In 1968 England, Scotland and Wales had 948 Iron foundries
(source NEDO 1972), today in 2011 there are no more than 30.
In fact, in the UK in the 21st century the name "Foundry" is
more likely to be used to describe a wine bar, gym or health spa
than for its original use.
It is sad to see products being shipped or flown 1000s of
miles to the UK when they could quite easily be made at home.
But it's not all bad news. Of the 30 or so foundries left
in England and Scotalnd,
we, at the Cast Iron Air Brick Company have
encouraged them to dust off their old patterns and begin
casting again. One of the foundries, after looking back
through the order books, told us it was the first time since
1955 that they had recast some of the grilles. We've also
commissioned our own air bricks and are working with pattern makers, many of
whom are retired but between them have 100s of years of
experience, to bring you some new and exciting designs.
We're bringing out a new range of modern grilles in cast iron
that will put the modern plastic brown grilles to shame and will proudly bear the tag "Made in England".
We hope you'll continue to support these foundries by buying our
products and installing them in your project or restoration.
STOP PRESS - The good news continues - with some degree of irony,
we've exported to the USA and we've also had orders from the far east!
The grilles shown here are 9x3 air bricks of the Victorian Y
pattern which were cast in the midlands, they're exact replicas
of air bricks used in Victorian period and were made from a
brand new pattern especially for us.
