Brick fan makes arresting collection

Over 3,500 bricks have been collected over a decade by former police sergeant Mark Cranston, who is storing them in is garden shed.

Mark Cranston from Jedburgh on the Scottish Borders was looking for a doorstop for the shed and  found a white painted brick from a former Ayrshire colliery and his fascination with bricks began. He has since then set up a website named Scottish Brick History, a database of thousands of bricks found by Mark and other collectors and enthusiasts.

Since then, Cranston has amassed a huge amount of bricks from around Scotland, England, Wales and abroad, which he stores in his garden shed in Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders. His collection includes a fire brick that was salvaged from the wreck of the SS Politician, one from an old gold mine in Washington state, USA, one from the old execution block at Glasgow’s HMP Barlinnie and a drainage tile from 1833.

He told The Scotsman: “Over time I’ve met other folk out and about, online and through email. I’ve never been out on a trip and not came back with anything. It takes up a lot of time but it’s a passion.”