Just watched Grand designs on channel four ,people building one off houses in this program had to reroof with slate,slate from china,can we still get slate in Europe never mind this country :curse:

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Even my missus had that reaction. I suspect it's still cheaper from there, despite Our stuff being practically on his doorstep.

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Some years ago the local council took up all the granite paving in Camborne and replaced it with new dressed granite paving slabs from.....CHINA! :guns:
There was a public outcry. Redruth recently repaved the the main street with granite from....Portugal!!! :curse:
DOHHHHH! Am I missing something??? 😠
I notice that the stuff is beginning to wear smooth outside Greens newsagents already.
I Guess 'Ya Get's What Ya Pays For'.......Foreign muck

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Perhaps we should be asking why is slate from China cheaper?
Maybe it's as much our fault as theirs?

Chris.

It is not long ago that we where complaining about cheap Spanish slate being sold here, I wonder what the quality of the slate from China is like.

Yes Roy, I have a particular beef about bloody stone coming from the wrong place.

Cornish Granite (apart from the stuff on the Lizard) usually has a slightly yellowy tinge. The stuff from elsewhere is often a steel grey. It looks totally **** next to the Cornish stuff. That's not even mentioning felspars!

the simple fact is that bulk transport is cheap. If you are prepared to work without any regard for health and safety or environmental considerations, within a society where people live at a very low standard with no social benefits, which is pretty much what the Chinese do, you can be cheaper than anyone

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It isn't helped by the fact that you mention a Government or Local Government contract and you got bogged down in a limited list of contractors and pound signs appear in people's eyes.
Anyhow just look around Camborne, no-one can afford slate at all, Local or Chinese when you have Asbestos free Slate effect tiles for much less. Although I think they put real slate in Laity Fields estate along with stone slate / granite cladding..wonder where that came from?

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If you are prepared to work without any regard for health and safety or environmental considerations, within a society where people live at a very low standard with no social benefits, which is pretty much what the Chinese do, you can be cheaper than anyone

Yup, pretty much sums it up.

There is a reason China is far cheaper. I personally would not like to think about the conditions Slate (or anything really) is mined in there.

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the simple fact is that bulk transport is cheap. If you are prepared to work without any regard for health and safety or environmental considerations, within a society where people live at a very low standard with no social benefits, which is pretty much what the Chinese do, you can be cheaper than anyone

All true but that does not explain all the apparently stupid things you come across:-
For example why when the UK construction industry is virtually shut down http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7625342.stm  have I recently seen Irish brick lorries fully loaded with Irish bricks coming into the UK via Holyhead.
Or why does a local shop sell cans of a well known drink with a secret formula that has been canned in Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, India, Spain, Germany and many other places. As I understand it the concentrate is shipped from the US diluted (by machine), canned (by machine), packed and palleted (mainly by machine), not a lot of human labour there. Basically we are talking about shipping canned dirty water from all over the planet because its cheaper than our dirty water!!!!!!!!!!!
Or why a few years ago was it cheaper (wholesale price + shipping to UK) to buy tyres made in Birmingham in Australia than it was to buy them wholesale in the UK.

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I'm by no means anti-capitalism, or a control freak, however, I value the countryside and the environment. Let's cut out the romance here, buildings are cheap to build relative to their sale price, hence a bit of regulation could make the place look better and give a few jobs in return for not building lego boxes. If you look around, a lot of old buildings fit in with their surroundings. I'm surprised the planning lot aren't more fussy.......

Having said, council cronyism, RDA borderline fraud..... don't get me started.

Competition time:

Question 1. Which is the hidious imported Chinese granite and which is the warm local Cornish granite?

[photo]MOUNTS-BAY-CONSOLSL-Mine-User-Album-Image-54879[/photo]

Time that planning authorities realised that there is granite and there is granite. 😞

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We too watched 'Grand Designs' in horror at the point that the Chinese roofing slates appeared; not only for the reasons others have already described, but because of the further nails driven into the coffin of the UK production skillbase.

My wife and I were admiring the new granite pillars installed in the frontage of the Bank on Princetown's main street a year or so ago. 'How appropriate', we mused aloud, 'given that King Tor, Foggintor and Merrivale Quarries are so close'. A local resident overheard our conversation and mentioned to us that the new granite pillars were in fact Spanish imports.

A planning/architectural decision that was simultaneously right and very wrong, it seems to me.

Rant over.

Alec

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In a strange twist, your Granite effect work surface may actually have Cornish china clay in the centre....

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Saving money can sometimes produce unexpected results. I could not resist photographing this roof, its only a few years old and is clearly not made of welsh slate. When freshly built it had a uniform colour but does not seem to like the occasional kiss of the sun or the regular wash from Welsh rain.

[photo]Personal-Album-3945-Image-54882[/photo]

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I dont want to generalise,but Ive seen photos of some Chinese slate quarries,where conditions are poor.people carrying slabs on bamboo poles,hard hats are made out of wicker etc.,and can only assume this plays a part.assuming insurance and other overheads are (relatively) low compared to europe,this also may contribute.Some years ago I was talking to a roofing merchant who wouldnt stock Chinese slate because of the working conditions in the quarry.Also it is by far inferior to Spanish slate,let alone welsh slate.Probably good for flooring and slab though (if it doesnt change colour).im sure quarry conditions there will eventually change,but while they are comparitively poor,people will still be happy to buy inexpensive slate in the `international economy`.
Tis a shame these people spend a fortune on their `Grand Designs`and then cut costs on the roof.Incidentally,Brazilian slate can sometimes be nearly impossible to cut by hand. `A false economy`and `you get what you pay for`spring to mind.

One thing I read on the BBC the other day is that the Americans are getting angry about the Chinese government keeping their currency artifically low against the dollar so as to make exports cheap and imports more expensive, as well as a number of import tariffs the Chinese have and markets they won't allow foreign competition in. Potential for quite a major trade war there .....

I also sometimes wonder whether we should adopt a policy of free trade only if the country in question has enacted similar regulatory requirements about the environment, working conditions, etc. to us so that the trade is occurring on genuinely equal terms :thumbdown:

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Sadly that does`nt work,and never has,

Chinese coal flooding the UK market,even though 5000 plus Miners a year being killed.

Or the Meat import business,with supermarkets full of Danish pork and bacon,and our own farmers going to the wall,because of restrictions in the UK,that other countries done have.
I know,as locals would rather spend thier money with Mr Sainsbury,than in a fellow locals pocket

...than in a fellow locals pocket

Indeed. How many in this conversation drive a car made in Britain....?

Chris.

A car made in Britain by a British firm or a car made in Britain by a foreign firm :angel:

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