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John Barry Aldred (1925-2006)It was with great regret that we learned of the death of John Aldred on the 11th April in a Carlisle hospital from cancer of the pancreas. A former President of the Association of Public Analysts, he was born on the 7th May 1925 in Prestatyn, North Wales and was educated at King`s School, Chester. He gained a BA(Hons.) degree in Chemistry at Cambridge. His early professional career was greatly influenced by the posts that he took, firstly with Boots Pure Drug Co., Standards Department in Nottingham and later at the Derbyshire County Laboratory in Derby and later Matlock. Much of his philosophy regarding professional and working standards was formed during this period. |
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On entering the Public Analyst Service and gaining his RIC Branch E qualification (the forerunner of the present day MChemA), John was eventually appointed Deputy Public Analyst to J. Markland. He was to serve in the Derbyshire Laboratory in this position for some ten years. In the early 1970's, on the retirement of A.N.Leather. John was appointed Public Analyst for the City of Manchester Laboratory. At the time the laboratory was situated in unsatisfactory temporary premises in the grounds of a hospital and John was able to oversee the transfer to a new purpose built laboratory in the Hulme district of Manchester, which contained much better facilities. With the advent of Greater Manchester County in 1974 the Manchester and Bolton Laboratories merged to form GMC Laboratory. John was appointed County Analyst and also became a Deputy Director of the then Consumer Services Dept. of GMS. It soon became clear that the Hulme laboratory was too small to serve the ten Districts comprising the new Greater Manchester and larger premises would be needed. By 1976 new premises had been found in rented accommodation at the old Shirley Institute site in Didsbury. During the next decade or so John,assisted by his Management Team of Public Analysts Alan Evans and David Lord, greatly developed the range of the PA Service in to new areas such as Waste Disposal, Consumer Protection, Health and Safety and even developed a Mobile Laboratory for the Fire Service. His earlier career experience in laboratory management and design and analytical standards did much to weld together these various developments during a period of rapid expansion, which saw the staff numbers rise from the lower twenties a figure of over fifty. John was also very active in the Association of Public Analysts. As a member of the APA Council he first became secretary and then in 1987 its President, holding the Annual General Meeting in Manchester in the Spring of 1988. John had many off duty interests such as sailing, rowing and walking. He would often go on walking holidays to such places as the Dolomites and the Shetland Islands. His interest in scuba diving once resulted in him helping to map the seabed off the west coast of Scotland. However all these activities were threatened when he developed a trapped nerve in the lower spine. Fortunately successful surgery was carried out which enabled john to continue his active life. In the early 90`s John retired at 65 and with his wife Jean went to live in Ashkam, Cumbria where he took up what he said himself was the life of a country gentleman. He remained at Ashkam until his death in his 81st year. He will be greatly missed by his wife and family,to whom we extent our deepest condolences, and those members of the APA who knew him as a friend or colleague. J. B. Faulder (Retired Associate Member, APA, and former Principle Scientist GMSS). |