In 1913 Bagley & Co. embarked upon a new enterprise, installing plant for the production of brawn jars, tongue jars and white flint confectionary jars, the bulk of which were being imported at this time from the Continent. At the same time, a lead glass was produced, intended for decoration by cutting and engraving.

Most of this work had to be suspended during the war years as the plant was controlled by the Ministry of Munitions, and was engaged in producing electric lamp bulbs, tubing and rod, as well as tumblers and other domestic glassware for use in canteens.

After the war a new technique of producing glassware by pressing in a mould had developed, and the first designs followed to some degree the old cut glass forms. Men from the North East, who were already craftsmen in the trade, came to Knottingley and passed on their knowledge and expertise to a locally recruited workforce.

All kinds of artistic shapes in different pastel shades were introduced, and later a decorating department was established where products were etched, enamelled, sand blasted or transfer printed in order to increase their attractiveness.

The company had agents operating on their behalf in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada as well as London, so many lines were exported.

Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the factory on Thursday 21st October 1937 and to mark the occasion a souvenir glass plate was presented to the school children of Knottingley and district, and also to the firm’s employees.

The main ingredient was Belgian sand, commonly known as white sand, which was so fine it glistened, looking almost as if it contained particles of glass. It was mixed with lime and soda ash (nitrate of soda) together with colouring agents as required. The batch-men used a rotating drum similar to a cement mixer before transferring it to bogies, ready for the founder who charged the 10/12 fireclay pots set around the furnace. They were not all in use at the same time, and as one pot needed re-charging with batch, which took around two days to melt, they moved to another pot. All pots were re-charged at the week-end ready for the following week. If a pot cracked it was used for the production of black ware when any spare or surplus ingredients could be added to this mix.

Around 1970 the use of pots was discontinued and replaced by a single tank, so in the latter years only flint or white clear glass was manufactured although it was still popular, but coloured glass was very rarely seen. Articles such as salad or fruit bowls, ash trays, fruit sets, water sets, trinket sets, glasses and battery cell jars all required exceptional skill in the making.

When the Trade Description Act was introduced, the title ‘Crystal Glass’ was not acceptable as true crystal glass contained lead and had to be cut, so the company title was changed to ’White Rose Glass.’

There was no hourly rate of pay for the production workers, and they were paid on a ’piece rate basis’. When a new line was introduced a trial production run set the target for the piece rate, so naturally the workers ensured that production wasn’t high in order to obtain a reasonable wage for a shift. Some of the lines are still recalled as ’good paying jobs.’

The piece rate depended on the ware being produced, and was an amount based on the production of ten items. The tradesmen (gatherer, presser and shaper) were each paid the same amount of every shilling earned. A turner out would get eight or nine pence in the shilling depending on length of service, a fire polisher would get nine pence, and a taker in could expect six pence in the shilling, meaning he would get half the pay of the tradesmen. Overall a reasonably good living wage could be earned.

Production only took place on a rotating two shift system, 6-2 and 2-10, with sometimes a Saturday morning overtime. In an ideal world a team would be assembled and ready to start work promptly at the beginning of a shift, but quite often on the morning shift there would be somebody notorious for not being able to get out of bed that had to ’have a knock up’.

During the glass making process many different faults could be encountered, but with experience and common sense most could be overcome. Concentration, coupled with a constant regularity of speed constituted good practice, and teams worked together regularly with a good deal of respect for each other.

A team usually consisted of seven men:
Gatherer (craftsman)
Presser (craftsman)
Shaper (craftsman - head of team)
Taker Out (semi-skilled)
2 x Fire Polisher’s (semi-skilled - better known in the trade as a ‘sticker up’)
Taker in (unskilled)

GATHERER:
The molten glass was supplied from an oil-fired furnace of about 30 tons. The Gatherer needed to check his iron for straightness, good prongs and a nice clean handle for protection of the hands. If an iron had been used previously all the dried fireclay had to be thoroughly removed otherwise a fresh clay-nose would easily break off. Different sizes of clay-noses were required according to the type of ware and size of mould being used. Good preparation of fireclay for a clay-nose was essential to prevent it from cracking when baked, and it had to be kept frost free, or it could break off whilst gathering causing dirt in the furnace and slowing down production. Fireclay for noses had more crushed stone in the mixture than the clay used for building glory holes, and if it was at all soft a little batch mix was added for better handling. It was always better to make a clay-nose too large rather than too small otherwise there could be a problem gathering enough metal for the weight of the article. For quick baking of a clay-nose the glory hole was best. Gathering was a very old and skilled occupation requiring great care, and knowledge of this art was gained through years of experience. Gathering was practised using a chemical Aroclor, a first class material for training gatherers. After becoming reasonably proficient they were introduced gradually to practical work, before being employed amongst the glassmakers, who were always ready to give them the benefit of their vast experience.

PRESSER:
The Presser’s first task was to set up the press and cooling pipes, depending on the type of ware being produced, but experience soon taught him the size of equipment required for the job. The press needed to be firm standing and set up in the best position for both the gatherer and presser. The working parts of the press would become dry, so within easy reach, the presser had a four-legged stand to accommodate an oil can and his shears. Tubes, clipped to the main air cooling pipe, were controlled by a hand tap. The moulds were preheated in an electric kiln. The Presser would watch the gathered metal drop into the mould and experience told him when to clip the metal with his shears. The mould was then pushed to a guided position under a plunger, and as the press lever was pulled down the metal was squeezed up into the mould. Two or three moulds would be used on the same job, and after a while a mark would appear in the mould, so the presser knew just how much glass was required. After releasing the lever the Turner or Taker Out would push another mould across to the Presser and pull out the mould already pressed. Once removed from the mould with his hook the Taker Out placed the article on an asbestos covered plate.

TURNER or TAKER OUT:
The Turner needed to be fully conversant with all setting up and end of shift procedures, and to have a thorough knowledge of his equipment. He was required to set up the blow pipes in the moulds, and selecting the correct sizes meant the difference between good and bad ware. During production he had to make regular checks for any common faults that needed to be brought to the attention of the Presser.

[photo]Tommy Davies, the ‘Shaper’, finishes off another article (a wild oak vase)

SHAPER:
The ‘Shaper’ was recognised as head of the shop or team, a position attained by going through the trade in all departments. He sat in a chair very much similar to the ‘old bottle maker’s chair.’ He required a first class knowledge of all the equipment including extras used to aid production. Often shapers blocks moulded from steel were used and they required special attention, especially concerning temperature. Sometimes the sticker-up was required to place his ‘punty’ across the arms of the shapers chair, and as the shaping was being performed, he would be rolling the ‘punty’ along the length of the chair arms. In this method the finished article was usually released into a sand box ready for the Taker In.

FIRE POLISHER or STICKER UP:
The Fire Polisher was recognised as semi-skilled on the shop floor. He had to know how to light off the glory hole using a combination of oil and air. The mouth of the glory hole had to be large for big ware, so for smaller ware it needed to be built up with fireclay. Ware not properly polished spoiled its look. Picking up the turned out ware using a spring or clip loaded long metal ‘punty’ he introduced it into the glory hole which reheated the glass for the shaper as well as melting out any sharp edges. This process only took between 10 -20 seconds but during that time he had to continually rotate the article to obtain a good polish. If he had any doubt about which type of ‘punty’ to use the shaper would soon put him right. ‘Punty’ handles had to be kept clean and at times they became hot and needed to be cooled in water.

TAKER IN:
The ‘Taker In’ was usually a boy who had recently left school. Using an asbestos covered carry paddle he carried the finished articles to the lehr for annealing, a process that took approximately two hours. He had to ensure the lehr doors were opened no longer than necessary for any cold draughts resulted in strained ware. At the same time he had to take care putting glass into the lehr making sure the individual articles were given plenty of space with none touching as hot glass chipped more easily. As the men were paid ‘piece rate’ he was also responsible for keeping a count of ware into the lehr.

Ron Gosney

All the accompanying photographs are supplied courtesy of Ron Gosney