Many of you maybe familiar with Nailsea Glass. The Nailsea Glassworks were a large concern for almost 100 years until 1873. There is very little to see nowadays other than a grass mound that has recently been lanscaped. The majority of the works were excavated and then covered in sand. In 2000 a Tesco supermarket was built on the site. This statue of a glassblower is on the corner outside the supermarket.
One is reminded of the past massive industry by these two friezes as one enters the shop.
So much changes over time and so much is forgotten.
How wonderful that they at least preserved something in the friezes - and the statue. I had to look up Nailsea glass - what an interesting and pretty product
ReplyDeleteThey used to make those amazing barley sugar twist walking sticks - always seemed to me to be an unusual product to make of glass. Rolling pins, paperweights and stems for glassware I could understand. I guess the walking stick was more of a cane for a dandy rather than of practical use.
ReplyDeleteI guess they were ornamentals. Didn't Gran have one at one time?
Deleteinteresting - my local Tesco is on the site of an old wire factory - it has a frieze but no statue
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Most people round here don't realise that there used to be a brickworks very close by here. We need a statue too!
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