Koninklijke Nederlandse Grofsmederij

Next to the pump.

Made by the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Grofsmederij and the N.V. Hollandsche Constructie Werkplaatsen in 1937.

1937. Leiden, Nieuwe Rijn, Langestraat.

Apparantly installed by H.E. van der Heide.

Two old drain covers

The Nederlandse Grofsmederij was an iron works company, located in Leiden, which didn't survive the big shake-out of the manufacturing industry in the 1970s. It was founded in 1836 by a Dutch-Frenchman William Archibald Bake who (amongst other things) fought in the Russian campaign of Napoleon. In its heyday it employed around 700 men. Here is a picture of the workshop of the Grofsmederij: www.flickr.com/photos/95306653@N00/2212827614 / Grofsmederij is a composite noun consisting of "grof" meaning coarse or rough, opposite of fine, and "smederij" meaning smithy or foundry. So the company made the big stuff, not fine ironwork.

This one looks like a face. The Nederlandse Grofsmederij was an iron works company, located in Leiden, which didn't survive the big shake-out of the manufacturing industry in the 1970s. It was founded in 1836 by a Dutch-Frenchman William Archibald Bake who (amongst other things) fought in the Russian campaign of Napoleon. In its heyday it employed around 700 men. Here is a picture of the workshop of the Grofsmederij: www.flickr.com/photos/95306653@N00/2212827614 / Grofsmederij is a composite noun consisting of "grof" meaning coarse or rough, opposite of fine, and "smederij" meaning smithy or foundry. So the company made the big stuff, not fine ironwork. More of my pics of the drain covers of the Grofsmederij: www.flickr.com/search/?q=grofsmederij&w=39839593@N00 and everywhere on flickr: www.flickr.com/search/?q=grofsmederij&w=all