The C20th saw dramatic changes in the manufacturing base of Sedgley, Coseley and the Gornals. This compilation of firms and their products is a stark reminder of our industrial past and makes sober reading.

The list of goods seemed endless – nails, screws, nuts, bolts, steel pen nibs, coffee mills in the C19th, chains, ropes, locks, sanitary iron products, files, iron buckets, bellows, stoves, steam boilers, lime, bricks, pedal cycles and so on.

Alfred Allen & Son Ltd, Lower Gornal – skips, trolleys, all types of mining equipment, later oil refinery vessels

W. & S. S. Allen Ltd, Upper Ettingshall Road – nuts & bolts, screws

* Baggeridge Brick Co. Ltd – Staffordshire blue & other types of pressed brick

James Bates Firebrick Works, Ettingshall – firebricks, tiles

Beacon Bedstead Manufacturing Co., Tipton St. & Turls St. – wood bedsteads, spring mattresses

Beacon Table Waters, Bilston Street – mineral water manufacturer

* Samuel Brookes & Co., Gospel End Street – jigs, tools, general engineering

William Burrows, Lake St. & Humphrey St. – printing

Cannon Industries Ltd, Coseley – gas appliances, chemical plant, grindstones, holloware, sanitary ware etc.

The Coseley Brass Foundry, White Street – brass production

Stephen Cox & Son Ltd, Dudley Road – safes, banking engineers

William Cumming & Co. Ltd, Deepfields – charcoal-blacking manufacturer

DMW [Metal Profiles Ltd], Valley Road – scooters, motor cycles

Gibbons (Dudley) Ltd / Gibbons Bros. Ltd – Dibdale works – refractory goods / furnace & handling plant

Grainger & Worrall, Rock Street – wood & metal pattern makers

F. G. Griffin & Co., Brick Street - safes

W. S. Gorton & Son, Eve Hill & Burton Road – ropes, twines, cordage

Hermit Industries Co., Holloway Street – aluminium & non-ferrous castings, general machinists

** Holden’s Brewery Ltd, Sedgley Road – mild, bitter & specials, bottled & draught

Hopyard Foundries Ltd, Siddens Road – castings

Hurst Hill Enamel Company Ltd, Biddings Lane – washing machine parts and miscellaneous work

William Mobberley Ltd, Hurst Hill – firebricks

O’Neill Machine Co. Ltd, Dormston Trading Estate, Burton Road – automatic glass forming machines

Ben Parkes & Sons Ltd, Brook Street – domestic fire implements, miscellaneous castings

Thomas Perry Ltd, Highfields Road – iron foundry, bedsteads, safes, armour plates

Prima Industries Ltd, Burton Road – foot pumps, screw & hydraulic jacks, car horns

Priory Products, The Priory – domestic electrical heaters

George Sheldon, Dudley Road – sheds, portable building manufacturer

Staffordshire Service Engineering Co., Ivyhouse Lane – tool makers

Steelcraft Products (Stafford) Ltd, Rock Street – light metal construction, profile cutting John

Thompson Motor Pressings Ltd, Ettingshall – metal chassis etc.

William Wardell, Green Street – mineral water manufacturer

Various owners, Deepfields Basin – canal boat building

Various owners, Bilston Steelworks & similar – iron & steel production

In many cases there were subtle name changes and ‘take-overs’, out of date products disappeared, new ones added.

All the businesses listed operated at some time in the C20th. Fond memories will be recalled about these firms and almost certainly there will be glaring omissions. Additions and comments are welcome – please contact the Society.

* - January 2009 – still in existence, ownership changed

** - January 2009 – still in existence with original owners