Trivia Investigation Team

[NewcastleFalcon]

How about some moving pictures...



Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Of all the places in all the world to pull in to get the flask out for a cuppa, the Falcons on tour were destined to stop here.

Right next to the wall of this Church. Just up the road from this two arch skew-arch bridge on the disused Border Counties Railway
Over the wall in the churchyard right next to where the car had chosen to stop... this...

Neil

[bobins]

I can tell you now, Neil - I've got no chance of identifying who made that lawn roller

[myglaren]

Chuck it in your boot and bring it down for me please. I have been going to re-lay the grass I dug up three years ago.
Ans will, one day

[NewcastleFalcon]

I like it when the normal delve produces a bit more than you were expecting. With the fantastic resource of Brocross if you find a brick with a name on it , it will identify it, have pictures of it, and a bonus a bit of info about the brickworks it came from. The search facility allows for a partial match thanks to an index put together on the site even if the the letters are indistinct or the section of brick only contains a few.


That particular brick has made its way to Northumberland from The Withnell Brick and Terra Cotta Company Ltd at Abbey Village, Withnell, Chorley, Lancs probably some time in the early 2oth Century.

So from 1912 the Internet Archive site here https://archive.org/details/CatalogueNo ... ?q=plastic

has Catalogue No4 of the Withnell Brick and Terracotta Company (1912) Ltd



Contributed by the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

How on earth has that catalogue survived and what's more from its slumbers, presumably within the Canadian Centre For Architecture, it has been scanned into the Internet Archive to be found April 18th 2023 on the back of a photographed brick, and made it to the FCF Trivia Investigation Thread. Not many will have a flick through but ever wondered where the rich variety of terracotta special tiles in our buildings came from, this particular brickworks made a lot more than bricks

Rather than bog Matts Blog down with more brick trivia, I think this nails the location of the Withnell Brick and Tlie Company

http://www.white-coppice.co.uk/brinscall%20sidings.htm

The Brickworks stood between the sidings and the main line and what is now the pond in the nature reserve was to the west of the mainline. The brickworks also had a bridge crossing the line with it’s own track over it to bring in clay from the claypit. The embankment to the bridge can be seen today, though the bridge went years ago.
The siding continued past the brickworks towards Withnell Mill where it split and entered the mill at two points. Withnell Mill was built by Robert Parke after he bought the land on which it would stand in 1839. In 1840 Robert’s brother John E Parke bought land Withnell and built a cotton spinning and weaving mill in Abbey Village, subsequently operated by the firm of Parke and Arkwright, then by John Park and Son. This mill too, had a long siding running to it

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

A tiny little brick diversion...into named brick identification.

Back in January, a dusting of frost and snow helped with the ID of this Brick find originally from Gartcosh, North Lanarkshire.

Found on Spittal Beach Bewrick

But its June now, can't wait until the first snows arrive...

So in a flash of ingenuity, out comes a packet of Morrisons finest cornflour, a light dusting and brush off revealed clearly the partial name "IELD"

definite "IELD" revealed
Brick found on Spittal Beach Berwick

and the most likely brickworks from a partial search for "ield" on the Brocross database, Newfield. Newfield is just outside Bishop Auckland in County Durham and was the site of Bolckow and Vaughan's brickworks.

Of course being a name-noticer Bolckow, got a bit further google, and in the 1800's, Bolckow and Vaughan were described as Middlesbrough's equivalent of Romulus and Remus the founding Fathers of Rome. Their company was probably the largest Iron producer in the World at the time.

Wiki tells some of their tale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolckow,_Vaughan Statues/ blue plaques the lot!

Neil

[CitroJim]

Magic That's a great use for cornflour Neil...

[NewcastleFalcon]

A little more on Steve's "Leasingthorne" Brick.

from Brocross.com

https://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorf ... singthorne


Leasingthorne Colliery Brickworks, Leasingthorne, Bishop Auckland, Co.Durham. Seggar from Leasingthorne Colliery was used for brickmaking at the site until 1960. The Colliery opened in 1836 and closed in 1965. By 1968, and as a result of the closure of the Colliery, the majority of houses in Leasingthorne had been demolished, they were followed by the chapel and school in the early 1970's. Stone Row survived until 1976 and by 2003 only Eden Terrace remained. Photo and info by courtesy of the Frank Lawson collection.

From the 1870's to 1920's Leasingthorne Colliery was owned by the aforementioned ( on the Trivia Investigation Thread) Romulus and Remus of Middlesbrough, Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. Ltd

http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/l005.htm

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Previously I reported a quirky antiques emporium with a table full of over 100 named Bricks for sale at £10 a Brick.
Brick hunting, photography, collections, swap meets and facebook groups are all a thing.

An absolute and unexpected Fest

Tanfield/South Causey Inn Antiques (Raine&James)

A table full of named bricks Must have been more than 100, Including this from Consett which I took to the till only to find they wanted £10 each!

Now I discover e-bay sellers like "Seabricksteve" are offering "named bricks" for sale at mostly £12 each plus post and packing, and have accumulated a decent amount of sales as this e-bay page shows.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Coal Authorities "glossy" on the Minewater Treatment Works at Lynemouth as featured on

"Nice places to stop off at" viewtopic.php?p=803146#p803146



Neil

[CitroJim]

Yesterday morning, the keyboard on one of my laptops failed... Some critical keys stopped working, most notably the 'i' key... Makes writing sensible posts hard... As if I ever found it easy

No worries as I have a replacement on order from the bay of e...

It reminded me of a sketch from long ago where someone had a typewriter with a failed 'e' key. The protagonist used this typewriter to write a letter of complaint to the manufacturer trying to not use the letter e - with hilarious results.

Would love to see the letter again. Or was I imagining it?

[NewcastleFalcon]

It reminded me of a sketch from long ago where someone had a typewriter with a failed 'e' key. The protagonist used this typewriter to write a letter of complaint to the manufacturer trying to not use the letter e - with hilarious results.

Would love to see the letter again. Or was I imagining it?

I think that one has the search engines and AI of 2024baffled Jim, and may have to rely on old fashioned human trivia storage to come up with an answer. I don't recall the sketch myself but I could imagine Not the nine o'clock news, Fry and Laurie, Alas Smith and Jones, maybe even Ronnie Barker, or further back Monty Python doing it. Then maybe it goes back even further to radio comedy.

Bang up to date Tik Tok does have a "game" where players are offered 20$ if they can answer a series of questions without using words with e in them. Yes bit like Michael Miles on Take your pick without the "gong"!

Google did churn out this, way off the mark of course for your question, but reasonably amusing as an aside



Neil

[CitroJim]

Thanks Neil I know it was a long time ago now... I'm trying to recall more details of it...

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks Neil I know it was a long time ago now... I'm trying to recall more details of it...

Drop any additional info in the thread if you come up with it. Not enough to go on as yet. I did wonder if it was a Victor Borge or Bob Newhart routine from some time back.

Meanwhile while today was about the sailing into the Tyne of the Galleon Andalucia there was a departure and arrival in Tyne of 2 of this type of Vessel. Small bit of curiosity about what type of trade they are engaged in...

Mermaid Ace
Panama
is written on the Stern.

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Thanks Neil I know it was a long time ago now... I'm trying to recall more details of it...

Drop any additional info in the thread if you come up with it. Not enough to go on as yet. I did wonder if it was a Victor Borge or Bob Newhart routine from some time back.

Meanwhile while today was about the sailing into the Tyne of the Galleon Andalucia there was a departure and arrival in Tyne of 2 of this type of Vessel. Small bit of curiosity about what type of trade they are engaged in...

The mystery ship

Neil

I have a sneaking suspicion that you already know the answer to the use of the ship Neil, but for the benefit of others all is revealed if you click here!!