I Guess Over The Years Most Of Us Have Had A Hobby Of Collecting One Thing Or Another,

in my case stamps,

former miner Neil Brittlebank, from East Ardsley, collects bricks, the 78-year-old, who worked at Lofthouse Colliery for 32 years – 24 of those as a safety officer – collected his first brick in 1990, since then he’s built quite a collection of old and rare bricks and he says they each have a story to tell,


Neil commented, 'back when I became a miner, some collieries had their own brickworks and there used to be dozens in Yorkshire, there was Whitakers, Hartleys, Leeds Fire Clay, all of them had names on because the people who produced them were proud of their product, to start with I did not know what to do with them but I eventually built a path in the garden, which I think my wife, Maureen, has forgiven me for now, I also have some in the driveway, in fact, people leave them for me sometimes, I open the door to find bricks on the doorstep',


well I never thought there would be a society for brick collecting, but it appears that there is, the British Brick Society, has about 300 members in the UK alone, the Society, founded in 1972, promotes the study and recording of all aspects of the archaeology and history of bricks, brick making and brickwork, members are drawn from many backgrounds - geologists, archaeologists, schoolteachers, artists, historians, brick makers, bricklayers, architects, engineers, etc, some have a professional interest in a particular aspect of the subject, for others membership is an extension of a general interest or hobby, all share a fascination for the history and development of the manufacture and use of bricks,


I would never have thought that collecting something which we all find it so mundane would have such would have had such a following, I guess it brings a new meaning to the phrase, 'he's a brick'.