A wonderful day was had when I met Vladimir Smirnov and his family yesterday in the Scottish Borders. A good number of local historical sites were visited, lunch and some friendly and informative ‘brick’ chat too. The highlight of the day for me was Vladimir’s unexpected, yet most generous gift of a ‘Bonnyrigg Patent’ brick he had found some years ago in St Petersburg, Russia. As far as we are aware no such examples have been recorded yet in Scotland. It is believed this brick was manufactured at the Bonnyrigg Fireclay Works, Bonnyrigg, Mid Lothian, Scotland although the exact location for these works is still unconfirmed.
This was Vladimir’s first visit to Scotland and as he was staying in Edinburgh, a nice relevant brick momento was found to mark the occasion. Apart from the brick, Vladimir, his wife Tatyana and son Daniel, brought some other lovely gifts including a very unique brick inspired, printed cushion made by Tatyana.
A great visit and one we hope to reciprocate at some point in the future.
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The following bricks are in the collection of Allan Hackett, Sydney, Australia. The bricks were all found in Australia. Below – ‘Glenboig’ and ‘Starworks Glenboig’ bricks – Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire Below – Shawsrigg Fire Clay &…
Found by Hock Keong in Singapore. Hock states – The Glenboig brick was found on Semakau Island, Singapore. Pulau Semakau, which was probably a prominent fishing village for many of the native sea folks for probably centuries, but were all resettled in the 1980s onto mainland Singapore. All the structures and homes were demolished, and…
Found by Hock Keong in Singapore. Hock states – This half a brick from a hilly area beside a road, Clementi Road, but which used to be Reformatory Road, before the road was re-named. The location is a short distance away from the grounds of the former Reformatory School which started in February 1901, for…
These bricks were found by Denis Foulem along the Bathurst harbour seashore, located in the province of New Brunswick in Canada. Denis states:- The bricks were used to build a large, three-story building on Main Street in Bathurst way back in 1901, which was the W.J. Kent Company Ltd general store and headquarters. The business…
Found by Daud Rajah in Abadan, Iran. The ‘Dougall’ brick was found in a domestic fireplace of a house in Harrow, Abadan, Southern Iran. This house was destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war. James Dougall & Sons Ltd, Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire. Alternative brickworks include: Bonnyside Brickworks, Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire. . . . .
These bricks were found by Will Ware on a farm at Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. They were random finds around the farm. Fraser and Sanderson, fire brick manufacturers, Inverkeithing. . . . .
Found by Meredith Gedge-Hawkins in the Ottawa River off Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau, Quebec Canada. . . . . Below – Gartcraig Scotland No 1 – Gartcraig Fire Clay Works, by Millerston, Glasgow. . Below – Gartcraig – Gartcraig Fire Clay Works, by Millerston, Glasgow. Below – Glenboig – Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig,…
Many thanks to José Ignacio Aguilera Martinez for the following information. José states – I share some images of the exhibition room that I developed, about the mining history of the nineteenth century in La Higuera (Chile). In it, there are photographs of reverberatory furnaces and a series of refractory bricks, of the group the only Chilean…
The following bricks were found by Jacob Serge at a demolished military camp at Leopoldsburg, Belgium. . . . . Below – Castlecary – Castlecary Fireclay & Lime Works, Castlecary, Stirlingshire. Below – Preston Grange – Prestongrange Brick, Tile and Fireclay Works, Prestonpans, East Lothian.
This brick was found by Javier Pérez while diving in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Alicante, Spain. Manufactured by Gilchrist & Goldie, Shawfield Toll Brickworks, Glasgow. . . . .
