News

News feeds |

Sharp corners caught on

I have written in the past about Newark entrepreneur and property developer Emily Blagg who, in the early years of this century, was responsible for the creation of some of the town's most distinctive buildings.

Both The Park and Lime Grove housing developments off London Road were the work of Mrs Blagg and two of the town's earliest cinemas, the Kinema on Baldertongate, and the Palace on Appletongate were also created by her.

To most people, however, the name of Blagg is probably best known in connection with the company she founded in Newark in 1921 with Mr Frank M. Johnson -Blagg and Johnson Ltd. on Massey Street.

Founded in April 1921 the business, which still thrives today, was originally set up for the manufacture of metal pipes, guttering and other rainwater goods using pre-coated galvanised steel (later aluminium) bought in from foundries across the country.

Over subsequent years Blagg and Johnson diversified into producing a broad range of pipework and steel pressings for which it is still widely known today.

As co-founder of the company, Emily Blagg became a prominent figure around Newark in the Twenties and Thirties, but of her principal partner, Frank Millhill Johnson, relatively little appears to be known.

He was born in Australia and came to England after the first world war.

In between he is said to have spent 20 years working in the pressed steel industry in America.

Quite how Millhill Johnson (as he was usually known) came into contact with Emily Blagg is not known, although his knowledge of engineering was obviously essential for the successful establishment of their new works in Newark.

Once Blagg and Johnson was up and running, company records suggest that Johnson only stayed with the business for about six months.

During that time, however, he was responsible for introducing the component which was to seal the company's reputation - the Jupiter Metal Angle Bead.

The Jupiter Metal Angle Bead was an exterior re-enforcing bead for use on rendered buildings, helping to make the corners sharp and true.

It is now commonplace in modern building design, but in 1921, with Blagg and Johnson holding a patent, it was new and revolutionary.

One of the angle bead's first uses is said to have been at the Palace Theatre on Appletongate, the construction of which had been largely financed by Emily Blagg in 1920 - just a year prior to the establishment of Blagg and Johnson.

From this it is tempting to summise that, having seen a practical demonstration of the angle bead's uses, Emily Blagg was won over into founding a company to produce it.

Whatever the precise circumstances which led to the formation of Blagg and Johnson, it is known that in the years after 1921 the Jupiter Metal Angle Bead turned out to be one of its most profitable lines.

Other products at this time were in the field of rainwater goods - guttering, downpipes, drains - which were also made from pressed steel.

In an article marking the establishment of Blagg and Johnson in April 1921, the Advertiser commented that, after the first world war "there has been a veritable famine in rainwater spouts, gutters, ventilating and stove pipes, sewage disposal and other mains" particularly in the war-damaged areas of France and Belgium.

It was this market, together with a healthy demand at home, that the company originally set out to tap.

Its policy proved successful and by the late Twenties it had developed a parallel business in other pressed steel applications such as sheet metal door and window frames, and all kinds of work in galvanised steel, brass, aluminium, copper, zinc and tin.

Drawing on Mr Johnson's knowledge of the industry in the USA, machinery for the Newark factory - christened the Beacon Bridge Works - had been bought from the Canton Foundry in Ohio and from the business of Messrs. Ohl and Co., of Newark, New Jersey.

The Advertiser said: "One of their machines will make 4,000 feet of pipe per day: plain round pipes, corrugated iron pipes, square pipes, and indeed all varieties."

Blagg and Johnson's factory was built next to the Cross Street railway sidings and was ideally placed, both for the import of raw materials and export of finished goods. Early publicity emphasised the level of efficiency at the works whereby sheet steel, arriving by rail in the morning, could be cut, pressed, painted, and made ready for despatch the same day.

The key to this speed of turnaround lay in the application of the most up-to-date technologies. The factory was powered entirely by electricity (generated on site by a 54hp Crossley gas engine) and the factory building displayed some very advanced concepts in design.

Measuring 100ft long by 60ft wide, the original building (pictured) was of steel frame construction which easily allowed for new sections to be bolted on when the firm needed to expand. Prior to the establishment of the works, Emily Blagg had excavated clay from the site for use in brick-making (the bricks were incorporated in a number of her buildings around the town, including the Palace Theatre).

Part of the original factory (now the steel stores at the back of the site) was built over these excavations, supported on a series of piers. During the second world war this void beneath the factory floor came into its own as a very serviceable air-raid shelter for Blagg and Johnson workers.

Next week I will look at the more recent history of Blagg and Johnson, through the second world war and up to the present day.

In compiling this article I am indebted to Blagg and Johnson company secretary Mr D. J. Slater, technical manager Mr. J. Barlow, and retired managing director Mr Patrick Howell.

<Back