Hard Work at Hadley's Kiln
James Smith recalls the conditions that his father worked under at Hadley's Brickworks.
His father was a kiln burner who worked with Freddie Burr, Burt King and many others. Working conditions were terrible with rain coming in through the roof and sides of the building.
They would feed the coal through round holes to the furnace every half hour. A cloud of sulphur would come up, which could be quite choking. They worked in shifts from 6am to 2pm, 2pm to 10pm and 10pm to 6am, with only one day off every third week.
Conditions improve when Ready Mixed Concrete took over the works.