On Monday, 7th October, the West Midlands Branch, along with a total of 66 attendees—9 joining virtually from across the UK and the world, and 57 attending in person at Churchill’s venue in Wednesbury—was once again treated to a well-presented, interesting, and professional technical lecture/webinar delivered by the branch. This was the second event of this year’s technical program.
It was a pleasure to welcome Martin Dudley, this year’s National President of the ICME and the 4th generation owner of Thomas Dudley Foundry, to join us in Wednesbury. Martin presented the talk, ‘A History of Thomas Dudley and the Technical Challenges.’
Martin gave an insightful talk about the history of his ancestors’ development of the business across several sites, with his great-grandfather starting at Dauntless Works in Grovesnor Road, Dudley Port, in 1920. The company moved to Birmingham New Road in 1934, where they began manufacturing fire fronts, frames, manhole covers, cisterns, and selling them around the world. During the war, the company supported the war effort, including parts for the development of the Frank Whittle jet engine.
In the 1990s, the business shifted from manufacturing its own brand to supplying OEMs. In 2010, capacity was further increased with the investment in two new DISA lines, and the company then purchased the Duport/BCC site to overcome a lack of electrical supply and expand. Unfortunately, the new site presented unexpected setbacks, including problems with the foundations and infrastructure, but it provided an opportunity to develop the new foundry training college, ECMS.
The merger of the two sites was further challenged by the Covid pandemic and the rise in steel prices due to the war in Ukraine. Despite these challenges, Martin believes that the UK foundry industry has the experience to solve problems better than our competitors, and the key challenge is to pass on that knowledge to the next generation of foundry technicians.
The buffet for the evening’s presentation was kindly sponsored by Thomas Dudley Foundry Ltd.
Mark Holliday Prof MICME
