Canmore – Whaling Station, 1904 Gaunt remains of a long-defunct industry, with a lone, tapering red brick chimney rising from the foundations of the boiling house/desiccator. Little else but the carcass ramp survives. Founded by a Norwegian, Karl Herlofsen, the factory was acquired by Lever Bros in 1922 when the market was declining but was abandoned by them in 1929, a financial failure. Leverhulme never pursued his bizarre notion of turning whale meat into tinned sausages for Africans. The whaling station finally closed in 1951.
Below – This ‘ 6 Hoganas HSB’ brick was found at the whaling station. It is a fire brick and was manufactured in Sweden. Photograph courtesy of Moses Jenkins.
Many thanks to Jacky Brookes from Wester Ross for the following information. Jacky states – I found a fat ball on 21/03/2017 on my local beach, Melvaig in Wester Ross. It was large, about the size of my border collie dog. We brought the very heavy fat ball to our home which is local to…
These two bricks were found in the tidal muds at Grangemouth, Scotland and in the same location as a number of confirmed Russian stamped bricks. Their ‘yellow’ colour, size (narrow) and visual composition suggest they may be early Dutch bricks. One would appear to have the imprint of an anchor or perhaps it is a…
Found by Ian Suddaby. Ian states – Down and dirty at low tide in the bed of the River Carron at Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth. Even though I’m very close to the wharf where many Grangemouth bricks were shipped out in the years before WWI, I never expected to find three foreign bricks….
Found by Kjell Myran on a beach at Hommelvik, Norway. Stein, Castlecary Fireclay Works, Castlecary, Stirlingshire. Stein, Manuel Firebrick and Refractory Works, Whitecross, Stirlingshire. Stein & Co, Anchor Brickworks, Denny, Stirlingshire. Milnquarter Fireclay & Gannister Works, Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire. .
This fire brick was found by Francis Caven on the Brassie Shore, north shore heading towards Irvine, Ayrshire. AP Green, Missouri, USA bought the Douglas Fire Brick Company, Ayrshire from the Morgan Crucible Group in 1970. (Note – SBH – So was this brick an import or was it made in Ayrshire after the takeover…
This brick was found on the site of the old Jenny Lind Brickworks, Near Motherwell, Lanarkshire adjacent to the old site of the Ravenscraig Steel Works. It is a dense heavy brick and is believed to have been manufactured by Harbison Walker, USA. History – Harbison-Walker Refractories Company (Harbison) is the world’s leading supplier of refractory…
This brick was found by Jan -Olof Bergman in Sweden. J-O states “Last summer I made a very interesting find. I found a brick with the inscription “Bourtreehill Kilmarnock”. It was found at a dumpsite for ballast in the little harbour of Furuögrund (approx. 500 miles north of Stockholm), where there was a big sawmill…
Found by Drew Mitchell in the Dalgetty Bay area of Fife. Unidentified manufacturer. Find location would suggest Scottish origins but … This fire brick is most likely to have American origins as per the Monarch Fire Clay Co, Portland, Oregon. Jean Bear states “Sometimes it is quite hard to determine where US firebricks were made,…
Found by Magnus Eriksson in Amotfors, Sweden ” It may have been a building at the place long ago or maybe it’s just a place where they dumped construction material. This factory is from 1896 and been rebuilt many times, maybe there was another factory here before that. The paper mill is located in a…
Found on the old site previously occupied by the Etna Brick Works, Bathville. Unidentified maker. Find location would suggest Scottish origins but … There is however a distinct possibility that this fire brick is of American origins. Trojan is a brand name for bricks produced by Gladding, McBean and Co, Southgate, Los Angeles County, California….
