ENGINEERING.
SCENE IN A NOTTINGHAM RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND WAGGON WORKS.
It is of course well known that practically the whole of the Lace machinery in use throughout the world has been built in Nottingham, and therefore the City is pre-eminent in that respect ; also that the building of Hosiery and auxiliary machinery is one of Nottingham's oldest and most prosperous industries. But the building of Lace and Hosiery machinery is by no means the beginning and the end of our Engineering productivity. Indeed so varied and extensive are the ramifications of our Engineering works that it is impossible to do more than refer to a few specialities such as permanent way apparatus and rolling stock for railways and tramways; chemical machinery including such things as filter presses, sterilizers and evaporating and distilling plants; refuse destructors, sewage filters, presses, ejectors and pumps and a host of other sanitary inventions; every class of machinery required in connection with the oil and sugar industries; laundry and drying machinery: magnetos, gas meters, etc., etc.
The comparative immunity of Nottingham from Smoke—one of the first things noticed by a visitor—is largely attributable to the fact that the manufacture of patent furnaces and fire-bars, which is a highly specialised trade, has always been carried on in this neighbourhood. The importance of a pure atmosphere in which to conduct the two staple trades of lace and hosiery is realised by the local authorities, who are rightly strict in enforcing the by-laws as to the emission of black smoke from factory or other chimneys. Unless there be negligence on the part of the stoker, this kind of nuisance might always be avoided by having properly constructed furnaces. Thick smoke pouring from the tops of factory chimneys represents so much unconsumed fuel. Its avoidance by the use of efficient furnaces means not only economy through being able to burn cheaper fuel and giving increased steaming, but the getting rid of an unsightly and unhealthy nusiance. Radiators, slow combusiton boilers, and other forms of heating apparatus are produced by local furnace engineering firms, who are in a position to construct furnaces of all types and dimensions.
The electrical engineering trade has undergone important developments in Nottingham during recent years, until to-day the city contains the largest firm of electrical engineering contractors in the kingdom. The utilisation of electric power in the construction of lifts is a feature of the trade, but the largest side consists of installation work for illuminating purposes, though such articles as switch boards and lightning conductors are turned out in considerable quantities, while one or two big firms are entirely absorbed in the construction of telephone apparatus.
The rapid development of wireless has also lead to the specialisation by certain firms in the production of equipment of reliable and high class workmanship which is finding a ready sale, not only in this country but abroad.
Mention must also be made of a new industry, namely, the manufacture of typewriters equal in every respect to those made abroad and which are gaining great popularity.
BICYCLES.
Nottingham-made bicycles have always been held in high estimation by those who value a really reliable machine, and in spite of the enormous growth in the number of users of motor cars and motor cycles, the "push bike" remains as popular as ever, especially those produced in Nottingham, which have a reputation for reliability and long "life." The fact that the industry gives employment to over 4,000 people locally will give some idea of the enormous output.
The original 3-speed gear for cycles—the Sturmey Archer—which is fitted by most cycle manufacturers, is made in Nottingham, and a very successful gear of the same name is now being made and fitted to motor cycles.
BONE-GLUE.
The bone-glue industry originated in Nottingham over a hundred years ago, and to-day is of extensive proportions, more than 500 tons of bones being brought into the district every week for conversion into glue, animal fats, and manures. In the earlier days the trade consisted merely of the rough grinding of bones so as to make them suitable for application to the land. Later on bones were boiled in open pans to extract fat and glue, and then, as science progressed, they were automatically sorted over to extract iron and rubbish, all those except the marrow bones passing to grinding mills, and thence to the benzine extractors to have the fat taken out. This fat is sold in large quantities for the making of soap, glycerine, and stearine. The bones, on coming out of the extractors, are dry-cleaned and polished, and afterwards go to the glue extractors. Amongst the many different qualitites of glue manufactured are cake glues, powdered glues, liquid glues, size, etc., used in such trades as decorating, box-making, joinery, cabinet-making, match-making, and sand-paper and emery cloth manufacture, as well as in the paper and textile trades.
The bones, having had the glue extracted, are taken to another portion of the works to be dried and finely ground for manure, and are sold as artificial manures with a guaranteed analysis to agriculturists at home and abroad, some of the products being treated with acids and other materials. The marrow bones are dealt with separately, and are eventually sold for button- making, tooth brush, and piano-key manufacture.
BREWING AND MALTING.
During the middle ages it was necessary to regulate this trade very closely. Malting and brewing were then entirely different from what they are to-day, for there were none of the big breweries that are now found at Nottingham. Each retailer brewed his own beer, and to this day the part of Nottingham known as Brewhouse Yard is a reminder of the malting offices and brewhouse that stood here for the convenience of the Castle hard by. The trade was evidently profitable, for in the eighteenth century no one in Nottingham but the burgesses were allowed to malt and brew. By the end of the eighteenth century there were three wholesale breweries in the city.
Nottingham has always been, and still remains, famous for the quality of its ale. This is ascribed principally to the abundance of barley in the neighbouring Vale of Belvoir. and to the peculiarly suitable quality of the water, caused by the presence of gypsum.
BRICKS.
In Nottingham and district there are valuable beds of clay, which are extensively worked, and large quantities of bricks, also tiles, pipes, etc., are produced. The bricks are chiefly red, good colour, and durable. This industry is greatly facilitated on account of its close proximity to the local coalfields.
LEATHER.
To-day Nottingham is the most important single centre for the tanning of sheep-skins in this country, and probably in the world, about 60,000 skins per week being tanned and dressed in the various leather works of the City.
The principal kinds of leather manufactured in Nottingham are known as "light leathers," made from sheep, goat, and calf skins, and also large quantities of sheep and goat imported from India. These leathers are finished in a great variety of ways for the boot and shoe trade, both for the uppers and linings of boots, for bookbinding, for purses and pocket-books, and general fancy leather goods. The flesh side is made into the so-called chamois or wash leather, and some of this is also used for making gloves. A large quantity of sheep and lamb skins are made into chrome leather for motor clothing, aviators' clothing, and shoe linings.
One of the principal articles made in the neighbourhood is what is known as "Skivers." These are exported in very large quantities to the Continent and America. A considerable quantity are finished in the City for hat leathers, which is an important local industry.
Some currying of heavier leathers is also carried on, and glue and parchment are also made in the locality.
The manufacture of machine beltings to meet the varying requirements of the lace and hosiery factories, spinning and cotton doubling mills, engineering works, collieries, motor and cycle works, laundries, dyeing and bleach works, etc., is an important branch of the leather industry, and is extensively carried on in the city.
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS.
A NOTTINGHAM PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH LABORATORY.
Nottingham has long been the most important provincial market and distributing centre for drugs and pharmaceutical products, and the marvellous developments of recent years now give it a pre-eminence in the manufacture of fine chemicals. Its research laboratories and extensive works are unsurpassed in equipment, arrangement, and management. These resources are recognised as constituting a national asset, for they help largely to keep the country independent of German, and, indeed, of foreign supplies generally.
The home production of many synthetic chemicals previously received from Germany was commenced in Nottingham. These products are superior to those which they replace from abroad, and have won for the Nottingham laboratories an enviable reputation at technical exhibitions and among the medical profession and the public for their use in medicine (aspirin, atropine, butyl chlorate, etc.), in surgery (the chloramine and flavine antiseptic dressings, etc.), in dietetics (saccharin), and in perfumery (the various synthetic bases).
Chemical and pharmaceutical products and many associated preparations from Nottingham are in demand in every part of the United Kingdom, for the immense output of the laboratories and works includes not only drugs and medicines, pills, capsules, and tablets, but also such articles as malt extract, toilet aids, perfumery, and soaps, all of which are made on a large scale. The whole industry, already very extensive, is of constantly growing importance.
SOAP.
The manufacture of soap has become an important Nottingham industry during recent years, and to-day practically every kind of soap—household, laundry, toilet and textile—is made. Improvements in machinery enable a manufacturer to supply a much wider range of goods than formerly. Some of this machinery is very costly. A cooling and drying machine, for instance, cannot be bought for less than £3,000. This machine enables soap to be loaded up for despatching within twenty minutes after it leaves the soap-pan in a liquid state, whereas by the old method of cooling, the soap took a fortnight before it was ready for sale.
Large users of soap in the textile and laundry trades now prefer to have it in flakes instead of in bars, so that it may dissolve more quickly. This change has involved the construction of new machinery, but Nottingham has kept pace with the demand.
An important side line for local soap-makers is the production of face powders, toiler creams, and perfumes, the same essential oils being used in perfumery as in toilet soaps.
PRINTING.
Nottingham has, of late years, become one of the most important centres of the printing and lithographic industry, not merely by reason of the volume of its output but still more by reason of the high-class quality of its products, which have gained some of the most coveted awards. Amongst the two thousand or more employees are artists of repute, who are engaged in producing pictorial subjects which find their way into all parts of the civilised world. A great deal of the colour printing is very beautiful. Most of the work is lithographic, but some magnificent three-colour matter is also turned out. Much of the work is specialised, some firms devoting their attention largely to calendars. Nottingham may now fairly claim to be responsible for a considerable proportion of the whole British output of calendars. Other firms specialise in posters and show- cards, and others again in the manufacture of design paper, in which an extensive export trade is done. Lithographing for illustrated catalogues is another important branch of the trade, the hosiery and lace industries calling for work of the best type. The general printing is marked by the same high level of excellence. A notable change during recent years has consisted in the process known as the rotary off-set, which enables the finest work to be executed on different classes of paper. A large business is done in the compiling and binding up of pattern books for customers both at home and abroad, and in the making of ledgers.
PERAMBULATORS, ETC.
The evolution of the baby carriage is one of the romances of modern industry, and without doubt Nottingham can justly pride herself on much of this advancement, because she has studied the comfort and interest of "King Baby" more than any other town in the country, whilst at the same time she has succeeded in building up an industry which employs a large number of men and women.
Ten or fifteen years ago the average baby car was a very mediocre affair, which quickly showed signs of wear and tear, but to-day it possesses a coach-built body upon which great art and skill have been bestowed, and which, moreover, is capable of standing the strain of much rough usage.
The artistic design, the lightness in structure, and graceful appearance make for these cars the reputation they justly claim of being the finest of their kind.
Along with the manufacture of prams runs the making throughout of invalids' chairs, spinal carriages, self-propelling chairs, in fact almost anything in the way of conveyance for the invalid.
TOBACCO.
A CIGARETTE MACHINE ROOM.
The tobacco trade has developed so extensively in Nottingham during recent years that the City is now one of the three largest centres of the industry in this country. Perhaps the most interesting, as well as the oldest-established section, is the making of cigars, which, despite the popularity of the ubiquitous cigarette, are now in greater demand than ever amongst smokers who appreciate quality rather than quantity.
While the cigarette has to a certain extent displaced the very cheap cigar of years ago (a fact which no one need regret), there has grown up a demand for a good cigar, coupled with a willingness to pay for it. This has enabled the British manufacturer to come to the front, and to-day he is making cigars quite equal in every respect to imported Havanas. Nottingham, which has been famous for its cigars for generations, has taken the lead in this remarkable progress.
The Nottingham output of cigarettes and pipe tobacco is very large. One of the biggest and best-equipped factories, belonging to a group of similar enterprises, is situated here, and sends its products all over the world. Only machinery of the most up-to-date kind would enable cigarettes to be produced in such vast quantities and at a price which places them within reach of all classes of smokers.
OTHER INDUSTRIES.
As already stated it is quite impossible to refer in detail to more than a few of the many industries in Nottingham, or even to enumerate them all, but others which may be mentioned include:—Furniture and Cabinet Making, Wicker Furniture, Motor Body Building, Picture Framing, Timber, Sweets and Confectionery, Beet Sugar, Brushes, Starch, Printing Inks, Printers' Machinery, Type, etc., Electro-plating, Jacquard Cards and Pasteboards, Pattern Cards and Books, Glove Fabrics and Gloves.
COMMERCIAL.
Linked up with and functioning side by side with this great industrial enterprise, we have in Nottingham many wholesale houses acting as intermediaries between the manufacturers and distributors in the home market, and old-established commission houses with their resident representatives in all civilised countries, and sending travellers throughout the world in the endeavour to push the sale of Nottingham's products. The big banks are all represented here by numerous branches, as also are the Insurance and Shipping Companies, and indeed, all the various departments and phases of industrial and commercial life and activity.
A further note on the educational facilities of Nottingham
As previously mentioned, the educational facilities of Nottingham are of a very high order. Among the private establishments may be mentioned:—"Hollygirt," Elm Avenue, Nottingham, a private boarding and day school for girls. The curriculum embraces commercial subjects for pupils over 15 years of age who wish to obtain the Oxford School Certificate; music, drawing and fancy needlework. A special feature is the Kindergarten Department under the capable management of two fully qualified Froebel mistresses. There is a Science Laboratory and a Gymnasium, a company of Girl Guides and a Brownie pack.
Broadgate School for Boys and Alexandra Park School, founded over thirty and twenty years ago respectively, provide a sound education preparatory for the Public Schools and business careers. The usual curriculum of Secondary schools obtains. For physical culture and games use is made of a gymnasium, of the Forest cricket pitches and football grounds, private tennis-courts and a public swimming bath.
Sherwood Rise School, enjoying an open healthy situation with large and airy class-rooms, is another progressive establishment offering an up-to-date curriculum. Several enlargements have recently been made, and the premises include a large Drill room. The School is conducted by a University Graduate assisted by a capable staff of six, and a sound education on modem lines is imparted. Pupils are prepared for University Examinations and various Examinations in music and art. The Preparatory Department is conducted on Kindergarten principles. The School course includes Religious Instruction, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Mathematics, English Grammar, Composition and Literature, History, Geography, French, Latin, German, the Elements of Physical Science, Botany, Needlework, Drawing, Painting, Class-Singing, Elocution, Physical Exercise and Swimming. There is a company of Girl Guides connected with the School for pupils over 11 years of age and a playing field near the School has now been acquired.
Broadgate School for Girls, Western Terrace, The Park, was founded by Miss Louise Hoffmann, B.A., and Miss A M. Churley, B.A., in 1900, and its growth was rapid. The aim of the School has always been the development of character rather than merely the acquisition of knowledge. Modern requirements, however, have made it more necessary for pupils to pass public examinations, and girls are prepared for Oxford School Certificate, and Oxford, Cambridge and London University Entrance Examinations, by University Women. The physical side of education has its full share of attention, Games, Dancing and Swedish Drill being in the charge of a Mistress from the Bedford Physical Training College. A recent development of the School's activities is the training of Froebel students in conjunction with University College. Such students, on obtaining the certificate of the Froebel Society, are recognized by the Teachers' Registration Council.