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A. Brown & Co Birmingham Eagle Patent

9/29/2015

Although I have introduced you to the Newman Tonks 'Invincible' before here is one with a new twist.

This rather rare 'Invincible' was produced under license by the Birmingham based Eagle Iron Foundry and sold through Alfred Brown & Co. builders' ironmongers, 81 Smallbrook Street, Birmingham. You can identify the partnership when viewing the brass cover plate.

A link to a picture of the Eagle Foundry (Paste in browser):
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Lib-Central-Archives-and-Heritage%2FPageLayout&cid=1223092759806&pagename=BCC%2FCommon%2FWrapper%2FInlineWrapper

A mention of A. Brown & Co (Paste in browser):
http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/locks/gazetteer/gazbb-z.htm

Yes this can be a dirty job!

As always please feel free to leave a comment if you have enjoyed this or any other blog post.

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Delf Chapel

9/29/2015

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One of the many things I love about my job is the places I go to and the people I meet. I have previously made mention of the Robert Adams floor spring, I would now like to tell you about Delf Chapel, Topcroft, the site of the Robert Adams contract.

Delf Chapel is a fantastic property situated in the tiny village of Topcroft about 30 minutes outside of Norwich, at present the owners are Roger and Sheralee Barker who have both restored and converted this property to a high spec.

They have continued to breath further life into this wonderful building after it was originally made into a private home in 1988. I had the pleasure of meeting Roger and Sheralee after I was contacted to repair their set of Robert Adams Silent (See Robert Adams blog post) floor springs.

Delf Chapel had its 2 foundation stones laid on the 16th June 1893 by Lady Mayoress of Norwich, Mrs Spelman and Miss Harriet Delf. It was built on land provided by land given by Mr. T. Scrulton and built in memory of Mr. Samuel Newton Delf. The construction was completed on the 29th of October and cost £545 having provision for 150 people to worship. The money for its construction was met by donations, receiving a large donation of £100 from philanthropist James Jeremiah Coleman, then owner of the famous Norwich company Colemans Mustard a close friend and somewhat of a business partner of Samuel Newton Delf, himself being a local philanthropist too.

For more information on Delf Chapel click and paste the link below into your browser (The property has been further modernised and improved since these photographs were taken).

http://media1.fineandcountry.com/v3/clients/192/properties/50021007/MED_50021007_50041777.pdf

Thank you Roger and Sheralee for inviting me into your home and giving me the opportunity to work on your floor springs. Please feel free to leave comments if you read this blog post.

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'Invincible' Door Spring

9/3/2015

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Here again is another 'Invincible' floor spring from around 1910 - 1912, this time however it was supplied by Wing & Webb of Wolverhampton.

The 'Invincible' range was produced by William Newman & Son coming in a number of strengths and guises. These being - single action, with or without check, double action, with or without check, shallow box, single or double action, with or without check and finally a water tight version for wet areas, with or without check.

You can see in this repair the pin was offset due to wear and therefore not closing correctly against the door frame.

Above is all the parts out and below it is back together again with new springs and the wear taken care of, the pin is now square on and therefore the door/doors will close correctly.

X two!

Interestingly I found this hundred year + advise note. It was inside one the shoes to the 'Invincible's.'

And finally below an 'Invincible' I found on the web.

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A. Brown & Co Birmingham Eagle Patent

Delf Chapel

'Invincible' Door Spring

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