The views expressed are those of the author: Columnist Sidney Alford OBE MSc PhD has thoughts on Alford oats

摘要

A class of improvisable explosive well known to people of anti-social disposition consists of a mixture of hydrogen peroxide solution and foodstuffs of one sort or another. Flour is one such fuel component and, wishing to ascertain whether the type of flour greatly affected the properties of the product (the flour power1), I prepared a series of charges and initiated them in small plastic containers, each resting on a metal plate target. The range of flours included, for obvious reasons, japati, but I was proud to observe that none blew a bigger hole in the steel targets than that sold under the name of "Oatmeal of Alford" Alford being a small Scottish town apparently named after me.