Battery Technology - some of its history

The battery was famously invented by Volta and had many uses, not least in valve radio. It was perhaps not wonderfully convenient, requiring regular charging at a shop which often would double up as the bicycle repair shop.

With the explosion in the number of motor vehicles used by the British army in WW2, batteries for lorries and tanks were in great demand. Oldham was one British company which rose to the challenge.

Oldham's traditional business was hats, and from this had come mining lamps, and, from these, batteries. The depression in coal mining had encouraged a shift towards supplying batteries to the more buoyant motor industry, so Oldham had been well prepared when war came.

The car battery to us in the 21st century is enclosed, reliable and clean. In the middle of the twentieth century, even though technology had made great strides forward, the battery, with its elements suspended in acid, was far from simple. The Centre for Army Mechanisation at Chilwell has a store specifically set aside to keep batteries charged.

In the run up to D Day, Vehicle Reserve Depots were set up including one at Donnington Park motor racing circuit not far from Chilwell. Vehicles were received, checked and parked. Batteries were removed and stored together in large sheds where they were all kept on charge using diesel generators and topped up with fluid by their ATS carers. In order to minimise movement, a truck fitted with an air pump was taken round the parked vehicles to keep the tyres at the correct pressure. Radiators were drained. 

The plan for vehicle supply for D Day included categories of spare parts. Batteries were seen as likely to be in need of frequent replacement and so were among the immediate category of spare. A key issue in the early part of 1944 was that batteries were in short supply and great numbers were needed from the USA as spares. Controller of Ordnance Services, Bill Williams, travelled to the USA in April 1944 to encourage the production of spares of all kinds, but including batteries. depot addressed a problem of missing parts that boiled down to a misunderstanding with the parts list. A final visit to the Electric Storage Battery Company found a solution to the shortage of spare batteries. 

Another important manufacturer of batteries was Chloride whose UK factory was in Manchester. 

A manuscript getting close to submission

 It is a strange time when a manuscript is nearly ready. Relief that the huge amount of work is nearly done, but sadness that an engrossing journey of discovery is nearly over. 

It all began with an itch. My research into my books on how the army have been supplied in two world wars had raised in my mind many questions. Many British companies had served their country well beyond the call of duty. Who were they? Where did they come from? What happened to them?

I began by approaching the first two questions, but my quest widened into the story of British manufacturing. It then sharpened into what then seemed an almost crazy assertion How Britain Created the Manufacturing World. 

My research sought to test the assertion and the results are in the manuscript which will make its way to my publisher at Pen & Sword. 

In this blog I plan to post some interesting findings. 

This generator is in a lighthouse on Scilly 

The book, How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World was published in June 2022, and here is a link to Pen&Sword in the hope that you will want to buy a copy!

Employment in the 21st century

It is a subject that politicians won't talk about, except for one party promising new jobs and another to trumpeting record employment. Reports talk about robots taking over, but what is the truth; what is the evidence? What of the creative industries? More to the point, what is to be done?

One hundred people from across all stages of education, local government and industry came to Lincoln Drill Hall to hear presentations by people (see below) immersed in the debate. I offer here my reflections on a very thought provoking day.

I begin with my prejudice, which is a fear that AI (artificial intelligence) will cost jobs. This was dismissed as the Luddite Fallacy, harking back to the fear of early 19th century millworkers to the coming of machinery.  I also began with a strong feeling that 'middle order' jobs have already been lost and replaced with poorly paid unskilled work with variable hours. I am reminded of the brilliant TV drama Years and Years. I am also still worried.

The first speaker offered much needed evidence by showing just which jobs are vulnerable to AI, and they are largely those middle order clerical jobs. (This struck a chord with me in relation to my own writing where I uncovered photographs of massive offices for clerical work in support of army supply in WW2.) 

There could be a lot of clerical jobs at risk, perhaps 30% of all current jobs could to be lost. On the positive side new jobs will be created, many as Robot minders, which surely begs another TV drama. Those undertaking the new jobs will need to be trained and certainly those set to lose jobs might see it as a challenge beyond them.  This is Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution this time with the focus on interconnectivity. A key issue to emerge from this process of job loss and job creation is the time lag between the two.

For me a fascinating insight came at the coffee break where I spoke to my old neighbour who works in a senior role in the care sector. We had both seen that care work was among the least likely to be replaced by AI. It is work that needs human empathy, however it is seriously undervalued. Later a questioner suggested that people without high aspirations could become 'hair dressers or care workers'. Without being dismissive of hair dressers, care work surely needs to be recognised as a profession and paid accordingly. It would be good if this debate could shed light on this.

What other jobs are 'safe'? Not artists, it would seem. AI can make perfect copies of great masters. I digress into some other of my own work pointing to JohnRuskin, (whose voice needs to be heard more generally in this debate - he was fearful of the impact of industrialisation on the wellbeing of workers), but who in this context, could, at the age of 21, copy the style of all the significant painters of his day but who only discovered 'true art' when he began to paint from nature. This gives a focus on what AI cannot do: General Intelligence, Value Judgements to name but two.

It isn't just AI and Robots, digital technology generally, not least digital printing, is making a big impact in improving the service offered to customers by Lincoln's biggest manufacturing employer, Siemens. This company has also seen huge benefit from empowering groups of employees and truly seeking their ideas: digital crowd sourcing. Nevertheless another key issue is the inevitable internal opposition to change.

All generations are different and of course none are understood by their parents. Generation Z, those aged between 8 and 23, are very different: they have no emery before 9/11; they have only lived in financially challenging times; they have only ever lived with digital technology; they are better informed, have strong opinions and feel empowered; they value tolerance and equality and reject being labelled. How will they fit in the changing work place? At Siemens they would be welcomed, but is it true of all employers? The voices we heard, can be heard in the form of a drama piece, Youthquake at Lincoln Drill Hall on October and on tour.

In looking at the economic changes that have taken place in the lifetime of Generation Z, significant are the decoupling of wages and productivity, the polarisation of the labour market with few highly paid, many low paid and a reducing number of medium paid jobs. 

So, what is to be done, particularly in the context of Lincolnshire where geographical areas and differing groups of people have been untouched by general economic growth? Are there specific actions that can improve their lot? Incidentally there seems to be a correlation between these forgotten areas and those where people voted 'Leave' in 2016. A possible answer emerged in the thinking behind Inclusive Economics.

I look forward to follow up work from this day, for in truth this was but a start. We didn't begin to talk about job satisfaction, Universal Basic Income or the financial viability of careers in the arts.

Those speaking, introduced by University of Lincoln Vice-Chancellor, Mary Stuart, were Marc Hanheide, Professor of Intelligent Robotics & Interactive Systems University of Lincoln; Yuval Fertig, Economist at PwC; Neil Corner, Managing Director Siemens Lincoln; Toby Ealden, Artistic Director Zest Theatre; Dr Neil Lee, Associate Professor of Economic Geography, LSE. The event concluded with a panel of students questioned by Professor Libby John, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Lincoln and a reflection session with Liz Shutt, Director of Policy, University of Lincoln/Greater Lincolnshire LEP