My Great Grandfather worked as a "colour mixer at an ochre works" according to his death certificate (1927). He lived in Church Road, Kingswood. Anyone have any idea of where the ochre works might have been and any sources of information?

The West of England Ochre and Oxide Company open a new purpose built factory at the rear of Station Road in Warmley. The bright red dust produced during the process got everywhere, even staining the men's sweat. It looked like they were sweating blood, the possible origin of the phrase. Factory ceased production between the wars, exact date unknown. The factory boasted the tallest smoke stack in the district.

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1904 In this year the West of England Ochre and Oxide Company opened a purpose built factory behind Station Road, Warmley. Ochre comes from oxides iron which is quarried or mined near the surface from iron bearing ores. The Warmley works were not connected to the Golden Valley Ochre and Oxide Company at Wick Rocks although the process use and distribution were similar.

The process at Warmley would be to crush and heat the coloured ores until they became a powder then, mixed with other chemicals, it would be used for red lead paints and also used to colour linoleum. The fine red powder got everywhere and the workers were even said to have red sweat, or was that sweating blood?

The proximity of the factory to the railway station was the main advantage in moving to Warmley but, probably due to the great depression, it ceased to operate sometime between the two world wars.

Brilliant, thanks for your help with this. This does seem to be the most likley place for him to have worked.