A photograph which appeared in the Ross Gazette last week was probably taken at the VE night celebrations in Ross. Local historian, Mary Sinclair Powell told the Ross Gazette that the photograph, see right, was taken at the party which was probably held in the Corn Exchange. She said that a children’s party took place in the ‘Jam Factory’ during the day.

The factory was set up in World War I in the Crofts, where the new flats are now.

The Ross Gazette would love to hear from anyone who remembers the factory or collecting fruit from the hedgerows to take there.

According to www.ross-on-wye.com, the website dedicated to preserving the history of Ross, the jam factory was opened during WWI on the site of the former Perkins and Bellamy Foundry, which had closed in 1900. It was located in Broad Street and was quite an extensive collection of buildings.

The front of the foundry was where Peacocks and the Dogs Trust store are now. The foundry then extended back into the Crofts.

It is very likely that the men working in the foundry lived in the Crofts and along Crofts Lane. The Crofts were renovated around the 1970s as the buildings had fallen into a very poor state of repair. The roofs were replaced and other modernisations made the properties into desirable houses.

Perkins and Bellamy produced a wide range of products from agricultural equipment, including complete barn kits, to drain covers and water channels to household goods. Evidence of their work can still be seen around the town in the form of cellar covers, rain water gullies and kissing gates. The plant had its own private electric light plant before the rest of the town had this luxury.

Once the Perkins and Bellamy foundry closed, the building was empty for a while but then became used as part of the war effort to feed the population.