Alan William Richards: HOSTEL, 1937 - 1940
Born 18th June 1924 - Died 18th September 2025
Born at School Road, Neath to Nelly and Tom Richards. The family soon moved to Beechwood Avenue, Neath where Alan became an older brother to John. Alan attended Gnoll School ,Neath and then Christ College Brecon for boys. He then went onto study at Neath Technical College, Swansea Technical College and finally to Cardiff College to study gas engineering.
Alan then became article pupil to the manager at Neath Gasworks, then becoming technical assistant. At this time he was also serving in the home guards for the second world war.
In 1946 Alan became an operating engineer with a building company, this involved starting up water gas plants at gas works throughout the UK.
In 1948, he joined the NCB Central Research department in Cheltenham for carbonisation research.
In the 1950s he became deputy Coal, Coke and Byproducts officer to Wales gas board. He was responsible for the purchasing of coal and selling coke and also byproducts to many gasworks throughout Wales. He sat on the national clean air committee at the gas council in London. This was on the introduction of North Sea gas when all the gas works were closed. throughout the 1950s he spent a lot of his time in London, Paris and other parts of Europe.
In 1966 Alan was headhunted and went to work for Caloric Corporation of Allentown USA. The company was taken over in 1969, so he resigned and left the company. In the same year Alan met, fell in love, and married Ann. In 1968 Jonathan was born making Alan a very proud dad.
Moving on to 1970 Alan purchased Arthur Douglas Limited and Neilds Patents Limited. This company ran successfully manufacturing plastic injection moulding products such as the Caddymatic Tea Dispenser, Skateboard helmets and the famous Glow Stars to name but few!
In 1988 Alan then sold out so he could semi retire. With retirement in mind, he purchased a yacht with the intention to sail it to Mallorca, however Ann was not a lover of water so he sold the yacht and purchased a house in beautiful Nerja, Spain. This became a family holiday home where they spent many months throughout the year creating lovely memories with friends both old and new.
in 1995 Jonathan met Jo and in 2001 Olivia was born, Alan’s & Ann's first grandchild, then followed by Sam in 2006. Alan was a very proud grandparent and father-in-law to Jo.
Sadly, in 2008 Alan's beloved wife Ann passed away. Alan spent a lot of time with the grandchildren & the family, yet his inventive brain was now in overdrive. So, with that in mind, he went on to develop a solar fan, which he had manufactured, he successfully sold this product. This was not work to him but a hobby.
Alan continued visiting Spain until he was 94, he also enjoyed sharing evening meals and lunches with his dear family friend Marcia and also with his sister-in-law Heather.
Alan lived life to the full and has left us with wonderful memories and a legacy to remember.
Note from OBA Sec: It was a pleasure to be with Alan on both his 100th and 101st Birthday!
