Author: Masterflex Blogger

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Bonfire Night

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England’s overthrow.

By god’s mercy he was catch’d
With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

And what shall we do with him?
Burn him!

Ever since 1605, bonfires have burned on 5th November to mark the failed “Gunpowder Plot”, led by Guy Fawkes and Robert Catesby who aimed to assassinate the Protestant King James and replace him with his daughter Princess Elizabeth

When Queen Elizabeth 1st took the throne of England she Passed laws preventing Catholics from practising their religion, forcing them underground. Guy Fawkes and his friends had hoped that King James 1st would change the laws back, but he didn’t.

Catholics had to practise their religion in secret and there were even fines for people who didn’t attend the Protestant church on Sunday or on holy days. James 1st passed more laws against the Catholics when he became king.

Fawkes and Catesby planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament, and with it the King. The plot was simple; the next time Parliament was opened by King James l, they would blow up everyone there with gunpowder.

The conspirators bought a house next door to the parliament building and filled it with gunpowder. Guy Fawkes was given the job to keep watch over the barrels of gunpowder and to light the fuse but on the morning of 5th November, soldiers discovered Fawkes hidden in the cellar and arrested him. The trail of gunpowder at his feet would never be lit.

The tradition of Guy-Fawkes related bonfire began the same year as the failed plot. At the time, Londoners knew little more than that their King had been saved, and they lit bonfires to celebrate. As the years passed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Fireworks were added to the celebrations, as were home-made ‘Guys’ representing Guy Fawkes which are laid on to the bonfire and burned.

Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as “Pope Day” as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.

 

Masterflex have hoses and ductings to suit all kinds of applications, from Electrically Conductive materials for use in highly explosive environments, to High Temperature Ductings that can handle fumes vapours and air up to +1100°C

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066 Fax: 0161 626 9066
Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm
Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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Happy Halloween from Masterflex

The name ‘Halloween’ is a contraction of ‘All Hallows Eve’, and is the night before ‘All Saints Day’.
Also known as Hallowe’en and All Saints Eve, Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October.
It begins the three day observance of ‘AllHallowTide’, a time dedicated to remembering the Saints (Hallows), Martyrs and faithful departed.

It is widely believed that Halloween is a Christianised version of Samhain, the Gaelic festival celebrating the end of the harvest, and the beginning of winter, though some academics disagree.

Halloween activities revolve around dressing up, usually in scary costumes to go ‘Trick-or-Treat’ing, where children go door to door collecting sweets and Treats, under threat of a Trick if the home owner isn’t forthcoming.

At home, people decorate their homes, carve pumpkins into grotesque faces, bob for apples, tell scary stories, watch horror films and hold Halloween fancy dress parties.

On a less commercial note, Christians will visit the graves of dead relatives to light candles of remembrance and attend church services. Some abstain from eating meat on this day, choosing instead seasonally traditional foods such as apples, potato pancakes and ‘Soul Cakes’, a simple sweet cake, or Soul, that is given out to the children and poor of the parish.

 

It’s easy to see where the more commercial activities come from. Apple bobbing from the traditional eating of apples, children Trick or Treating from the distribution of Soul Cakes.

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066 Fax: 0161 626 9066
Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm
Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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1066 – A bad year for Harold.

Just before Christmas 1065, Edward the Confessor suffered what is thought to have been a stroke, and died on the 4th of January.
With no descendants, it was left to the Council of the Witan tochoose their new king.

There were six potentials in line, but none of them met all of the criteria required from a king.

The closest Saxon relative to Edward was his nephew Edgar, who was, unfortunately, a young boy and his appointment was likely to be seen only as an invasion opportunity to his Viking step relatives.
Instead the Witan chose Harold Godwineson, who was related to the King twice, through marriage. Harolds sister Edith was Edward’s queen, but that did not make him of royal blood. But Harold was Saxon and had proven himself to be a successfull warrior leading Edward’s army in Wales. Together with his brothers, his family were the most powerful land owners in the kingdom. The Witan overlooked the tenuous blood link and he was crowed that same day.

On hearing of Harold’s coronation William, Duke of Normandy was angry. Only two years before Harold had been in Normandy and according to William had sworn an oath to support William’s claim to the English throne. This was treachery!

William had been at war nearly all his life. Inheriting his father’s title at a young age, he had fought hard to retain it. His determination was such that by August he had acquired a navy, obtained the papal blessing for his cause and even gathered former rivals he’d been at war with onto his side.

William assembled his army near Caen, and boarded the ships. It was a hundred miles to the nearest point of England, but William did not get that far. The first southerly wind for a month quickly turned into a fierce westerly and William found his fleet blown back to the French coast and dumped on the beach at St Valery.

Here William cursed his luck for the wind remained unfavourable to him for another month. He could not risk a winter sea crossing and time was running out. While the wind was unfavourable for William in the Channel, it was in exactly the right direction for those coming across the North sea.

Harold’s brother Tostig had already led a feeble failed uprising against him, earlier in the year, but was now back with a formidable ally, Harold Hardrada, ‘The Thunderbolt of the North’ had campaigned in Russia and Constantinople, before returning in the 1040’s to make himself King of Norway. It seems likely that his support of Tostig’s claim was merely a convenient excuse to conquer England for himself. He was certainly the more formidable warrior of the two and ever the opportunist.

They brought a fleet of between 200 and 500 ships via Shetland, Orkney and the east coast of Scotland to the mouth of the Humber and then set their sights on York.

York received the 8,000 strong Viking army favourably, probably because they had little choice. A meeting was arranged at Stamford Bridge for the exchange of hostages to seal the deal. On the morning of the 25th September Tostig and Hardrada waited at the bridge ,their army was reported to be lightly armoured and so maybe not expecting trouble. Instead they met Harold Godwineson’s Royal Army. On hearing of the Viking landings, Harold had marched his army 200 miles north in a week and sprung his trap.

The Saxon Chronicle recorded fierce fighting, with a particularly large Viking warrior holding the bridge against all comers for a large part of the morning. It took one plucky Englishman sneaking under the bridge to spear the Viking from underneath and then the slaughter of Hardrada’s army began.

Just as Harold Godwineson must have been starting to relax, news reached him of William’s landing in Pevensey Bay a few days before. Harold could have waited for William to come to him, but instead opted again for a fast march to catch the enemy by surprise. Possibly aiming to trap William down by the coast and stop him pillaging the English countryside for winter supplies.

In the morning light on the 14th October 1066 the two forces lined up against each other…

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066 Fax: 0161 626 9066

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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Happy 100th Birthday, Roald Dahl

Born September 13th, 1916, Roald Dahl would be celebrating his 100th birthday today. Perhaps Matilda, the BFG, Charlie, Wonka and the Fantastic Mr Fox would be invited round to Uncle Oswalds for Giant Peach and chocolate.

Dahl was a prolific writer, best known for his, often dark, children’s books, notably James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The Fantastic Mr Fox. Later in his career he wrote books aimed squarely at the adult market, without losing any of the wit, skill and dark humour that made his children’s offerings such hits.

Hoses for use in Wonka’s Chocolate Factory

The Chocolate Room

Masterflex templine® Heated Hose can keep its media at a steady temperature using electrical elements along its length. It is ideal where constant temperature and a flexible design is essential.
Perfect for glue, chocolate, polyamide, temperature critical chemical transportation.

Temperature up to 220degC
Pressure resistance up to 500 Bar

More info for templine Heated Hose

The Inventing Room

Everlasting Gob Stoppers, Hair Toffee and Three Course Dinner Gum can be abrasive, and would need a medium duty, food safe hose to transport.

Masterflex have a range of FDA approved food hoses made from food safe Polyether Polyurethane, or PVC.

Master PUR L Food, PUR H Food, HX Food, and Food A (anti Static) hoses are FDA certified flexible suction and transport hoses, ideal for transporting solid and liquid food ingredients, as well as pharmaceutical ingredients.

The Nut Room (the Golden Egg room in the 1971 film)

Nuts (or eggs) are sorted into good and bad, with the bad nuts (eggs) being discarded down a disposal chute.

Master PUR L, H and Hx make excellent disposal drop chutes for abrasive media, and the Masterflex Trivolution additive combination, including microbe resistance, helps to protect the hose from going bad when used in dirty environments.

The Television Room

This room combines the potential dangers of food contamination, static electricity and a clean room.

Our Polyether Polyurethane food hoses, and particularly the ‘Food A’ hoses, (Master PUR L Food A and Master PUR H Food A) meet FDA requirements and are rated anti-static. ideal for use in electrically active food and pharmaceutical environments.

Masterflex have most standard sized hoses in stock for next day delivery, for practically every use you can think of.

If you wish to discuss your requirements, please do not hesitate to get in touch, either sales@masterflex-uk.com, or by calling 0161 626 8066.

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Silicone based high temperature ducting

Silicone Hoses and Ducting

Silicone is a very versatile product to work with, offering excellent resistance from a wide range of chemicals and extremes of temperature. Its rubbery nature makes it liquid resistant, and it has good pressure handling capabilities.

Hose manufacturers often use materials coated in silicone to create materials with multiple complementary characteristics, with silicone coated glass fibre fabric material being integral to most high temperature hoses and ducting.

Master Sil 1 and Master Sil 2

Sprung steel wire internal support, allows the hose to be very flexible, whilst the sprung steel helps prevent the hose from sagging.

Silicone coated glass fibre material gives excellent temperature resistance from -70°C up to 250°C and above. These ducting will continue working with temperatures that intermittently reach 300°C

Used across a range of applications, from air / brake ducts in car engines, railway carriage HVAC systems, steam vents on industrial washing machines, chemical solvent and toxic fume venting, anywhere where temperature, both hot or cold, can be an issue, where dust and toxic fumes need to be handled.

Available in 4m lengths

Master Clip Silicone

Silicone coated glass fibre material gives excellent solvent, chemical and temperature resistance from -60°C up to 300°C and intermittently up to 350°C

External galvanised steel wire external support helps protects the hose from scuff damage, for example dragging on the floor, or against a wall.

The external helix and soft fabric hose material makes this hose extremely flexible, allowing it to collapse lengthwise by up to 3 to 4 times.

Available in custom lengths up to 25m
 

Search Google for all our Silicone Ducting related pages HERE

 
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New Balls, Please.

Wimbledon kicked off (served?) in earnest today, and the big news was Sloughs Marcus Willis, the #772 outsider who beat Lithuania’s world #54 Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to make it into the second round of the competition, securing himself a £50,000 pay check in the process, and taking title as the lowest ranking player to win a match at a grand slam since 1988.

Marcus is next due to play Roger Federer on Wednesday, no doubt hoping for the mother of all upsets.

Not bad for a man who almost gave up competitive tennis altogether!

Tomorrow sees Brit players Andy Murray, world men’s #2, play Brit Liam Brody on centre court, Johanna Konta, women’s #16, Play Monica Puig on court 1, Heather Watson play Annika Beck on court 2, Aljaz Bedene vs Richard Gasquet on court 3, Tara Moore Vs Belgiums Alison Van Uytvanck on court 8, and Katie Swan take on Hungary’s Timea Babos on court 16.

 

Masterflex Technical Hoses LTD wish them all the very best of luck.

Masterflex Technical hoses have several customers who manufacture for the sports sector, from pool tables and sporting equipment to sports cars and engine tuning.

The Flamex range of lightweight PU Polyurethane hoses are designed for sawdust and wood shavings, whilst the Master PUR L and Master PUR H can handle larger more abrasive media.
High Temperature Hoses and Ductings such as the Master Clip Silicone, HT450, and HT650 can handle high temperature exhaust from engines, furnaces and ovens, and we have a whole range of Master Clip products to cover a multitude of uses.

For more information on any of our products, or to discuss your requirements, please do get in touch.

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066 Fax: 0161 626 9066

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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EU Referendum – Are you In or are you Out?

Today is the day the British go to the polls to decide whether we should continue as a member of the European Union, or whether to invoke article 50 and start the process of leaving?

 

 

The fledgling European Union came into being in 1951, as a commitment to pool coal and steel resources between six countries, which then grew, in 1957, into the EEC, the European Economic Community.
The union continued to grow and expand through the fifties and sixties, with Britain formally applying to join (the EEC) in 1961, which was rejected, under doubts particularly from the French as to our commitment.

In 1967, the three Communities, (The EEC, ECSC and Euratom) merge, and the UK re-applies to join.
In 1973 the UK finally joins the European Communities.
In 1978 the European Council established the ERM, Exchange Rate Mechanism, as a virtual European Currency (the ECU), giving members a central exchange rate against the ECU. The UK doesn’t join.
In 1985 the treaty of Rome is amended and plans are laid to draw up a ‘Single European Act’ to revitalise integration.
In 1986 the Single European Act comes into force, with the aim of creating a single market (The European Union we know today) by 1991.

1991 The Maastricht Treaty is signed, coming into force in 1993.

In 1992, as a consequence of Germany’s high interest rates, the ERM struggles, and, with help from the collapse of the US Dollar, Britain is forced to remove itself from the ERM, and other countries come close to monetary collapse.
In 1995, the Schengen agreement begins to come into force, opening borders and enabling the free movement of people. The UK and Ireland opt out.
In 1997, the Amsterdam agreement expands the powers of the European Parliament, and lays the groundwork for a common Foreign and Security policy.
In 2001, the Treaty of Nice is signed, which opens the way for eastwards expansion of the European Union.
On the first of January, 2002, the first coins and notes of the Euro enter circulation in the countries that have signed up to the single currency.
In 2004, no less than ten countries, predominantly from Eastern Europe, are welcomed into the membership of the Union, and a new Constitution is signed.

Whether we stay, or leave, Masterflex Technical Hoses will remain part of a global group of companies, trading amongst ourselves, and with customers from all around the world, and the intricacies of the EU vote will make little difference to our commitment to bringing you the exact hose for your needs, whether that is HVAC, High Temperature Hose, or Weld Fume Extraction.
For more information on any of our products, or to discuss your requirements, please do get in touch.

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066 Fax: 0161 626 9066

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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Glastonbury Weather Pre-empts the Festival.

Summers here, and the country’s pre-eminent music festival kicks off today, and it started with an official request to ‘not turn up just yet’.

It seems the weather didn’t bother waiting until the weekend to churn up the mud and water-log the roads, and thousands have been left queuing for hours on the access roads all around Worthy Farm.

 

Headlining this year will be Muse, Adele, Coldplay, Foals, Beck, ELO…. and as ever the list goes on and on and on.

Masterflex have several hoses and ductings related to organising festivals and general rural uses, from waste water run-off hoses and ventilation ducting, to leaf and grass cutting collection hoses.

For more information on any of our products, or to discuss your requirements, please do get in touch.

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066 Fax: 0161 626 9066

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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UEFA Euro 2016 is here!

It’s summer, it’s been two years since the world cup, and that can mean only one thing to followers of football,,, THE EUROS ARE HERE!

Things kick off Friday 10th at 8pm UK time, with France V Romania. France would seem to have the edge based on recent form, but of the last five times these two have met, four matches have ended in a draw.

England’s tournament begins on Saturday 11th at 8pm, against Russia. England’s form put them favourite, but with one win each from the last two meetings, it could go either way.

Masterflex have a presence around the world, with five European countries having a local Masterflex.

Masterflex SE in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Masterflex Scandinavia AB in Kungsbacka, Sweden
Masterflex SARL in Béligneux, France
Masterflex Technical Hoses LTD in Oldham, United Kingdom
and Masterflex Česko s.r.o in Planá, Czech republic.

All five countries qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament, and we’ll be watching how they all do with interest, and more than a little inter-company rivalry!

England haven’t won a major tournament since the 1966 world cup, so we will be looking forward to seeing an end to that particular drought.

For more information on any of our products, or to discuss your requirements, please do get in touch.

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066     Fax: 0161 626 9066

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit masterflex-uk.com

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A Great British Weekend Pastime

Sheep Shearing, Sheep Dog Trials, County Shows and Country Fairs.

What else would we do with our weekends, if not gathering to drink beer and watch people wrestle a sheep into submission, and then race to shear its fleece?

IMG_1409

During the summer months in Britain, herds of people across the country flock to events, shows and fairs that highlight our rural heritage.

This past weekend, our MD, David, took his family to the Sheep Shearing Competition hosted by The White Lion in Delph.

 

IMG_1408

 

The sun (mostly) shone, the beer flowed, the barbecue was barbecued, the shearers sheared, and a good time was had by all.

Masterflex Technical Hoses have a number of hoses suitable for farming and outdoors industries.

Heavy duty PU (Polyurethane) hoses.
Heavy duty PVC hoses.
Streetmaster hoses.

Our Trivolution range of PU hoses include additives to give excellent anti static and anti microbial features, and together with our Streetmaster hoses, are perfect for leaf and grass collectors, street sweepers, ride on mowers, use as a suction delivery hose for grain, animal feed, wool, wood chip, slurry, vacuum excavation, aggregates and more.

For more information on any of our products, or to discuss your requirements, please do get in touch.

Masterflex Technical Hoses Limited
Units G & H, Prince of Wales Business Park,
Vulcan Street, Oldham, OL1 4ER
Tel: 0161 626 8066     Fax: 0161 626 9066

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Email: marketing@masterflex-uk.com or visit www.masterflex-uk.com