Love Lane Lives
The history of sugar in Liverpool and the effects of the closure of the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery, Love Lane
Albert (Tod) Sloane: Sweet Fighter extraordinaire!
Written by Ron Noon at 10:26 on Monday, December 15th 2008
Albert is on the left of the photograph with his leather coat and fag in hand! John is on the far right (not his politics) looking up at the banner headline.
ALBERT E SLOANE
When I first met Albert I was faced with a formidable guy who was not sure where the four eyed, “Bamber Gascoigne”, university teacher, was coming from. Reassured by my roots and devotion to Everton FC, I quickly gained his confidence and more important than anything else, his lasting friendship. Nobody can fail to be impressed by this sweet fightin’ man. Some of his Anglo-Saxon embroidery of the English language may have to be tailored to the particular audiences, but “Tod” Sloane, as he is known, epitomises the free born scouser, the man who is as good as anybody else, and who nobody is better than. Mixed into this remarkable 86 year olds personality are the full range of emotions, the bitterness, anger, defiance and determination of a life long socialist to secure justice for the underdog, but also the sentimental man with a generosity of spirit and feel for those who are less equipped or prepared to stick up for themselves. His scouse humour and irreverence is infectious and easily explains why the machine minder from B shift who registered his first vote for Clem Atlee’s Labour in 1945, became the main focus of leadership and determined opposition to Tate & Lyle’s closure plans.
One of many cameo scenes that I’ve documented involving Albert was in the Liverpool Town Hall in February 1981. A meeting of workers representatives, Merseyside MPs, city and county councillors, and local Church leaders, had been called to the “blackamoored and elephanted” Town Hall to help organise resistance to the closure. Hailed subsequently as the “Congress of Merseyside” David Sheppard the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool described the mood of everyone involved in the struggle to keep Love Lane open. “There were moments when Archbishop Warlock and I were invited to go to meetings at the Town Hall and there seemed the greatest solidarity of all Liverpool interests in fighting to stave off this closure. There was a very good common feeling at this time.”
Albert as Chairman of the Action Committee was waiting on that cold February morning in the foyer of the Town Hall to welcome the invited dignitaries “as its dirty big fire blazed away”. One of the lads asked him how he was going to address such people of consequence when they arrived, and Albert’s retort, was “mind yer own business”! He recalls with affection and devilish humour what happened after most of the dignitaries had arrived, except Archbishop Warlock and the Anglican leader Bishop Sheppard.
“Ye see they’re all inside and the ones we’re waitin for is Sheppard and Warlock. I did n’t know what to call them like. But ye see me Ron, I speak from here, (me ‘art!), and ye have to take what ye get as the truth. Anyway he came into the building with a big procession, the monsooer like, yenno the fellah with the big mace, and I shouted, (bellows out laughing), ‘Hello Arch where’s the Bish’?”
The startled “Arch”, looked behind to the revolving doors, and apologetically explained, “oh sorry Albert, The Bish is following on soon”. Witty and irreverent, respectful but never deferential, these were some of the qualities that made Albert a natural rank and file leader. Merseyside despite Bleasdale’s efforts was still in the early 80s as factory after factory was closing down, the place, where “if you don’t laugh, you only cry” was a vernacular cliché. Albert was as fed up with that caricature as Bleasdale, and determined that everyone should see the tracks of the unemployed workers tears.
Albert’s an extraordinary “ordinary” man that will defiantly deny that he was more important in the organised resistance than all the others threatened by the sack and a longer dole queue. In one sense he is right. His story like that of so many other exceptional “ordinary” boys and girls from the whitestuff, that gave Tate & Lyle such loyalty and dedicated service has to be rescued from the “enormous condescension” of those who write British history with the majority of the Brits, and scousers, left out!
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Here’s a picture (or two) of Albert’s pal John on the 20th annniversary of Love Lane’s closure.
