Webster's Bricks

A picture of the brickyard which in 1896 was called Wilkins & Webster that I hope you "brickies" will find interesting. That year it says it had been established for over a century, previously as B Wilkins and son. Webster joined him in about 1888. The brickyards on the Stoney Stanton Road occupied about 40 acres of land, leased from Hon. Cecil S Irby brother of Lord Boston. At that time there were 3 large down-draught ovens and 3 more being constructed. A kiln, of Hoffman's improved construction erected by Bradley and Craven of Wakefield, one of the largest structures of the kind in the world, having a capacity for 230,000 bricks and capable of burning 100,000 bricks per week. There are 4 smoke stacks, one of them of 165 feet and containing a quarter of a million bricks, regarded as the loftiest stack in the county. A separate building houses a 60 horse power engine. We are currently having a wall built in our garden and we are told there is a shortage of bricks!

Is this still on, NormK?

James Hemming told me one month ago that it is all off Cliff, not sure of the reason, I guess it could be planning so they are staying put. He also said that a company has been chosen to do the demolition and that they will be using the office themselves whilst they are there. I will keep you posted when I hear anything else. ps their original plan was to erect a giant Bund between the two sites so maybe that's what will happen now.

Reading through the observations on Websters Brickyard I was surprised that there was no mention of the tragedy at the pool. When I was at Edgewick school 1937-1943 I remember three lads building a raft on the pool which sank and all three lads were drowned, two of them were from Edgewick school and as a school we all lined Cross Road while the funeral cortege passed by. Very sad Foleshill Lad.

I worked there for many years and never heard a word spoken of this. It was a long time ago and has faded in time. It's all filled in now, so no chance of any more tragedies. We were always chasing kids off, they just didn't understand how dangerous the place was.

Alanroyo, I remember a story about three boys drowning, up the Stoney Stanton, but in the 'cut', could it have been the same story?

Yes, I think Billy Buggins told us one morning. Billy had a shop near the Morris gates but on the other side of the road. I think they called him Lofty because he was so short. I'm sure he told us about the boys.

I was at Edgewick School at this time and remember this tragedy as I was in the same class as one of the victims named Ralf Cheshire who lived in nearby Canal Road. I believe it happened on a Saturday morning.

Wide open spaces at the Brickworks today. The offices have gone, Hoffman kiln has gone, I asked when will the chimney be coming down and was told "up until now a week on Sunday". The contractor is Blucon Demolition.

Kaga and others. I am no hero and never want to be. It would have been sometime in the 50s and was fishing on that length of the cut. A boy came running up screaming that his brothers were drowning. Ran back along the tow path to where he said his brothers went in. There was no sign, not a ripple on the surface. He said that he was certain that was the spot so I went in. Nothing, not a thing. When I came out of the canal my informant was running along the tow path and I thought that I had fallen for the biggest ever wind up. Sitting on the side trying to wring out some of the water from my clothes the boy, my informant, came running back, a woman with him. The boy indicated the spot to the woman and she started wading into the water calling out boys' names, she was very distressed. I asked if she could swim and she said that she couldn't. The whole thing was becoming a nightmare. I asked the boy if the police knew, he said no one had phoned them. For ***** sake go and phone them. Those who have access to old Evening Telegraphs, there will be a report of this tragedy.

I wish I had a pound for every Webster brick I've laid in 50 years, they were better than a London brick, as good as the Hemming's but the Ibstock Russets took some beating, of course it was all down to price. For a while I worked for a small builder called C D Revers who were based on the Stoney Stanton Road. I wonder if it's still there? I also remember the bricky foreman Charlie, who regular on a Monday morning showed all the lads the pocket full of money he made from the door at the London Road dance club on Saturday night. He was a right crook. Good old days.

Just a reminder from a previous post,

When I was a nipper we sometimes went to the Saturday flicks at the Prince of Wales cinema. After the show we would go over the road to Websters just to throw stuff down the hole. On one occasion, after getting bored with that activity, we explored some recently bomb damaged property on the Stoney Stanton Rd. We discovered amongst the rubble the most magnificent horse drawn hearse. Four wheels and a highly decorated lower half. Black and glossy with paintings of flowers and angels. Above that a cut glass body (not a dead body). The canopy was polished black and that was also decorated with paintings. Long time ago but I still clearly remember it clearly. Occasionally wondered why it should be there. Must have belonged to a local undertaker.

Norman C. I am intrigued with your post of the drowning. My best friend drowned in the cut when we were kids, his name was Michael, he fell in where the back gardens back on to the cut in Leicester Causeway. Could this be the same incident as you described? His older sister tried to save him which ties in also.

Hello Norm. It could quite well be the same incident, I'm not sure, long time ago. I know that the girl/woman was hysterical and did enter the water although she told me that she couldn't swim. I am not a strong swimmer and about one width of Livingstone Rd baths under water is about my limit. I did look both sides of where the boy indicated but the water not being, clear and junk on the bottom made things difficult. Maybe I could and perhaps should have tried harder but it was probably too late anyway. When the police arrived with rope and a hook I left and to be honest I was glad to be away from there.