Andrew visited Flixborough yesterday to attend a service to commemorate the Nypro tragedy in 1974.
Andrew reports, "It was a pleasure to attend the service in Flixborough yesterday for the dedication of the new memorial to commemorate the 28 people killed in the Nypro disaster at Flixborough 47 years ago. The painful memory of that disaster lives on locally with the families of those who lost a loved one and of those who were injured, had their homes severely damaged by the events or who simply remember the appalling scenes of that day. It was I believe the biggest peacetime explosion ever seen in Britain.
"I was born after the disaster but remember it still being referenced as a, 'I remember where I was when ...' type moment by family members and others locally when I was growing up. My Mum still tells me she remembers it clear as day as she was on duty with the police locally when it happened. Whilst she wasn't sent to the location on the day, like many, she remembers the huge shock it caused and how the day unfolded. More importantly, this disaster led to huge safety improvements for industry both in the UK and internationally, including safety improvements flowing from The Health and Safety At Work Act of the same year.
"The small original memorial plaque was getting difficult to clean-up and has now been moved inside the church. The Church Council and community wanted a new memorial and worked really hard to secure the beautiful new memorial you can see in the photos.
We are pleased to have helped with the application for funding from North Lincs Council towards this project too. Well done to all involved and thank you to everyone who contributed and put in the hours on this project. They should be very proud of their work.
"We now have a memorial that will hopefully stand the test of time and ensure that those killed by these terrible events will never be forgotten.
"For those who don't know much about the disaster you can view more here - https://youtu.be/5u3QExCY51c"
