070327.Walcot, ‘Water Is Best:’ Local Industry

March 27, 2007 at 1:54 AM | Posted in Bath, Museums, Sculpture, somerset, Walcot | 4 Comments

 

Hi all, I will be gone for quite some time. JC of Monmouth has been kind enough to offer to post for me. I hope everyone enjoys spring, if they’re not lucky enough to have a spring break!

“Bottle Filling:

“The development of efficient means of filling bottles was slow until the patent bottle closures of the 1870s began to replace the cork. The basic method of filling cork-stoppered bottles involved four stages: putting flavoured syrup into the bottle from a dispenser, filling the bottle with carbonated water, inserting the cork and finally wiring the cork down.
“The improved fillers, invernted to cope with new forms of bottle closure such as the marble stopped, were able to combine all carbonating pump. These fillers commonly had guards because of the constant danger of bottles exploding under the pressure of gas. After one of J.B. Bowler’s own daughters lost an eye in this way, a wire mask was always on hand for protection when using the older type of filler.
“Although there were machines for the purpose, the labeling of the bottles was usually done by hand. Bowler’s daughters spread the labels out on a table, applied glue with a brush and then struck them on the bottles.”



This is at the Bath at Work Museum on Julian Road in Walcot, Bath.