There is a Denison chain tester for marine anchor chains, Brinell and Vickers hardness testers, and countless others that were used to test a huge variety of materials from the strength of rope, wire and bolts to the quality of cement, parcel tape or parachute lines. On the upper floors of the building, Kirkaldy created his own Museum of Fractures – essentially an exhibition of specimens that had failed the rigorous tests, which served both as a teaching tool and a clever marketing device to alert new clients of the importance of testing. Unfortunately, this museum within a museum no longer survives, mostly destroyed by bomb damage during the Second World War.
A visit to Kirkaldy’s Testing Works, the temple of destruction
