Primary Research Day 1

Over the summer I went to the Midlands in order to take photographs for the project. Knowing I would be researching factories, my focus was on industrial museums, as well as textile mills. I found the experience highly rewarding, and very interesting! Below are some of the photos I took while there.

Kelham Island Museum is an industrial museum within Sheffield, South Yorkshire. This was the first museum I visited on my trip, and it had a lot of visual resources to offer. The museum focused on the metal making process, so had furnaces and examples of objects that these types of factories would produce. Outside sits the Bessemer Converter, a huge furnace which was able to create steel in larger quantities than previously.

The immense power of the heat in the photographs of it in use shows how strong and durable furnaces needed to be. Even though they were designed for use under huge temperatures damage still occurred to the converter, and can be seen where the molten steel is poured out.

The machinery within Kelham Island Museum were useful real life examples which could be used within my project. The sheer power of most of these machines were shown best through their construction, having a bulky and solid appearance. This is an example of a steam hammer, used to mould the hot metal.

This was the only working steam machine within the museum, even with it being inactive for two hours previously and the fact it was within a large room, the second I walked into the room the heat was almost stifling. Another aspect I had not considered was the sheer size of the engine, dwarfing the people within the room. I found some information about it on the Kelham Island Museum website, "The 12,000 horse power River Don Engine was built by Davy Brothers of Sheffield in 1905. It was made to drive Charles Cammell's armour plate rolling mill located at his Grimesthorpe Works. The engine was one of four all built for the same purpose."

When the engine had warmed up and began to move I can only describe it as a boulder rolling down a hill, slowly starting to turn, building up speed every second. By the time it was at full power the sound was phenomenally loud, with the vibrations running through the ground shaking the room. The engine felt unstoppable, and almost scary. The engine is said to be the most powerful working steam engine in Europe, it sure felt like that!

Previously I had not considered all of the belt pulley systems there were in a factory, they were everywhere! Each machine required at least one, with many more transporting the kinetic energy to them. These made considerable noise and gave the factory a constant flowing movement throughout. Meanwhile the machinery had a different movement pattern, cycling through its process and then pausing once it had completed this action.

There were many different examples of tools and objects which would be found within a typical metal making factory, each designed for a specific task, and therefore looking familiar yet very distinctive. This would be a great feature to include with any machinery or tools that I create.

After lunch I then went to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, an 18th century scythe and steelworks. While built in the 1700s the works was still running in the 19th century, which made it relevant to my project. The museum is a complex with different buildings having certain roles in the scythe making process.

The first building had some interesting interconnected pipes which almost had a steampunk feel. These would add interest to the factory walls, as well as potentially creating interesting patterns while leading the eye to any focal points.

This pulley system was a nice example of the types that could be found within a Victorian factory, especially for use lifting crates or lighter objects. A metal version, rather than rope could be used for heavier objects.

This part of a water wheel mechanism attracted my attention, due to being a rather unique shape. Instead of simply rotating other parts of the machinery it forces the beam to rise and fall as it spins. This would presumably be useful for any powerful hammers to operate. This provided insightful knowledge about cog-like mechanisms which I had previously not considered.

Here is a close-up of the machinery, currently being repaired. It would have been useful if I could have seen how it moved!

This is a door which caught my attention, as it was incorporated within the window design. This was something I had not seen before and thought it to be interesting, however I do not know why the builders decided to create it this way.

This is one of the large fires that some of the buildings had. Presumably used to reheat the metal until it was malleable enough to be reformed. There were many of these in a row, and were quite large. The heat with them all fully burning would have been tremendous.

Another aspect which caught my attention was the way that many objects and tables had been used to extensively that they had become warped and deformed, yet still worked upon. This table was not unique within the museum, as many others were similar. The workers used the tables even when they became damaged and could hinder them.

This was the sluice that controlled how much water was passed to the water wheel. I particularly liked the rivets within the wood, though I am not sure they date from the Victorian age. An interesting aspect nonetheless.

This was part of the Victorian grids which allowed workers to walk over the hot boiler pipes, they are seemingly more robust than more modern metal mesh, this could be due to being a weaker metal. The pattern it creates is a nice feature, adding beauty where it is not required.

These were the hammers used to mould the metal, although crude in appearance they are incredibly sturdy. They were all machine operated, driven by a water wheel. Whole tree trunks were used to make the arm.

Here is a classic example of a wooden barrel, which has obvious signs of being well used. Both the museums had great examples of everyday factory objects, useful as photographic reference when I am required to make them.

One thing which struck me was the difference of every machine seen in this museum. Each served a specific purpose and just like the objects previously mentioned looked quite unique. I assume this is because of the size of the works here, being quite small and on the outskirts of Sheffield.