Pleased as Punch

Interesting day today! When I was browsing the English heritage website a couple of days ago, I found that there was a silver factory preserved in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham available to visit on a guided tour.  Phone out!  Book it!  Today we visited!

JW Evans and Sons was the family business started in 1881and it is one of the most complete surviving historic factories in the Jewellery Quarter.  The workshops are full of the original drop stamps and fly presses, not to mention thousands of dies for the manufacture of silverware such as trays, candlesticks, salt cellars, mustard pots, spoons, punch bowls, to mention a few.  English Heritage took on the property and all its contents in 2008 and opened to the public in 2011.  It was a brilliant visit!

This shot is an unfinished pressing of a lion's head used to decorate a punchbowl and hold the handle.  In the extras you can see a finished pressing and the copy of one of their order books.

We then did the long and interesting walk home down the canal to Smethwick, where we picked up the train.  Cute little goslings on the canal are available on Facebook!

Proud to be a Brummie!