Post
by IrishPeter » Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:36 pm
I think I would prefer the brickyard over the bonemill, more because I understand brickmaking more than the goings on in a kett house. One of the local tile yards had 2' gauge sidings laid into the drying shed to allow them to transfer clay from the pug mill to the sheds, and the tiles from the drying sheds to the kiln with less trouble. Sadly, those sidings were disused by my time, and my grandfather couldn't remember what they were used for other than to move materials around what was a relative small site. Looking at the section of the rail - which was very light - they may have fallen into disuse when the horses were replaced with a locomotive after WW2. By contrast, much of the "main line" was laid in heavy flat bottom rail.
Brick making it a relatively simple process.
Dig the clay
Move it to the brickworks*
Put it through the pugmill the produce a consistent quality of clay
Mould the bricks or tiles
Move them to the drying sheds*
Dry them
Move them to the Kiln*
Fire them
Wait for the bricks to cool
Discard any misfires, broken bricks, etc.,
Put to one side any that the seconds
Dispatch to the customer*
The processes I have starred could involve rail transport, and also, there would be rail traffic generated by bringing coal to the brickyard. In the bigger brickies they dried the tiles/bricks in heated, but not truly hot, tunnels, so the product was moved into the tunnel on railway wagons fitted with racks to allow for even drying of the product. Around my way this was held to be produce softer tiles/bricks which would be more prone to weathering, but I think that was just Us justifying our conservatism. Also they dispatched most of the tiles by barge as the major markets were river side - Hull, Grimsby, Goole, etc. - so carting them to the railway station a mile away did not make much sense unless it was a destination with no suitable river or canal connection. When my grandfather decided he did not like farming, he went as the mate on one of the barges that was engaged in the tile trade on the River Humber, so I got it explained to me at an early age. Some of the more aggressive skippers would move a load of tiles from the South Bank to Hull, pick up whatever they could get in Hull for the West Riding, and then bring a load of coal back!
Cheers,
Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.