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Mapperley Brick Works

 

Mapperley Colliery Brickworks near Ilkeston.

The below is taken from a newspaper cutting but some words are missing shown as '?'

Bricks, millions of them were individually used in the construction of pit shafts, engine-houses and colliery company ? the clay dug and kilns erected on site. From the 1850’s onwards many of the larger companies developed quite extensive brickworks and by the end of the nineteenth century ? Grassmore and Clay Cross Companies were each producing over 3 million hand made bricks each year.

Brickmaking was a very heavy and skilful job and an idea of the speed and skill required to make bricks can be appreciated from the report of a brickmaking match at Mossborough in 1887, between William Topley and Eli Irons – Each man worked under the usual conditions for two hours, having the services of an assistant to supply clay and two boys to lay bricks. The stake was 50 shillings a-side.

Topley went on first and worked at a uniform rate throughout making 1.328 bricks, an average of 11 bricks a minute. Irons, who appeared to be favourite started at a very fast rate making 14-15 bricks a minute, afterwards he fell off a little, but with a total of 1,490 an average of 12 a minute he won the match.

- My thanks to Margaret Cooke (nee Lodge) for providing the above -


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