NFRC Heritage Committee Looks to the Future at William Blyth

The NFRC Heritage Committee met at William Blyth in Barton-upon-Humber on 30 September for a day of discussion, networking and insight into traditional clay tile manufacturing.

Rather than following a traditional committee agenda, members were invited to take a step back and look at the current landscape for heritage roofing and share their experiences and ideas across a range of topics.

Priorities for Heritage

The discussions were designed to identify the priorities for NFRC’s heritage work over the coming 12 to 18 months.

The meeting was followed by lunch and a tour of William Blyth, providing members with the opportunity to see traditional clay tile manufacturing firsthand. For more than 180 years, William Blyth has been producing handmade clay roof tiles from the rich Humber clay of Barton-upon-Humber, using traditional methods.

The tour was led by Gabriel Nichols, who gave members an insight into the skills and processes behind the production of traditional clay roofing products. Members saw the listed drying shed, watched tiles being made and visited the coal-fired listed kiln, as well as seeing a chimney pot being hand thrown.

Gabriel will be familiar to some members from appearances on programmes including The Great Pottery Throw Down, Handmade in Hull and Countryfile.

The visit provided the opportunity to see traditional craftsmanship in action and was a fitting way to round off the committee’s meeting.

The Heritage Committee will continue discussions with another meeting in the coming weeks and further updates to members to follow as the work develops.

Work has already begun on a Project Case Study for Staick House, which won both the heritage category and project of the year in the 2025 NFRC Roofing Awards. The case study will be published by NFRC in the coming weeks.

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