Accrington Bricks

M

Markie

Offcomer
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Accy is famed for its quality bricks, does anyone know where abouts in Accy they used to get these from? Can you still see the quarry where it is?
 
Accrington bricks, the Nori bricks, were made at the site on Whinney Hill, not a million miles from Stanley's ground.

Most of the site is now covered in houses.   :'(
 
you know, i'll never understand that - buy a new house right next to the rubbish tip?  (obviously reffering to the actual tip and not the crown ground)!
 
i think they also used to quarry next to the coppice and i remember the raw materials being carried over Burnley rd via a conveyor belt of some description, which used to drop the odd piece!!

another bit of useless trivia is that Nori is Iron spelt backwards because the brick moulds were made wrong.......oops
 
[quote author=quiksilver link=board=qanda;num=1049901788;start=0#3 date=05/05/03 at 20:18:42]i think they also used to quarry next to the coppice and i remember the raw materials being carried over Burnley rd via a conveyor belt of some description, which used to drop the odd piece!!

another bit of useless trivia is that Nori is Iron spelt backwards because the brick moulds were made wrong.......oops[/quote]


I remember the conveyor well.  It was an overhead bucket system, where it crossed Burnley Rd there was a net to catch the bits.  My Godmother, Mildred Grimes (dcd) lived near the crossing and I used to spend hours watching the buckets!  Life was simple then - about 50 years ago!

I was told NORI got its name because the steeplejacks put the letters up in the wrong order on the chimney, but I guess the moulds explanation is more likely.
 
I live way out here in canada just outside Toronto and I do believe i read somewhere that Nori bricks were used in the CN tower
 
Hi Folks

The main quarry was also next to the brick yard and a tunnel went under Whinney Hill road joining the quarry to the brick works.

The disused quarry is now the site of the landfill site.
 
On the subject of Accrington Bricks, I understand they played a substantial part in the building of the Empire State Building.  http://www.accy.net/accyfact.htm
 
[quote author=quiksilver link=board=qanda;num=1049901788;start=0#3 date=05/05/03 at 20:18:42]i think they also used to quarry next to the coppice and i remember the raw materials being carried over Burnley rd via a conveyor belt of some description, which used to drop the odd piece!![/quote]
It was a cable car system that went over Burnler Rd.  It was used to supply the old Redac brick works in Huncoat.
 
They are quite right, the buckets used to go across Burnley Road and if you look at my website and keep looking ;D, I may put a picture of them on there for you.
 
The Web Site mentioned above is superb and is a must for anyone interested in Old Accy.
By the way -- Iron is very appropriate as anyone will know who has tried to drill into a Nori brick.
 
My dad and his naughty brothers used to sit in the buckets and slide down across Burnley Rd. There's one to add to the theme "we shouldn't have survived" on the other page!!
 
My dad used to work at the Redac site, used to go & watch the buckets coming in with shale...

Also put my name on a few bricks when they were in the clay stage waiting to be baked ;D ;D
 
Does anyone remember the old cable car system?  If so can someone please tell me what the purpose was of the tunnel that went under burnley road (just below where it was) which used to start behind the garages off Woodside road in Huncoat.  When I was about 9 0r 10 I followed it and it brought me out in a field just off Burnley road where there was a cave in, it looked like it went on further, but I can't see any exit.  This was a proper tunnel not a culvert.  It was an arch made from Accy brick.  The enterance behind the garages has since been built upon.
 
And true about the moulds.Nori came to be because in the beginning the mould maker got it wrong.Th owners however liked the idea so much they then kept the name NORI.Otherwise it would now be known as the IRON brickworks.
 
Not necessarily so. Whenever I see something about Accy Brick and the Nori sign, it usually says "legend has it" or such like.

The mould not being reversed when it was made is one - another is that the letters were  simply put up in the wrong order during construction, from bottom to top.

Plus the Empire State Building is not the only well known building made from Nori, just the most famous.  
 
I dont want to to sound dim but I heard a rumour that Accy Nori brick was used for the Empire state Building in USA. Are they pulling my leg? :P
 
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