VISIT TO BRISTOL

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 56, 8 March 1937, Page 3

VISIT TO BRISTOL

MR. NASH & MR. JORDAN

THE DOCKS AND STORES

EFFICIENT CENTRE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, February 6.

The question of the extension of direct shipments of New Zealand produce to Avonmouth, one important distribution centre for the west of England, was fully investigated by the Hon. Walter Nash during a visit to Bristol this week. The effective area of Avonmouthi it is stated, extends over a radius of 100 miles and includes; upwards of 1500 cities and towns embracing a total population of 12,500,000.

Mr. Nash was accompanied by the High Commissioner, Mr. W. J. Jordan, this being his first official visit to Bristol since his arrival in the United Kingdom. It was fitting that the visit should be a combined one. Not only did a number of New Zealand's early settlers come from this part of England, but Bristol has many old associations with colonial development. Bristol, which is often called "the cradje of Empire," is linked with the discovery and development of America, Canada, the West Indies, and India. The achievements of John and Sebastian Cabot, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, John Guy, Captain Woodes Rogers, and William Dampier are well known.

Mr. Nash and Mr. Jordan were met at the station by the chairman of tha Port of Bristol Authority, Alderman E. N. Dyer, and the general manager, Mr. R. H. Jones, and were taken to the authority's offices at ,Avonmouth for luncheon.

After luncheon Mr. Nash and Mr. Jordan were conducted over the docks by the chairman and port officials. The port of Avonmouth, it is interesting to note, is owned by the Bristol Corporation. Both the visitors displayed a deep interest in the cold stores, in particular, and made a close inspection of a quantity of New Zealand butter and cheese unloaded from the Tongariro earlier this week. They also inspected New Zealand mutton awaiting delivery. COLD STORAGE FACILITIES. The cold stores are a feature of tha port of Avonmouth, where refrigerated produce can be handled with the greatest efficiency. The storage capacity is 500,000 cubic feet. The stores are divided vertically into three sections and horizontally into three floors, making nine chambers in all. Produce is taken in' slings from the ship's hold by fast electric cranes, and lowered through a series of hatchways in the flat roof of the transit shed to a platform on the floor below. There the produce is sorted according to class on to trolleys, which are conveyed by escalator to the reception floor of the cold stores. The trolleys are then loaded on to large electric lifts and lowered through air-lock shafts to the cold chambers, where the produce is stacked. The whole process of discharging the produce from the ship into the chambers occupies a remarkably short time and handling is reduced to a minimum. Deliveries direct from the ship to insulated railway' vans or to motor trucks are also made expeditiously and with a minimum of handling. From the cold stores Mr. Nash and Mr: Jordan went to the Port Authority's granary, which handled last year over 1,000,000 tons of grain. The visitors were then shown tho- di installations, the graving dock, the entrance locks, and the passenger station. Unlike New Zealand, systems of docks are necessary in the United Kingdom owing to the high rise and fall of the tides. An interesting fact about Bristol and Avonmouth is that the rise and fall there is the second greatest in the world, being exceeded only by the rise and fall in the Bay of Fundy, on the east coast of Canada. During the equinoctial spring tides the rise and fall at Avonmouth is over 45 feet. AEROPLANES AND TOBACCO. The Minister and the High Commissioner were tendered a civic dinner at the Mansion House. The Lord Mayor of Bristol presided. The dinner was attended by members of the, Corporation and the Port Authority, and by prominent traders and shipping representatives.

Mr. Nash left his hotel early, and after paying a call at the Council House, visited the Bristol Aeroplane Company's works at Filton. The company, which constructs aircraft, including engines, employs a staff of 10.000. The site, together with the flying field, covers an area of 400 acres. The Minister'was conducted through the entire works by the managing director, Sir Stanley White, and the assistant managing director, Mr. Herbert Thomas. Sir Stanley White is a son of the late Sir George White, the founder of the company. Aircraft produced by the Bristol Company wonj fame during the Great War and played an important part ia restoring to the Allies the supremacy of the air which the German Fokkej? machines had so seriously challenge<s.

The Minister concluded his visit t« Bristol with a tour of inspection of th* factory of W. D. and H. O. Wills. There he had the opportunity of inspecting tobacco leaf imported from New Zealand. The leaf, he was informed by the company's officials, was of particularly good quality and was suitable for the firm's requirements. There was an excellent future for th« New Zealand leaf. .