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68-625: The area lies to the north of the Black Mountains and to the east of the Cambrian Mountains . Hergest Ridge is immediately to the south-east of the area (just across the English border into Herefordshire ), near the small town of Kington . The highest point in the area is Rhos Fawr a broad plateau which reaches 660 metres (2,165 ft), and is equipped with a trig point to mark the summit. A similar plateau adjoining to

136-496: A demerger . Considerable changes at ICI came about during the 1990s, particularly in the aftermath of an unsuccessful acquisition attempt in 1991 by Hanson of the firm in what would have been the biggest takeover in British history. That same year, ICI sold its agricultural and merchandising operations of BritAg and Scottish Agricultural Industries to Norsk Hydro ; it sold its nylon business to DuPont one year later. In 1993,

204-444: A herbicide ), the insecticides pirimiphos-methyl in 1967 and pirimicarb in 1970, brodifacoum (a rodenticide ) was developed in 1974; in the late 1970s, ICI was involved in the early development of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides such as lambda-cyhalothrin . Peter Allen was appointed chairman between 1968 and 1971. He presided over the purchase of Viyella . Profits shrank under his tenure. During his tenure, ICI created

272-419: A 2.8 per cent stake in the company as part of its hostile takeover attempt, which ICI's management team chose to oppose. The envisioned acquisition became hotly contested and controversial, partially as it would have been the biggest takeover in British history at that point. In October 1991, Hanson opted to not proceed with the deal. In 1992, the company sold its nylon business to DuPont . During 1993,

340-535: A 54 per cent market share in the paint market. The initial bid was rejected by the ICI board and the majority of shareholders. However, a subsequent bid for £8 billion (€11.82 billion) was accepted by ICI in August 2007, pending approval by regulators . On 2 January 2008, completion of the takeover of ICI plc by AkzoNobel was announced. Shareholders of ICI received either £6.70 in cash or AkzoNobel loan notes to

408-484: A combination of dunes , lakes and river sediments. The familiar red colour of these rocks arises from the presence of iron oxide but not all the Old Red Sandstone is red or sandstone — the sequence also includes conglomerates , mudstones , siltstones and thin limestones and colours can range from grey and green through red to purple. The area lay at the margins of the British ice-sheet during

476-525: A failed takeover bid for Courtaulds in 1961–1962. On 1 August 1962, ICI's operations in Burma were nationalised following a military coup in the country . In 1964, ICI acquired British Nylon Spinners (BNS), the company it had jointly set up in 1940 with Courtaulds. ICI surrendered its 37.5 per cent holding in Courtaulds and paid Courtaulds £2 million a year for five years, "to take account of

544-632: A group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales , and extending across the England–Wales border into Herefordshire . They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons (or Bannau Brycheiniog) national park , and are frequently confused with the westernmost, which is known as the Black Mountain . The Black Mountains may be roughly defined as those hills contained within

612-487: A high performance thermoplastic ). ICI formed ICI Pharmaceuticals in 1957. During the 1950s, ICI developed a material as Crimplene , a thick polyester yarn that was used to make a fabric of the same name. The resulting cloth is heavy and wrinkle-resistant, and retains its shape well. The California-based fashion designer Edith Flagg was the first to import this fabric from Britain to the United States. During

680-683: A joint venture with Courtaulds . ICI also owned the Sunbeam motorcycle business, which had come with Nobel Industries, and continued to build motorcycles until 1937. During the Second World War , ICI was a major participant in Britain's war economy; its subsidiary ICI Nobel was involved in the production of munitions. The company was involved with the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons programme codenamed Tube Alloys . In

748-621: A more distinctive peak shape. On the eastern ridge, the 703 metres (2,306 ft) peak of Black Mountain stands on the Wales-England border, and is the highest point in England south of Great Whernside in Yorkshire. Other summits towards the northern end are Hay Bluff ( Welsh : Penybegwn ), 677 metres (2,221 ft), Rhos Dirion , 713 metres (2,339 ft) and Lord Hereford's Knob or Twmpa , 690 metres (2,264 ft). Towards

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816-415: A number of mosses and lichens . The dwarf shrubs are very well grown and suggest the area has suffered little from fires in the recent past and that grazing pressures are light. Purple moor-grass is but thinly scattered and does not form the extensive stands so familiar only a few miles west. Peat pools support common cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium . The steep-sided dingles and rock outcrops of

884-475: A potential deal was ICI's British pension fund , which had a deficit of almost £700 million and future liabilities of more than £9 billion at the time. Regulatory issues in the UK and other markets where Dulux and Crown Paints brands each have significant market share were also a cause for concern for the boards of ICI and AkzoNobel. In the UK, any combined operation without divestments would have seen AkzoNobel have

952-691: A short walkway beside the river in the hanging valley . There are two other small car parks around the edge of the forest to the north and the east which allow public access to the moorland and woods. According to a legend, the local people built four churches in a circle around the Radnor Forest in order to contain the last dragon in Wales , who lay sleeping in the area. The churches, at Llanfihangel Cefnllys , Llanfihangel Rhydithon ( Dolau ), Llanfihangel Nant Melan and Llanfihangel Cascob , were all dedicated to St Michael (Welsh: Mihangel) victor over

1020-594: A source of walling and roofing stone for local use. In places the thin Devonian limestones were worked to feed limekilns for the production of lime for agricultural use and in buildings. Old Red Sandstone has also frequently been used in buildings in Herefordshire , Monmouthshire and the former Brecknockshire (now south Powys) of south Wales. The area is popular for hillwalkers , mountainbikers and horseriders . The Offa's Dyke National Trail runs along

1088-594: A triangle defined by the towns of Abergavenny in the southeast, Hay-on-Wye in the north and the village of Llangors in the west. Other gateway towns to the Black Mountains include Talgarth and Crickhowell . The range of hills is well known to walkers and ramblers for the ease of access and views from the many ridge trails, such as that on the Black Hill in Herefordshire, at the eastern edge of

1156-642: Is Gadair Fawr. Your outside finger is Allt Mawr, from Llysiau to Cerrig Calch and its nail is Crug Hywel. On the high plateau of the back of your hand are Twyn y Llech and Twmpa, Rhos Dirion, Waun Fach and Y Das. You hold their shapes and their names. The Black Mountains are composed almost exclusively of rocks assigned to the Old Red Sandstone and dating from the Devonian period. This thick sedimentary sequence comprises sandstones , mudstones , siltstones and numerous thin limestones . The exception

1224-559: Is known as "Water Break-its-neck". The Waterfall has been popular with tourists for over 200 years and was an especially popular destination for Victorian tourists. It can be reached via a short rough track or forestry road from the A44 main road from Kington to Aberystwyth , shortly after New Radnor , and there is a small car park for visitors to the Warren Wood reserve maintained by Natural Resources Wales . The cascade can be reached via

1292-659: Is one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh with a multinational heritage operating across the country. The company operates through three reporting divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Brands and Agribusiness. ICI maintained offices in Colombo importing and supplying chemicals for manufacturers in Ceylon. In 1964, following import restrictions that allowed only locally owned subsidiaries of multinational companies to gain import licenses, Chemical Industries (Colombo) Limited

1360-460: Is shown by hut circles often present as distinctive platforms. On the west side of Harley Dingle is a distinctive landscape feature known as "The Three Wriggles", a set of three gulleys running down the mountain slope on the western side of the Harley valley. There is also some evidence for mining activity. The town of New Radnor was a planned Norman settlement, and there is a large mound just to

1428-402: Is still used for testing ammunition and ordnance. A public exclusion zone exists around the facility with multiple warning flags and signs at the boundaries of the range. The zone was extended during 2017. Beyond the exclusion zone, further land to the west of Black Brook is subject to restricted access due to the presence of unexploded ordnance. The area is home to a waterfall or cascade which

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1496-533: Is the summit area of Pen Cerrig-calch where a thin sequence of Carboniferous rocks occur, an outlier of the more extensive outcrop to the south of the Usk valley. The lower slopes of these hills are formed from the mudstone-rich St Maughans beds at the top of which lies a calcrete – a discontinuous limestone band known as the Ffynnon Limestone. Above this are the sandstone-dominated Senni Beds which form

1564-401: Is traditionally Y Mynydd Du ('the black mountain') though in more recent times the name Y Mynyddoedd Duon ('the black mountains') has been used, being a retranslation from the English. The highest mountain in the group is Waun Fach whose heavily eroded peat summit plateau attains a height of 811 metres (2,661 ft). Its secondary summit Pen y Gadair Fawr at 800 metres (2,625 ft) has

1632-628: The British Geological Survey , no such work having been undertaken in this area since the middle of the nineteenth century. Part of the area is a designated and protected SSSI , with rare saxifrage and other plants. It covers the highest peaks and a rocky gorge near the centre. The vegetation of the summit ridges is fairly uniform, and is dominated by a mixture of dwarf shrubs, heather , crowberry , and bilberry . Mixed with these dwarf shrubs are hare's-tail cottongrass , purple moor-grass , sedges such as Carex binervis and

1700-476: The massif . The range includes the highest public road in Wales at Gospel Pass , and the highest point in southern England at Black Mountain . In his description of a Blak Montayne , the antiquarian John Leland refers to a massif extending between Carmarthen and Monmouth i.e. what is now considered to be the Brecon Beacons in the wider modern sense of that term, thus including the Black Mountain far to

1768-410: The pharmaceutic sector; cumulating in the formation of a dedicated subsidiary, ICI Pharmaceuticals , in 1957. During 1960, ICI's first outsider to serve as chairman, Paul Chambers , was appointed. Chambers reorganised the company, but fell out of favour following an unsuccessful takeover bid of rival firm Courtaulds . Between 1968 and 1971, Peter Allen was chairman of ICI, during which time Viyella

1836-412: The speciality chemicals businesses of Unilever in exchange for $ 8 billion. This step was part of a strategy to move away from cyclical bulk chemicals and to progress up the value chain to become a higher growth, higher margin business. Later that same year, it went on to buy Rutz & Huber , a Swiss paints business. Having taken on some £4 billion of debt to finance these acquisitions,

1904-409: The white-throated dipper at or near the many streams in the forest. Radnorshire Wildlife Trust maintain the 33 hectare Mynydd Ffoesidoes Nature Reserve on the summit plateau. The topmost parts of the forest exhibit several Bronze Age round barrows , and there are also several ring cairns in the area. Most occur on or near the peaks, such as Black Mixen and Bache Hill . Prehistoric settlement

1972-402: The 1940s and 1950s, the company established its pharmaceutical business and developed a number of key products, including Paludrine (1940s, an anti- malarial drug), halothane (1951, an inhalational anaesthetic agent), propofol (1977, an intravenous anaesthetic agent), Inderal (1965, a beta-blocker ), tamoxifen (1978, a frequently used drug for breast cancer), and PEEK (1979,

2040-627: The Beatrice Chemical Division; during the following year, it also bought Glidden Coatings & Resins, a leading paints business. By the early 1990s, plans were carried out to demerge the company, as a result of increasing competition and internal complexity that caused heavy retrenchment and slowing innovation. In 1991, ICI sold the agricultural and merchandising operations of BritAg and Scottish Agricultural Industries to Norsk Hydro . It also divested its soda ash products arm to Brunner Mond , ending an association with

2108-600: The Black Mountains. There are several villages and hamlets in this area. The Skirrid Mountain Inn has been claimed as the oldest public house in Wales and mentioned in records from AD 1100. Antiquities include Llanthony Priory in the Vale of Ewyas , ruined Craswall Priory , Tretower Castle , Tretower Court , the Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel , and the remains of Castell Dinas , an 11th to 13th century castle built on

Radnor Forest - Misplaced Pages Continue

2176-513: The Forest's edge support rich plant communities, since these eastern Silurian shales are slightly calcareous. Mossy saxifrage and rock stonecrop are common on some cliff faces, with marjoram and a number of interesting mosses and liverworts . A variety of typical upland breeding birds are present, including raptors such as the red kite and common buzzard , as well as red grouse , whinchat , European stonechat , northern wheatear and

2244-699: The border between England and Wales, whilst both the Beacons Way and the Marches Way also pass through the Black Mountains. The Three Rivers Ride runs along the northern slopes of the massif. The range's northern escarpment offers opportunities for gliding , at places like the Black Mountains Gliding Club in Talgarth , hang gliding and paragliding as winds are forced up and over the hills. Exercise Long Reach takes place in

2312-417: The company de-merged its pharmaceutical bio-science businesses: pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals , specialities, seeds and biological products were all transferred into a new and independent company called Zeneca . Zeneca subsequently merged with Astra AB to form AstraZeneca . In 1994, Charles Miller Smith was appointed CEO of ICI, one of the few times that an external figure had been appointed to lead

2380-419: The company was incorporated on 24 January 1973 as ICI Bangladesh Manufacturers Limited and also as Public Limited Company. The company divested its investment in Bangladesh and was renamed as Advanced Chemical Industries Limited (ACI Limited) on 5 May 1992. The company sold its insect control, air care and toilet care brands to SC Johnson & Son in 2015. Currently Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited

2448-632: The company was soon compelled to sell off its commodity chemicals businesses: Having sold much of its historically profitable commodities businesses, and many of the new speciality businesses which it had failed to integrate, the company consisted mainly of the Dulux paints business, which quickly found itself the subject of a takeover by AkzoNobel. In June 2007, the Dutch firm AkzoNobel (owner of Crown Berger paints) bid £7.2 billion (€10.66 billion or $ 14.5 billion) for ICI. An area of concern about

2516-670: The dragon. Some people believed that the dragon would awaken if any of the four churches were destroyed. There are several small market towns at the feet of the hills, including Llandrindod Wells, Kington, Knighton, and Presteigne,. The latter town was formerly the county town of Radnorshire. The village of New Radnor sits at the southern base of the hills, and there are several other villages nearby, such as Old Radnor, Gladestry and Cascob. 52°16′N 3°10′W  /  52.27°N 3.17°W  / 52.27; -3.17 Black Mountains, Wales The Black Mountains ( Welsh : Y Mynydd Du or sometimes Y Mynyddoedd Duon ) are

2584-424: The east, Black Mixen is the only Nuttall to have a communications mast (a radio transmitter ) on its summit. The massif is formed from argillaceous rocks of Ludlow age , i.e. late Silurian around 425 million years ago. The strata are exposed around Harley Dingle and Whinyard Rocks. In 2020 the area was in course of being geologically mapped for the publication of the 'Knighton' 1:50,000 scale geological map by

2652-551: The eastern side of the Hatterrall ridge west of Longtown . Another, at the northern end of the Skirrid just to the east of Abergavenny , is perhaps most commonly seen, and the section of the mountain shows the landslip prominently when seen from the north, but is also visible from the south such is the scale of the feature. Scattered around the range are innumerable small quarries, virtually all of which now lie abandoned, once

2720-516: The firefighting efforts. Six firefighters retired for medical reasons as a result of the fire. This incident was a major event in the history of the New Zealand Fire Service and subject to a formal investigation, led by future Chief Justice Sian Elias . The fire was a trigger for major reforms of the service; direct consequences included improved protective clothing for firefighters, a standard safety protocol for major incidents,

2788-469: The firm also de-merged its pharmaceutical bio-science businesses as Zeneca . During 1997, ICI's Australian subsidiary, ICI Australia , was sold in exchange for £1 billion. During 2008, ICI was acquired by AkzoNobel for £8 billion; shortly thereafter, portions of ICI were sold off to Henkel while its remaining operations were integrated within AkzoNodel's existing organisation. The company

Radnor Forest - Misplaced Pages Continue

2856-451: The firm soon become involved in plastics and a variety of speciality products, including food ingredients, polymers , electronic materials, fragrances and flavourings. During the Second World War , ICI's subsidiary ICI Nobel produced munitions for Britain's war effort; the wider company was also involved with Britain's nuclear weapons programme codenamed Tube Alloys . Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, ICI greatly expanded its activities in

2924-507: The firm, Miller-Smith having previously been a director at Unilever . Shortly afterwards, the company acquired a number of former Unilever businesses in an attempt to move away from its historical reliance on commodity chemicals. During 1995, ICI acquired the American paint companies Devoe Paints , Fuller-O'Brien Paints and Grow Group . In 1997, ICI acquired National Starch & Chemical, Quest International , Unichema, and Crosfield,

2992-422: The firm. Amid Callard's tenure, company profits almost doubled between 1972 and 1974 while ICI became Britain's largest exporter. In 1971, the company acquired Atlas Chemical Industries Inc., a major American competitor. In 1977, Imperial Metal Industries was divested as an independent quoted company. Between 1982 and 1987, the company was headed by the charismatic John Harvey-Jones . In 1985, ICI acquired

3060-400: The first two years, ICI gave Flagg a large advertising budget to popularise the fabric across America. During 1960, Paul Chambers became the first chairman appointed from outside the company. Chambers employed the consultancy firm McKinsey to help with reorganising the company. Export sales doubled during his eight-year tenure export, however, Chambers' reputation was severely damaged by

3128-729: The future development expenditure of Courtaulds in the nylon field." In return, Courtaulds transferred to ICI their 50 per cent holding in BNS. BNS was absorbed into ICI's existing polyester operation, ICI Fibres. The acquisition included BNS production plants in Pontypool , Gloucester and Doncaster , together with research and development in Pontypool. Early pesticide development under ICI Plant Protection Division, with its plant at Yalding , Kent, research station at Jealott's Hill and HQ at Fernhurst Research Station included paraquat (1962,

3196-443: The hills all year round. 51°57′N 3°6′W  /  51.950°N 3.100°W  / 51.950; -3.100 The controversial artist and typeface designer Eric Gill lived at Capel-y-ffin between 1924 and 1928. The artist and poet David Jones worked in the area during the same period. Books set in or around the Black Mountains include: Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries ( ICI )

3264-456: The ice ages; these hills were shaped by ice from a source in mid-Wales rather than generating any major glaciers of their own. Non-local rock fragments within the glacial till show that Wye valley ice penetrated the Rhiangoll valley from the north, moving over the low col at Pengenffordd. No such evidence has been found in the Vale of Ewyas though the profile of this valley strongly suggests

3332-468: The north of the town marking the site of a motte and bailey castle . The forest was exploited as a military training area during the Second World War , and has remnants of such activity such as bomb craters and slit trenches. The Harley Dingle site was used by Imperial Chemical Industries ' defence arm during the 1920s. It was subsequently used in connection with the development of rocket motors and other weapons systems. Now operated by Radnor Range Ltd, it

3400-451: The other way, south, to join the fifth river, now called Grwyne Fechan, that has been flowing between your third and your outside finger. The sixth river, now called Rhiangoll, flows at the edge of your outside finger. This is the hand of the Black Mountains, the shape first learned. Your thumb is Crib y Gath. Your first finger is Curum and Hateral. Your second finger is Ffawyddog, with Tal y Cefn and Bal Mawr at its knuckles. Your third finger

3468-504: The plateau towards your wrist. The first river, now called Mynwy, flows at the outside edge of your thumb. The second river, now called Olchon, flows between your thumb and the first finger, to join the Mynwy at the top of your thumb. The third river, now called Honddu, flows between your first and second fingers and then curves to join the Mynwy. The fourth river, now called Grwyne Fawr, flows between your second and third fingers and then curves

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3536-622: The presence of a major glacier. The valleys of the Grwyne Fawr and Grwyne Fechan were probably ice-free during the last ice age. One result of the over-steepening of valley sides by glacial action is the suite of landslips affecting the range, notably in the Vale of Ewyas. The most impressive of all is that at Darren and Cwmyoy. Another impressive set of landslip forms can be seen at Black Darren and Red Darren ('Darren' signifies 'edge' in Welsh) on

3604-696: The site of an Iron Age hillfort between Talgarth and Crickhowell . Cwmyoy and Partrishow churches are also located nearby. The youth hostel at Capel-y-ffin closed in late 2007. The town of books or Hay-on-Wye lies just to the north. It was the first booktown to be established, and there are more than two dozen second-hand bookshops . Settlements in and around the Black Mountains include Hay-on-Wye, Llangors , Talgarth, Crickhowell, Cwmdu , each in Powys, Abergavenny in Monmouthshire and Longtown in Herefordshire. Many act as bases for accessing

3672-706: The south of the range are the more independent summits of Crug Mawr at 550 metres (1,804 ft), Pen Allt-mawr at 719 metres (2,359 ft) and the 701 metres (2,300 ft) peak of Pen Cerrig-calch which rises prominently above Crickhowell in the Usk Valley. Outlying summits, all of which are classed as Marilyns , include the Sugar Loaf ( Welsh : Pen-y-Fal ), Mynydd Troed and Mynydd Llangorse . The lower and separate hills of Allt yr Esgair , Myarth , Bryn Arw and Ysgyryd Fawr (also known as 'The Skirrid', Skyrrid or 'Holy Mountain') are scattered along

3740-451: The southern fringe of the Black Mountains. In his work People of the Black Mountains , Raymond Williams described the Black Mountains thus: See this layered sandstone in the short mountain grass. Place your right hand on it, palm downward. See where the summer sun rises and where it stands at noon. Direct your index finger midway between them. Spread your fingers, not widely. You now hold this place in your hand. The six rivers rise in

3808-402: The trade that had existed since the company's inception, one that had been inherited from the original Brunner, Mond & Co. Ltd. During mid 1991, ICI was subject to an attempted acquisition Hanson ; by this point, ICI was commonly being viewed by investors as having been in decline and thus its valuation was depressed, making it more vulnerable to such takeover attempt. Hanson had acquired

3876-529: The upper reaches of much of the range. Higher again are the Brownstones which form the summit areas of the central and southern parts of the range. The Old Red Sandstone extends back into the late Silurian period and forward into the earliest part of the Carboniferous period . The body of rock , or facies , is dominated by alluvial sediments and conglomerates at its base, and progresses to

3944-480: The value of £6.70 per one nominal ICI share. The adhesives business of ICI was transferred to Henkel as a result of the deal, while AkzoNobel agreed to sell its Crown Paints subsidiary to satisfy the concerns of the European Commissioner for Competition . The areas of concern regarding ICI's British pension scheme were addressed by ICI and AkzoNobel. ICI operated a number of chemical sites around

4012-640: The west and the intervening high ground. There is a suggestion too that the names Hatterrall Hill and Mynydd y Gader may also once have been used to apply to the entire range of the Black Mountains though the former later became confined to the vicinity of its eastern ridge. The latter is now recognised in Pen y Gader-fawr ( Pen y Gadair Fawr ) and Gader Fawr (Gadair Fawr); names applied to the hill at SO 229288. Cadair, mutated to 'gadair' and anglicised as 'gader', means 'seat' or 'chair' in Welsh. The Welsh name for these hills

4080-470: The wholly owned subsidiary Cleveland Potash Ltd , for the construction of Boulby Mine in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire. The first shaft was dug in 1968, with full production from 1976. ICI jointly owned the mine with Anglo American, and then with De Beers, before complete ownership was transferred to Israel Chemicals Ltd in 2002. Between 1971 and 1975, Jack Callard held the position of chairman at

4148-549: The wine industry in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. This operation held 10% world market share for tartaric acid. It was sold in 2008 and currently operates as Derivados Vínicos S.A. (DERVINSA). The subsidiary ICI Australia Ltd established the Dry Creek Saltfields at Dry Creek north of Adelaide , South Australia , in 1940, with an associated soda ash plant at nearby Osborne . In 1989, these operations were sold to Penrice Soda Products . An ICI plant

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4216-726: The world. In the UK, the main plants were as follows: An ICI subsidiary called Duperial operated in Argentine from 1928 to 1995, when it was renamed ICI. Established in the city of San Lorenzo, Santa Fe , it operates an integrated production site with commercial offices in Buenos Aires . Since 2009 it has made sulphuric acid with ISO certification under the company name Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals S.A. It also had an operation at Palmira, Mendoza , for its Wine Chemicals Division, that manufactured tartaric acid , wine alcohol and grapeseed oil from natural raw material coming from

4284-637: Was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London . ICI was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 indices. ICI was formed in 1926 as a result of the merger of four of Britain's leading chemical companies. From the onset, it was involved in the production of various chemicals, explosives, fertilisers , insecticides , dyestuffs , non-ferrous metals, and paints;

4352-660: Was built at Botany Bay in New South Wales in the 1940s and was part of the Orica demerger in 1997. This plant once manufactured paints, plastics and industrial chemicals such as solvents . It had been detirmined to be the source of the Botany Bay Groundwater Plume contamination of a local aquifer . In 1968 a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was established in then- East Pakistan . After Bangladesh gained independence in 1971,

4420-746: Was formed as an ICI subsidiary with 49% ICI ownership and remaining held public. The subsidiary ICI New Zealand provided substantial quantities of chemical products – including swimming pool chemicals, commercial healthcare products, herbicides and pesticides for use within New Zealand and the neighbouring Pacific Islands . A fire at the ICI New Zealand store in Mount Wellington , Auckland , on 21 December 1984, killed an ICI employee and caused major health concerns. Over 200 firefighters were exposed to toxic smoke and effluents during

4488-612: Was founded in December 1926 from the merger of four companies: Brunner Mond , Nobel Explosives , the United Alkali Company , and British Dyestuffs Corporation . ICI established its head office at Millbank in London in 1928. Competing with DuPont and IG Farben , the new company produced chemicals , explosives, fertilisers , insecticides , dyestuffs , non-ferrous metals, and paints. In its first year, turnover

4556-497: Was purchased, the subsidiary Cleveland Potash Ltd was created, and profits dipped. Major moves in the 1970s included the acquisition of the American competitor Atlas Chemical Industries Inc. and the divestment of Imperial Metal Industries . By the late 1980s, ICI which had continued to acquire entities such as the Beatrice Chemical Division and Glidden Coatings & Resins, increasing competition and rising internal complexity were driving ICI towards major restructuring plans, including

4624-405: Was £27 million. During the 1920s and 1930s, the company played a key role in the development of new chemical products, including the dyestuff phthalocyanine (1929), the acrylic plastic Perspex (1932), Dulux paints (1932, co-developed with DuPont), polyethylene (1937), and polyethylene terephthalate fibre known as Terylene (1941). In 1940, ICI started British Nylon Spinners as

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