Charlie
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Went with some friends to look at Soho Foundry @ Averys yesterday and can highly recommend the trip. We arranged it via email with John Durran, the curator of Avery's museum and he was brilliant! He took us round the cottages still standing (one once lived in by Murdock, who discovered how to use gas to illuminate), then we looked at the old Foundry - from the outside only because English Heritage are putting a temporary roof on until money can be found to restore it. There is the "James Watt" painted sign still visible on the outside. We then had a short tour of Averys factory, once buzzing with thousands of employees but now (inevitably) down to a few dozen because everything's computerised. It was incredible to see the George Salter part of the operation reduced to a small room, when once it was a huge employer in West Brom. Finally, a visit to the museum, which isn't as 'dry' as we thought it would be! John Durran is so knowledgeable and friendly, he even makes weighing machines interesting. All in all, we were there over two hours and enjoyed every minute of it. The cottages have been used for storage and have fallen into disrepair, but they're listed buildings and it seems that someone is finally looking into replacing the windows and setting up repairs. There is an enormous amount of history there and it's well worth a visit. Sadly for British manufacturing, the raw material for Avery's scales comes from China and the company is owned by an American company in Illinois. A sign of the times I guess.
