Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to copy and frustrate the bricklayers using them, demanding unnecessary time
in finishing and made all the more difficult because of the harder rubbers.
Modern purpose-made units, for on-site assembly, are not always formed true
to the style of the period, particularly gauged flat, or camber, arches that are
often set out and bonded to a standard workshop format. Such practices are of
particular concern, as the skills of the brickmaker are clearly not those of the
qualified bricklayer with experience of working with historic gauged brickwork.
Furthermore, and especially in historic brickwork conservation or restor-
ation, there is nearly always the need to hand-finish rubbers to match the
unique facing techniques of the surrounding original work. Mechanised work
looks what it is, devoid of a craftsman's touch, and can appear dead in its lack
of tooling and abrading styles or, as former Senior Lecturer in Brickwork at
Willesdon College Of Technology, Bob Baldwin remarked 'It has no heart…'
(Baldwin, 2004) (Fig. 152). It is the very antithesis of what gauged work, as the
finest expression of the art of a bricklayer, is meant to represent.
Figure 152
Hand-carved egg and
dart moulding by the
author behind one that
has been machine cut.
Combine these points with the aforementioned problem of differing texture
when matching modern rubbers to historical originals and one can appreciate
how the character of charm of quality Stuart, Georgian, or Victorian brickwork
can readily be lost (Figs 153 and 154).
It is entirely understandable and proper that brick companies will seek to
increase productivity and some companies will produce rubbers that are better
suited to their own particular in-house cutting and moulding techniques and
modern site demands. We must, however, retain a balance. Pre-cut work can and
