Ironmongery under your feet (and above them)

Local foundries and ironworks are largely gone now. They produced a wide range of items, generally marked with their name.
This page has examples of all manner of drain and manholes, builder plates and signs, gate and fence posts plus other castings with their inscriptions

Builders plates

Many iron bridges and other structures carry their makers plate, some dated, some not.

'Joseph Adamson & Co Ltd'	'Braithwaithe & Co Engineers Ltd'	'E Finch & Co Limtd 1877'	'E Finch & Co Limtd 1887'
'E Finch & Co Limtd 1899'	'E Finch & Co Limtd 1902'	'E Finch & Co Limtd 1906'	'E Finch & Co Limtd 1910'
'Isca Foundry Co Newport Mon'	'The Horsehay Co Ld 1925'	'C Jordan Engineer 1870'	'C Jordan Engineer 1870'
'Lysaght Ld Engineers Bristol'	'J Mowle & Co Chester 1863'	'Ransomes & Rapier'	'Stothert & Pitt Engineers'
'James Watt & Co'

Manhole Covers

Broads Foundry, Pontymister, Monmouthshire

Pontymister ironworks were established in 1801, being connected to the canal and Sirhowy Tramroad by a branch tramroad across the River Ebbw. Unfortunately the works appear to have seriously unsuccessful, going from bankrupcy to bankrupcy. It became much more successful as a tinplate works from 1845 and the tramway became a railway in 1850 with the mainline. Another bankrupcy hit the works in 1896 after an acrimonious strike, a merger with the adjacent Pontymister foundry and more changes to ownership followed. The building of the Llanwern steelworks ended steel production in 1962.

Birds Commercial Motors demolished the works in 1962 then carried on using the site as a scrapyard, scrapping over 200 steam locomotives, until 1969 after which they used part of the area as a plant depot.

Broads of London were successful builders merchants based in Paddington Dock, with their foundry at Hanwell, West London. The West London site was valuable housing land and not the best place for an iron foundry, so they built a new foundry on part of Birds site in Pontymister, opening in 1970. Over 30 year later Broads Foundry closed in 2004. I don't know if there is any way of telling the two foundries work apart, some articles include 'London' in the casting, others of an identical pattern don't.

'Broads Londonc'	'Broads London 38A Ner Roc'	'Broad & Co Ltd London 42A'.	'Broads 70B WVSB Sewerage'
'Broads 70B Silent Knight'	'Broads 70C Silent Knight'	'73E/D Broads Silent.Knight'	'Broads 78B Broads'
'Broads 129B Broads'	'Broads 182 Broads'
'Broads London Ner Roc'	'Broads PO'	'Broads Telephone' and 'PO'	'Broads WVSB Silent Knight'

A to Z in the UK

'W A Baker & Co Ld Newport Mon'	'Bakers Newport no 3349L'	'Glyn Eng Works Pontypool'	'GWR sewer'
'Howell & Son Aberayron'	'HW & Co PM'	'Lawrence & Co Taffs Well'	'MAUDC Surface Water'
'NRDC Tondu Eng Works'	'Pontypool Foundry & Eng Co Ld'	'R T & B Stormwater', Ebbw Vale	'RUDC Sewer'
'Sandbrook & Dawe Ltd'	''Stanton and Staveley 600 Circular'	'Titan Foundry Limited Cardiff'	'T Spittle Ld Newport Mon'
'Victoria Foundry Ebbw Vale'	'Henry Ward Williams'	'Henry Ward Williams 1913'
'WVSB'	'WVSB'	'P T Woodruff Machen Foundry'

Around the World

Alishan Forest, Taiwan

Tainan decorative cover, Taiwan

Stop Cocks and Valves

'Broads 7821 UK'	'Guest Chrimes Rotherham'	'GWB Water Stop Tap'	'Ham Baker & Co Ltd Westminster'
'Jones Gas Patent'	'SEBWB Water'	'Thames Water'	''J Tylor Waste Not Valve Box'

Drain covers

'M Morgan Abercarn'

Railway, Canal and Road Signs

Railway Signs

ANDR boundary post	BMR lift notice	BTC gate notice	Cork and Bandon Railway sign
'Greenwood & Batley No 1445'	GWR bridge restriction plate	GS & WR notice board, Llanelly Hill	GWR bridge warning notice
GWR boundary post from 1886	GWR signal box notice	LMSR sign at Govilon	LMSR sign at Govilon
LNWR sign at Govilon	LNWR milepost at Llanfoist	LNWR boundary post	LYR sign at Abertwsswg

Canal Signs

B & A Canal milepost '35'

Monmouhshire Canal milepost '7'

Road Signs

'Roads Act-1920' prohibited notice

Miscellania

Other Ironmongery

'Alexandra Roller' at Cefn Ila	'Joseph J Armfield Ringwood'	'Cables' at Trinant, Monmouthshire	'J & D Davies Rock Foundry'
'Jeffery Blackstone Stamford No 3'	'G Lewis & Son Ltd Kettering'	'Pillatt Stapleford Nottingham'	'R R & W Miles Leominster'
'TFWB' boundary post	'V&PRDC W Lewis & Co Merthyr'
Gatepost at Gilwern Station	Gatepost at Cefn Ila	Cast-iron stove at Cefn Ila

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

Thanks for the use of their photos to :- Martyn Davies, Diana Harris, Risca Museum, Robin Williams