Chris Webb's visit to rock factory

Blackpool Gazette

Labour's Chris Webb has visited the Stanton and Novelty Confectioners rock factory in Blackpool to see for himself the skills needed to make the traditional seaside candy.

Transcript

00:00 This morning as the Member of Parliament for Blackpool South, I'm here at Stanton and Novelty,

00:04 a third generation rock factory right in the heart of Blackpool.

00:08 We know that cheap imitation rock is flooding the streets of not just Blackpool but the UK.

00:13 We need to save Blackpool rock and that's why I've come here today

00:16 to see how Blackpool rock is made and what we need to do to save it.

00:21 How long has the factory been open then?

00:23 So we've been here since 1969. That's when my granddad started it.

00:27 My dad's been here 35 years. I've been here seven.

00:30 So all day, every day. Production never stops.

00:34 We just keep on making rock. We'll do about 10 boilings a day.

00:37 So how many staff do you have here then?

00:40 At the moment we've got 14. A couple of years ago that was more like 20.

00:44 Back in the day you'd be looking more like 40.

00:49 Wow, okay.

00:49 So we're at minimum staff levels at the moment.

00:52 So we do need to get some more people before the summer

00:54 because that's obviously when we sell a lot more.

00:57 So obviously there's a big issue at the minute about Chinese imports

01:00 and why we're running the cafe to save Blackpool rock.

01:03 Why is that important?

01:03 What's the difference about Blackpool rock compared to the cheap imports?

01:07 I think British people have a cultural affinity to Blackpool rock.

01:13 There's the expectation that if you go to the seaside in the UK and you buy rock

01:18 you would expect that that is made in the UK.

01:21 Now 99% of that is going to be made in Blackpool anyway.

01:24 It doesn't matter where you are around the country.

01:26 So I think that's why it's so important people expect it.

01:29 It's part of our shared cultural heritage.

01:32 Definitely.

01:34 It's something that we need to keep going.

01:35 It's hopefully done.

01:36 You were telling me there's only so many people that can let the sticks of rock now in.

01:39 Yeah, there's only about 30 people still actually doing it.

01:42 Probably about 50 in the country that know how to.

01:45 Okay.

01:46 We've got three of the 30 here and the rest of them are all in Blackpool.

01:51 So yeah, it's definitely a dying trade but one worth saving.

01:55 Definitely.

01:55 And that's why we want as many people to sign the petition

01:58 and then we're going to be putting pressure on whoever's in government

02:01 after this general election to make sure they save this special heritage that we have.

02:06 Not just in Blackpool but in the UK.

02:07 Absolutely.

02:08 Yeah.

02:08 You'd have to separate this section into a load of different sections and pull it by hand.

02:15 So you have to throw it over, pull it, twist it, flip it.

02:18 Wow.

02:19 You have to do that about 70 times in about four different stages.

02:23 Wow.

02:23 So that's probably the biggest technological advance that we've got.

02:28 Yeah.

02:28 Because before that it was even more physical than it is.

02:32 Yeah.

02:32 While that's doing that, Karl's going to be making the letters.

02:36 This one's brighter.

02:37 So I'll show you how he does all that lettering.

02:41 But once it's all wrapped up in a big coat of the casing, it goes into one of these.

02:47 This keeps it warm, keeps it round, keeps it moving.

02:50 Funnels it down smaller and smaller and smaller so it's easier for Matt.

02:54 This section we call spinning it out.

02:57 Yeah.

02:57 So Matty knows purely by experience how thick that stick needs to be.

03:03 Basically you've got to repair a lot of this really old stuff and try to keep it going as long.

03:09 Yeah.

03:10 And finding ways to repair it.

03:11 You know those scissors we were using?

03:12 I found a pair of those in my father-in-law's garage at the weekend.

03:16 Wow.

03:17 And I asked him for them.

03:17 He said yeah.

03:18 Because otherwise you have to spend like 200 quid on just a big pair of scissors.

03:22 Once it's cold enough it gets cut, gets brought over here to be wrapped.

03:27 Again that's all done by hand with the label in it.

03:29 If you want we can have a go at wrapping some of the rock.

03:33 Yeah.

03:34 You get your view, put it in face down just in the middle.

03:37 Push it forwards again to cover the view.

03:40 Yeah.

03:43 Yeah.

03:44 With your left hand crush that spare bit of paper.

03:47 Yeah.

03:48 And go forward again.

03:48 Yeah.

03:51 Switch your hands over, crush that one on the right hand side, push it over again.

03:56 Right.

04:00 There you are.

04:01 That's not bad.

04:02 All right okay.

04:03 That's actually not bad.

04:04 It's all got to be done by hand.

04:05 If you put it in a machine it breaks the stick because it's so brittle.

04:07 How many sticks of rock are you rolling by hand for this factory?

04:10 Every day?

04:11 Yeah.

04:13 About 15,000.

04:14 So Doreen's an absolute machine.

04:17 I was going to say, she's an absolute machine out there.

04:20 She's absolutely rapid.

04:22 So that's getting whiter and whiter.

04:25 Meanwhile Carl is about to start lettering.

04:28 So he's got it written out there on that little whiteboard.

04:32 Whiteboard, right.

04:33 So it says Brighton Rock.

04:35 So you need one B, two R's, one I, one G, one H, one T, two O's, one N, a C and a K.

04:42 So you need two R's.

04:43 So you make one big one and you cut it in half.

04:45 So this is the bit where there's only 13.

04:49 They can do it.

04:50 And what's the kind of minimum scale that comes to then is it?

04:54 So that one, that one's a big bar.

04:56 So you're going to probably get about 400 bars out of that one.

04:58 It's a big bar.

04:59 On the smaller ones like that you get about 1500.

05:04 So how long have you, how long have you been doing this then?

05:07 50 odd years.

05:11 50 years?

05:12 On and off.

05:13 Yeah.

05:15 Are you not, are you not sick of rock yet?

05:16 No.

05:17 No?

05:17 Oh wow.

05:19 I've just seen, you can see the lettering.

05:21 Yeah.

05:22 That is remarkable how you get that.

05:24 It's hard to explain.

05:28 It is.

05:29 But even watching it I still couldn't get my head around how it's going to give those little letters.

05:33 You do have to watch it.

05:35 It was like piecework years ago.

05:37 And there was a lot more factories.

05:40 Yeah, yeah.

05:41 A lot more.

05:41 But there's about eight that have shut down in the last few years in Wapco hasn't there?

05:45 It's sad.

05:46 Right.

05:47 But the thing is nobody's learning the trade now neither.

05:51 No.

05:51 And it's sad.

05:52 I say it's mind-boggling how seeing them do all the lettering, it's folding in.

05:56 That's right.

05:56 It's got it all perfect.

05:57 We've got the Cumberland sausage, we've got the Cornish pasty, we need to keep those heritage.

06:04 You know it was one thing all parties agreed on.

06:07 It's not often that happens.

06:08 Yeah I worked here.

06:10 When my daughter, when I was expecting my first daughter and she's 46 now.

06:16 Oh, how?

06:17 Yeah.

06:18 But I've been here, there and everywhere in between.

06:21 Yeah.

06:21 You've worked across the town.

06:23 Yeah because he used to come and ask you to go and work for him.

06:26 So I've just been inside the rock factory here in Blackpool.

06:28 I've met with David who runs it as the third generation son in his family.

06:34 And I've met Doreen and a number of members of staff.

06:36 It's a fantastic historic heritage business here in the heart of Blackpool.

06:41 We need to save it.

06:42 Only 30 people now in the UK, mostly in Blackpool, can letter sticks of rock.

06:47 And it's no easy job I can tell you.

06:49 We need to save it and that's why I'm here as our Member of Parliament.

06:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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