Dr Andrew Smith

Head of Materials Development at Forterra. Associate Professor, Int' Masonry Expert. Chairman of European Standards Technical Committee TC 125 for Masonry.

[Silva Navigation School @SilvaNavigation]

If you want to learn how to navigate properly - do check out our 2022 courses on the website.
We also do bespoke training if you fancy something specific.
@nnas_uk @MtnTraining

[Forterra plc @ForterraUK]

Delighted to welcome @ChrisPincher, MP for #Tamworth & Minister of State for Housing, to our Wilnecote brickworks to discuss our recently announced £27 million #investment in the factory. L-R: Plant Manager Tim Sugden, Chris Pincher & Operations Director George Stewart #investing

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@fraglast @DigWhitle @ancientcraftUK Certainly could be onion skin weathering of iron rich sandstone.

[Forterra plc @ForterraUK]

Today we laid the first brick for 1 of 2 kilns at our Desford site - they'll fire enough bricks to build 24,000 family homes & deliver market-leading sustainability credentials. The new stock yard could double as an airport runway! https://t.co/5iUjrP0Opy #KeepingBritainBuilding

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

Great night up inside the Devils Arse watching @FleetwoodBac The best cave venue in the country, and right here in the beautiful Peak District.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@fraglast But is the home of a local Legend

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@darklyadapted @fraglast It doesn't need to be anything big. Worms or even bivalves. The flint forms as silica is drawn towards a seed grain, something like an echinoid spine. The burrow could be a couple of mm, but by the time the silica migrates from the chalk ooze over thousands of years it grows

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@fraglast @darklyadapted Definately flint burrow fills from the chalk

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@fraglast Does a line in the grass have the same weight as line in the sand?

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@FaithfullJohn @hunterian John I see the Iggy Pet in you coming out in your appreciation of the humble brick. I should however confirm that I generally explain bricks to geologists as 'man made thermal metamorphism of argillaceous materials' in a rush.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@tomargles @BrickwrksMuseum @FaithfullJohn Also it is a 6 clawed cat. Must be very very unusual!

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@FaithfullJohn 1881-1981 Fletton Centenary commemorative brick. Note the elaborate 'frogs' which 'spelling out 1881', these are very different from standard production.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@fraglast @SilvaNavigation @nnas_uk I think these days you need to pre order both, to avoid disappointment. That's the modern post ( well hopefully post) Covid world we now live in. 🤣

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@fraglast Seriously impressive purple cow. Shes certainly embraced the digital revolution, and streamlined in the udder dept.
What species of cheese are we making/made. Purple Blue, Stinking Bishop ( dont they wear purple?) Purple Leicester, flagging now with colour related cheese puns.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@claire_ack8 Claire I can sympathize, I get told off for photographing bricks, mortar and concrete whilst on family outings. However my daughter can now tell the difference between soft mud and extruded bricks, cement and lime mortar, and a well poured, bubble free concrete.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

Manganese dendrites on sandstone flags. Mother nature at her best. Probably Indian imports. Looks just like moss.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

Walking in the South Downs. Round walk between Cissbury Ring and Chantonbury, 2x ancient hill forts with preserved earth ramparts. Finished off with a very welcome pint (or two). If I'd know I could have brought my chariot I would have.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@MumbyMumby @CR_UK @RunnersVirtual @parismarathon My pleasure.

[Dr Andrew Smith @DrAndrewSmith1]

@Gobhicks @CliveBGS @fraglast @ancientcraftUK Looks a lot like RockRoad chocolate bar to me, but may be that's because I skipped lunch today. Agree with my other learned contributors, very slaggy however the large bits dont normally get carried into the slab, therefore my best guess is that this could be furnace bottom ash.