Dover Engineering Works
This is in the back garden of the house we have lived in for about 40 years, and this is first time I have noticed the manufacturer's name on the manhole cover (unless I've seen it before and forgotten).
One of the most vivid memories I have from my primary school years was visiting the Dover Engineering Works with my school. It's not surprising that seeing molten iron poured from a ladle into a mould from close quarters would make a lasting impression on a child. I can still see clearly in my mind the wooden pattern they had made of our school's badge being pressed into the compacted black sandy material in the mould. The pattern was then removed and the top half of the mould filled with more compacted material was fitted. Small holes to allow the escape of burning gas were made in the material. When the molten iron was poured into the mould, sure enough, jets of flame appeared from these holes. When the mould was eventually stripped, there was the grey/silver replica of the wooden pattern.
When the company was established in 1830 it was on the outskirts of Dover in the parish of Charlton, with a supply of water from the adjacent River Dour. Charlton has since been absorbed by Dover, and the engineering works is of course gone - with the site now occupied by a supermarket.
Dover Engineering Works
This is in the back garden of the house we have lived in for about 40 years, and this is first time I have noticed the manufacturer's name on the manhole cover (unless I've seen it before and forgotten).
One of the most vivid memories I have from my primary school years was visiting the Dover Engineering Works with my school. It's not surprising that seeing molten iron poured from a ladle into a mould from close quarters would make a lasting impression on a child. I can still see clearly in my mind the wooden pattern they had made of our school's badge being pressed into the compacted black sandy material in the mould. The pattern was then removed and the top half of the mould filled with more compacted material was fitted. Small holes to allow the escape of burning gas were made in the material. When the molten iron was poured into the mould, sure enough, jets of flame appeared from these holes. When the mould was eventually stripped, there was the grey/silver replica of the wooden pattern.
When the company was established in 1830 it was on the outskirts of Dover in the parish of Charlton, with a supply of water from the adjacent River Dour. Charlton has since been absorbed by Dover, and the engineering works is of course gone - with the site now occupied by a supermarket.