History
The Davy and United Engineering company was established by, and initially called Davy Brothers in 1830, becoming a big name in British engineering. Initially the company produced rolling mills for steel plants, and in the early 1900s diversified into other related machinery. This included the infamous Davy Press, and later, construction of steelworks and plant for various steel processes.
The main engineering resources of the company were at the Darnall works in Sheffield. Originally established in 1921, they comprised an extensive pattern shop, a heavy iron foundry capable of producing castings of up to 70 tons each, five light, medium, and heavy machining bays, and light and heavy erecting shops. Today the foundry no longer exists and most of the machinery has been modernised, but the building is pretty much as it was when built almost 100 years ago.
Our Visit
@The Amateur Wanderer and I visited back in June 2018 and found the place to be pretty much how it was left on the last day. More recently I was surprised to see it's still pretty much the same. If you like really big lathes, get yourself up there.
Exterior of the building
Starting off with the smaller bits of machinery...
The machines get bigger and bigger as we make our way through the building.....
Next, we move on the machining floor - probably the largest example of which I'll ever see...
The machines may have been modernised, but the structure around them has remained pretty much untouched...
With a few typical bits of workers humour and decor...
Finally we find one of their own products, the Davy Press. This hydraulic forging press is probably the oldest machine in the building and would likely have been built at another of Davy's foundries, Park Iron Works in Sheffield.
