Made in Smethwick!

Jan 3 2009

TODAY, Smethwick is just a town squeezed between Birmingham and the Black Country.

But once, its name was known all over the world for the bewildering range of products made there.

Firms in Smethwick manufactured bells for churches across the globe, bronze guns for the King of Siam, wire for crinoline dresses, glass for lighthouses and stylish pens for the Waldorf Hotel in New York.

Now, Smethwick Heritage Centre Trust has published a book – entitled Smethwick’s Industrial Heritage – which gives an insight into the proud history of the Midland town which always punched well above its weight.

The compilers were spoiled for choice in deciding which companies would go into the 170-page book. They started off with 160, but had to whittle it down to just 40.

It has ended up as an A to W, sadly there being no firms whose name began with X, Y or Z.

In its heyday, Smethwick bestrode the world with such industrial giants as the hydraulic lifting firm Tangyes Ltd; the weighing machines company W. & T. Avery; and screw manufacturer Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (GKN).

But Smethwick also played a key role in travel through such firms as the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd; bus company Midland Red; car engine component firm Birmid Industries Ltd, and the cycle-makers J.A. Phillips (later Raleigh Industries).

It also slaked the thirst of the British public, through brewers Mitchells & Butlers and soft drinks firms T. Mason & Sons; and fed the inner man (and woman) via bakers Scribbans Kemp.

Chance Brothers provided the glass for lighthouses, including Eddystone, Fastnet, Bishops Rock – and the biggest of the lot, Manova Point near Karachi in Pakistan.

Charles Carr made church bells and gun barrels, including its largest bell for the Roman Catholic cathedral in Demerara in the West Indies; and bronze guns for the King of Siam.

Evered & Co. Ltd. turned out products ranging from beds, including one for the Prince of Wales, to wire for crinoline dresses.

Best & Lloyd made magnificent chandeliers for Buckingham Palace, the London Hilton Hotel ballroom and the Orient Express.

Even lesser-known firms produced mind-boggling feats of engineering skill and ingenuity.

The New Conveyor Co. Ltd. made conveyor belt systems, one of which