Rather interesting Hampton Wick facts
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Did you know that the first specialist plastics factory in the world was established in Hampton Wick? Industrial chemist Alexander Parkes patented his material modestly named Parkesine in 1861 while he was employed by a Birmingham metal works, and what is thought of as the first true plastic garnered great interest at a trade exhibition in London the following year. The Hackney Wick factory set up in 1866 was his own venture: sadly it failed as skimping on raw materials led to variable quality - and Parkesine was extremely flammable.
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