A clear and lively account of the machinery, innovation and
personalities that have shaped the industry that provides the
all-essential daily bread. Indispensible for anyone with an
interest in industrial history. There is a wealth of literature on
the traditional flour milling industry, much of it concerned with
the charms of rural settings and ancient crafts, whereas the
history of the dramatic changes in milling methods from the 1870s
onwards has been somewhat neglected. Written by Glyn Jones,
engineer and lecturer in technology, `The Millers' sets out to
redress the balance and tells the story of the transformation of
the flour milling industry by men of vision with enterprise and
engineering skill, from the first experiments with roller mills
before 1880 to the sleek, automated flour mills operating at the
end of the twentieth century. It is a story of technological
endeavour and industrial success. The innovations were
revolutionary, with roller mills, purifiers and a variety of
sifting and sorting machines replacing millstones and crude sieving
equipment. Change was propelled by an increasing demand for white
bread, and whiter flour could be produced by roller milling of hard
foreign wheats, whereas traditional millstone methods were not
suitable for the production of large quantities of branless flour.
Henry Simon, who became the pioneering leader of the new field of
milling engineering, installed his first roller plant in Manchester
in 1878; by 1887 mills on the Simon system could produce enough
flour to meet the requirements of 11 million people. The mass
production of flour for our daily bread began in earnest. From
1904, the most forceful innovator among British millers was Joseph
Rank, who commissioned Henry Simon Ltd to supply new plants at the
main ports of Hull, London, Cardiff and Liverpool. The roles played
by the other leading millers, many of which are still household
names, are also included in this account. Despite the hugely
impressive and far-reaching technological advances made by British
millers and milling engineers, they have not received the credit
they deserve. In truth, they replaced the traditional, basic form
of the industry rapidly and effectively, and their inventions
transformed milling in Britain and further afield. `The Millers'
describes, in a clear and lively way, not only the changes in
machinery and processing and the effects on the traditional
industry, but the personalities who shaped the trade and the
companies they ran, and the myths and legends which have surrounded
them. Modern mills, rooted in British innovation and enterprise,
are impressive in appearance and striking inside, with machinery
that looks smart and is automatically controlled, processing wheat
for a range of attractive foods and for the still essential daily
bread.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
