ILFORD Photo Factory Tour : How to Book

kraker · Jun 13, 2007

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm sure we will find something of interest, if the weather is not too much of a spoilsport...

Stoo Batchelor · Jun 13, 2007

Kraker

You must have a trip in to the Peak district. How many hours do you have?

Head to wards either; Buxton, a nice little town, interesting buildings, pubs and good food.(34 miles by road from Mobberly) You probably won't get there as it is such a beautful area you are bound to stop on the way.

Further down the map is a lovely village called Youlgreave. Absolutely stunning village, beautiful old buildings, a river running through it, and keep a look out for old barns in fields etc.

Or...If you head off to Hayfield, 20 miles from Mobberly, head towards Kinder Rd, which leads up to Kinder Scout Mountain. Beautiful walks and views. Also there is a great Pub on Kinder Road called the Sportsman. Loverly food (the landlords a nutter) and fine beer.

If you do head that way, drop off in to Whaley Bridge and take a walk along the canal, loads of narrow boats etc.

Have fun, you will kick yourself if you don't go to the Peaks.

Hope this helps

regards

Stoo

tim_walls · Jun 14, 2007

Anyone want to share a cab from Manc Airport?

Hi all,

I've booked myself into the Crowne Plaza in Manchester Airport for tonight, so if anyone wants to share a cab from the hotel (or the airport generally) let me know!

Sadly the weather is looking distinctly unpromising from this side of the pennines - I fancied a trip to Jodrell Bank - as FrankB suggested - on Saturday, but looks like a no go in this rain!

Steve Smith · Jun 14, 2007

tim_walls said:
if anyone wants to share a cab from the hotel (or the airport generally) let me know!

PM sent.

Steve.

Nigel Harley · Jun 15, 2007

Ilford Factory Tour - Thank-You Ilford!!!!

Just a quick post on my way home from the Ilford Factory tour that Simon Galley hosted..... a BIG thank-you for taking the time to give us a day around the facility at Ilford.

It was great to see Ilford is run by enthusiastic, knowledgable and very experienced people. The factory is amazing to see (even in the dark!) and to understand that is run efficently and has the flexibility to meet our needs. We also saw new plant equipment that has been recently invested in and shows that Ilford will be around for some time to come.

Thanks again to Simon, Mel, Gaynor, Howard and the rest of the Ilford Team for a very informative and excellent day.

Nigel

George Hart · Jun 15, 2007

I should also like to thank Simon and staff for their hard work in making our day such a rewarding experience. Their enthusiasm was matched by their accessibility, and their readiness to respond to our questions. Seeing all that is required to bring the product to market was an eye-opener. The processes to make and coat the emulsion were more complex than I had expected, and the attention to detail from a co-ordinated team is just what it takes to bring quality-assured film and paper to the market. I live 35 miles from the factory, and I'm proud that they are a Cheshire firm, though perhaps grateful to be more of a distance than they are from the runway to Manchester Airport! I should also say that I have no personal connection of any sort with the firm or its staff.

A.C. · Jun 15, 2007

I underline the above comments - it was a most interesting and illuminating (sorry...) day for me, where no-one evaded the questions (well, not obviously, anyway!)
A Top Effort by Ilford & Harman Technology, and ALL of the staff involved - Thank you very much.
Aynsley

fidget · Jun 15, 2007

I too would like to thank the team for allowing us to see the process of film and paper making and in explaining some of the commercial realities of the marketplace. Their enthusiasm for the product and business is clear which must give confidence to their customers.
Many thanks for a great day.

Dave...

steven_e007 · Jun 15, 2007

I enjoyed the visit very much as well, many thanks to Simon and everyone at Ilford.

I was very impressed not only by the plant but also by the enthusiasm of the management and the staff we met.

Best Wishes,

Steve

BarryWilkinson · Jun 15, 2007

Thanks to all at Ilford for a very interesting and informative day. Seeing and speaking to yourselves and the very skilled workforce, with their obvious enthusiasm for the product, left me with a great feeling about Ilford's future.

My very best wishes.

Barry

Matt5791 · Jun 16, 2007

Absolutely superb day - thanks to everyone at Ilford for taking out a day to entertain us!

I am posting for shots from the day in my gallery.

Matt

Steve Smith · Jun 16, 2007

Thanks to all involved from me too.

I found the factory tour very interesting. Although I was aware of the style of machinery involved, coming from an industry which automatically screen prints conductive silver inks onto large amounts of polyester, I was amazed at the scale of the operation.
For instance, the 'small' pre-production coating machine is similar in sze to a full production machine for us!

Thanks again for an excellent, well presented day.

Steve.

tim_walls · Jun 16, 2007

I just wanted to echo what everyone else has said - thanks very much for a fascinating and very enjoyable day.

The enthusiasm of all the Harman/Ilford staff we met really is a credit to the company - thanks to them all for generously letting us occupy their time! (Particular thanks as well to the security guard who showed some of us to a fine hostelry to end the day!)

Tim.

Paul. · Jun 16, 2007

Thanks Ilford

Just to add my thanks to all at Ilford for a great day.

The visit certainly gave me confidence that silver photography has a secure future with Ilford who as a company are not standing still. Their R&D is ongoing not only in the field of photography where it is mainly aimed at maintaining the excelent quality of their products but also in other fields which will help to ensure Ilfords continued existance and help keep the silver side of things viable.

Some of the costs involved in the process of coating film and paper make your eyes water, it is therefore all the more remarkable that these boys were willing to take the risk of resurecting the company from recivership.
What was evident throughout the visit was the commitment of the workers and management of Ilford to the anolouge community.

Did you know that there is a team of lovely young ladies sat in the dark packing your paper for you? I will certainly open my boxes with a greater sence of reverance in future.

Again my thanks to Simon and all at the site for a wonderful day out.

Regards Paul.

Magnus W · Jun 17, 2007

I can only echo what has already been said here. The hospitality, enthusiasm, and passion was absolutely overwhelming. And the machinery, I am a total sucker for nifty machines, and these where straight from the mad scientists workshop. A special mention goes to the contraption that attaches the backing paper and spools the 120 format roll film; it even made a lot of cool sounds. And a word of warning for those who want to do the "Ilford Experience"; comfortable shoes. Wear them. Not kidding. There was a lot of walking, I was plesantly surprised when I woke up on Saturday morning, and found that my feet hadn't fallen off during the night. But it was a fantastic experience, and all the Ilford people, from high to low really made it even more wonderful. Thanks to all of you.

-- MW

ben-s · Jun 17, 2007

Another echo here! Many thanks to everyone at Ilford who made this possible, from the people at the top to the operators on the shop floor, you made it a great day. A big thankyou also for the freebies

I'll never open a packet of film or paper again without thinking of the dedicated people working away under the safelights.

Ilford are obviously dedicated to producing extremely high quality products - for example, films are frequently taken off the lines at random and inspected, 35mm cassettes are continually cross checked by barcode before being loaded with film.
I wish Ilford every success for the future.

I've put up a few photos from the day here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

BTW, was I the only one who was slightly surprised when nobody turned up with a 10x8"?

kraker · Jun 18, 2007

Hi all,

What a terrific day! Absolutely fantastic to see how the people at Ilford produce the film and paper I use.

Breathtaking to walk into a huge, huge dark hall with only some safelights every now and then, and to see people working there, cutting and packing our paper. Respect! Wow! Today, back at my IT job, I feel so out-of-place. Looking for a job at Ilford... Just "simple" paper packing seems more fun than what I'm doing now.

The enthousiasm of all people involved... it was great, the whole day through... The paper cutting and packing, the film cutting, the "old" machine to perforate 35mm, the "German Engineering" new machines to do the same (scary machines!), the amazing machine to put the 120 film, spool, backing paper et. al. together (what a timing...), the enourmous building with coating machine, the emulsion making... You have shown us a lot, explained a lot, answered a lot of questions.

(Just one thing I realised afterwards... How do you make sheet film? I know how you cut it to the correct width, but after that... is there some machinery we missed, or is it "hand work"?)

Simon and all other people from Ilford involved in this tour (I'm bad at remembering names, sorry...): a great big thank you!!!

Also nice to meet some fellow APUGers in real life, although I didn't talk to many of you... (So little time, so much to see...)

Oh yeah, and while we were in the area...

Stoo Batchelor said:
Kraker

You must have a trip in to the Peak district. How many hours do you have?

Head to wards either; Buxton

...Friday, after the tour, we had a quick look in Knutsford; Saturday, we went to the Peak District indeed. Wow, WHAT a change of scenery. Buxton was indeed one of the towns where we stopped to have a look around.

Matt5791 · Jun 18, 2007

As a couple of people have mentioned the 120 film finishing - it is worth mentioning that Simon pointed out the backing paper is more expensive than the actual film!

Matt

mikeg · Jun 18, 2007

kraker said:
The paper cutting and packing, the film cutting, the "old" machine to perforate 35mm, the "German Engineering" new machines to do the same (scary machines!), the amazing machine to put the 120 film, spool, backing paper et. al. together (what a timing...), the enourmous building with coating machine, the emulsion making... You have shown us a lot, explained a lot, answered a lot of questions.

We didn't get to see the new "German Engineering" machines last year as they were in a truck on their way back from "somewhere in Germany"

Glad to hear you guys had as good a time as we did last year. I remember one of the things which really impressed many of us was the level of detail and commitment that went into quality control.

Mike

kraker · Jun 18, 2007

Matt5791 said:
As a couple of people have mentioned the 120 film finishing - it is worth mentioning that Simon pointed out the backing paper is more expensive than the actual film!

Matt

Hey, that's interesting. For that part of the tour, I wasn't in the group of Simon, so I missed that. Should we all save our backing paper and send it to Mobberley?

I did notice some backing paper near the 120 film finishing (in some "scrap container") that I haven't seen before. Must be the new backing paper that made the come-back of SFX 200 possible (haven't touched any of the new stock yet, so I hadn't seen this yet).

Edit: I almost forgot (for the second time), yet another big thanks to Ilford/HARMAN for the bag of goodies!

Tom Kershaw · Jun 18, 2007

Just a quick note to add to the comments; a fantastic day.

Tom.

Justin Cormack · Jun 18, 2007

We had a great time too. And several days in the peak district after which was lovely - despite the rain.

Thanks for everyone involved. It is lovely to see how everything is made, tested, and every other part of the operation.

copake_ham · Jun 18, 2007

Geez it sounds like you folk had grand fun!

How do I sign up for next year? With the way the wife's been traveling to UK on biz trips now - I might be able to do a "stowaway"!

Simon R Galley · Jun 21, 2007

Dear All,

Just a quick note to thank you all for your positive comments, it was a pleasure to have you all visit, I sure had fun, and for those who made a weekend of it I hope you had a good time in the North West.

I will make sure our 'team' get to see all your feedback...once again, thanks for coming....

Simon. ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited

Oren Grad · Jun 22, 2007

Arrived home this afternoon from my own further travels, and I want to add my thanks to Simon and colleagues for a wonderful day. It was also nice to have a chance to meet some APUGgers from the other side of the pond, and to be able to chat briefly with some of you. Had a splendid time, all around, and the warm welcome extended by all was very much appreciated.

ILFORD Photo Factory Tour : How to Book

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