Tank House for many years until he was made redundant in about 1990, and many other members of my family worked for BICC. I did four years in the Drum Shop before spending 9 years in the Computer Services Dept. , leaving in 1986.

Balfour Beatty ultimately became the core of what was left of the company, and my dad's pension was administered by them before he died.

I was curious about Callendars war dead, if there were any, but could find no reference to them in the "Link" magazine archives. My research into the names of the fallen on the memorial suggests that they were all Prescot based men; even those from the Helsby factory are not included, although I have found them mentioned in "Link".

From what I can find, there is no specific Helbsy factory memorial, although there is one in the Parish church there.

[centurion]

I was curious about Callendars war dead, if there were any, but could find no reference to them in the "Link" magazine archives. My research into the names of the fallen on the memorial suggests that they were all Prescot based men; even those from the Helsby factory are not included, although I have found them mentioned in "Link".

My father's boss at Preston was a Mr Wainwright who was I believe, a Callenders man and walked with a limp having driven his tank over a mine in 1918. If there were Callenders' survivors I'm sure they had some dead.

[gillchadwick]

A magnificent achievement Stephen.

I will pass on details of the forthcoming service to my relatives who worked at B.I.C.C.

Kind Regards

Gill

[Stephen Nulty]

Local press article covering this story, albeit quite briefly and not stating the fact that the memorial plaques were from the factory which once dominated the town !

Clickety-click

[joanbelge]

Hello My father was Chief Fire O fficer of BICC Belvedere working there from age 20 until he retired in his 50's. I have been doing some research on the war memorial in AllSaints Church Belvedere, some of the men were Callenders men and indeed Sir Tom Callender lived in Belvedere. My Dad says there were war memorials at the Belvedere factory but he doesnt know what happened to them. Well done

Joan