My dad, Pete Masters, who has died aged 78, worked his way up from being a gas and pipe fitter with Shell to a position as a senior research technician, in which role he worked on many large-scale experiments in a small team that held a world-leading position in combustion science.
After the 1988 Piper Alpha oil platform disaster in the North Sea, Pete and the team conducted research in the hills of Derbyshire into improving offshore safety by constructing scaled-down sections of platforms, which they filled with gas and ignited. These experiments contributed in the early 1990s to the design and construction of the state-of-the-art Troll A natural gas platform, one of the largest and most complex engineering projects in history.
Pete hailed from the Tranmere area of Birkenhead, Merseyside, the son of Elsie (nee Chamberlain), who had various jobs in small shops, and Harry Masters, a barge driver. He attended Prenton secondary modern after being expelled from Birkenhead grammar for punching the head boy – according to Pete, the head boy was bullying his friend.
At 15 he started an indentured apprenticeship as a plumber, commuting to Liverpool on the Mersey ferry. The apprenticeship included fitting a new irrigation system and urinals at Goodison Park football ground, in preparation for the 1966 World Cup. After serving his time, he moved to Cammell Laird’s shipyard in 1965 to work on the building of one of the Polaris nuclear submarines.
While there he went on a two-week holiday to Spain, and decided he wanted to stay there. His sister handed in his resignation for him at Cammell Laird, and he remained in the country, working as a bouncer and barman in pubs and clubs in various towns and cities. Eventually he arrived in Gibraltar in 1969, just as Franco closed the border and water supply. Unable to leave, he worked on the construction of a desalination plant, enabling the restoration of a potable water supply.
In the early 70s Pete worked in London converting homes from coal to natural gas and living in Putney, where he and four friends slept on mattresses on the floor of a garage. As well as converting the homes of Spike Milligan and Paul and Linda McCartney, he converted streetlamps along the Mall in central London. As children, he would tell us about the ships atop of the lamps, individually different but collectively representing Nelson’s fleet.
In 1970 he met Maggie Logan, a newly qualified teacher, and they married in 1972. In 1973 they settled in Chester, where Pete secured his job at Shell’s Thornton Research Centre.
A socialist, Pete was known as someone who was there to give a hand with humour and generosity. Our house was where friends would gather for support and laughter.
Maggie died in 2020. Pete is survived by their children, William and me, and three grandchildren, Edith, Thomas Peter and James. His sister, June, and another granddaughter, Rae, predeceased him.
