The perfect place for a party!

One of the things that we have been thinking about doing for a while is putting on an event with the sole intention of simply celebrating what we can still produce as a country. A party that would not be anti-anything or lament the past but be forward thinking and optimistic. This week we have taken a rather large step to achieving that goal.

Firstly, we have submitted a proposal to our local council requesting the use of our village green, and surrounding fields, to host an event to which we will invite the best of British manufacturing, production and farming. We got some initial feedback to our proposal yesterday and the noises we heard were very positive. We are still in the very early stages of getting this passed but we are happy that there seems to be some willingness from their end.

Secondly, we put a form on our website in an effort to try and get an idea as to whether there was an appetite for such an event from businesses.  We hoped to get 50 companies to register their interest before the 18^th March, when there should be a council meeting to decide our fate. Also, the last thing that we wanted to happen was to put in a load of effort and then find that nobody really wanted to come. It looks like there was no need to worry! We got our 50 businesses signed up within 24 hours and as of today (3 days later) we are at about 100. It is also worth mentioning that a great proportion of these early supporters are very well known British brands who, despite their size, still feel passionate about being truly British.

As a family we are still a little overwhelmed by the support that we have received, but we are perhaps finally starting to believe that one normal British family can perhaps make a difference. Imagine what we could achieve as a collective if we had 100 families, 1000 families, dare it say…. 10,000 families all celebrating what Great Britain can still produce.

What a party that would be… and you are all invited!

To find out more about our plans see here.

You can always rely on the BBC to come up with a though provoking debate and today we found a good one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21667348. The basic gist of this article is asking the question – has the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan begun to become a little annoying?

I put this question to our twitter followers who, almost without exception, agreed that over saturation has indeed ruined a once powerful message. It is something that I too had begun think, independently of the BBC article, after seeing far too much of this stuff around and finding that most of it is made in the Far East.

However, in the name of democracy we would like for you to have your say:

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When we got the offer to go and visit Jacksons we jumped at the chance. They are a very well known Kentish company and one whose work can be seen in every town in the UK (and even abroad).

We left Lucan with Granny and Grandad as we assumed that it was not the best place to have a curious 2 year old running about. We poled up to their 20 acre site at around 10.30 on Saturday morning. It was bitterly cold but we were eagerly awaited by Richard Jackson… the man himself. Richard and his family have owned the business for generations and he proudly showed us some fantastic photos of his father, grandfather and some of their old trucks. First impressions were that not much has changed… how wrong we were.

Richard himself came across as a very relaxed and unassuming sort of guy but with an obvious passion for his products. His company for the 2 hours we were there was very pleasant indeed!

Jackson’s are well known for making wooden fencing and that is the part of the factory we visited first. We entered a large building, like an airplane hanger, housing countless separate work stations. Each station contained a jig and/or a dangerous looking bit of machinery for chopping/shaping wood.   Richard was quick to point out that as it was Saturday there were far less people in than usual but there was still a flurry of activity about the place… perhaps because the boss just walked in!?!

I am a sucker for tools and was fascinated by much of what was going on but what really stuck me was the precision. Richard was keen to point out that quality was at the foremost of what they were trying to achieve. He said that, unlike in other businesses, his guys were not paid per piece and so if something was not up to standard they could discard it. That seemed like a pretty neat policy to us.

The business has grown dramatically under Richards’s tenure, they now have over 200 employees. I took the opportunity to ask him if he still remembers all of his employees names. Rather bashfully, he said that a combination of success and advancing age means that that is becoming more difficult than it used to be.

Jacksons also make acoustic fencing built to minimise the level of noise pollution, say next to a motorway. I asked him if he could recognise his product, over that of a competitor, when he was doing 70 down the M25… he claimed he could but I would like to test this one day!

Now, I am a big fan of wood working but my real passion is dirty, greasy metal work. I was not disappointed. We next entered an equivalent seperate hanger for metal working. The look and feel of this places was very different to where they do the wood stuff. Firstly, it was empty of workers (the metal guys do not do Saturdays… and who can blame them) but also there is  thick layer of black grease over everything and the bitter smell of oil and iron… it was fantastic! I think Emily was too concerned about not touching anything though.

It is in this room that they make gates and bespoke fencing products, even stuff for prisons. I felt somewhat reassured that these guys are responsible for keeping the bad guys behind bars.

Next we visited, what they like to bill as their own “Little Chelsea flower show”. It is a collection of gardens created by designers which they use to showcase some of their products. Admittedly the start of March is perhaps not the best point of the year to really do them justice but it gave us some great ideas for our own garden. They are planning some events in the summer so we will hopefully get in invite back when everything is in full bloom.

Part of our reason to visit was really to get some ideas for sorting out our own garden. We want to create a raised bed 12m long by 1m width running along the side of our house and need to source a simple and cost effective way, of creating it. We also need to sort out the wall in our front garden, which is close to falling down. It would be nice to replace this with an ornate metal fence somehow. They are going to get back to us with some proposals.

After being shown the site we went back inside for a tea and a chat. It was freezing out, so the tea was most welcome.

What we really liked was Richard’s obvious passion for continuing to manufacture in the UK. He said that it was possible that he could save a little bit of money by using foreign contractors to make many of his products but he never will. He said that if his stuff is made on site then he knows the quality will remain and that if there are any issues the buck stops with him.

Ultimately, we had a great morning with Jackson’s and feel that we have met some great allies in promoting British manufacturing.     

After 2 weeks of relentless searching and even pleas for help on national TV, radio and in the press we can now announce the conclusion to our quest to find a British made light bulb. Unfortunately, that last lamp factory in the UK closed 4 years ago, thus bringing an end to a long history of production.

We were about ready to call an end to our search earlier in the week but then a little light at the end of the tunnel presented itself (sorry about the pun), when I found a UK based lamp manufacturer. They produce LED based bulbs and more conventional bulbs and are based up north. I excitedly called their customer service number and asked them the question. I was told that there bulbs were manufactured ‘all over the place, including the Far East’. I asked if any of their bulbs were made in the UK and I was told again ‘They are made all over the place’. I tried to press further saying that if she could tell me what of the range they made in the UK I would be able to buy them. The customer service rep began getting a little testy at this point and flatly refused to be drawn further on the issue.

However, I have also had some recent contact with an industry insider (how very Panorama) who claims to have worked for 3 out of the big four lamp manufacturers in his time. He knew this company very well and confirmed what I expected to be the case – they actually produce no bulbs in the UK at all. Their production is all from China and Germany.

The reaction that we got from this company appears to mirror the reactions that we have had from a number of British companies that do not actually manufacturer here. There seems to be unwillingness by some of them to readily admit that they manufacture abroad. Almost as if they are embarrassed or that they are worried that it will lead to negative press attention. This often means that the reactions we get are, at best unprofessional and, at their worst quite rude.

Light bulbs, along with batteries, are now firmly on our extinction list. So, as we wait for our last remaining bulbs to blow, and plunge a British family into darkness, we busy ourselves by looking for a living British alternative. Oil lamps anyone?

The pic is blurry because he would not keep still!

On a school trip to Hampton Court Palace today (I am a teacher) I though that I would take the chance to buy a little present for our son Lucan. I saw a lovely looking plastic knights armour set and naturally turned it over to search the small print. As with most plastic toys, I sure was that I would see a label that said it had been made in the Far East. You can imagine my astonishment to be presented with an announcement that this particular toy had been manufactured in the UK. It was such a cute set, and I was so excited by this find, that I instantly bought it for Lucan without a further thought.

It was only when I showed the children what I had bought that I saw in horror the dreaded words ‘Made in China’ moulded into the actual pieces of the toy. The cardboard label clearly said ‘made in the UK’ but the actual toy said ‘made in China’!!! Needless to say I was pretty cross with this mislabelling,  and at myself for not having looked more closely. However, I was very lucky that I had not ventured far from the shop and took it straight back. The shop staff were very understanding and were happy for me to swap the plastic set for a lovely wooden sword and scabbard. I had already eyed this up earlier and it had clearer labelling saying ‘Made in Britain’.

This incident is set to make me look much more closely again at labels. What was more concerning though is that it was a very near failure in our project – even if an unwitting one.

On the plus side Lucan seems to love his sword and has spent all evening pretending to be a knight.

– Emily

As Britain continues to receive more bad news about the fragility of its economy we are beginning to wonder if the solution is really all that complex. We are quick to point out that we are not politicians or professional economists but there is a simple calculation that seems to make sense to us… it goes something like this:

If we, as consumers, invested more in British goods it would create a domestic market for our manufacturers. These manufactures could then use this increased revenue to grow, employ more skilled workers, invest in developing new products and expand their ability to export. This would increase the British work force and strengthen of our domestic businesses, thus leading to less strain on the national budget and more income/corporation taxes being collected. The sum total of this would equal a much strengthened economy.

This seems to make sense to us and starts by us all simply looking at the labels when next shopping.

If this is too simplistic a calculation we would genuinely be interested in hearing why?

Just need to finish wallpapering now!

This weekend, after a short hiatus, we have got back to trying to sorting our house & garden out. First on the list was getting our brand new curtain poles hung. The curtain poles, from a company call Living Scheme (www.livingscheme.com) are part of their made to measure range and are hand forged in the UK. They are perhaps a little extravagant but you would be surprised about how the quality really lifts your curtains and your room as a whole. Hanging them was a simple task but we had poles for our dining room, bedroom and Lucan’s room so it took a little time.

Next we moved into the garden and are pleased to say that we have finally managed to get our green house up. The greenhouse itself was second-hand and donated to the Bradshaw’s on the condition that we go and collect it. The only issues with this were that we had to replace most of the screws and clips (sourcing British of course) and it required a little bit of modification to get to sit squarely. The best part of getting the greenhouse up is that we are now set to begin growing our own food.

Last summer I made a hot/cold smoker and today we dusted it off to make do our first smoking of 2013. In our time we have made our own smoked salmon, cheese and sausage  but today we are hot smoking a rack of pork ribs. I will explain briefly how I built the smoker because it was really easy.

To build your own hot smoker you will need:

A metal bin (not plastic for obvious reasons)

a single hob electric cooker

A round metal BBQ Grill

Metal tubular steel

Optional extras:

Electrical wire

2mm sheet steel

Method:

If you want external controls (which I would recommend) then before fixing your cooker drill a hole for the temperature control. My hob had a red indicator light which I simply extended the wiring on, and mounted on the outside of the bin. remove the turny nob on the temp control. Position your cooker so that the temperature control shaft extends to the outside of the bin and replace the nob.

Screw or find some way to permanently affix your stove to the base of the metal bin. My hob had 4 screws that fixed the plasic base the the metal top. I simply removed the plastic base and used the screw holes in the metal top to screw into from the base of the bin.

Optional: Because I extended the wiring for the red LED light I wanted to neaten it all up so I cut a half moon of sheet steel and put a plate covering the gap between the hob and the side of the bin.

Then you simply need a run the mains wire out of the back of the bin and replace the plug. Because I keep my smoker outside I also used rubber gromets to seal the holes around the wires.

Now you need to build your coking platform. I simply used two bits of old tubular steel and fixed them horizontally about 8″ from the brim of the bin with 4 bolts.

That is basically it!

How to hot smoke:

You need a metal bowl and some wood chips (the type of chip really effects the flavour)

Put your wood chips in the metal bowl and place your bowl directly onto the hob. Turn your smoker on. your bowl will begin to heat the wood and produce smoke within minutes. Keep your lid on as much as possible. Prepare your meat, fish or whatever and place them on a round BBQ grill and rest them on the cooking platform.

Your wood chips will last about 2-4 hours before they need replacing with fresh ones.

Cooking times for hot smoking can vary depending on the type of ingredients being cooked but a general rule of thumb is the longer the better!

Brief note on cold smoking: Cold smoking is used to smoke salmon, cheese or things that you do not really want to cook. I use the same bin for this but have an after-market smoke generator which is basically a coiled mesh device that you fill with wood dust. They can be bought for about £20.

Today we are hot smoking pork (Red Tractor Assured) from Jimmy’s farm. The pork is so great that we felt it deserved something really special. We simply coated the pork in Wikin & Sons Barbecue sauce added a little salt and threw it in the smoker with Beech chips. Because this is a big bit of meat I am going to smoke it for about 8 hours today ready for cooking properly in the oven tomorrow. Today is just about getting flavour into the meat!

Here are the results of the smoking and once it was cool it went into the fridge ready for a long slow cook tomorrow. I must admit I think this one will be pretty special. We’ll let you know how it turns out.

We are at the top… below is Esther Ransen and her late husband… just in case!

Well, that is the end of another interesting day in the Bradshaw house. It all started with a small interview we did with The Bromley Times about 2 weeks ago. This piece was published on Monday and today we woke to another maelstrom of media attention.

The highlight of this has to be featuring on the front page of the Daily Express. It is fair to say that when we started our little project we never dreamed that we would be slapped on the front page of a national newspaper! But it did not end there – we were also featured on page 25 of the Daily Star and had another piece on the MailOnline (Click here).

On the back of this Emily was interviewed on BBC Radio Sheffield and we have had additional offers of TV and radio interviews (watch this space!).

We are constantly taken aback by this sort of attention but it is great that we are in a position to celebrate the best Britian has to offer.

Page 14 – Daily Express

Page 5 – Daily Express

Page 25 – Daily Star