Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 15

Industrial Revolution rapidly transformed the region there was a rise in Methodism, which was particularly popular amongst skilled laborers at the time. This led to the construction of numerous places of worship which deliberately avoided following the traditional style of churches. They were always well built, so as the bright flame of religious fervor faded, many were repurposed. The larger chapels became workplaces while the smaller ones were converted to dwellings (often with a level of luxury at odds with their original ethos). From outside this chapel followed the Methodist style of not looking like church being basically a square building with no church tower or steeple. It had large plain windows; but these had been long boarded over. If I were being polite, I’d have called the inside a typical 1990s foundry. If I were being honest I’d say it was an untidy mess. Comparing then to now, it is amazing how much things have moved on. How much effort has been taken by foundries to improve not only the working conditions but also their environmental impact. Later, skylights were added along with additional utility buildings. These buildings, all interconnected had created a rabbit warren of passages at the rear of the main foundry building. The skylights and windows were caked with a thick layer of grime accumulated over decades, what little light they let in was tinged with a yellow hue. Any unfiltered natural light came in through a large roller shutter door but when this was shut the inside was a gloom. Coupled with the typical foundry smells it created an image completely at odds with its Methodist origins. As for the work of the foundry, melting was done via four small electric furnaces arranged in an L shape. These served the molding lines with metal transfer and pouring done by a pair of two-man teams carrying a crucible in a hand shank. It was a hard, skillful task and quite dangerous. The amount that the men could carry in each crucible was limited. Any stumble would end up with split molten metal. Initially this metal had been divided between a green sand line and a shell molding line. The green sand line was old enough that Noah might have served his time on it. As far as I could tell, its main function was to spread black foundry sand everywhere and to keep the maintenance crew fully occupied. Somebody at the foundry clearly felt the same as they had recently installed a no-bake carousel. This had given them a lot more flexibility enabling larger casting to be produced, but it had also highlighted some problems. Unfortunately, the only space available for the no-bake system, and even this was being kind, was at furthest point away from the furnaces, behind the green sand mold conveyor. Metal transfer had become an even more dangerous 8