I recently got invited to visit the Brooks England factory in Smethwick, Birmingham as they were having an open weekend and conducting tours of the factory. Of course I accepted, especially as the premises is only a 14 mile pedal from my house using the extensive local canal system.

It wasn’t until I looked into the intinery and the history of the company that I realised what an opportunity this was. Brooks haven’t opened their factory to the public for over 150 years so this literally could be a once in a life time visit!

Brooks have a long long history in cycling, if you are seriously into your cycling then you have probably heard of Brooks and their leather saddles. If you are not into cycling at all and are asked to describe or draw a bicycle saddle i guarrantee you will picture the traditional Brooks B17 saddle that has been in continous production for over 100 years.

It said that Brook’s founder John Boultbee Brooks, a horse saddle manufacturer since 1866 when the company was founded was unhappy at how the wooden saddle on his bike felt (we can all sympathise I’m sure) and decided he was going to make a better one out of leather and the first patent was filed in 1882. The company has been making saddles since then, it has been bought, sold, rescued and is now owned by Selle Royal who make all the non leather saddles in Italy but the Smethick factory continues to hand make saddles to this day.

The Day started with coffee and pastries in the factory loading bay and a tour of the bike makers and designers set up in the courtyard who were all known for their use of Brook’s saddles on their bikes. its the best coffee I’ve had in a loading bay ever! The factory is just how you’d expect one to look dating back that far, it could have been a movie set but all the old boxes and stock on the shelves were there for a reason, even the toilet block should be a listed building it was so authentic!

We then began the tour, guided by Steve who had been at the factory since he was 16 and he explained later he’s done pretty much every job in the factory from tea boy to machine press operator, even a stint in HR!

The tour progressed from the very vintage presses which were very loud to the cutting out of the leather which is soaked in water to soften it before it’s put into a press/shaper. Some of the machines were over 100 years old and i asked one of the guys, what happens when one of these machines that hasn’t been in production for so long breaks? He said, we just make a new part from scratch for it and if we can’t do it Birmingham’s renowned jewelry quarter is a couple of miles away and there are small factories there that can make anything you want.

Everything is done in house apart from the tanning of the leather which is done in Belgium. No UK company can cure the British hides to Brook’s exacting standards

The sights, sounds were outstanding but the smells in the factory were  what made the experience so visceral.

we saw springs and saddle frames being bent into shape using, quite frankly lethal looking machines which undoubtedly back in the day didn’t have all the safety guards they do now attached to them.

we went from raw materials through to the finishing touch of riveting the Brooks logo, also stamped in house, to the saddles. At every stage there was a human operating the machinery, it was mass production but on a much smaller and personal scale than I’d expected before visiting.

As we walked around I took the time to chat to the staff working there and I asked one candidly if they were amused that all these people were interested to see and photograph all the small parts of what must be a mundane everyday job to them and he said, no, he was proud that there was interest and he loved being there and what they do, of the people i chatted to the shortest time working there was 16 years, so they must like it!

It was an incredible day, i can honestly say one of the best things I’ve done as part of running UKGRAVELCO, I could have stayed there watching the process all day and not been bored. totally not how i thought it would be. The day was so well organised, fascinating and the people so friendly, open and warm.

No robots, no CNC machines just skilled craft persons shaping metal and leather into some of the best cycling products on the market. What made it great for me was being able to chat to the people on the factory floor and despite it being their day job the enthusiasm and pride in the company came through.

You can get a bit blasé when you read the phrase “hand made” but now I know the true meaning and value of that label. With Brooks England though I think that also includes pride and maybe a little love in every product too.

Massive thanks to @brooksengland and @extra_uk for inviting me. you can see all the products that Brooks manufacture here Brooks england and if it doesn’t take another 150 years for them to open the factory to the public again make sure you are on that tour!

all the black and white professional pictures were taken by Dan Phillips Photography the less professional colour ones by me!

Below is a little video I took of the tour