[urbanspaceman]

Thank-you efrahjalt.
I initially, and mistakenly, assumed that as the Solingen smiths took such great interest in the Damascus smithing techniques, which were supposedly acquired from the science of wootz manufacture, that this was responsible for their successes..
Yet it seems that Damascus wootz was not always crucible steel and it also seems that even true wootz blades were brittle.
I further realised that the treatment of the raw material in the forge played an absolutely crucial role in the outcome, regardless of the quality of the stock.
I then discovered that quality blade-smithing has been achieved in Solingen for over 2 thousand years.
Finally, I found that the iron-ore in the Wupper Valley environs has a high Manganese content which may well be partially responsible for the good results achieved.
So, the story about Germany stealing Damascus secrets and raising the bar of blade-smithing may be erroneous, if not entirely, then at least substantially.
Thank-you for your input: it further focuses my understanding of the Solingen craft.
I do know that their system of speciality guilds was crucial in achieving such consistently good results and that may well have enabled them to maintain high standards of quality over vast outputs.
But, I still don't know why we British never achieved decent results for so long.