BOAK's Ravenscraig works was a Letaher tanners and Curryers, in the heart of the Walsall Leather district. As I have droned on in previous reports Walsall was known ther world over for it's leather, and this was the start of the chain, where the hides would come in and be turned into workable leather.
The works boasts a fine water tower, which I have bottled on previous visits.
On a daytime explore I noticed lots of features of the building's tannery days that I had missed on my night explore. Low wooden benches, used to spread the hides out over are still in situ, the corners worn by years of work smootimg the hides. Various tools, such as clips for stretching the hides and a century old cork 'buffer' were discovered in the attic. This is amazing when you think the building's last use was a jeans factory.
The ground floor still has a drain channel in the brickwork, to allow blood and fat to drain away when the fresh hides were delivered. And every single rafter has hundreds of nails sticking out of them, again for hanging hides.
The ladder up the tower is fearsome, worn as thin as a knife blade in some places by years of wind and rain. Aided by my ladder buddy Snapple, I plucked up the courage to climb the tower tonight, blessed with cracking views of Walsall... at last I can look at the fine glazed brick lettered tower without a feeling of worthlessness!
The works boasts a fine water tower, which I have bottled on previous visits.
On a daytime explore I noticed lots of features of the building's tannery days that I had missed on my night explore. Low wooden benches, used to spread the hides out over are still in situ, the corners worn by years of work smootimg the hides. Various tools, such as clips for stretching the hides and a century old cork 'buffer' were discovered in the attic. This is amazing when you think the building's last use was a jeans factory.
The ground floor still has a drain channel in the brickwork, to allow blood and fat to drain away when the fresh hides were delivered. And every single rafter has hundreds of nails sticking out of them, again for hanging hides.
The ladder up the tower is fearsome, worn as thin as a knife blade in some places by years of wind and rain. Aided by my ladder buddy Snapple, I plucked up the courage to climb the tower tonight, blessed with cracking views of Walsall... at last I can look at the fine glazed brick lettered tower without a feeling of worthlessness!
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