Perhaps one of the most significant pieces of British industry, tucked away in a small unassuming building in Keighley. I've known about the existence of A1 Roper for quite a long time, every (and I mean every) foundry or steelworks has a piece of tackle that has been made here, you see, A1 was in the business of making crucibles and ladles (yes those buckets), a vital part of making or smelting steel - from humongous works such as Forgemasters to small little back street foundries, I have spotted a familiar Roper badge everywhere. It never really crossed my mind where the company was based, as many as Ive seen it was always just a novel touch usually taking a photo of the little brass makers badge on the crucibles handle. I visited a live foundry in the Birmingham area early last 2022, speaking to the owner he was telling us how they were expecting a large delivery of new equipment to support there expansion after recently installing a new arc furnace. A1 Roper appeared on the list he showed us... surely not! It turned out at the time Roper were making equipment. We immediately pinned the building and a little more than a few months later we were yet again walking around an epic industrial relic with our jaws dropped to the floor every corner we turned. Absolutely everything I hoped for, not too big yet not too small, plenty of interesting details, local built machinery and even a mini foundry area. By far up there with one of the best machine shops I have had the pleasure of looking around, very traditional.
A year passed after our visit, and shocking news revealed that Roper had gone into immediate administration. A very sad day for engineering and the UK's industrial history, where do people get there crucibles from now, China ffs!? Anyway I digress, time was ticking to see the epic before stripping commenced.. did anybody take advantage, as far as I'm aware nope! I visited the building in December 2023 and it had all been emptied. Dare I say the community once again completely failed with this one? Well I'm just happy I got my photos before it was too late.
FOR SALE!
Good night sweet prince...
A year passed after our visit, and shocking news revealed that Roper had gone into immediate administration. A very sad day for engineering and the UK's industrial history, where do people get there crucibles from now, China ffs!? Anyway I digress, time was ticking to see the epic before stripping commenced.. did anybody take advantage, as far as I'm aware nope! I visited the building in December 2023 and it had all been emptied. Dare I say the community once again completely failed with this one? Well I'm just happy I got my photos before it was too late.
FOR SALE!
Good night sweet prince...
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