Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun): Motoring Non-motoring forum

Non-motoring > Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun)	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: L'escargot	Replies: 16

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:03

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - L'escargot

www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/ww2-rationing/5927

In our town the railings on garden walls were removed to provide metal for the war.

Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 8 Dec 12 at 09:05

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:26

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - henry k

>> In our town the railings on garden walls were removed to provide metal for the war.
>>
The same at my parents house near Twickenham. As a child I used to wonder what those stubs of iron poking out of the coping stones were for.
We have now found a photo of my dad standing outside the house before the railings got the chop.

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:30

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Duncan

>> The same at my parents house near Twickenham.

If you don't mind my asking, how near Twickenham Henry?

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Sat 8 Dec 12 12:13

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - henry k

>> If you don't mind my asking, how near Twickenham Henry?
>>
Well may you ask. It was always a problem with the address.
I said Twickenham cos, as you probably know, there is only one Twickers !
My home was in the borough of Heston and Isleworth but the postal address was Twickenham.
Home was near the Ailsa Tavern ( By Lord Kimorys Mausaleum ) so quite near Richmond Lock.

Re addresses. Needed for post but also needed pre Sat Nav to find us.
Twickenham. Thats the town centre ?.
East Ttwickenham. Thats at the bottom or Richmond Bridge ?
St Margarets. Thats by the railway station?
Middlesex. thats dead!
We used St M, E Twick, Middx for post.

So navigating to find us was a problem.
From St Margarets towards us you came to the Isleworth boundary That cannot be the right routing but it was. Most confusing. Thank goodness for the trusted navigate by pubs!!!
I understand the borough boundary has been altered since.

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:32

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - L'escargot

When saucepans got a hole in the bottom they were mended with washers. www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/69/a5233169.shtml

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:30

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Lygonos

I was told in my youth that the bulk of scrapped railings were crummy cast iron of no real use for making steel and were simply dumped or used as ballast.

Pity as until my holly grows I just have to put up with people sitting on my low wall (which historically had railings) while they wait for the bus ;-)

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:34

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - sooty123

Think it was all done for morale purposes, no real use in making tanks, aircraft etc.

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Sat 8 Dec 12 13:23

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Ian (Cape Town)

>> Think it was all done for morale purposes, no real use in making tanks, aircraft
>> etc.
>>

Yep. See 'World at War', episode 3, i think.
same as for petrol rationing in the USA. Nothing to do with petrol, everything to do with rubber. Because the Japanese had control of the far eastern rubber fields, there was a shortage of the stuff. Even though there were plans to grow in west africa and expand the plantations in south america, the rubber trees would have taken years to reach fruition.

Last edited by: Ian (Cape Town) on Sat 8 Dec 12 at 13:25

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Sat 8 Dec 12 09:37

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - L'escargot

I remember the wartime rationing in Britain. www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/92/a1110592.shtml

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Sat 8 Dec 12 10:07

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - R.P.

Funnily enough this was a topic of a local history page discussion here recently. Penrhyn Castle outside Bangor, built by slave owners from the West Indies and when that was banned exploiters of the locals here in the Quarries was surrounded by pretty impressive iron railings - these were removed and "disappeared" before they were collected for scrap during WW2. As with a lot of things these rules were for the small people.

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Sat 8 Dec 12 11:14

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Mike Hannon

Did they really collect aluminium saucepans to make into Spitfires?

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Sat 8 Dec 12 11:24

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Crankcase

If you remember your William, Mike, and I would think you would, then there were a couple of stories in there about collecting saucepans for planes. It all went horribly wrong but that's another matter.

Our house had railings and now has a low wall. We wanted to put them back, but as we live in a conservation area, we're not allowed to. Make of that what you will.

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Tue 11 Dec 12 13:02

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Mapmaker

>>Our house had railings and now has a low wall. We wanted to put them back, but as we live
>>in a conservation area, we're not allowed to. Make of that what you will.

My understanding is that they cannot stop you from reinstating what was there earlier. Though the petty jobsworths would love to try and tell you you cannot.

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Tue 11 Dec 12 13:32

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - No FM2R

>>My understanding is that they cannot stop you from reinstating what was there earlier. Though the petty jobsworths would love to try and tell you you cannot.

Oh yes they can.

Sometimes they actually do have the right to stop you.

And sometimes you find out that nothing you ever want to do again will be looked on favorably if you argue with them on this one.

Managing the local conservation person is a difficult, irritating but very necessary thing to do.

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Sat 8 Dec 12 12:22

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - R.P.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/homefront/life/salvage/default.htm

More on Spitfires and Saucepans

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Sun 9 Dec 12 15:50

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Mike Hannon

Certainly do remember William. We tried to base our gang on his. I still have a close friend called Douglas!

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Sun 9 Dec 12 18:59

Wartime scrap metal drives (excuse the pun) - Crankcase

Funnily enough, having finished Little House on the Prairie last night I'm led to believe we're starting a William tonight.

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