The Factory Next Door with Steve Duke: The Prospector Pan podcast
Steve Duke, host of podcast The Factory Next Door recently came to visit us at our rural factory, next door to a farm. He wanted to learn about the manufacture of hand-made iron pans, the history of which goes back thousands of years.
As he points outs in the introduction, traditional iron pans “fell out of favour after the invention of ‘non-stick’ chemicals. Now, following studies suggesting some of those chemicals may be bad for our health, iron pans are returning to our stoves. The UK market is currently estimated to be growing at almost 10% year-on-year.”
With that in mind, like any good journalist, he was keen to explore the who, what, where, why and how of Netherton Foundry. And how better to do this than to see for himself and hear it straight from the makers. Accompanied by Neil, he traced the progress of a Netherton pan from a flat disc on the metal storage shelves, right through to the finished product packed and ready to be sent out to our customers. Along the way he got to speak to everyone in the workshops and learned not only about the pan making process, but also about the story of Boo, the missing little owl, Millie’s talent for painting and Mandy’s arachnophilia.
Steve produced this stunning illustration of our favourite pan.
We hope Steve enjoyed the day as much as we did and that you enjoy listening to a day in the life of a Shropshire pan making factory.
And we are pleased to report that Boo, the little owl is now safely back home.
