Pictured here in 1955, courtesy of Alex Rochead are the large machines that were located inside the Haughhead (Blantyreferme) Brickworks. I’ve been looking into the machinery, what it was used for and whom it came from.

In these photos, the machines are relatively new. The large engineering machinery was located in a brick built part of the building to crush stone, form the bricks and transport the clay. This was state of the art mechanisation, removing the need to hand make bricks. Machinery was procured from Inglis and also from Thomas Fawcett of Leeds. These photos of the kilns and the machinery are held in the National Library of Scotland. It is thought the brickworks existed until 1974, and demolished shortly after. In 1972 Bradley & Craven, amalgamated with a rival Leeds company, Thomas C. Fawcett, forming Craven Fawcett Limited, which existed up until 2002, when it was dissolved.

1955 Machinery inside Blantyreferme (Haughhead) Brickworks

On social media:

Jim Cochrane Did the bricks from there not have SBC stamped on them for Scottish Brick Company.

Jim Brown I’ve seen quite a few SBC’s about but could be NCB Bl Ferme (pictured) or just Blantyreferme

The Blantyre Project remember there were 2 brickworks at Blantyreferme. One beside the former colliery near scrappie and the other more modern one post 1955 north of the railway line. The bricks at Blantyre ferme colliery were stampmed “Blantyreferme” until NCB took over in 1947 and then changed to “NCB BL Ferme”. The drift mine north of the railway line having “Newton” and i think when it was taken over changed to “SBC”. I’m no brick expert, but working on this basis given the information known about the buildings and companies at the time.