Collard and Collard medal semi grand piano

This is the keyboard of the piano that was a 21st birthday present to my great-grandmother in December 1906. I have just checked the serial number online and it looks like the piano was built in the early 1880s. This probably means that it was (at least) second-hand when my great-grandmother took ownership of it.

I have always wondered how it was transported from Lancashire to Northumberland when my great-grandparents set up home in Hexham around 1910. I'm guessing by train?

I have learnt this afternoon that Collard and Collard's factory in Camden Town was close to the canal, and this helped with transportation of pianos around the country. As noted in Piano manufacture in Camden Town:

'Camden Town was a very suitable centre for piano manufacture. The Regent’s Canal could be used for transporting heavy and bulky goods like pianos cheaply, either to the west and so to the complete canal system which covered the Midlands, or east to the docks and from there all over the world. Camden Town was also near the rail-heads of King’s Cross, Euston and St Pancras, so transport conditions by water and rail were ideal. Soon the area became a centre of the piano industry. There was only one bridge over the Thames so piano manufacture south of the river would always be uneconomic.'

Apart from researching the history of pianos online, today Mr hazelh and I travelled back to Edinburgh by train after our long weekend away (and are now enjoying the peace and tidiness of our flat). Oh, and two more mice (we hope different ones) were released into the wild this morning.

Exercise today: a bit of walking (8,292 steps).