Save the Birmingham HP Sauce Factory Rally
Thanks to Chris Haden for bringing this to our attention.
A protest rally is to be held at the Aston HP Sauce factory in Birmingham the first weekend of June. The rally, which is in support of this historical British institution and its workers is sure to alert Heinz that their decision to close the factory is simply not on! The protest is also designed to serve as a wake up call to the British parliament who have been harshly criticised for their lack of action in supporting British industry when threatened with closure as is the case with HP Foods.
The rally is to be held on Saturday, June 3rd at 10:30am and will start at Aston Park and will end up at the HP Sauce Factory.
Please attend the rally this Saturday!
If you have more information regarding the rally which you would like to pass along to other site visitors, please contact me.
EDIT: Corrected Rally Date & location - Thank you Kev for pointing it out to us.
EDIT: Revised rally start time (was 11:00am).
May 20th, 2006 08:56
I’m a Brummie living in London and I was really pleased to find your site. I really hope that the HP Sauce factory stays open - it’s a part of Birmingham’s history that is worth celebrating!
I have a question for Brownsauce.org (or anyone else who is visiting the site and happens to be reading this) - when I was little, my dad told me that not long after the Aston Expressway opened there was a “terrible accident” when one of the pipes that passed over the road, from one side of the factory to the other, burst - covering the road and lots of cars and drivers in sauce. Did anyone else ever hear this story? Is it true or was my dad just having a laugh? I know it might sound a bit mad, but I can’t stop wondering whether it really did happen!
Thanks for your patience.
Official Comment - May 21st, 2006 17:14
Hi Tasmin,
Welcome, and thank you for your kind words!
I’ve done a bit of research, and so far I’ve been unable to find any account of the old vinegar main bursting and spilling HP Sauce all over the Aston Expressway! I did find out about another accident which may interest you however. It is in fact somewhat similar to the story you describe as well.
Just after Christmas 1956, one of the old vats used in the vinegar making process at HP decided to fail in a somewhat spectacular fashion! It exploded, releasing upwards of 45,000 gallons of malt vinegar which ended up roaring down Tower Road. Cellars were flooded, as were front parlours. Vinegar even spewed through the plug holes in kitchen sinks!
The fire brigade came and worked at pumping out the vinegar while people residents worked at cleaning it up with their mops. They managed to clean up the liquid, but the smell of the malt vinegar was unbearable. One person was heard to say “We know it’s fish & chips night but enough is enough!”.
HP was quick to compensate the householders for their losses, even if they were a bit taken aback at the number of mink coats & family heirlooms apparently destroyed by the flooding of these humble households.
This story paraphrased from the book “The True Story of H.P. Sauce”.
Hope this helps, Brad
May 31st, 2006 10:24
Thanks Brad - you are a legend.
Tamsin
Official Comment - May 31st, 2006 15:57
Interesting timing, the Birmingham Mail also done some digging on this very story and has published a writeup on their website today.