Visiting B.B Stanley, a foundry in Walsall

Late last year we accompanied some clients on a visit to B.B Stanley of Walsall, one of the oldest foundries in the country.

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Established in 1832, B.B Stanley is one of only a handful of companies carrying on traditional production of high-quality buckles, lorinery and other brassware items. The nearby Jabez Cliff & Co (aka Barnsby) produces world class leather saddles.

Walsall (situated in the West Midlands) has a history of mining and metal production dating back to the medieval period due to plentiful raw materials available including coal, iron and limestone deposits. Consequently it is home to numerous small workshops and factories producing a variety of items from locks and bolts to rails, buckles and tools.

B.B Stanley still produces using an ancient sand casting method – pouring molten metal in to a sand mould – a process over two millennia old.

During our visit we took some photos of the foundry, its workers and their processes, which we share with you here.

Hand-embossed serial numbering of CHERCHBI bags

We introduced hand-embossed serial numbers to our bags in 2010. Prior to this we had only produced a couple of small runs, no more than 15 of any one bag.

Our batch production runs are still very small; 50 or 60 bags at most. Even so, we feel its good practice to allow our bag manufacturing processes and provenance to be fully understood by our customers, if they so wish.

When interest in Herdwyck No.10 tweed increased, we thought it prudent to record the details of manufacture. When and where the bag was made and by whom, which batch of leather and tweed were used and other details can all be gleaned from the serial number.

The above photo is of a hand embossed serial number on an Archive Messenger bag. The serial is made up of four numbers. The first is the style number – an Archive Messenger is 28. The second number, (1 in the case of the above bag) refers to the batch number. The third refers to the individual bag, and the fourth is the batch total; so this is 50 of 56.

We are confident our bags will last for many years. They might be used within families or passed between friends, becoming well used and worn in. Over time the original story of the bag may be forgotten, but by contacting CHERCHBI and quoting the serial number it will be possible to learn about the provenance of the bag, and hopefully a little of its history too.

English Union: Introducing the SS12 CHERCHBI Collection

We are delighted to share with you the new CHERCHBI collection. Entitled English Union, it will sit alongside our Herdwyck No.10 range.

Archive Messenger

Our design handwriting and robust quality are visible in the new bags, however the union body fabric, which the collection is named after, is new. A union fabric is so-called as it is a union of two fibres, in this case cotton warp and linen weft.

As with our Herdwyck No.10, the cloth is woven in the British Isles. In this case, by Ian Mankin in Burnley, Lancashire; appropriate considering the region’s long associated with both cotton and weaving. The cloth is also waterproof bonded in Lancashire.

While some favourite styles from Herdwyck have been reinterpreted in the new collection, we also introduce the new Gazette Satchel, Archive Messenger and the Docket Zip Pouch (below). Meanwhile, the popular Norwich Satchel has an update for this season and now features straps at the back for attachment to bicycle saddle or handlebars (above).

We sincerely hope that you like English Union and look forward to hearing your thoughts.