The Brickworks Museum, Swanwick, 16th May 2024

The trip was a self-drive and 4 cars with 9 members arranged to meet up at the Brickworks Museum car park at 10:30 for an 11:00 start for the tour. On arrival we went to the onsite Café and had coffee and cakes while we also pre-ordered our lunches.

While we were in the canteen our guide Richard came and introduced himself to us and at 11:00 we started the tour. The Brickworks were founded in 1897 by the Ashby family who were successful builders merchants as part of the firm Hooper & Ashby. The Bursledon Brickworks Company (BBC) as it was known was situated on the site because there was an abundance of clay nearby and it had good rail and river transport links. The clay was originally dug by hand from pits that were 40ft deep close to the current building on the site. During the 1930’s mechanised digging was introduced as was an overhead cable system from the clay pits as they became further away from the brickworks. The brickworks expanded and by the 1935 was capable of producing 20 million brick per year. It carried on making bricks under various company names until 1974 when as part of the Redland Holdings company it was closed after the M27 split the site in two and the introduction of the Health and Safety of Work Act made the upgrading required to the works non-economic.

The site was left untouched and allowed to become overgrown it was only the after its discovery by a Hampshire County Council surveyor who got the site listed and after the National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant of £666,300 the Bursledon Brickworks Museum Trust was established and the site restored to partial use today.

There is a collection of buildings consisting of a room where the clay was sorted to remove stones etc. It was then put in the Bennett & Sayer Brick Making machine which is still in situ on the site. With the aid of an Archimedes Screw the clay was fed into the machine through a series of rollers and was “minced” before being finally made into a large oblong block of wet clay which was then cut into standard brick size by a machine similar to a cheese cutter with multiple wires. The bricks were then taken to drying rooms where they were stacked to about waist height to allow space around the brick while they dried out before being fired in the kiln. The kiln consisted of a large brick building with 12 chambers each capable of holding 26,000 bricks. The kiln would be constantly kept in use with bricks being heated to 1,000 centigrade and then reduced to 0 over a period of 12 days. The kiln was fed from above and it was fascinating to see the roof of the kilns with lots of little chimneys down which would be fed material to keep the chambers at the right temperature.

At its peak there were up to 300 people employed on the site from the ages of 7 – 70. Working conditions were hard and it was very physical labour especially for the men who had to load and retrieve the bricks from the kiln who would be expected to push barrows loaded with 50 bricks up to 15 miles a day in very hot conditions.  As a health and safety measure they were allowed to wear a wet knotted handkerchief on their head.

The brick making machines are all steam driven and have been restored and are run once a month onsite. After the tour we all returned to the café and had lovely light lunches. We were then left to tour the exhibition of types of bricks, chimneys, pantiles and finials on the upper floor along with a small collection of penny arcade machines as well as revisiting other parts of the site we had seen on the guided tour. It was fascinating to see the site and I can recommend it for a further visit on a day when the machines are up and running.

Kevin Barter

ANTON U3A QUESTERS

VISIT TO WELLS CATHEDRAL AND BISHOP’S PALACE AND GARDENS

WEDNESDAY 03 July 2024

A visit is planned to the Wells Cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace and Gardens on Wednesday 03 July 2024.

Once we arrive at Wells Cathedral we will have a short comfort break and a one-hour general highlights guided tour will commence at 11:15. The Cathedral does have a café, the Loft Café, which offers a variety of snacks and light meals. Participants will be able to choose this or one of several nearby venues for lunch. After lunch we will gather at the adjacent Bishop’s Palace and Gardens where we will commence a guided tour of the buildings and gardens at 14:00 for one hour.

This will be a minibus trip and we should all meet at Wickes carpark by 08:45 for departure before 09:00. The drive is expected to take at least 1 ½ hours. The return trip will depart from Wells by 15:30 and we expect to return to Wickes carpark shortly after 17:00.

Should the number of members wishing to book this outing exceed the capacity of the minibus (16 passengers), we will consider accommodating some in a self-drive option (assuming there are willing derivers able to offer lifts). The cost of the outing for those traveling by car will be adjusted accordingly.

Suitable, comfortable footwear is essential for this activity. Please also bring a coat as we will be outside for parts of the tour.

The cost of the visit is £28 per person which includes transport, joint entry ticket and guided tours at both venues. It does not include lunch and other refreshments. Names will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.

Final details will follow nearer the date, but in the meantime all members who wish to join this visit should advise the organiser :

Cecil Rose     cecilrose1@gmail.com            0794 336 3350

Payment to be made to the Treasurer at

Anton U3A (Business Account)              Sort code 40-08-28               Account 7158 7986

As a reference, please indicate what the payment is for and follow this with your membership number.

Eg         Wells 36 & 37

Your number is shown on your membership card for 2024/25 – if you do not have this, please contact the Membership Secretary or Treasurer.