Construction

Construction as never before followed the war: traditional housing but also building tall, with offices and the notorious tower blocks. All this demanded strong building products suppliers but also advanced construction equipment.

JCB stand tall as an innovative manufacturer of powered construction machinery. Their story began just after the war and the company is now a worldwide supplier pushing the boundaries of technology.

In the second half the twentieth century, this country made its own bricks, roof tiles, concrete, steel, electrical wiring and plumbing. Pilkington had patented the revolutionary float glass process and were making fibre glass both for insultation and reinforcement. Heating systems were revolutionised with the coming of north sea gas. Carpets gained popularity after the Second World War and as elsewhere manmade fibres found their way into the manufacturing process.

Much of the building products sectors has in recent years fallen into foreign ownership. Whilst manufacturing still takes place here, the fruits of their labours go abroad.

The image is of course a flash back to the age of steam

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From gypsum to granite

My journey began near to where Gypsum is mined in Leicestershire by British Gypsum now owned by the French St Gobain. My destination was Penmaenmawr overlooking Anglesey where some of the finest granite was quarried. En route I passed some icons of British Manufacturing. First came Rolls-Royce in Derby with the history of the WW2 […]

A sixteenth century mechanised mint in Segovia

Coins were traditionally minted by a stamp and hammer, and indeed had been in Segovia since Roman times. The invading Spanish discovered vast quantities of silver at Potosi in Peru in the late sixteenth century and mined it using first local slave labour and then, when mining killed them, slaves from Africa. The bullion was […]

Where has all the money gone?

Gaby Hinsliff writing in the Guardian observed with sadness that those little treats enjoyed by middle earners are becoming less affordable. I pondered why this might be. My mind turned to the larger stage of public expenditure and I see much the same picture as I have observed before. Schools are squeezed so PTAs have […]

The genius of Roman hydraulic engineering

In the First Century CE, the Romans brought fresh water to the city of Segovia over a distance of fifteen km from the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range. The first thirteen km are underground in a stone and concrete duct, but then it enters the city in this channel in what is first a low […]

Levelling Up – a layperson’s guide

In order the understand the concept and process of levelling up, it may be helpful to look at the reasons behind the un-levelness. Prosperity came to this country through trade and manufacturing. In the past few years I have been exploring the story of manufacturing, most recently manufacturing places. And therein I believe lies the […]