The Mullard Blackburn factory tour

[mayfly]

Gentlemen,

May I present this factory tour, filmed in the middle of the last century.  They show the construction of my favorite tube of all time:  The Mullard EL84.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/GDvF89Bh27Y[/youtube]

Makes me weep    ccasion14:

 

[stratamania]

I had to visit another town somewhere a few weeks ago in the area and noticed several road signs to Blackburn, and could not help thinking that the Mullard factory used to be there.

 

[BigSteve22]

I had to visit another town somewhere a few weeks ago in the area and noticed several road signs to Blackburn, and could not help thinking that the Mullard factory used to be there.

After reading your post, I can't get Lennon's "A Day in the Life" out of my head........  :tard:
(50 years later and "Blackburn" is still indelibly linked to "4,000 holes"!)

 

[Cagey]

I wonder how often people went insane in those plants?

 

[stratamania]

I had to visit another town somewhere a few weeks ago in the area and noticed several road signs to Blackburn, and could not help thinking that the Mullard factory used to be there.

After reading your post, I can't get Lennon's "A Day in the Life" out of my head........  :tard:
(50 years later and "Blackburn" is still indelibly linked to "4,000 holes"!)

That's the power of a lyric. As far as I know, the 4,000 holes were in the same newspaper Lennon was reading and referred to holes in the road. Great song though in any event.  Blackburn is in the North West of England to the North of Liverpool and inland from Blackpool, so probably the newspaper would have been from the area.

I wonder how often people went insane in those plants?

I suppose that could happen although possibly boredom was a thing but at least a lot of people in those times could rely on their employment being stable. I am from the North East of England and old enough to remember that there were factories and industries that are now all but gone. I certainly noticed that when the industry started shutting down in my teens that people were less than happy about that.

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, I'm old enough to remember when Detroit was a real city with a large industrial base. We were known as "The Motor City" (or "Motown" for short) because of the concentration of automotive industry there, but there was a lot more to it than that. Nobody worried about getting a job - businesses worried about getting employees. Everybody was fat, dumb and happy.

It only took a few short years to change all that. Racial unrest, labor unions, Democrats taking over local government and Nixon opening trade with China were the major factors. The city went from roughly 2 million residents down to the mid 6 digit range in fairly short order, with the remaining population being mostly criminals or somewhere between indigent or nearly so. No tax base to speak of. A couple/few decades of that, and the place resembled a war zone more than anything else, complete with cars full of gang bangers armed with automatic weapons, an impotent, undersized police force, and essentially non-existent city services. Finally, the city gave up and declared bankruptcy. Pretty sad.

Theoretically, it's turning around. There's big money being spent by both the federal/state government and opportunists who are able to buy up major chunks of real estate and substantial buildings for pennies on the dollar. So, who knows? Maybe it'll be nice again someday. I'm not going to hold my breath while I wait for that to happen, though. Government money generally just disappears into incompetencies and fraud, and private investors are probably going to come out ahead through tax credits and other financial chicanery rather than any kind of practical business success.

 

[stratamania]

Sounds like Detroit followed a similar fate.

This song talks about the River Tyne, where I grew up.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um2Nfth1by0[/youtube]

 

[BigSteve22]

Gentlemen, May I present this factory tour, filmed in the middle of the last century.  They show the construction of my favorite tube of all time:  The Mullard EL84. Makes me weep    ccasion14:

Alright, just had an opportunity to watch the entire video, and all I can say is: wow. Thanks for posting this, great insight into how valves are made. I particularly enjoyed learning what that silvery coating at the top is and why it's there. Very educational.  :icon_thumright:

....Government money generally just disappears into incompetencies and fraud, and private investors are probably going to come out ahead through tax credits and other financial chicanery rather than any kind of practical business success.

Damn son, you sound like a New Yorker! Everything's a shell game and the only true aim is to further political expediency.  :tard: