A Word From Our Leader(s)
offend then face disciplinary action. Just
The nice weather has come and we’ve taken off
stock over the past weeks, not much but at least
it’s a start.
I’ve chatted with most of you over the last few
weeks about the change of culture that now
seems to be spreading from the main man (Alan
Murray) down to his loyal subjects (us).
The main change is that we do jobs safely and
not rush and cut corners to get the job running at
all costs. So please think first. I have told you
about two people that have been sacked because
they contravened Health and Safety procedures
even through their intentions were probably
good. Gentlemen we need to work as a team it’s
not a finger pointing exercise but if you are
unlucky enough to be caught then the precedents
have been set, so please think before you act.
The wearing of safety glasses are to become
mandatory in June, I have pairs of glasses plus
cases to handout so that you may get to use them
before the mandatory period starts, your
cooperation will be appreciated but gents its non
negotiable after June.
I’ve mentioned the Swillington team ethic on a
number of occasions before, and I must stress
that we have 38 people on site and we need
everyone to be pulling in the same direction. So
it worries me that some people are abusing the
rest of the team by having longer than their
allotted breaks, these are set at 30 minutes only
and going down to the showers in some instances
35 minutes early, well gents this has to stop.
People found doing this will in future find them
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selves losing money and if they continue to
remember it’s your mates who have to take up
the slack. On another note, the survey results are
back and it concerns me that people think quality
and the customer are not affected by your
actions.
QUALITY IS EVERYONES
RESPONSIBILITY.
This starts as soon as you leave the changing
rooms. If you see something that’s not quite right
PLEASE SAY. The knock on effect could be;
• Loss Of Bonus
• Customer Complaint
• Loss of customer
• Ultimately loss of works
We have a bright future with the new works but
we need to stay focused on the job in hand
working as a TEAM taking pride in our
performance and our works. Swillington has a
good name which has taken years to build but it
can all go wrong in a heart beat if we don’t pull
together. We want the good name to carry on for
years to come.
Anyway on a brighter “note”, the 3 peak
challenge is here again, and a team lead by the
veterans Den Fox, Ian Ball, David Zinis and
supported by youngsters, N Hunter, L Ruecroft
and M Schofield.
Please sponsor the lads they are doing it for a
worthy cause and they have a support team this
year, they are, One Peak Billy Morton and Who
ate all the pies Sean Ruecroft. Good Luck Lads
Making Bricks At Swillington
People have been saying that the “Jungle
Telegraph” has just been getting sillier and sillier
well I have had a total rethink in this issue and
have decided to adopt a much more “sensible”
approach going forward, so with this I want to
take you through the essential steps required to
make bricks at Swillington.
There are five basic steps to making bricks in
general and here at Swillington things are no
different.
1. WINNING. The first step is called
winning, or mining the clay.
 Before the steam shovel was invented, our brick
makers here at Swillington had to dig for the clay
with hand shovels. Obviously it was preferred if
clay was found just under the topsoil in order to
minimize much of the hard work.
In those days the digging was usually done in the
autumn. That way, the clay could be left exposed
to the freeze-thaw cycles of the coming winter.
The freezing and thawing over and over would
help break the clay down. That made the clay
softer and easier to work by hand in the spring.
The winter exposure not only made the clay soft
but also removed unwanted oxides. Oxides are
minerals that have combined with oxygen and
The clay was then removed from the soaking pit
are considered undesirable impurities in brick
or pug mill by our temperer, Terry Capper who
making.
carried it to the moulding table to begin the next
Now at
step in the process.
Swillington we
3. MOLDING. The third step is molding.
dig for clay
Our assistant brick moulder was called Billy
using very
Bulsh*t. This job is to prepare a lump of clay (a
modern diggers
clot) and give it to the brick moulder.
and very
The brick moulder, Darren Bell is the key to the
experienced
operation and the head of the team. He stands
drivers like Don
(sometimes sits) and works at the moulding table
Fox we also
for twelve to fourteen hours a day. With the help
have experienced people like Steve Todd who
of the assistants Billy Bull and The German,
build huge stockpiles of exotic chemicals like
Darren the
blue black spray to add to the clay to achieve
brick
other colours other than red.
moulder
2. PREPARATION. The second step is
can make
preparation of the clay
80,000 to
By spring the clay is suitable to be worked by
90,000
hand. It is then ground into a powder and sifted
bricks in a
through a screen to remove stones. The next
day. He
process before we had Badger the clay was
takes a clot
placed into a soaking pit where it was mixed
of clay,
with water to obtain the proper consistency for
rolls it in sand and "dash" it (toss it forcefully)
moulding. Next, the clay was kneaded with the
into a mould. A mould is a wooden frame that is
hands and feet to mix all the elements together.
the shape of a brick. The clay was then pressed
This step was called tempering or pugging and
into the mould with his hands. The excess clay is
was the hardest work of all. In 1993 The Badger
scraped from the top of the mould with a flat
driven pug mill (above) were installed here at
stick called a strike that had been soaking in
Swillington to make this task easier.
water. This excess clay is then returned to the
clot moulder to be reformed into later bricks.

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 Making one brick at a time has an advantage
since even Mick Brayford and
others like him can easily carry
a single brick to the drying
area. Beech wood is the
preferred material for
constructing the mould because
it is believed that the clay does
not stick to it. The top of the
mould is laminated (covered by
a thin layer) with iron to
prevent wear. The mould is also coated each time
with sand so the bricks will slide out easily.
These types of bricks are referred to as "sand
struck bricks."
The next person on the team is called an off-
bearer. The off-bearer – David Zinnis walks up to
the moulding table, removes the filled mould and
takes it to a drying area on either a pallet or
wheelbarrow. There it is placed on a level bed
of sand. David removes the brick from the
mould, stacks the brick to dry, then returns the
empty mould to the brick-moulding table. At the
moulding table he wets the mould and coats it
again with sand. It is now ready for the brick
moulder, Darren Bell, to form the next brick.
4. DRYING. The fourth step is drying.
Bricks being wheeled to the car park and
stacked for drying by David Zinis
Notice the colour of the bricks at this stage.
The bricks are then left to dry for about two
days. After about two days they are turned over.
This is done to facilitate uniform drying and
prevent warping. During this time tools called
dressers or clappers are used to straighten the
bricks and obtain a smooth surface.
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After about four days in dry, hot weather (this
can take longer in winter or
when there is a lot of rain
but future global warming
should make this process
more reliable) the bricks
are sufficiently hard to
allow them to be stacked
on end. A finger's width
space is left between each
one to allow air to flow between them. This
helps them dry faster. The stacking area is called
the car park since it also is used to park the
workers vehicles. The bricks are sometimes
covered by a roof or with straw to protect them
from the rain or harsh sun. After about two
weeks the bricks were ready to be fired.
5. FIRING. The fifth step is firing, or
burning.
Simply heating bricks by placing them in
an open fire is not sufficient for firing bricks.
They would not get hot enough.
In order to obtain the required
temperature they have to be
baked in a kiln. Since our bricks
are made on the same site as
where the clay is mined, a kiln
has to be constructed each time.
If fired bricks are left over from
a previous batch, they were used
to construct the outer walls of
the kiln. The surface is daubed
with mud to hold in the heat.
If no previously fired bricks were available,
the kiln is constructed entirely of green bricks.
Green bricks are raw, unbaked bricks. The
bricks are stacked in such a way that they act as
there own kiln. Wood and coal are used for fuel.
Even after drying for more than two weeks in the
air, the green bricks still contained 9-15% water.
For this reason the fires are kept low for the first
24-48 hours while the bricks continue to dry. At
this time steam rises from the top of the kiln in
huge white clouds-we call this steam "water
smoke" and it is recycled through the office
central heating system to keep Mick Lardner our
manager warm
 When the steam gases finally clear it is the
sign to increase the intensity of the fire. If this is
done too early, steam forms inside the bricks and
causes them to explode. Intense fires are
maintained in the fire holes around the clock for
about a week. It takes that long to reach the
required temperature of around 1,850 degrees F.
Reaching the correct temperature is very
important. When a brick reaches the correct
temperature it begins to 'vitrify.' Vitrification
happens when sand and other materials in clay
melt and fuse together. This changes the clay into
a glass-like
material.
Properly
fired bricks are
very strong in
compression
strength.
Compression is
the squeezing
force on a material. In the case of bricks, most
of the compression force comes from their
weight on top of each other. Bricks that do not
get hot enough during firing are weak in
compression strength and will crumble under
load. Bricks that become too hot will turn too
glass-like and become too brittle. The trick for
the brick maker was to get them just right. The
correct temperature was just at the point when
vitrification started and this is why we require
the supervision of Mick Brayford who is our
manager.
Mick Brayford has to rely on years of knowledge
and experience to guess when the bricks were
done. When he says the time is right the fire
holes of the kiln are bricked over, the fire was
put out, and the firing process ended. It then
takes more than a week for the kiln to cool down
enough to remove the bricks.
When cool, the kiln is disassembled and the
sorting process begun. If green bricks had been
used to make the kiln, those bricks from the
outermost walls are kept to be used again in the
next kiln.
Some bricks that are closest to the fire
received a natural wood ash glaze from the sand
that fell into the fires, became vaporized, and
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deposited on the bricks. These bricks are usually
used in the interior (inside) courses of walls
because of their attractive, slick and shiny
appearance – they are called Doyley Smooth.
Bricks that were severely over-burned, cracked,
or warped were called Clinky Rustic and are
used for garden walls or garden paths. They are
called Clinky Rustic because of the clinking
sound they made when they were struck
together. They were too glassy and much too
brittle to be used in buildings
Those that were only slightly under-fired had
a salmon color and have porosity (tiny air holes)
that helps to insulate a structure. These bricks
were placed on the innermost courses of a wall
these are called Aero Multi (after the chocolate
bar). This is an example of an Aero Multi
Finally, the remaining bricks are carefully
chosen for our premier super-
duper multis because they are
the strongest and most durable
the greater number we make of
these the happier our supreme
manager Mr Lardner is who
overlooks the whole operation.
The various bricks are then
stacked in our huge brickyard by
Andy and Gary Smith in
between their many other scams.
Interview With Nick Hunter
Nick kindly agreed to this interview provided no
picture
accompanied
it….
Hi er, I am
Nick Hunter
and I came to
work here
straight from
school on 4th
April 1996
after working
here for 3 weeks for my work experience the
summer before while I was at school.
Initially I was set on working with “Badger” who
was responsible for setting me on the straight and
narrow, Badger was a bit wild in them days, his
hair was all multicoloured, I think I just
witnessed the tail end of his mad punk days.
Over the last 10-11 years it has got much stricter
here at Swillington, we can no longer race our
remote control cars on top of the stockpile and
the toy cupboard seems to be permanently locked
now Darren Bell has the key.
Steve Todds hair has also disappeared over the
last decade, he used to have fancy Bobby
Charlton quiffs but he shaved it all off around the
time that I worked in the specials.
I think my funniest moment here was when Ian
Ball cut Dennis Fox’s (RIP) hair and made a
right fu… er mess of it. Ian Ball had cut it all
nice and neat with the shaver using a No1 or No2
I can’t remember which.
He then told Den Fox that he was just going to
“Square it off” at the back and took the
attachment off the cutter like you do but then it
all went a bit wrong which was a combination of
Ian Balls Skill with the shaver and Dennis Fox’s
deformed head.
The result was at the back it was bald from just
level with the top of his ears, Ian then went on to
shave round Dens ears and this resulted in a sort
of hexagonal shaping which looked really rather
ridiculous.
Ian Ball was my apprentice at cutting hair in
them days and Den was his first live guinea pig,
needless to say it was quite a short career for him
I think my worst memory since I have been here
has got to be getting laid off after 6 months but I
then got reinstated and ended up making the teas
and cleaning the showers.
I spent two years as “Canteen Manager”, in fact
both Billy and Neil Chamberlain had done this
job in the past, back in those days it was just
soup and bread rolls a bit like been in the nick.
Mel Rob used to really love the powdered soup, I
don’t know if he has been in the nick before,
sometimes you got to wonder.
Following my stint as canteen manager I was
transferred into the specials plant which was
subsequently closed down so I went on the Auger
to become one of Steve Todd’s men before
finally being demoted on to the kiln.
What do I think of our managers, well Mick
Brayford’s ok I guess, I suppose it’s a case of,
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“better the devil you know”, he can be really nice
sometimes when he has one of his fatherly
moments and puts his arms around you.
I cant say much about Mick Lardner cos I owe
him a fiver now Leeds are to be relegated, I
suppose he is ok too.
If I won the lottery I would disappear off to
Spain, live life fast with fast women, gamble a
lot and drive big fancy cars.
“Life after Death?” what a load of crap, made up
by people with a very vivid imagination and if its
so good how come you don’t see queue’s of
vicars lining up to top themselves?
Oh my nickname, Don Fox named me “Dougie”
when I first came because I left school with
absolutely no qualifications, I learned much
more here than I ever did at school.
My favourite music is Oasis and Robbie
Williams and my hobbies are Golf and Rugby, I
am still single with two children a boy and a girl.
One last thing is that I want to join Steves
Amway Corporation but he is keeping it all to
himself along with his little horse racing tips.
Three Peaks…
Sunday 6th May is the big day for a few of us
who dare venture the 23.5 mile sponsored walk
which takes us up nearly 1600m (5200ft) with 3
mountains.
The mountains are Whernside the tallest at 736m
(2414ft)
then
Ingleborough at 723m (2371ft) and the smallest
being the first we will conquer on the journey
Pen-y-ghent at 694m (2276ft).
Along with my 12 year old son, Luke and 13
year old niece, Rebecca, I will be accompanied
by Dennis Fox (RIP) who has organized it all,
Ian Ball, Lea Ruecroft, Daniel Lumb, Nick
Hunter and David Zinis.
The event is in aid of the worth cause the Last mth pos Name Quantity
McMillan Nurses and the sponsorship money █ 1 1 73 Class B Hanson 362,496
raised will be matched by Hansons (up to £500), ▲ 3 2 65 Manchester 187,776
so far I have managed to get nearly £150 from ▼ 2 2 73 City Multi 141,696
the wagon drivers who come for loading and my ▲ 6 4 65 Swaledale Drag 125,164
▼ 4 5 65 Cream Smooth 82,264
friends at Alcoholics Anonymous, Luke has close
▼ 5 6 65 Ryedale Drag 73,736
to £200 and Rebecca at last count around £110. ▲ 8 7 73 Farmhse Brwn 57,216
The other day I managed at 14 mile walk on the ▲ 14 8 73 Golden Brown 52,992
Canal bank near where I live and returned with ▲ 11 9 65 Golden Brown 46,104
my legs aching so I feel I might struggle a bit, in ▲ 15 10 65 Ridings Multi 42,940
fact I have took my dog for so many walks just NEW 11 65 Swaledale Rust 42,488
lately that when I shout walkies now she just ▲ 13 12 73 Class B Jewson 41,472
hides. ▼ 10 13 65 City Multi 36,160
Dennis Fox has warned me not to follow David NEW 14 65 Derwent Drag 31,640
Zinis since he tends to go miles out of the way NEW 15 65 Farmhse Brwn 31,640
looking for little books to sign, but I must thank Quick Joke
David Zinis for giving me a lift to Horton In The Tax Collector
Ribblesdale, I didn’t want to risk taking my car At the end of the tax year, the Tax Office
just in case I couldn’t drive home after. sent an inspector to audit the books of a
Anyway I will be taking my camera and will synagogue.
make a DVD of our trip plus a full report of the While he was checking the books he
turned to the Rabbi and said: "I notice you
memorable event for the future
buy a lot of candles. What do you do with
Works Statistics… the candle drippings"?
Week Com Produced Sold Stock "Good question", noted the Rabbi. "We
19/03/2007 451,584 361,520 15,666,560 save them up and send them to the
26/03/2007 454,416 354,110 15,766,866 candle makers, and every now and then
02/04/2007 447,748 385,896 15,828,718 they send us a free box of candles".
09/04/2007 269,953 329,032 15,765,775 "Oh", replied the auditor, somewhat
16/04/2007 460,800 391,082 15,821,920 disappointed that his unusual question
23/04/2007 427,898 476,138 15,773,680 had a practical answer.
Positions Name Total But on he went, in his obnoxious way:
▲ 2 1 Caveman 84,804 "What about all these biscuit purchases?
▲ 3 2 Stumpy 77,141 What do you do with the crumbs"?
▲ 6 3 Archers 61,574 "Ah, yes", replied the Rabbi, realizing that
█ 4 4 Buddy Holly 47,260 the inspector was trying to trap him with
▲ 7 5 Bruce Forcyth 38,558 an unanswerable question. "We collect
▼ 5 6 Ken & Barbie 31,313 them and send them back to the
NEW 7 CX55AEA 31,234 manufacturers, and every now and then
█ 8 8 Piggys Friend 30,406 they send a free box of holy biscuits".
█ 9 9 Greyhound 29,818 "I see", replied the auditor, thinking hard
NEW 10 V2RBC 27,992 about how he could fluster the know-it-all
NEW 11 Dicky 27,292 Rabbi.
NEW 12 Y473PDN 26,504 "Well, Rabbi", he went on, "What do you
In April we broke our weekly record of 458,000 do with all the left over foreskins from the
which was set in February to 476,000 which is circumcisions you perform"?
obviously since I started keeping records. "Here, too, we do not waste", answered
Also in the drivers, Caveman and Stumpy battle the Rabbi.
it out for the pole position "What we do is save up all the foreskins
Top 15 For Apr 2007 and send them to the Tax Office, and

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about once a year they send us a
complete dick".

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