Tile Making Pictures at Brickworks in Ruabon Taken About 1955.
Pictures From A Different Age
A nostalgic look at what used to be, in the few pictures that have survived the many changes through the years.
Ruabon red facing bricks and terracotta floor tiles were manufactured by the Ruabon Brick and Terracotta Co.Ltd., for which they were well known. The pictures shown in these pages were taken in the 1950's. The claypit is now a landfill site and the brickworks site is now a trading estate.
Pictures of People at a Brickworks
The people in the pictures were employed in different processes in the manufacture of clay bricks and clay flooring tiles. Amongst the people working in the brickworks at the time were father and son, father and daughter, uncle and nephew, brothers, sisters, cousins. The working environment in the brickworks ranged from fresh air in the claypit, a dusty atmosphere in the drying sheds, and the smell of oil in the air near the tile presses. Probably the most dangerous work was that on the hand operated tile presses, where there was a danger of losing the tip of a finger or two, during a lack of concentration. The number of people working in the brickworks at the time the pictures were taken, was in the region of 80 and despite the working conditions and the occasional bust-up, there was generally a good relationship between them.
Making Clay Floor Tiles and Skirting Tiles
The main items manufactured at the Ruabon Brickworks were building bricks and ceramic floor tiles, in red or heather brown. Raw clay from the claypit on the opposite side of the road was processed in the brickworks. For the making of clay floor tiles, the processed clay was forced under pressure through a die into strips of suitable width and thickness, then wirecut into the required size; mostly 6"x6" and 9"x9". After cutting, the tiles were loaded onto barrows and wheeled to the tile presses. The tile presses were hand operated and could be dangerous. The pressed tiles were then hand finished, loaded onto barrows and taken to the drying sheds.
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Processed clay extruded through die then cut into tile sizes. Ceramic floor tiles loaded onto barrow and taken to tile presses.
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Workers at Ruabon Brick use hand operated tile press. Quarry tiles from cutting room are pressed and trimmed before being taken to drying sheds.
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External corners of terracotta skirting tiles hand finished after pressing by workers employed by brick and tile manufactures in Ruabon, circa 1955.
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