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The 'Bull' factory horns

D

Dave89

master brummie
Hi All

Does anyone remember the 'Bull' which used to sound
around 7.30 or 8AM, and was very loud in Stechford.
A similar sound to that massive horn in the IKEA advert.

I always understood as a lad that it came from the Met
at Saltley, but can anyone confirm that?

Kind regards

Dave
 
hi dave
i think you have made a mistake the bull came from parkisons and cowans a big factory at the botom of station rd
and flaxley rd and there rear entrance forthere loaing and unloading day and nights as they worked shifts
my amily lied right behind them almost there back garden over loked there factory it was a very huge sight and employed hundreds of people ;
best wishes astonian;;
 
[FONT=&amp]Hi Astonian,

That explains why it was so loud, I was never sure where it came from,
and we only lived just up the road in Frederick Road!! Just seeing that
advert for IKEA reminded me of the sound.

Strangely enough, many years later, I worked at the Midland works of the
Met, after the Saltley works was shut, and had several storerooms in which
I stored furniture and equipment. There in the corner was stored the big old
brass bell and its carriage which was rung at Saltley at the beginning of work.

I had to move all my stores from that storeroom as it was to be refurbished
as an office, and when I went in one day the bell was missing, and appeared
to have been nicked by one of the contractors for scrap. From memory. it
had cast on it 'SALTLEY 1888'

That started me thinking that they would not have needed that massive bell
AND the 'Bull'!

Kind regards

Dave[/FONT]
 
The 'Bull' I used to hear was the Kynochs Bull. It could be heard all over Witton area. The factory I worked at only had a 'Hooter'..

oldmohawk
 
hi phil;
yes many years ag in up until round the mid fifties there was loads of big companyies that used to the bull for the workers
break times [ lunch times and finishing the day shift ] Ansells brewery ; HP Sauce ;Buttons portland rd and as you said ICI as it was in those good days
i do beleive parkinson and cowan was the only one still useing it many years down the line after the others stopped useing it
on the bell subject Raydex Electrical used to used the bell for breaks and lunch times and finishing at the end of the day ;
they was edwards rd ladywood which now is the ministry of transport offices back of the nia ;
have a nice day best wishes astonian
 
I can remember something similar to a 'Bull horn' being sounded on Sunday mornings at about 11am, i wonder where that came from?

Sorry i should have said i lived in the Sheldon area...
 
Neville Philpott said:
I can remember something similar to a 'Bull horn' being sounded on Sunday mornings at about 11am, i wonder where that came from?

Sorry i should have said i lived in the Sheldon area...
Click to expand...

I remember the Bull used to sound at the beginning and end of the Two Minutes Silence. (This was in the days when people stopped what they were doing to observe it)
 
In an article from the Walsall Advertiser of 1896 it says, "It is difficult to find a spot upon our island to which the penetrating vibrating sound of some factory "bull" or "hoot" does not reach."

Also that the Factory (Steam Whistles) Act of 1872 says that all owners of "bulls" are to be notified that they must apply for a licence...if bulls are to be allowed they should be limited in number, and the times of sounding and period of sustaining the sound should be fixed by the local authority.
 
well where are all these astonites to comment because HP had one along with Ansells and Herculies and buttons limited lower portland street everyday of the week through the forties telling the workers down tools break time
we had it constanly all day long start to finish at lunch time and five oclock finish because they can comment on it as well
 
We had several, that's why we called them "the Bulls". Cant remember what time they were sounded, but it was before school.
Dave A (Paddington St Aston)
 
Mitchells and Butlers had one, (they were just on the border of Birmingham and Smethwick) many people used them to tell the time!
 
The only bull we had was the foreman shouting at us to end our breaks, you never argued with him as he was the only men I knew who could lift a full sized anvil above his head.
 
adap2it said:
We had several, that's why we called them "the Bulls". Cant remember what time they were sounded, but it was before school.
Dave A (Paddington St Aston)
Click to expand...

i remember the bull at lucas gt king st dave

lyn
 
Didn't Cadburys have one well into the 80s. I used to live in Kings Heath and remember it going off every weekday evening.
I assume you mean the knocking off horn
 
I used to live by Cadburys in the early 70's and they had 2 "bulls" in a morning, 7:30 and 7:40.
If our mom hadn't heard the first, we'd hope she wouldn't hear the second! Then we could "oversleep" and get a day off school! If she heard the second one, it was a mad rush to run for the 11C to get to George Dixons on time!!
 
I realise this is a strange question but I wondered if anyone might know what time the Cadbury ‘bull’ used to sound for the factory lunch break in the 1950’s.
 
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