It’s taken a while, but the co-op architecture book is now complete and with the publisher, Liverpool University Press, who will publish it under the Historic England imprint sometime in 2020 hopefully. The whole project has lasted about five fascinating years, travelling around looking at co-op buildings and delving into archives. Thanks to all the staff at the many libraries and archives visited, especially the National Co-operative Archive in Manchester, with whom I shared the joys of working while the surrounding co-op estate was being renovated! Never a day without scaffolding….. These two pics, art deco Tamworth and brutalist Aberdeen, show just how varied co-op architecture can be. Can’t wait to see the proofs.
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Monster spotted in Blackburn
Many thanks to Darwen Terracotta in Blackburn for the trip round their works a few weeks back. Fantastic to see the whole process in action, along with some splendidly strange ornamentation in course of production, like this scary monster! And of course big thanks also to @tilesocorguk for organising the trip.
Line shafting heaven in Bradford
Made my first visit to Bradford Industrial Museum recently, and what an excellent place it is, packed full of working (check before you go, as they say) textile and other machinery. The line shafting on the ground floor of the mill is the best display I’ve seen, while the assorted weaving and spinning machines upstairs are brilliant, really make the process come to life. Indeed, one of the machines is so complex, bits of metal ‘arms’ waving in all directions, that it almost seems alive. It is a huge place, with lots more to see, including some good enamelled metal adverts. It was originally Moorside Mills – congratulations to Bradford Council for keeping it open and retaining the free admission policy. Well worth a visit.
Beer and heraldry
This unicorn from Robinson’s Brewery in Stockport features in a paper I gave on beer and heraldry almost two years ago, to a conference partly organised by the Heraldry Society in London. It has now been published on the web, part of a wide-ranging collection of papers from the conference. It is an illustrated pdf available at Beer and heraldry.
Enjoy!
The Solstice!
Yes it’s the solstice at last so the nights (after this one) will be growing shorter and the dog-walking and photography days will be getting longer. Beers all round. Finally, a merry Christmas and a happily industrial and industrious new year to all! The, er, card is of course adapted from one of Dorothy Annan’s 1960s tile murals, originally at the Fleet Building near Farringdon Station, now rescued, restored, and mounted on the High Walk just beyond the Barbican Centre. Well worth a Christmas diversion.
Roll out the barrels in Leeds on 10 September
As part of the Heritage Week events at Leeds arts centre The Tetley, I’m doing a talk on brewery architectural history on Wednesday 10 September at 18.00. For booking details see The Tetley website. Look forward to seeing everyone there.
A writer’s dogs
Every writer needs distraction (aside from beer, that is). So here are my two, Razzle the border terrier, now about 11 years old, and Petra the Jack Russell cross heaven-knows-what, age 7. Both are rescue
dogs; I think Petra must have had some Blue Peter connection…..
