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Just been watching a documentary called "Four Little Girls" killed during the Birmingham riots.

This was one of the causes and fortunately the start of the end of it in the Western world.

The Anti-Slavery Campaign in Britain

Although slavery had been a feature of human life since at least as early as 2,600 B.C.E. in Egypt, it became an extremely lucrative European trade in the late fifteenth century. It did not take Britain long to cash in on the trade in human beings. Ships left British west coast ports like Liverpool and Bristol laden which firearms, gunpowder, metals, alcohol, cotton goods, beads, knives, mirrors - the sort of things which African chiefs did not have, and which were often of very poor quality. Many of the cheaper goods were made in Birmingham and were known as "Brummagem ware". These goods were exchanged for slaves - people who had been captured in local tribal wars perhaps, or who had been taken prisoner especially for this trade.

The slaves were then packed tightly into the slave ships, so that they could hardly move. Often they were chained down; they were allowed little exercise and they were kept in horrendous conditions in the hold of the ship. By the middle of the eighteenth century British ships were carrying about 50,000 slaves a year. Royal Navy sailors said that they could smell the stench of a ship carrying slaves anything up to 10 miles downwind. The slavers sailed from Africa across the Atlantic. Any slaves who had managed to survive the journey were taken to shore and were sold to plantation owners in the West Indies, the southern colonies of America (Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia) where they spent the rest of their lives working to produce goods like cotton, tobacco, sugar cane and coffee.

The slave-produced goods were shipped back to Britain - the "Mother Country" - where they were manufactured or refined (if necessary) and then either sold domestically or re-exported at a vast profit. The slave trade brought in huge amounts of money to Britain, and few people even knew what was going on in the plantations, let alone cared. Men who owned plantations in the West Indies, including Sir John, father of William Gladstone, formed an important political group which opposed the abolition of the slave trade.

One of the earliest voluntary organisations in Britain which was devoted to a single cause was the anti-slavery movement. In 1787 a committee of twelve was appointed, including six members of Society of Friends (Quakers). The Quakers had set up a committee of their own in 1783 in order to obtain and publish "such information as may tend to the abolition of the slave trade." Two other members of the committee were Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp. These men in particular went to great lengths to collect evidence, finding out precisely how little space was allotted to slaves on the ships and similar details. They began to publish pamphlets to stir public opinion against the trade. In parliament, both Charles James Fox and William Pitt the Younger agreed with the aims of the committee but some of the most powerful economic interests of the day opposed them. Consequently the committee had to concern itself with direct political action. Since Quakers were barred from becoming MPs until after 1828, their spokesman in parliament became the Evangelical William Wilberforce, author of Practical Christianity, one of the century's most widely read devotional works.

In 1793 Britain went to war against the French following the French Revolution and the cause of the slave-traders appeared to be a patriotic cause: the trade was seen as the "nursery of seamen." Abolition of the trade was postponed although Wilberforce regularly continued to propose legislation for abolition. His moral case was very strong and the evils of the trade were generally admitted. In 1807 the slave trade in the British colonies was abolished and it became illegal to carry slaves in British ships. This was only the beginning: the ultimate aim was the abolition of slavery itself.

In 1815 at the Congress of Vienna, European statesmen condemned slavery but nothing was done to improve the conditions of slaves. The campaign to abolish slavery continued in Britain. Wilberforce and his co-workers held meetings all over the country to try to persuade people that abolition should be supported. They discovered that many people were unaware of the horrors of slavery and that others were not interested in something which happened thousands of miles away. They also met opposition from the West India lobby.

After 1830 when the mood of the nation changed in favour of a variety of types of reform, the anti-slavery campaign gathered momentum. In 1833 Wilberforce's efforts were finally rewarded when the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed. Wilberforce, on his death-bed, was informed of the passing of the Act in the nick of time. The main terms of the Act were:

all slaves under the age of six were to be freed immediately
slaves over the age of six were to remain as part slave and part free for a further four years. In that time they would have to be paid a wage for the work they did in the quarter of the week when they were "free"
the government was to provide £20 million in compensation to the slave-owners who had lost their "property."
In the West Indies the economic results of the Act were disastrous. The islands depended on the sugar trade which in turn depended on slave labour. Ultimately, the planters were unable to make the West Indies the thriving centres of trade which they had been in the eighteenth century. However, a moral victory had been won and the 1833 Act marked the beginning of the end of slavery in the New World.

William Wilberforce was from Hull and they have statue to him outside the Town Hall, or at least thats were it used to be.

Yorkshiremen have had a profound influence on world history, which unfortunately is not recognised in their own country.

You forgot to mention "toad in the hole" and Black pudding Tdog. I suppose that is because:-

For many years in England the Yankee was compared with the yeoman of Yorkshire, who was also a wanderer, given to swapping. This ancient and inveterate practice among the northern Saxons was said to have driven hordes of invaders from the country. Many of the original Pilgrims came from Yorkshire.

There was no messing aound with a Yorkshiremen's weapons.

Rotherham and the Battle of Trafalgar

Rotherham was once the cannon making capital of Great Britain. In October 1970 an old cannon was rescued from a smuggler patrol ship on the sea bed off the North Devon coast. The cannon had been made in Rotherham almost two hundred years earlier. Made in Masborough, between 1771 and 1820, the cannon of the Samuel Walker Company were the pride of the British navy. Eighty of the cannon found on Nelson’s flagship Victory were made by Samuel Walker in Rotherham. They actually took part in the battle of Trafalgar and these cannon can now be found all over the world. They have turned up in South America, Antigua, Australia, Quebec, Tobago and even St. Helena in the South Atlantic. The remarkable thing is that all of this fascinating history has faded from local memory.

Few people appear to know that Rotherham was once the main producer of cannon in the United Kingdom. They were made in large numbers by the Samuel Walkers Company and up to 1,000 people were employed in their production. By 1795, they were making something like 22,000 cannon a year. Periodically, the Walkers held cannon tests, with up to 26 cannon lined up in a field, each of them being fired at least three times each. It must have been an incredible spectacle, and one that shook the town to its foundations. People would come from all over the country just to wit ness the spectacle of cannon testing in Rotherham.

PS Black pudding and tripe was available after each dys shooting!!

JimBert, I can't confirm it but maybe you can.

A cannon was cast or wrought (hammered) from pure iron, (super-accurate long ones from brass) and the trick was boring it parallel.

This means you are going to need a flow of cooling water and super sharp bits. plus a power source to rotate the work-piece.

I know Rotherham and the river Rother is still a big powerful waterway. Is this the secret of Rotherham's success?

I don't know how they managed it, but the figures quoted mean approximately 60 guns were made per day.

No wonder parts of Yorkshire were full of grime

Guns found on the wrecks of sailing ships were almost always made out of either iron or bronze. Of these, wrought-iron guns are the most rare, coming from the earliest shipwrecks. Bronze guns usually indicate an important ship, such as a galleon or warship, while cast-iron guns are far and away the most common. Both cast-iron and bronze guns were made in the same way, but wrought-iron guns were constructed using a completely different principle, using forging rather than casting techniques.<O:P> </O:P>

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The earliest guns found on shipwrecks were made from wrought-iron, although even earlier a form of gun was produced on land using bronze “vase-shaped�?chambers (see Artillery 101). Wrought-iron guns were made from long iron strips, hammered to form flat rods. These were curved slightly by hammering them into shape on a forge, then they were grouped together to create a hollow circle, a bit like the staves of a wooden barrel. The founders probably used a wooden former to wrap the staves around, although we know almost nothing about how these guns were made, apart from what we can learn by looking at examples which survive today.Once the gunmakers had finished their circle of wrought-iron staves, which were often six feet long or so, the next stage was to fit on the rings which held the gun together. A series of wrought-iron cylinders or rings (also called “hoops and bands�? were made with their inner hole the same size as the diameter of the bundle of staves. These were then heated up, then slipped over the end of the bundle of staves. They were hammered down one after to other, forming an outer tube of cylinders and rings. As these cooled they shrunk, forming a tight seal over the staves beneath them, forming a sort of protective jacket or outer tube. When the gunmakers had finished, they had produced a long, thin wrought-iron tube, open at both ends.<O:P> </O:P>

The next stage was to make a “powder chamber�?to hold the main charge of the gun. This was often built the same way, although very crude cast-iron examples have also been found. The main feature of these was that unlike the main barrel, the end was closed off, creating a flat face. A “touch-hole�?was drilled through the metal at the bottom of the side of the chamber, so that the gunpowder charge inside could be fired off. Often these powder chambers were constructed with an inner lip at the mouth which was a little smaller than the end of the main wrought-iron tube. This was so that when the chamber was set up against the main barrel, it would form a tight seal. It was also common to fit these powder chambers with lugs and rings, so they could be easily lifted in and out of the carriage when the gun was being reloaded. The same type of chamber was used in swivel guns, although the whole thing was designed on a smaller scale.The next stage was to mount these wrought-iron forged guns on a carriage. Unlike cast guns, the barrel was more fragile, and needed a greater deal of support. The gunmakers of the 15^th and 16^th centuries who made these weapons came up with the idea of sinking the barrel into the carriage itself, creating a kind of reinforced wooden cradle that became an integral part of the gun itself. A large tree trunk or slab of wood was used (favored timbers were oak, elm and even mahogany), cut into the shape needed for the carriage. The carpenter would then carve out a slot or trough to take the gun, mirroring the shape of the cylinders and rings of the outer barrel. Once it was finished, the wrought-iron barrel would be half-sunk in the carriage, which also contained a recess for the powder chamber, plus an extra space behind it. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

The barrel was then strapped into place. Sometimes the gunmakers used rope, but more commonly wrought-iron bands were hammered around the gun and carriage, then pinned into place using iron fasteners. The carriage could then be mounted on wheels, and it was ready for use. The wreck of the Mary Rose (1545) contained a mixture of wrought-iron guns and cast bronze guns, all mounted on carriages. The carriages of the wrought-iron guns were all similar, but some had two small, solid “truck�?wheels while others had two wheels similar to those used on land guns. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

When the whole contraption was to be fired, a wooden or wrought-iron wedge was hammered into place between the back end of the powder chamber and the carriage itself, ensuring that there would be a tight seal between the barrel and the powder chamber. <O:P></O:P>

The gun would then be ready to fire. The range was not very great with these guns, and although no statistics survive, experiments with replica guns have shown that the shot from these guns could be not be expected to reach more than 2-300 yards, or less than a third of the effective range of cast guns. The problem with these wrought-iron breech-loading guns was that they were inefficient, and due to leaks they lacked the pressure and velocity of cast guns. They did retain one big advantage, which was that the powder chamber could be removed and replaced with a fresh, loaded one fairly quickly, ensuring a reasonably fast rte of fire. The guns were therefore used at close range, and could fire either solid roundshot, or scraps of metal, like a larger version of the swivel gun.

These long wrought-iron guns were known as “bombardettas�?by the Spanish, and as “murderers�?or “port-pieces�?by the English. As this type of gun was considered obsolete from the late 16^th century on, and is rarely (if ever) found on shipwrecks after 1600, most examples found in American or Caribbean waters are from Spanish shipwrecks.<O:P>

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Although the earliest known artillery pieces were made from bronze, it was not until the early 16^th century that casting techniques had developed sufficiently to allow for the production of large bronze guns. From 1550, cast-iron guns also became available, although these proved harder to cast, and bronze remained the favored material for gun production until the mid to late 17^th century. Whatever the material being used, the casting methods were the same.

Making the Model<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

The process began with a long wooden spindle, its diameter smaller than the intended bore size of the gun. Rope was wrapped around this spindle as tightly as possible, so that one turn closely touched the next. Layers of clay were then built up around the rope. A template known as a “stickle board�?was used to gauge when the clay had been built up to the size of the gun which was being made. All the reinforcing bands which formed part of the pattern of the gun were also included at this stage, creating a full-sized clay model of the gun. The clay was then dried over a fire, creating a tough surface. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

The whole clay model was then coated in melted wax, which could be shaped even more accurately than the clay. Any decorations planned for the finished piece were also included at this stage, such as “dolphins�?and coats of arms were pinned onto the gun in the form of wax sculptures or plates, so that the pins could later be removed. Wooden patterns for the trunnions were also fixed to the model at this stage.<O:P> </O:P>

Making the Mold<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

The model was coated in more wax, then an outer mold was built up around it. The founders used clay mixed with sand (a mixture known as “loam�?, and the first few coats were very watery, and were brushed on, creating an accurate copy of the model underneath. Each coat of clay was allowed to dry before the next one was applied. After a few coats, thicker clay was used to speed up the process, and fire was used to help dry the clay. The final thickness of the mold depended on the size of the gun being cast; 1 ½ inches for a 6-pounder, 3 inches for a 24-pounder.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

The next stage was to reinforce the mold. Iron staves were fitted to the outside of the loam mould, and held into position using iron bands. This was needed to protect the mould from rough handling in the foundry. It was then lifted from the “turning frame�?which had held the original wooden spindle and was lowered onto a temporary timber cradle on the foundry floor.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

The next process was very delicate, involving the removal of the original model. The spindle which formed the base of the model was tapered, and gentle blows with a hammer at one end allowed it to be slid out from the surrounding layers of rope and clay. It was extracted very carefully, so as not to damage the mold itself. The rope fell away from the rest of the model as this was happening, and it too was carefully removed. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

The rest of the model was then taken away, along with any of the wooden trunnion formers or pins holding on the dolphins or other moldings. Foundry workers plugged any holes made by the extraction of the trunnions or pins, and ensured the inside of the mold was smooth. A small fire was then lit inside the mold, to bake dry any of these repairs to the mold itself, and to melt the wax which formed the patterns for the dolphins or inscriptions. The inside of the mold was then brushed with a grease solution (called “lye�? to prevent the molten bronze or cast-iron of the final gun sticking to the clay mold. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

One end of the mold was then closed by a second smaller mold. This was one modeled into the shape of the cascable, or breech (back) end of the gun. The mold of the cascable was much thicker than the main mold, as the mold was held upright when the metal was poured into it, and the cascable end would have to take most of the weight of the molten metal pored into the mold. Once the molds were fitted together, more iron straps held the two pieces together. From the late 18^th century, metal cascable molds were introduced, and the two pieces joined in the casting pit, held together by gravity.<O:P> </O:P>

Making the Gun Core<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

The interior of the mold was build to the shape of the exterior of the gun. If filled with metal at this stage it would create a gun without a bore. The solution was to add another mold for the bore itself, known as the “core�? An iron bar about 2/3 the size of the final gun bore was wrapped in rope and clay, just like the model for the main part of the gun. The end of the core was modeled to represent the desired shape of the chamber at the end of the barrel. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

In many guns, the core was held in place using a support near the base of the mold known as a “core-piece�?(also “cuxetta�?or “chaplet�? held in the mold itself, which supported the core in place running straight down its center. A clay disk held the core in place at the muzzle end of the mold. Some other foundries simply suspended the core over the main mold using a winch built over the casting pit. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

With improved gun-boring machines in the mid 18^th century, it became increasingly common for guns to be cast without a gun core, and the bore was drilled out during the cleaning process after the gun was cast. This was known as “solid-bore�?casting.<O:P> </O:P>

The Casting Pit<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

Bronze used in gunfounding was approximately a mixture of 90% copper and 10% tin, although exact percentages varied, and some founders added other metals, such as lead or zinc. The gun mold was placed upright in a casting pit, right in front of the “tapping hole�?where the molten metal would be poured. A funnel-shaped “feeding head�?was added to the mold to ensure the metal would flow smoothly into the mold, and great care was taken to ensure that the mold sat exactly upright and level. The inside of the pit was then filled with earth to hold the mold in place, and the soil was tamped down, holding the mold securely inside the pit. It was common to cast several guns at the same time in the pit, to save time and resources. Everything was now ready for the metal pouring.

The Casting Process<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

A brick or clay conduit was laid from the tap-hole to the feeding-head at the top of the mold, set into the earth fill of the pit, and foundry workers stood by with plates to stop or divert the flow along the conduits. Once the metal scraps thrown into the furnace area had melted and the molten metal was ready, the order was given to open the tap-hole, releasing the liquid. Once the molten metal started flowing, the tap-hole opening could be opened or closed to regulate the speed of the flow.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

This was a spectacular part of the process, and spectators often came to watch the casting. Once all the molds were filled with molten metal, the tap-hole was closed, and any excess diverted into an overflow reservoir, which would be returned to the furnace for the next casting batch.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

The molds filled with molten metal were then allowed to cool for 24 hours or more, then the inner cores would be removed. The hot earth surrounding the molds was then removed (an extremely unpleasant, dusty, steamy task), and the molds removed from the casting pit. The molds were laid on their sides and foundry workers would remove the metal bands surrounding it, then chip off the clay mold using hammers and chisels. If all went well, what lay beneath the clay mold was a perfectly cast gun, completely with all its moldings and decoration. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

The feeding head formed a kind of sprue which then had to be sawn off from the gun itself, a process which could take two or three days for large guns. The gun would now be ready for the finishing process, including boring out the barrel if required.

The Boring Process<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

If the gun was cast using a core, this was simply a cleaning task, ensuring that the inside of the bore was free form imperfections, so any shot would shoot straight. For guns cast from the solid, this was a whole process in its own right. For the former, boring machines were simply animal or water-powered lathes, where any burr or imperfection could be drilled out of the bore. Many of these boring machines were used vertically, so tall wooden frames were constructed, and the cleaning up of the bore could last several days.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

From the mid 18^th century, guns were increasingly cast “from the solid�? meaning no core was used. The entire bore of the gun had to be drilled out. Guns were fitted into vertical boring lathes, and drilled out over a period of days or even weeks. A gearing system linked the lathe to a horse mill, which powered the machine.

The Cleaning and Finishing Process<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

Once everything else was done, the finished gun was checked for impurities, and any casting blemishes was removed. One of the inspection methods was to mound a candle and a mirror on a stick, and to slide it down the barrel looking for flaws. Any holes were plugged using special tools, and then the vent (or touch-hole) was drilled; usually a vertical channel, but sometimes the vent sloped backwards at an angle of up to 70% or so. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

For cast-iron guns and some bronze ones the gun was weighed at this stage, and the weight marking inscribed into the barrel of the gun, along with any other inscribed marks, such as a maker’s mark or stock number (see Cannon Identification for more details). The final stage was to test fire the gun; a process known as “Proofing�? <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

The gun was taken to a firing range and loaded with a “proofing charge�? usually with one charge equal to the weight of the ball, then followed by two more at 2/3 of this weight of powder. Exact quantities varied, and from the late 17^th century the norm was to simply use the standard service charge for a gun of the appropriate size. After the gun was fired, the gun was deeped as having passed the proofing test, and English guns were then stamped with the letter “P�? The gun was now finished, and ready for sale or delivery.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

Where were guns produced?<O:P> </O:P>

Until 1760, all gun foundries were located in either Europe or Asia (for Oriental guns). Asian guns were used mainly in their local areas of production, usually China, India or the Spice Islands (Indonesia), the most common for of gun being small bronze swivel guns known as “lantakas�? Although the Chinese were the first to invent gunpowder, they never developed a large gunfounding industry, and Chinese guns were rarely seen outside their country.<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

In Europe, bronze guns were produced all over the continent, but the largest centers were in England, Spain, Flanders, Northern France and Southern Germany. Following the introduction of safe cast-iron gunfounding techniques in the mid to late 16^th century, England and later Holland became recognized centers for cast-iron gun production. By the mid 17^th century Sweden rose to prominence as a gunfounding region, but Swedish guns were rarely seen on board ships outside Northern European waters. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

While some gunfounders (particularly those specializing in bronze guns) cast guns for use by their government’s armed forces, others cast exclusively for the civilian market, arming the merchant and cargo ships which needed some form of protection. <O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>

Many guns retained certain regional characteristics which can be used to help identify where the gun came from (see Gun Identification for more details).<O:P> </O:P><O:P></O:P>

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