Pull not push
The hole in every pipe stem was made with a metal wire. Contrary to what you might think, the wire was not pushed up the stem, but the stem was pulled down the wire.
Cardboard & Chaff
Not just pipes were made in the Pipeworks. Boxes for sending them to customers were made on site. The huge metal guillotine on the first floor was used for cutting out the cardboard sides and lids of the boxes. So the pipes did not get damaged in transit, the boxes were filled with chaff, the left-overs from the process that separated grain from its hard outer shell.
White is right
At the end of the Victorian era, cigarettes competed directly with clay pipes, which probably explains why the tobacco in cigarettes was wrapped in white paper.
Gross pipes
Clay pipes were sold in dozens (12 pipes) and grosses (12 x 12 = 144pipes).
Star Trek and the clay pipe
The stems of some Broseley pipes were not made of clay but Vulcanite. These stems were purchased from The New York Hamburg Rubber Co. Ltd of London.
Everything you never wanted to know..
Thousands of paper documents were retrieved from the Pipeworks before restoration started in 1993. Many dated back to the Victorian era and gave museum staff a fascinating insight into the real life of the factory. For example, writing back to his employer in August 1903, commercial traveller, Thomas Ruston, whilst collecting money from retailers of Broseley pipes in Manchester, reported: 'I called upon Mr McKay …. I found he was dead had an accident in the cellar … leg mortification set in he died straight away … Mrs McKay paid.'
The IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, Telford, TF8 7DQ is a limited company registered in England under the Companies Act 1948 Reg No. 918560 and the Charities Act 1960 Ref No. 503717-R.
The Ironbridge Gorge is a World Heritage Site.
