Computing at light speed

Computer operator Jim Burton with chief executive Ian Walker (right) and computer services manager John Cross.

Seven million pounds-worth of high tech­nology computer equipment was formally commissioned last week when Ian Walker, BP Oil's chief executive, visited the new com­puter room at BP House, Hemel Hempstead.

Not surprisingly, with so much sophisticated hard­ware carrying so much company information, security is a high priority. Entry for everyone - including Mr Walker - is via an inches thick rein­forced door which can only be opened by keying in a special code in conjunction with a special card.

Library

The room houses three main frame and three mini­computers, the com­munications equipment, and ancillary storage equip­ment. A fire-proofed library stores 15,000 magnetic tapes, of which up to 1000 will be used in any one day.

These tapes are now being superseded by 24 of the latest disc storage devices. While they look like old fashioned washing machines there is nothing dated about the ability of each one to store 90 mil­lion words - equivalent to, say, 500 paperbacks.

The communications side of the company has quintupled in the past four years as John Cross, BP Oil's computer services manager, explained to Mr Walker. Modern tech­nology is having difficulty in keeping pace with modern requirements. The various pieces of equip­ment have to be sited within 50 feet of each other simply because communication between them is slowed down by distance.

"A communications signal tracks one foot every one hundred thousandth of a second," Mr Cross said. "Light has actually become too slow for many modern processes."

Cabling

There is also the pro­blem of sheer size, espe­cially where cables are con­cerned. BP Oil is now using fibre optic cabling because one fibre optic can carry the equivalent of 250 con­ventional cables.

Computers too, are getting smaller. To use the jargon, they have a `decreasing footprint'. Mr Walker commented that the space taken up by the first computer at Hemel Hemp­stead, the Leo, was some one-and-a-half times that of the present Univac's. Whereas the Leo boxes held only 16,000 words of memory the Univac holds a million.

"Looking to the future," he said, "we have to bal­ance the unlimited demand from a population increasingly hungry for more and more instant information - which fre­quently cannot be other nice to know - with the rapid production of essential data and statements which lead to a more efficient and cost effective company."

Taken from BP Oil News - May 1983

£7m in 1983 would today (2010) be worth about £16.5m.

Today, it is quite amusing to read such comments about computer size becoming an issue and thereby the distance that information had to travel. Also, the comment from John Cross that “light is too slow” – I suppose that as we could not move data faster than light we just had to make the technology smaller.

The linear storage of data on tapes were only then being passed out for the non-linear discs.

Ian Walkers comment about the need for instant information, specific to the business and not just “nice to know” is somewhat prophetic for an age when we have almost unimaginable instant access to a wealth of information via personal computers and the internet.  

An interesting article from a time when major step changes in computing where taking place and giving an insight into the challenges of the future that we had to address.

Added by David F Thorn Tuesday 14 September 2010

Weighing it all up

Shed stones raise pounds. That was the idea that Hemel's Charlotte Harber (nee Withey, then wife of Martin Harber) and Gill Glover came up with when they suggested that their male colleagues start a sponsored slim. And after weighing in last month, the foursome notched up a total loss of 40.5 pounds and a gain of £57.50

"The money was raised for Befriending Parents," says Tony Smart, from central technical support at Hemel Hemptead. Tony sits on the steering committee for Befriending Parents, which was set up in November 1981 to give help and assistance to parents with handicapped children.

Hemel's Sister Pereira suggested a diet of 1,000 calories a day for the foursome and gave them helpful information about weight watching and sensible eating.

Keeping watch on the pounds, our picture shows Charlotte Harber, and from the left, Brian Spencer, Derek Morris, Tony Smart (on the scales) and Steve Emmett.

Missing from the picture is Tony's wife Maureen Smart and Pauline Bonfield, who also work at Hemel and who later joined in the sponsored slim to boost the funds.

Taken from BP Oil News - May 1983

The computing world's Webster

Richard Doyle knew what he was talking about when he was invited to speak at the British Computer Society Database Conference last month. It was a subject close to home - data dictionaries.

Richard, project leader in development control, was responsible for setting up the dictionary currently in use at Hemel Hempstead. “It’s sort of like a Webster’s of the computer world,” he says.

The data dictionary is used to store the definitions of all the company’s data, including how and where it’s used within our computer systems.

Richard spent a great deal of time working out in advance how the dictionary was going to be used. “It took eighteen months,” he says, “and it was important to get it right in the early stages because to go back and make changes would have been costly.”

The main benefit of this system is that it can help people fully understand the meaning and use of all the data that is processed.

"We're something of a pioneer in this market,” says Richard, “so I felt quite pleased when I was invited to discuss our experiences and uses of the dictionary at the conference.”

Richard also works as a consultant to other BP and outside companies, occasionally selling our data dictionary and interface programmes and earning the company money.

Taken from BP Oil News - May 1983

PC and printer gifted to RAF Northwood

The PC, CRT monitor and printer (no mouse?) shown in this picture was the height of computer technology in October 1987.

This hardware was donated by BP Oil and Boffin Computer Maintenance to the cadets at RAF Northwood. Possibly to naval cadets, as the photo I have has Commander-in-Chief Fleet on the reverse.

Boffin was the computer maintenance and support function of Pericom PLC (Chairman - Ron Cragg) based in Milton Keynes. They were major suppliers to BP Oil in the 1980's.

I recall seeing facilities onsite at RAF Northwood that were used as part of "Operation Corporate" (the 1982  Falklands War).

In the photo unknown, Yorath Trebble, David Thorn, Phil Else (Managing Director - Boffin Computer Maintenance), unknown, Ian Pitkethly and Laurence Hill.

BP Oil Computer and Accounting Centre

Computers are a people business.

The link above will take you to a pdf of a 20 page booklet called "Computers are a people business" which was published in 1980.

Warning : This is quite a large document at 353MB depending on your broadband (using a speed of 200 kB/sec it may take about 30 mins to download).

This booklet was designed to promote careers within the BP Oil Computer and Accounting Centre at Hemel Hempstead. Although this was available to staff at the time, I think it was focused towards the annual graduate intake (commonly known as "The Milk Round").

This was obviously a time of expansion and getting the "right young things" in to a "high-tech" career was perhaps difficult!
People mentioned in this booklet are Angela Slezok (she later married Richard Doyle), Jacky Dormer, Helen McGillicuddy and John Maher.

George's box room collection

George in his box-room with - what else - a collection of post boxes.

When people go to the Post Office to make a collection they usually come away with a letter or parcel. Hemel Communication Engineer George Kar­vounakis often ends up buying the post box itself.

He started his off-beat col­lections two years ago last month and currently he has a hefty selection of I00 toy miniatures and eight genuine ones.

The 'real' ones he buys from the Post Office at any­thing from £220 upwards for a pillar box, £60 for a wall box and about £45 for a lamp box.

The oldest one he has is a Victorian wall box he bought from a Post Office in Essex.

The boxes are usually in poor condition and George first has to deliver them to his garden shed for a face-lift. Once he has got them back to near original condition he deposits them in his spare bed­room with the rest of his col­lection.

"My wife thought I was mad at first," he says, "but she's got used to it now. I didn't realise there were so many different types of boxes until I started collecting them."

George writes to all the Post Office regional head­quarters asking to be put on their 'mailing lists' for post boxes.

The toy miniatures he finds in shops and on market stalls. "Sometimes I just jump in my car and go out pillar box hunting."

George, who also collects pictures of pillar boxes, went to his native Greece last year for a holiday and even managed to find a post box for his collection over there.

He is also a keen stamp collector but his number one hobby is post boxes. "With stamps you know exactly what you are looking for — it's all in the catalogue. But with post boxes you never know what is going to turn up," he says.

George still has plenty of space left in his spare bed­room to increase his collec­tion and so if any readers have a post box or a picture of a post box, he would be delighted to get a letter from them.

Taken from BP Oil News - January 1983

Befriending Parents

Tony Smart

Giving families of disabled folk a fair break...

Families in the Hemel area with handicapped children are being given a new lease of life thanks to a scheme called Befriending Parents. And BP Oil employees in the town are playing a major role in helping the scheme develop.

Last year they donated £1,000 to Befriending Parents and they have pledged to raise a similar amount each year. Says BP Oil's Tony Smart (above), who serves on the steering committee of Befriending Parents:

"We hope to raise the money through a series of raffles, competitions, bring and buy sales and the like. The cash is needed to meet the host of administrative costs associated with the scheme, everything from telephone calls and stationery to travel­ling expenses for the volun­teers who visit the families."

These volunteers are called `befrienders' and so far ten of them have been matched up with families who have a mentally or physically handi­capped child.

The aim is to act as friends and sympathisers to these parents who have more than their fair share of problems bringing up a family.

Organisers still do not have nearly as many volunteers as they would like and are anxious that people do not mistake the purpose of the scheme.

As a volunteer, no one is expected to cope with a handi­capped child. The role is a supportive one and volun­teers act as companions and sometimes someone to lean on for these busy parents.

The help provided might be an evening baby-sitting while the parents have a rare night out or a few hours driving people on hospital visits.

The co-ordinator of Befriending Parents is Barbara Bradley, herself the mother of an 11-year-old severely handicapped child.

Although he is a full-time job, he is not demanding or worrying, but he does get bored. This is why Barbara is often worried. "I feel guilty if I feel I am not stimulating his interest," she says.

This is where Barbara's own `befriender', Ann Hubball is such a godsend. Her presence enables Barbara to be able to relax and forget the responsibility for a time. Just to go off on her own for an hour or two, to go shopping or visit the hairdresser without worrying is a relief.

It also enables Barbara to get down to the business of linking volunteers with families.

"You don't need to be experienced or specialised to help in our scheme. It's commonsense that matters all the time," she says.

Befriending Parents was formed in November 1981 as a result of the International Year of Disabled People. It developed throughout 1982 and it is hoped that this year it will go from strength to strength.

The support given by BP Oil employees in Hemel is much appreciated but, of course, more support is always needed.

If you would like further details of the scheme, please contact Tony Smart in room 110 (extension 460).

Taken from BP Oil News - January 1983

Bowden Trophy - November 1982

Game for a Laugh...

There was fun and games at Hemel in November when all departments got together to compete for the Bowden Trophy.

The event, held annually since 1965, involves staff in games like passing the key on a piece of string through clothing, walking with balloons between legs and passing tennis balls to partners using only chins.

The trophy was won by Computer Operations, and for the first time in the history of the contest the winning team scored maximum points.

There were a lot of new faces taking part this time because of the transfers from Victoria which made the victory more impressive. The trophy was presented by Mike Hancock.

Taken from BP Oil News - January 1983

Weekend Writer

Most policemen hate paper­work but Bob Roach is an exception. The former Detec­tive Chief Inspector and now security officer at Hemel is very much at home with a pen in his hand.

He wrote a couple of short stories a few years back and a friend suggested that he sent one of them in to Weekend Magazine. Much to his surprise they decided to use it and it earned Bob £50.

The story, entitled 'Night a Big Softie Helped Me Collar Three Robbers', was pub­lished under the Reader's Own Story section.

It explained how the Roach's pet dog, Dirk, helped catch three men suspected of armed robbery. Although Dirk wouldn't hurt a fly, the robbers believed he was a trained police dog and sur­rendered quietly.

Mind you, Bob had to stand on Dirk's tail to get him to bark and snarl, otherwise the pet dog would probably have gone up to the men and licked their hands!

Bob spent 25 years in the Metropolitan Police before becoming a security officer and he has a wealth of stories to tell about his time on the Force.

He is keen to write a full-length book about his police experiences. "I'll get down to it one day, it's just a question of finding the time," says Bob.

Taken from BP Oil News - January 1983

Hampers on wheels cheer old folk

Some of the Hemel stalwarts who helped with the "hampers-on-wheels" service - Christmas 1982

The girls in Data Preparation organised a 'Hampers-on­-Wheels' service just before Christmas to bring a little festive cheer to old folk in the Hemel area.

They raised over £100 with a collection among their col­leagues and used the money to pack nine food hampers with Christmas puddings, tea, butter, sugar, jams, tinned meats, fruit, biscuits, vege­tables and bottles of sherry.

They contacted the local branch of the Social Services and got a list of old folk in the area who had no relatives or friends and who therefore were preparing to spend a lonely and possibly a hungry Christmas.

Julie Olver, along with col­league Janet Fogden, drove round delivering the hampers to nine homes just before Christmas and spent some time with each of the occu­pants.

"The old people were really overwhelmed and it was a good feeling to know that we were able to provide them with a little comfort," says Janet.

Added Julie: "Everyone of them invited us in for a cuppa. They were glad to see visitors and have a bit of a chat with someone for a change."

Taken from BP Oil News - January 1983