The Collectors | Bricks | November 2024
- Mike Roy
- Nov 14, 2024
- 4 min read
My name is Mike and I am a collector. "Hi Mike". I have no intention of stopping.
Today I write from the verandah of the Royal Hotel in Riebeek-Kasteel in the Western Cape. I have been told that this is the longest verandah south of the Limpopo. I can believe that claim, it is indeed a very long verandah.
I have long been toying with the idea of doing a series of articles on other collectors or the things they collect. I have met some incredible fellow collectors over the years. We all share at least one trait - "so much to collect and curate, so little time". I think we all drive our life partners (if we are lucky enough to still have one) crazy. My relationship has survived only because we have put a distance of 12 000km between my wife and my various collections.
Facebook has "Groups" for any topic of interest that you can think of. There is very little that is not collectable. To illustrate this I am going to start this series by having a look at a collective of individuals who share an interest in collecting bricks. You heard me right, bricks. Personally if I went in this direction I'd need more than 12 000km of separation between my brick collection and my long-suffering wife, or it would rapidly become 12 000km between my wife and me with my brick collection, if you get what I am saying.
But you know, one shouldn't be too quick to judge. I think I can see the appeal. I am a member of the FB group "UK Bricks and Brickworks Past". I seem to belong to many, many collecting groups, but let's not dwell on that right now. This group has 16 000 members, each and every one a brick connoisseur. Every day I look at posts with splendid images of different bricks. Each brick carries the name of the brickworks where it was made: "Tellwright & Watkins", "Geghill", "Brooke" and "Halifax", to mention but a few. The histories behind each of the respective brickworks are fascinating in their own right.
It is a topic that is not just of interest in the UK. I recall Rita Britz, owner of the wonderful Val Hotel near Greylingstad (not far from Johannesburg) showing me her brick collection outside her beautiful old hotel. I lived there for a few months during COVID, in a house that a hundred years ago used to the surgery of the local doctor. A house made of bricks, coincidentally enough.
I found a couple of bricks for Rita during my searches (for old documents) through abandoned farms in the area. One such search disturbed a wasp nest, but that is also for another story, too painful to relate here. If she reads this perhaps she could send me a photo or two of her South African bricks. Better still go and see for yourself. Adventure guaranteed. Val Hotel, in the hamlet of Val.
Old brickworks themselves are glorious structures. Many survive to this day. I think it is all about the chimney, which is, not surprisingly, generally also made of bricks. Although this begs the question, presumably the chimney is made of bricks from a different brickworks? You get where I am going here, it is the old chicken or the egg dilemma. You need bricks to build a brickworks chimney, but equally you need a brickworks chimney to make bricks. Perhaps it is Catch 22 I am thinking of.
Bricks have featured in South African art. The late David Goldblatt, the incredible photographer, explored the brick theme in some of his photographs. One photograph shows a 1960s image of labourers picking out bricks for reuse from the demolished houses of Indian families who had been forced to move out because of the Group Areas Act. I imagine that many bricks have been repurposed over time, all with stories to tell.
If this area of collecting interests you there is plenty of guidance out there. You could try and find old magazines on the topic like "The British Clay Worker" and the "Clay Record' (Chicago). The Clay Brick Association of Southern Africa might also be able to point you in the right direction. I can't find a Facebook site that focuses on collecting South African bricks. It won't need much encouragement for me to set one up.
I found a lovely article on The Heritage Portal on the history and importance of Kirkness bricks (Pretoria), such bricks having being used in the construction of the UNISA Sunnyside campus, over 100 years ago.
Next you spot a derelict old building, perhaps an abandoned farmhouse, make a point of examining the bricks that are lying around. You may well be trespassing so bear this in mind. If the odd lonely brick finds its way back home with you surely not the end of the world.
Before long, before you even know it, you will be able to stand with a straight back and proudly declare to the world "I am a brick collector". You can rest assured you will not be alone if this happens.
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