Home 
Local Info Bergh Apton Village Sign New Village Sign Casting
Local Info Bergh Apton Village Sign New Village Sign Casting
| New Village Sign Casting |
 |
 |
 |
| Parish Information - The Village Sign | |
|
Following on from the decision to locate the Village Sign at the junction of Church Road and The Street things are moved along apace. In December 2003 Derek Blake and John Ling, representing the Parish Council, went to see the mould at the Norwich premises of Ivan Soanes, its designer and maker. They inspected the mould before it was sent to the Founders to be cast into metal. They were very impressed with the quality and the great detail of the two sides of the sign, and of the supports that will secure it to its wooden post. It then went to the foundry of East Coast Casters Ltd in Watton for casting. The Casting of the Village Sign 11th May 2004 The theory of casting metal has changed little over several hundred years. You need a pattern of the shape you want to achieve, a mould frame, sand and some hot metal to pour into the mould. Allow to cool . . . . break the mould open and – hey presto – there’s your shape. All very simple. The actual process is little different except for the vital “hidden extras”. Like the artistic skills and experience of the man who makes the pattern . . . . and the foundry skills and experience of the men who produce the mould and then cast the hot metal. Derek Blake and John Ling, representing the Parish Council, went to the foundry of East Coast Castings near Watton to witness the process of casting Bergh Apton’s village sign in aluminium alloy. The result (with some spectacular fireworks on the foundry floor as white hot metal is poured from a ladle into the mould) was a beautiful solid metal duplicate of Ivan Soanes’s original design, with all its extraordinary details in perfect shape. The next (and almost the last!) step in the process of creating our village sign was for Ivan to paint it in the rich colours that you may remember from the picture produced in the Newsletter in 2003. The final step was to raise the sign in its final position on the verge near the junction of Church Road and The Street. Work to make the base on which the sign would stand, and the fitting that would secure it in place was done by Kevin Parfitt (the base) and Karl Harvey (the fitting).
|