An old thread but able to add a little.....
Pooler Brothers were one of the last remaining highly skilled expert brass sand casting companies in Birmingham, and their early 19th century brass foundry with a 200-year history was Grade A listed by Birmingham City Council for preservation as a site of special interest.
Our old family business was involved in the manufacturing of giftware in the Arts and Crafts tradition. We regularly visited these premises and traded with the two Pooler Brothers in the late 1970s, early 80s. Both Brothers were then in their seventies, they employed one other person at the site and were really the last of a long line of the Birmingham brass master craftsmen.
They were considered to be the highest quality brass casters operating in the old brass quarter of Birmingham at the time. They specialised in small runs of traditional fine sand castings and their quality was on par with any items made by the alternative lost wax method. The range of products was enormous, giftware, door furniture, car mascots, sundials, door porters and hearthware to name but a few.
To enter the premises was like visiting a Victorian workshop. The entrance way was a small rectangular inner porch with a door with opening top frame, through which you were greeted and served. The room behind this was their pattern and weighing room, served by a large centrally located wooden table, an imposing industrial beam balance scales and against all the walls, a floor to ceiling mixture of old painted cupboards and shelves, each containing innumerable boxes of old trade patterns and models, some of which dated back to the early 1800s. No catalogues were available, they just knew (most times) where that special artefact was stored.
If you wanted a particular item, they would find the pattern, weigh it and calculate the gross weight of your order in kilos or pounds and ounces. This would then be cast in the large casting shed at the rear of the building. When the order was completed, it would be weighed and you would pay your bill the old school way (preferably in cash!).The castings would then be taken away. They would be brazed, fettled, and worked (polished or plated) by other craftsmen to produce the finished items.
After a weekend break-in and the theft of all of their non-ferrous stock (including all of their manufacturing models and patterns), the brothers ceased trading in the 1980s and a unique bit of history of old Birmingham and its once world famous brass manufacturing trade was irretrievably lost.
Dealing with these two old gents and similar craftsmen in their Birmingham workshops was a fulfilling experience and it was a great loss to the soul of the City when they and most of the similar small businesses disappeared.
As has been documented on this site, the demolition and loss of these premises was a travesty. The building was probably of greater historic interest and value to Birmingham’s social and industrial past than any of today’s developed tourist traps.
I hope the Pooler Brothers enjoyed their retirement. I think they earned it and I hope the City’s conservation officers have learned a lesson.