40s and 50s Memories
been able to do as we did, which colours their
downbeat view of the country. Sadly, conflicts
have now erupted in regions that were wonderful
to visit in the '70's, such as the Jos plateau and
the far north. As a geologist, I had access to all
the maps of the country, and with Peter Holmes
our CEO, an avid traveller and photographer,
and with wives aboard we travelled by small
plane to long disused grass airstrips, and
took remote roads to remote places. Peter
later published his photos in "Nigeria, Giant of
Africa." His wife Judy researched local weaving,
and published with Venice Lamb a fine book on
"Nigerian Weaving."
Seven years followed doing the Royal Dutch
Shell thing, to-ing and fro-ing from London and
the Hague till an assignment cropped up in the
last place we expected, China.
Cor Herkstroter (Shell Chairman) 1993, Tsing Yi
Terminal, Hong Kong. Tim Brennand on the right.
Deng Xiao Ping had opened up the country
to foreign companies once the Gang of Four
had been routed in the 70's. Shell had set
up shop again in 1980 and now seven years
later business was slowly gaining ground. We
arrived in a cold February to our residence
in Beijing, the Cloud Nurturing Pavilion in the
Summer Palace. An old style courtyard house
formerly occupied by the ladies in waiting to
the Empress Dowager, and more recently by
Lin Piao until he was assassinated by Mao's
henchmen in the Forbidden City. The Summer
Palace was accumulating foreign exchange by
renting accommodation to foreign businesses,
to help pay for much needed renovation. Sue
had established her pottery kiln in the kitchen and she managed to produce a number of
what must be very rare ceramics before the
authorities decided we might burn down the
Summer Palace (again!) and shut it down.
Shell's office was near Tiananmen, 14 km
away in the centre of the city. It was on two
floors in the famous Roast Duck restaurant
in Hepingmen. It was a truly memorable time
for good and for far darker reasons. A month's
journey in 1988 through Tibet surveying wild
yak, antelope and asses; and in 1989, the
dire episode of the suppression of the student
uprising in Tiananmen. By the time we left in
December 1993, Mao suits were for oldies and
officials, the office was in a new high-rise and
big projects were afoot. Much of my time was
spent in negotiating with five Chinese partners
a big petrochemical joint venture at Huizhou.
By this time, I had also taken over the Hong
Kong operation, where I had the responsibility
of building a brand new oil terminal at Tsing Yi.
It was December 1993 when this demanding
period in my corporate life with Shell came to
an end and I retired and we left China and Hong
Kong as residents.
Tim Brennand, President Jiang Zhemin, Beijing, 1993
Life after Shell kept us in contact with China
as I joined a five-man group invited by China
to advise on sustainable energy technologies.
For ten years this group conducted seminars
in widely ranging themes and locations, visiting
projects across the entire country. We became
very attached to our engineer counterparts from
China who worked alongside us throughout.
"We" comprised a Swedish chairman and
renewable energy expert, an Italian nuclear
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