Published: 05/11/2009 00:00
THE grainy and well-worn picture here has been kindly supplied to us by 89 years old Thomas Weaver of Quarry Bank. It shows his father (a chainstriker) and some fellow workmen at Hingley's of Netherton, the manufacturers of the famous anchors and chains for the ill-fated Titanic, which sunk in 1912.
They are posing in the workshop alongside an enormous anchor. This may have been one of the Titanic's smaller anchors though (see account below). Mr Weaver's father was also named Tom, but was better known at Hingley's as "Mush", as he lived at Mushroom Green.
Hi son recalls taking drink and dinners to him where he worked (he was a striker of two-inch chain).
In the photograph he is the worker wearing the brimmed hat, standing beneath the anchor. He served in the Staffords during the First World War, and his son likewise served in the same regiment for six years, in the Second World War.
Mention of the Titanic anchor gives us opportunity to delve into our archives, and reprint an account supplied to us back in 1976.
First hand account Mr W.G. Edwards, of Dudley, reckoned that he was probably then the sole survivor of that great gang of Black Country craftsmen who fashioned the mighty anchor and chains for the ill-fated "Titanic," then more than sixty years before, at Messrs Noah Hingley's (Netherton).
The following were some of his memories of those stirring times that he provided us with, 33 years ago...
"Am I the only survivor to have worked on the Titanic anchors? I am aware that this topic has already had an airing in this paper but there has never been given any facts at first hand.
The Titanic had three anchors, two at the bows and one at the stern. The bow anchors each weighed 8-and-a-half tons and their shanks were forged by Tom Curry, a skilled craftsman at Hingley's at that time. The heads of the anchors (Halls patent) were cast in Sheffield.
The anchor chains, made by Hingley's, were of 3-and-aquarter inch diameter iron and were side-welded and they were each 900ft long (10 lengths of 15 fathoms).
In those days ships were not equipped with stabilisers and the method of steadying a vessel in stormy conditions was to hang an anchor from the stern on a thick steel cable. This acted as a drag and controlled the rolling to some extent.
The stern anchor weighed 16- and-a-half tons and the manufacture of this posed many problems. The shank was too large for Hingley's equipment and so was forged by Somers of Halesowen but the shackles were forged by Hingley's by the Jones brothers.
The parts were then transported to Lloyds Proving House to be assembled under the supervision of Mr Norman the head fitter. The components were so heavy that hydraulic jacks were used in the assembly.
The writer took part in this operation.
The anchor now had to be lifted to the test bed and a stronger chain had to be fitted to the crane which had to be ballasted with pig iron to counterbalance the weight of the anchor. Steam was raised to a critical point for the operation.
Henry Green was the supervisor of the Proving House and Job Garrett was in charge of the testing. Having passed its test it was taken outside and painted white.
Now came the time to transport the anchor to the shipbuilding yard of Harland and Wolff, Belfast.
The big transporters in those days were Bantocks and they arrived with a huge wooden ten ton wagon and eight horses.
The wagon was backed to the anchor and it was loaded on.
The horses were unhitched and replaced in the shafts by six of Hingley's own horses. These were massive animals each weighing over a ton in weight.
In front of these horses the Bantock horses assembled in two single files on a long chain.
They tugged the wagon up the incline from the Proving House onto the main road where the Bantock horses fanned out either side allowing Hingley's horses to pull the wagon across the road to the entrance of Lee's coalyard.
The wagon was then slowly turned to face up to Dudley. All the horses then took the strain and with shouts of encouragement they slowly hauled their heavy load to the railway goods yard for the next stage of its journey.
Some months later when the Titanic was due to sail on her maiden voyage I went through the procedure of booking a passage on her at Lazenby's, the travel agents in High Street, Dudley. However for domestic reasons I had to cancel the booking.
I left Liverpool ten days after the departure of the Titanic aboard the "Lake Champlain" bound for Montreal. The single fare was £ 6.13s.9d."
Hi son recalls taking drink and dinners to him where he worked (he was a striker of two-inch chain).
In the photograph he is the worker wearing the brimmed hat, standing beneath the anchor. He served in the Staffords during the First World War, and his son likewise served in the same regiment for six years, in the Second World War.
Mention of the Titanic anchor gives us opportunity to delve into our archives, and reprint an account supplied to us back in 1976.
First hand account Mr W.G. Edwards, of Dudley, reckoned that he was probably then the sole survivor of that great gang of Black Country craftsmen who fashioned the mighty anchor and chains for the ill-fated "Titanic," then more than sixty years before, at Messrs Noah Hingley's (Netherton).
The following were some of his memories of those stirring times that he provided us with, 33 years ago...
"Am I the only survivor to have worked on the Titanic anchors? I am aware that this topic has already had an airing in this paper but there has never been given any facts at first hand.
The Titanic had three anchors, two at the bows and one at the stern. The bow anchors each weighed 8-and-a-half tons and their shanks were forged by Tom Curry, a skilled craftsman at Hingley's at that time. The heads of the anchors (Halls patent) were cast in Sheffield.
The anchor chains, made by Hingley's, were of 3-and-aquarter inch diameter iron and were side-welded and they were each 900ft long (10 lengths of 15 fathoms).
In those days ships were not equipped with stabilisers and the method of steadying a vessel in stormy conditions was to hang an anchor from the stern on a thick steel cable. This acted as a drag and controlled the rolling to some extent.
The stern anchor weighed 16- and-a-half tons and the manufacture of this posed many problems. The shank was too large for Hingley's equipment and so was forged by Somers of Halesowen but the shackles were forged by Hingley's by the Jones brothers.
The parts were then transported to Lloyds Proving House to be assembled under the supervision of Mr Norman the head fitter. The components were so heavy that hydraulic jacks were used in the assembly.
The writer took part in this operation.
The anchor now had to be lifted to the test bed and a stronger chain had to be fitted to the crane which had to be ballasted with pig iron to counterbalance the weight of the anchor. Steam was raised to a critical point for the operation.
Henry Green was the supervisor of the Proving House and Job Garrett was in charge of the testing. Having passed its test it was taken outside and painted white.
Now came the time to transport the anchor to the shipbuilding yard of Harland and Wolff, Belfast.
The big transporters in those days were Bantocks and they arrived with a huge wooden ten ton wagon and eight horses.
The wagon was backed to the anchor and it was loaded on.
The horses were unhitched and replaced in the shafts by six of Hingley's own horses. These were massive animals each weighing over a ton in weight.
In front of these horses the Bantock horses assembled in two single files on a long chain.
They tugged the wagon up the incline from the Proving House onto the main road where the Bantock horses fanned out either side allowing Hingley's horses to pull the wagon across the road to the entrance of Lee's coalyard.
The wagon was then slowly turned to face up to Dudley. All the horses then took the strain and with shouts of encouragement they slowly hauled their heavy load to the railway goods yard for the next stage of its journey.
Some months later when the Titanic was due to sail on her maiden voyage I went through the procedure of booking a passage on her at Lazenby's, the travel agents in High Street, Dudley. However for domestic reasons I had to cancel the booking.
I left Liverpool ten days after the departure of the Titanic aboard the "Lake Champlain" bound for Montreal. The single fare was £ 6.13s.9d."
