Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 151
Disc-cut gauged arch
sets of TLB rubbers
ready for packing and
delivery at the Warfield
works of Thomas
Lawrence (Berkshire)
in the early 1950s.
(Courtesy of Michael
Dumbleton)
was that a highly respected brickmaker who supplied quality rubbers that were
a significant part of the best of English gauged work for over a century ceased
to exist at the stroke of a planner's pen.
Those who taught the author the skills of gauged work would remark that
the qualities of the post-war TLBs, though still very good, were not that of the
rubbers made in the pre-war years. Having on many occasions removed, re-
worked and replaced Victorian and Edwardian red and orange TLBs, this view
is considered well founded.
The prestigious 'TLB' trademark was purchased by the long-established trad-
itional brickmakers W.T. Lamb and Sons, incorporating it into their existing
rubber production at their Pitsham Works, near Midhurst (Sussex). Lamb and
Sons also produced a yellow gault rubbing brick complementing their range,
at their Faversham works in Kent. They produced a TLB red rubber in several
sizes and types - firmer bodied bricks termed cutters, primarily intended for
machine-cut work, and the 'TLBHCP', a softer rubber for traditional bespoke
work and for carving. The latter was originally developed for the repair and
restoration of the Hampton Court Palace cut-moulded chimney stacks; hence
the added initials 'HCP'.
Hyett (1992, 11) explains the difference in the formulation of both of these
types of rubbers in relation to the eventual choice for re-building an ornate
Hampton Court Palace chimney stack:
…we found that the least expensive method of procurement was to use a general
TLB brick, the mechanical properties of which allow it to be substantially cut off
