Found in the vicinity of Dockra Brick Works, Old Mill Quarry, Beith.
Dockra and subsequent take over Companies made concrete bricks.
The initial bricks were made with a frog and then then moved to frogless versions. The did a grey/’blue’ brick and a ‘red’ brick with a textured finish.
Apparently builders hated building with them as the bricks tended to ‘move’ on their cement base while building and you could only build a few courses at a time before having to allow them to set.
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Below –
The 2 left bricks with the frogs are early Dockras and were made at the original Dockra Brick Works with a Sutcliffe Press.
The 2 right bricks are letter frogless versions and are the grey / blue and red examples with textured finishing. These were manufactured when Edenhall took over. They introduced a new press.
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The following refractory castable test samples were found during ground works at the Manuel Brickworks, Whitecross by Ian Suddaby and myself. These laboratory test samples are cement-based and have been marked with a marker type pen. Below – The cut edge of each sample. Below – some close up photographs of the cut edge. ….
Found at the Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank. These roof tiles appear to have been pressed or moulded using a cement mix. Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank, Alloa, Stirlingshire. . . . .
Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank, Alloa, Stirlingshire. 1913 – Works not present on this map. Below – 1946 – Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank (At B.M. – 20.28) Below – 1951 – Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank. Below – 1967 – Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank. Below – An assemblage of ‘Alloa’ roof tiles found on site. These look as if they are…
Many thanks to Lindsay Smith and Ian Roy for assisting in the finding and recovery of this brick from the Newpark Estate in Bellsquarry, Livingston area. Shotts Sand-Lime Brickworks, Shotts, North Lanarkshire aka locally as the ‘White Brickworks’. 06/05/1924 – The Scotsman – Electrical engineer’s visit to Shotts Works – Members of the West of…
Found by Ian Suddaby in the Dumbarton area. This example is not in my possession. Scottish Dunbrik Ltd, Stannergate, Dundee. . . . .
Russell Roof Tiles Below – 20/09/1990 – Galloway News – Russell Roof Tiles Ltd wish to recruit an Assistant Production Manager for their production facility at Lochmaben Nr Lockerbie The Company which is a member of the Alexander Russell Group of Companies manufactures quality roof tiles slates together with accessories in a highly competitive market…
Russell Roof Tiles 11/06/1987 – Galloway News – The Annandale Tile Co (1986) Ltd manufacturers of quality concrete roof tiles is a recently acquired subsidiary of the Alexander Russell group of companies. Their plans for business development have created an opportunity for an additional sales executive to represent their product range throughout North Cumbria, Borders…
Found by Ian Suddaby. These examples are not in my possession. They are made from cement/concrete, not clay. Ian states – These roof tiles were made by Russell Roof Tiles, possibly at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire. The company was started near Glasgow by Alexander Russell in 1892. They’re made of a type of concrete, not clay. Nice though, and…
In ‘The British Clay Worker’ magazine dated 15/12/1952 there is an article entitled ‘Recent patents. An improvement hollow building brick or block. Stanislaw Sulich, 35 Grampian Road, Torry, Aberdeen. No 682,010’. This invention relates to an improvement in or modification of the building brick or block claimed and described in Patent No 607,557. This invention…
(Note – SBH – I have added some mention of Siporex here as a matter of interest only. It was a purely cement-based brick – no clay of any description used). Below – 12/06/1959 – Wishaw Press – Costain Concrete Co Ltd will manufacture Siporex in Scotland from early 1960. Siporex is a lightweight autoclaved…
