ith its blazing hot furnaces, this Black Country foundry has created all kinds of metal artefacts from toys to car parts over 100 successful years of operation.
And next week members of the public will get a rare glimpse inside the fascinating factory that has employed many generations of families over the years in Walsall.
The town’s Chamberlin & Hill Castings is throwing open its doors for the first time to reveal how it has kept at the forefront of industry for over a century.
And bosses say visitors will be surprised to find that many things have remained unchanged.
Set up in 1890 with a turnover of £1,840, its main concern was the manufacture of cast iron toys. As times – and tastes – changed over the years, a variety of metal goods started life in the casting floor at the foundry, which lies on land between Tong Street and Beacon Street in Chuckery. Bosses decided to turn to making meat mincers during the First and Second World Wars, and after that turned their attentions to creating internal parts for water pumps.
It was at this time, at its peak, the firm employed 250 people. In the past six years, it has turned its hand to cast iron core fittings for turbo chargers, and supplying complex moulds for car manufacturers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
The goods made today are crafted from scrap metal, often from old cars, in a complex casting process using sand. Visitors to the open day on September 13 will get to see the process. Managing director Adam Vicary said: “The big thing for us is to start telling the outside world and showing people what we do.”
Longest-serving employee Gordon Stanley, aged 61, joined 46 years ago in the pattern shop. Mr Stanley, who lives in Telford, said: “Altogether my family has given 300 years service to the company. My father Cal worked here and his brothers, also my mother had older relatives who worked here. The main changes I’ve seen is automation. When I first started in 1962 everything was done by hand.”
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