It wasn't all bricks, I did see quiet a bit of the North Wales coast & it's castles & I visited Historic Houses & gardens in Cheshire. I will be covering some of the places I visited in my Days Out blog. So if you are interested, please see the Links page for the address.
The couple at the B & B where I stayed in North Wales, were lost for words when I told them that I collected bricks. They said it was a first for them. We all had a good laugh about it & it was a talking point for rest of the holiday.
The Cheshire Brick & Slate Co. at Tarvin is just before Chester on the A54 & is a very well laid out yard, with plenty of tempting things buy. Most of the bricks I photographed were made in Wales, but I came across this ZMAN brick & it's a bit of a mystery. Is it someones name or is it the company's name ? So if anyone knows anything about this brick, please let us know.
Update 20.11.17. Nigel Furniss has been in contact & has informed me that these bricks come from India. I had my suspicions of them not being made in the UK, but with Nigel's confirmation of the fact it now clears up this little mystery. Many Thanks, Nigel.
Monk & Newell brickworks was on the east side of the Ruabon to Wrexham road & was in production until the 1920's. A housing estate now occupies the site.
Hafod Colliery & its associated brickworks was started by Henry Dennis in 1878. The Company went on to become Dennis Ruabon Tiles Ltd.
In 1893 a new factory was built & was known as the Red Works, this building still stands today. Ridge tiles, chimney pots, tiles, red bricks & terracotta were all produced here & they were in great demand around 1906. This was also the year that Henry passed away, with his son Henry taking charge of the Company. By 1934 the Hafod Brickworks became a private limited company. In 1944 the Company then passed to Patrick grandson of Henry senior, who implemented a plan of modernisation of the Works. By the 1970's brick production had ceased & the Company concentrated on producing quarry tiles.
Ruabon Brick & Terra Cotta works was on the west side of the Ruabon to Wrexham road, with its clay pits on the east side of this road. The company was founded by the Hague family in 1883 & was managed by Henry Jenks. The company was taken over by Dennis in the 1960's but closed sometime in the 1970's.
Davies Brothers owned the Abenbury works, Wrexham which was next to the Wrexham to Ellesmere railway line. The brickworks closed in 1981 & is now a housing estate.
J. C. Edwards was started by James Coster Edwards (1828-1896). Based in Ruabon the company produced bricks, tiles & terracotta at several sites, closing in 1956 when the company was sold.
The Wrexham Brick & Tile company was in production until1981. When it closed it was owned by Thomas Marshall's who also owned Davies Bros.which also closed in 1981.
Ruby Brickworks was a small works near Mold, Flintshire.
George Woolliscroft is first recorded of making bricks in 1865. A full history of his company can be read at this link below.
http://www.thepotteries.org/potworks_wk/146.htm
All I have for the Shawforth Brickworks, Rochdale is that it was next to the railway station & it went into liquidation on 15th August 1910.
Whinney Hill Brick Co. Accrington was started in 1896/7 & was owned by the Macalpine family who also owned Altham Colliery.
These next three bricks were photographed at Beeston Reclamation yard in Cheshire. I went at the wrong time to look for bricks here, as they were in the middle of revamping the yard & there was very little to check out.
This Docken fireclay brick was made in Scotland.
J. Dougall & Son owned the Bonnyside Brickworks, High Bonnybridge, Scotland from 1896 to 1967 producing fireclay bricks.
TSL - Tucker & Son, Loughborough was first owned by Gilbert Tucker. His company helped the Nottingham Patent Brick Co. (main brick contractor) to produce some of the 60 million bricks that was required to build St. Pancras Station in London. With Gilbert going bankrupt in 1894, the company was taken over by Gibert's son, William, but after his death in 1926 the works continued under his son, also named William. Taken over by Butterley/Hanson in 1964, the works finally closed in 1967 after 119 years of production.
