Industrial quirks

The Calderdale Industrial Museum showcases some of the more unusual local industries. Halifax is famous for being the birthplace of the now ubiquitous 'cat's eye' reflective road studs. They were invented in 1934 by Percy Shaw, who patented the invention and set up a company to manufacture them, which is still in production. There are several stories as to how they came to be invented. Most seem to relate to the steep and precipitous road between Halifax and Queensbury, which Percy Shaw often drove along. It has a steep drop on one side and it is said that he got the idea to light it with reflective studs, having seen a cat's eyes shining in the light of his car headlamps or, possibly, from navigating through the fog by the gleam from tramlines picking out the route. He sounds to have been quite an eccentric, but in 1985 he was made OBE for his services to export.

Halifax also manufactured heavy earthenware used in sewage pipes, drainage and domestic sanitary ware. There were clay mines locally as well as coal mines, and there are exhibits in the museum related to mining, with heart-rending tales of children (boys and girls) as young as 5 or 6 spending their days crawling along narrow, filthy tunnels hauling carts full of coal, or sitting alone in the dark by the ventilation doors, to ensure a supply of air. This was stopped in 1847 by the Mines Act, after which only boys aged 10 and up could work in the mines.

Cast iron lamp-posts, taps and pipes were made in Calderdale:

Halifax also made - and still makes - confectionery. There is a factory near the railway station, originally Mackintosh's, now part of Nestlé, that produces Quality Street, After Eight Mints and other goodies. The museum has a large tin of Quality Street that appears to be falling in through the ceiling - to the delight of at least one small child that I saw there.