Beginnings in Shipbuilding

Abstract

From 1864 Armstrongs strove to regain business with the Admiralty and War Office. The firm’s correspondence is eloquent of the efforts made. At the same time they built up a steadily increasing list of foreign contacts. Gun manufacture remained their main armament activity, but gradually they also moved into the construction of naval vessels. When they began to produce guns it was necessary to find somewhere for proofing. A variety of sites was used. The most common was the foreshore of the tidal Tyne across from the works, at Dunston. Others were at Jesmond Dene, Whitley Bay, and in a rather less crowded area near Allenheads, where Armstrong’s friendship with Sopwith of Lord Beaumont’s lead mines was a helpful factor. When gunfire became an annoyance to local inhabitants still more remote locations had to be found. In the early 1860s the company acquired the minerals and iron works at Ridsdale on the Northumberland moors; in December 1867 proofing was carried out there for the first time. Operations continued at Ridsdale throughout the existence of the Elswick gun shops. There was an alternative: to test at sea.