Question How did Leslie Cross die?

[Jon]

Is this her website?

Lottie's Vegan Bakery - Gloucestershire

Vegan bakery, selling a variety of cakes, brownies, Bakewells, muffins and fudge at festivals, events and and via our online shop.

www.lottiesveganbakery.co.uk

No. j

 

[Jon]

I would have thought that having been bought up by vegan parents, it would have a strong influence on one's own choice.

Paul McCarney's children are all vegetarian and I assume that it was because they were bought up in the belief of not having to slaughter animals to be able to eat. I often wonder if I had been bought up as a veg*an, what choice would I have made in later life ? Anyway, I really do regret not having been bought up in a veg*an family and think that people like you are very lucky.

Is your sister and her children (if any) also vegans ? It seems like you have lived in many places in the UK. Are you currently based in the E. Midlands ?

How did your dad invent plant based milk ? I'm not familiar with the Plamil history and didn't realise that it was a Kentish based firm.

My father always wanted to find a way to produce a plant based milk to replace cows milk. You can google Plamil and there's a lot of info about it on the web. We had a small factory in Langely, Bucks where the initial experiments were done under the guidance of a chap by the name of Bill Stark. It was he and my dad who managed to find a way of extracting white protein from green leaves. Without him, Bill, there would not have been Plamil. I worked there in the early days till they moved to Folkestone and in my opinion Bill Stark does not get the recognition he deserves.

 

[shyvas]

My father always wanted to find a way to produce a plant based milk to replace cows milk. You can google Plamil and there's a lot of info about it on the web. We had a small factory in Langely, Bucks where the initial experiments were done under the guidance of a chap by the name of Bill Stark. It was he and my dad who managed to find a way of extracting white protein from green leaves. Without him, Bill, there would not have been Plamil. I worked there in the early days till they moved to Folkestone and in my opinion Bill Stark does not get the recognition he deserves.

Since my last post several months ago, I have researched Plamil, including it's history. I make a point of buying their products when
available over here. I particularly like their range of chocolate bars, especially their no added sugar ones.
I think that this Kentish based company deserves more credit that it receives, and wonder why it's not easier to find their products in many shops?

Meet The Vegan Willy Wonka Who's Raising The Bar On Ethical Business

Plamil: Chocolate: Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, No Nuts, Free From

Plamil chocolate: our vegan, dairy free and gluten free chocolate is sumptuous tasting with a superfine texture that just melts in the mouth, manufactured in our 'no nuts used here' factory. 'Free from' chocolate at it's best!

www.plamilfoods.co.uk

About Plamil Foods Ltd

Plamil Foods Ltd is a private company making top quality food for all. Our speciality is making food products which are free from any animal origin.

www.plamilfoods.co.uk

 

[shyvas]

No. j

It would seem like the name Lottie is very popular when it comes to online bakeries :

https://www.bakerias.com/XX/Unknown/850380085142575/Lottie%E2%80%99s-Vegan-Cakes

 

[Brian W]

My father always wanted to find a way to produce a plant based milk to replace cows milk. You can google Plamil and there's a lot of info about it on the web. We had a small factory in Langely, Bucks where the initial experiments were done under the guidance of a chap by the name of Bill Stark. It was he and my dad who managed to find a way of extracting white protein from green leaves. Without him, Bill, there would not have been Plamil. I worked there in the early days till they moved to Folkestone and in my opinion Bill Stark does not get the recognition he deserves.

I remember back in the early eighties in the UK, Alpro and Plamil were virtually the only two companies that were making plant milks. Alpro seems to have become commercial but I haven't heard of Plamil for a long time.

 

[shyvas]

I remember back in the early eighties in the UK, Alpro and Plamil were virtually the only two companies that were making plant milks. Alpro seems to have become commercial but I haven't heard of Plamil for a long time.

We get Plamil milk over here. However, it's far more expensive compared to other brands.

About Plamil Foods Ltd

Plamil Foods Ltd is a private company making top quality food for all. Our speciality is making food products which are free from any animal origin.

www.plamilfoods.co.uk

 

[Jon]

Unfortunately, Plamil can't buy the cartons for what the supermarkets are selling soya drinks. I use the word drinks because that's all they are. There are fortified ones like Plamil but are few. Plamil in it's infancy was a fully fortified product. A true alternaive to dairy milk, but 99% of those on supermarket shelves are drinks with little or no fortification and that's one reason they're so cheap.

 

[Jon]

I assume you mean Leslie J. Cross, the founder of Plamil Foods and at one point vice-president of the British Vegan Society? Wikipedia says he was born in 1914 and died 2nd December 1979, so he would have been 65. It's referencing this:

From: The Vegan Spring 1980 (The Vegan, Spring 1980, page 23)

So it doesn't give the cause of death, but at least you can exclude 'run over by a bus' and murder.

My father died from heart failure. He had insomnia and had been taking barbiturates for many years to help with sleeping. Eventually his heart gave out due to slow barbiturate poisoning. My father was one of the three founder members of the Vegan Society. He coined the name "Vegan" sitting at our kitchen table trying to come up with the right name. Many names were thought of but eventually he found it. I remember the occasion well because he was very excited and he contacted CA Ling, the third founder member, and they put the suggestion to Watson and then he told everyone he had thought of it! There were 3 founder members, all equally concerned in the formation of the Vegan Society, not just one! It's time to put the record straight. I am probably the only one alive today that saw the very beginnings of the Vegan Soc. I am also the last surviving family member. As regard Plamil Foods, without Bill Stark there would have been no Plamil Foods. It is solely due to him and my father that the company survived at all and due to Adrian Lings amazing efforts is now a thriving company.

 

[Jon]

I assume you mean Leslie J. Cross, the founder of Plamil Foods and at one point vice-president of the British Vegan Society? Wikipedia says he was born in 1914 and died 2nd December 1979, so he would have been 65. It's referencing this:

From: The Vegan Spring 1980 (The Vegan, Spring 1980, page 23)

So it doesn't give the cause of death, but at least you can exclude 'run over by a bus' and murder.

My father was born in 1910. (Where do you get your information?) His passing over in 1979 is about right, but without his death cert. I'm not certain. He died from heart failure in his sleep. He was one of the three founder members of The Vegan Society.

 

[Second Summer]

My father was born in 1910. (Where do you get your information?) His passing over in 1979 is about right, but without his death cert. I'm not certain. He died from heart failure in his sleep. He was one of the three founder members of The Vegan Society.

I'm sorry, I was repeating what his Wikipedia page says, which again was based on an article in The Vegan from 1980. I would be happy to edit and correct the Wikipedia page if you know of anything published I can reference that has the correct information? (I have edited a few Wikipedia pages before so I know the drill, but in principle anyone can do it).

 

[Jon]

I'm sorry, I was repeating what his Wikipedia page says, which again was based on an article in The Vegan from 1980. I would be happy to edit and correct the Wikipedia page if you know of anything published I can reference that has the correct information? (I have edited a few Wikipedia pages before so I know the drill, but in principle anyone can do it).

Leave it with me, I'll get the correct info and get back to you. I think I know who will have a copy of the death cert. probably the original. jc

 

[bEt]

My father always wanted to find a way to produce a plant based milk to replace cows milk. You can google Plamil and there's a lot of info about it on the web. We had a small factory in Langely, Bucks where the initial experiments were done under the guidance of a chap by the name of Bill Stark. It was he and my dad who managed to find a way of extracting white protein from green leaves. Without him, Bill, there would not have been Plamil. I worked there in the early days till they moved to Folkestone and in my opinion Bill Stark does not get the recognition he deserves.

I saw this interview with Adrian Ling on another website. In the interview Mr. Ling explained that the first plant protein milks his father and the other collaborators developed were not soy. They first tried cabbage protein and pea protein. Eventually they marketed soy--it had been marketed successfully already in the US and China.

Quote from Adrian Ling:

“One of the first things the Society did was to form a subcommittee to look alternatives to dairy milk. My father worked with Dr Franklin and Lesley Cross, who were powers in the vegan movement at that time, experimenting with different ‘milks’. It’s incredible looking at these processes and realising just slow and difficult things would have been then. We have a photo of them making the first milk alternative using cabbage protein.”


from

Plamil - Pioneers In Vegan Food| Food and Drink | Folkelife

And this on another website:

Some of the early Plant Milk Society pioneers Mrs Stark, Dr Franklin and Bill Stark making and experimenting with cabbage milk circa 1958. (Plamil Foods)

from:

This is the vegan ‘Willy Wonka’ and he’s raising the bar when it comes to running an ethical business

Adrian Ling doesn’t look like your typical entrepreneur. Indeed, the managing director of Plamil Foods, the UK’s longest-running plant-based business, makes Richard Branson look conservative. Yet while his colorful and flamboyant

veganbusinessmedia.com

 

[Jon]

That picture is Bill Stark and his wife with my father in the background. Hugh never got involved in the physical process. In answer to the question "how did my father die," he died in his sleep. JC