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Question
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found this disc in the street of a western New South Wales town in Australia,thinking it was a 20c piece .However the writing on it sais :
NEW MENDIP ENGINEERING LTD. ATWORTH MELKSHAM and the number 1181
stamped in the centre.It is about 1 1/8\" in diameter 1/32\" thick and made of brass or hard copper.
Any idea what it is and how it ended up in Australia?
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Question asked on
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04 July 2011
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Answer
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The New Mendip Motor & Engineering Company began life at Chewton Mendip, Somerset, under the name, the Mendip Motor and Engineering Works before the First World War. The foreman was George Thatcher, who was later joined by his brother, Arthur, and together they planned and designed the Mendip light Car. After the war they joined by their father and assembled 500 of the cars, which sold for £355 each. They moved to larger premises at Southmead, Bristol, but on the death of the owner of the company the brothers came to Atworth in the early 1920s.
Here they bought a house and two tin sheds and set about reviving the firm they had worked for. They discontinued production of the Mendip car and achieved distinction as producers of high class engineering materials. They expanded rapidly and produced important components for the aircraft industry. The company built new workshops and in the 1940s the total workforce peaked at 600 - 200 men and 400 women. In 1948 the business was sold to the Dowty Group, later Dowty Fuel Systems Limited.
They were also involved in the manufacture of general and dairy machinery and it is possible that the disc you have is from a piece of machinery exported to Australia.
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