Clay, kilns and the cost of survival for tile makers

An important development from the financial markets: Clay, kilns and the cost of survival for tile makersImage caption, Tessa Oldroyd says she is "making history" at a 186-year-old tile-making site in North LincolnshireByPritti MistryPublished7 hours agoStanding beside a machine older than her grandfather, Tessa Oldroyd feeds clay through a clanky mechanism driven by iron cogs that have been turning for more than a century. In her hands, Britain's tile-making past is very much alive. But a dozen miles away, its future is being reshaped.

The clay, most of which is dug from the Humber Estuary, arrives in heavy blocks and is stacked on pallets in the yard at William Blyth, in Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire. Oldroyd – the only woman in a male-dominated workplace of 24 workers – explains how one block is placed into the machine, affectionately nicknamed "the stupid", before the cogs turn and "squeeze the clay through a plate, extruding it into tiles", which are then baked in its coal-fired kiln. This is how roof pantiles have been made for generations at the site.

Economic Details

The small firm is one of about a dozen traditional companies surviving at a time when others in the industry are looking to modernise production in the face of significant economic pressures. Image source, William BlythImage caption, The William Blyth site in Barton dates back to the 1840sPantiles, seen on rooftops across Britain, have a distinctive curved shape. The machine Oldroyd is using dates back to the 1920s.

Some equipment on site is much older and the work is far from easy. "The most challenging thing for me probably would be lifting the clay," she says. But she wouldn't trade her job.

"I'm glad to be actually making history. "When I think about this site and how old it is and we're still carrying on this tradition and the fact that lots of the tiles, if not all of them, will be here for hundreds of years to come. "The work Oldroyd and her co-workers do today is part of a tradition stretching back centuries.

Analyst Views

Though clay roof tiles were introduced by the Romans, the English industry grew up in the eastern part of the country during the 12th century. By the early 1700s, pantiles were being made, with East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire becoming major centres of production. Today about a dozen old school firms survive across the UK, according to the Roof Tile Association.

William Blyth, founded in 1840, is among them. Image caption, Some of the machinery used by William Blyth dates from the 1800sIn recent years, traditional manufacturers in the British ceramics sector have faced pressures including rising energy prices, higher labour costs and competition from cheaper imports. The 200-year-old Denby Pottery fired its final pieces earlier this month before permanently blowing out its kilns.

It prompted the chancellor to announce a £120m support package to help the sector. "It's an incredibly difficult situation at the moment," says Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.