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Patent Shaft, formerly The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, established in 1840, was a steel=making company that operated large steelworks situated in Wednesbury, then in Staffordshire (now West Midlands), England, in a region known as the Black Country due to its industrialisation. It was in operation for 140 years, and employed hundreds of local people.
The metalwork for Blackfriars Bridge in London was built by The Patent Shaft, following their takeover of Lloyds, Foster and Company. [1] [2] [3] [4]
They provided metalwork for the 1870 rebuild of the road bridge over the River Severn at Stourport. [5]
They made the steel girders for the Ibigawa Bridge, Gifu prefecture, Japan; and for Malviya Bridge, then known as Dufferin Bridge, the first metal bridge over the Ganges, opened in 1887. [6]
In 1900 they built prefabricated sections for two bridges, one of five spans and one of two, over the Tugela River in South Africa, at Colenso and Frere respectively. [7] These replaced earlier bridges, of different design, which they had made in 1877 and which were destroyed by the Boers during the Second Boer War. [7]
A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years, resulting in hundreds of job losses. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983.
In the decade following its closure, the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the Black Country Spine Road between Bilston and West Bromwich opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land in 1995. The Spine Road actually passed through the Patent Shaft site, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in Europe. [8]
The Patent Shaft factory gates still exist, situated on a traffic island in Wednesbury at the junction of Holyhead Road and Dudley Street, having been moved from their original location around 30 years after the factory’s closure. [lower-alpha 1]
The archives of Patent Shaft are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service. [5]
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is the construction of inexpensive fences, and it is also used as a security measure atop walls surrounding property. As a wire obstacle, it is a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare.
Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station. The south end is in the London Borough of Southwark, near the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower. Opened in the 1860s, it replaced an earlier bridge from the 1760s.
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, encompassing the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics into South Africa. In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand.
The Black Country is an area of England's Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall Metropolitan Boroughs, with the City of Wolverhampton sometimes included. The towns of Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre.
Wednesbury is a market town in Sandwell in the West Midlands County, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles (8km) south-east of Wolverhampton, 2.7 miles (4.4km) south-west of Walsall, and 7.3 miles (11.8km) north-west of Birmingham. At the 2011 Census the town had a population of 37,817.
Bilston is a town in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshire, three wards of Wolverhampton City Council now cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and Ettingshall, which comprises a part of Bilston and parts of Wolverhampton.
Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall.
Blackfriars is in central London, specifically the south-west corner of the City of London.
Colenso is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is located on the southern bank of the Tugela River on the R103 road. The original settlement was contained within a loop on the river, but it subsequently expanded southwards and eastwards. It lies on the main Durban - Johannesburg railway line some 190 km (118 mi) north-west of Durban.
Wednesbury Great Western Street tram stop is a tram stop in Wednesbury, Sandwell, England. It was opened on 31 May 1999 and is situated on West Midlands Metro Line 1. The stop is next to the West Midlands Metro tram depot.
Rubery Owen is a British engineering company which was founded in 1884 in Darlaston, West Midlands.
The Black Country New Road is a major road which runs through the West Midlands of England.
The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line is the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in England.
The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, seven miles (11 km) long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.
Wednesbury Old Canal is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) in West Midlands (county), England. It opened in 1769, and although parts of it were abandoned in 1955 and 1960, the section between Pudding Green Junction and Ryder's Green Junction is navigable, as it provides a link to the Walsall Canal. A short stub beyond Ryder's Green Junction is connected to the network but difficult to navigate.
The Bradley Branch or Bradley Locks Branch was a short canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands, England. Completed in 1849, it included nine locks, and had a number of basins which enabled it to service local collieries and industrial sites. The locks were unusual, as they had a single gate at both ends, rather than double gates at the bottom end. The route closed in the 1950s, and the top seven locks were covered over and landscaped.
Friar Park is a residential area of Wednesbury, West Midlands, England. It is also a ward of Sandwell Council.
Charles Geach was a prominent English businessman, industrialist, banker and politician of the early to mid-19th century, strongly associated with banking and manufacturing interests. He was a co-founder and the first general manager of the Midland Bank, the first treasurer of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a prominent investor in several major engineering businesses, and MP for Coventry from 1851 to his premature death, aged 46, in 1854.
A hex key is a simple driver for bolts or screws that have heads with internal hexagonal recesses (sockets).
Frederick William Hackwood FRHS was a teacher, antiquarian, journalist, and prolific non-fiction writer who produced more than 30 books. He was born in Wednesbury in the West Midlands of England and served that town as a justice of the peace, historian, and councillor. He wrote for the Wednesbury Herald for twenty years.
