Making Bottles - a conversation with David Knowles Part 1 of 5

Making Bottles - a conversation with David Knowles Part 1 of 5
I have been recording conversations with people for around twelve years. Usually the people are pretty old - often in their 80’s and I love the stories they tell. Sometimes those stories are amazing but usually they are about ordinary, every day lives which are made interesting by the passing of time. A few months ago I was asked to film a performance of a play commissioned by the Friends of Cannington Shaw at Rainford Library. The play celebrated the lives of woman who worked in a bottle making plant which is still there very close to Tesco at Langtree Park in St.Helens. In its day this unit was the biggest bottle making plant in the world. The Friends are working to secure funding for the the preservation of the now derelict building.
I enjoyed the play and about a month ago I offered to film a conversation with David Knowles who spent a big part of his working life at United Glass Bottles in St.Helens. I was assisted by Caroline Platt of the Friends and we turned up at David’s home with a camera, lights, microphone.......... By the way I am not saying David is in his 80’s - I don’t know how old he is!!!!!!!
David didn’t disappoint. He spent around an hour talking about his experiences as a worker and about the practical/ technical side of making bottles. The process had been partly mechanised by the time he started work but there was still a lot of hand making too. For example each of the workers had their own secret formula for a concoction to stop the bottles sticking to the molds.
The conversation has been divided into five sections and they will all be available via The Friends of Cannington Shaw and the St.Helens Archive.
You can take a look at all of David’s films on You Tube.
If you would like your own limited edition copy on DVD email me via [e-mail] Alternatively you can have the same thing on a USB stick viewable in high definition via your computer.
Thanks to Caroline - I think she enjoyed her first adventure in filming conversations and an even bigger thanks to David for sharing his knowledge and memories of bottle making in St. Helens.
Howard Jackson
Open Door Multimedia
10/9/18