NEWSLETTER 96 EARLY SPRING 2016

NEWSLETTER 96 EARLY SPRING 2016

EDITORIAL

Welcome to the first of our 2016 Newsletters. I thought about changing the name of this issue from Early Spring to Winter as perhaps being more appropriate for something which is issued at the end of January/early February when winter is usually still with us but decided a) it might be confusing after all this time and b) it’s more optimistic that warmer days are not so far off, although this year it hasn’t really got cold so far at time of writing! Still on change of name, I reported in the last Newsletter that the Society’s AGM approved the name change to Archaeological and Historical Society; this change is gradually being implemented. As you can imagine even a simple change needs to be registered with the Charities Commission and Companies House not to mention bank accounts, the website, stationery etc. By the time our next Newsletter is produced, you should see a new heading to the Newsletter. For those using the Society’s website, a new domain name www.yahs.org.uk has been acquired but is not yet in use.

Subscription for both main Society members and Section only members were due on 1 January. YAS members should have received a reminder from the YAS Membership Secretary; Section only members have received a reminder by email or with this Newsletter. Section subs remain unchanged at £16pa and, as previously reported, arrangements for YAS members have been simplified; you will pay either £45pa and receive the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal or £23 pa without the YAJ plus £6 for the Industrial History Section membership (plus other amounts if you also belong to other Sections). See YAS website www.yas.org.uk for details. Membership cards have not been issued to main Society members for some years now but Section only members have been sent cards, mainly so that they can be identified at any events. It is likely that cards will no longer be issued unless on request. Separate arrangements are available for members wishing to use the collections at the University of library and these were advertised in the last Newsletter. A reminder that if you are a Section only member you can use the University of Leeds collection but on a reference only basis – as it was when the collections were held at Claremont, the arrangement that Section only members could borrow material that had been donated to the Library from the Section proved to be too complicated to carry over.

We have had three lectures by the end of 2015 in our new venue at the Swarthmore. I have received generally positive feedback on the venue; the café open on site is appreciated, together with good projection facilities. The room we have used so far (Room 3) can be a little cramped with more than 25 people but hasn’t been a problem so far. Access via the Leeds City bus remains as before – I recommend getting off the bus at the Leeds City College stop and walking a few yards up hill to Swarthmore - as does the free parking at the Joseph Well car park (the one nearer to the College).

I’m sorry to have to report the death of Section member Brian Slater. Brian was a Section member for many years and had given lectures and led walks. He was also an active member of the Railway & Canal Historical Society and the Railway Ramblers. He had been suffering from liver cancer and resigned from the section in October having been given two months to live. Typical of Brian’s good organisational skills, he set about tidying up his affairs before he died at home in on Boxing Day. His funeral was attended by over 160 people from the various groups he participated in. Brian’s knowledge and contributions to the IHS will be much missed.

A welcome to new member Mr P Sowden who has joined us since the last Newsletter - I hope you will find our events of interest.

I shall be producing the next newsletter after the AGM in April, so please let me have any items and reports etc. as soon as you can and by 18 April. I hope you enjoy the rest of the lecture programme, there are no excursions arranged at present but there are ideas being worked up – details in the next Newsletter.

Margaret Tylee

NEWS FROM THE SOCIETY

At the Society’s AGM last September I came to the end of my six year tenure on the Management Board – one is elected for three years and available for re- election for a further three years, after that one has to stand down for at least a year. This is to allow some rotation in membership, allowing for new ideas etc. It does mean that I don’t have as much immediate access to current information as before, but I still Chair the Promotions Committee whose membership includes the President and Hon Secretary, so I am not completely out of the loop. Also I am still invited to attend the twice yearly YAS Council meetings and the meetings which are now being held between the YAS Officers and representatives from the Sections.

One of the items that are being considered by the Promotions Committee is an update of the YAS website. Some of this is necessary because of the various changes that the Society has gone through e.g. the name change, move of the Collections to the University of Leeds, changes to membership arrangements etc. Others are needed to refresh the look and content of the site. Some factual changes have already been made and the new President, IHS member Gill Cookson, has started a President’s Blog to keep people up to date on her many and varied activities (definitely worth a read). However, we still need a volunteer to act as a website editor which will involve pro-actively finding out news items, keeping the website up to date and liaising with the web mistress Sue Alexander. If you are interested contact the Society Secretary David Buck at [email protected] The Society has a new Excursions officer, Louise Thompson Phillips. She has already organised a couple of events (see YAS website) but is keen to have suggestions for more. Jane and I have suggested a visit to the Industrial Museum and the Piece Hall (provided the former is still open see item below). If you have any suggestions please contact Louise at [email protected].

YORKSHIRE INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE ONLINE

The development of the Yorkshire Industrial History Online (YIHO) database continues, being led by John Suter and Robert Vickers. There are currently 2260 sites on the database. During the past couple of months contact has been made with the following Yorkshire societies: Local History Society, Halifax Antiquarian Society Industrial History Section, Keighley & District Local History Society, and Northallerton & Dales Local History Society. Several of these are already interested in contributing to the database, alongside our current partners the Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society and the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society. Changes continue to be made to the software to improve the workings of the database. These include the resolution of duplicate entries, incorrect grid references and the uploading of large data files. The latter means that scanned copies of written and word documents, converted to PDFs, that might otherwise never be preserved and made publicly available, can now be uploaded to YIHO. Work has commenced on preparing a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to scan the photographs taken by Jane Hatcher for her 1985 book on The Industrial Architecture of Yorkshire which she donated to the Section with the intention to add them to the database. Discussions are being held with commercial scanning / archiving firms to explore how the images should be captured and how / where they can be stored. A key aim of creating YIHO is to help people gain a greater awareness of the industrial heritage of Yorkshire by enabling enquirers to identify the historically important industrial sites and buildings in their area or field of interest and put them in the broader context of rural and urban environments. For instance, it might be possible to create “virtual” industrial trails that could be followed by using mobile devices. The project team meets approx. monthly - please do let Robert know if you would like to attend: email [email protected]

OTHER NEWS ITEMS

Queen Street Mill in , the world’s last remaining steam powered weaving mill, is under threat of closure following the announcement of cuts faced by Lancashire County Council. Its “Peace” is capable of driving more than 300 looms in the weaving shed housed in a grade 1 listed building and the Mill has featured in several films and TV series including The Kings Speech and North and South. The Helmshore Mill Museum is also facing closure due to cuts. In 1860, there were 2,650 cotton mills in Lancashire employing 440,000 people and producing half the world’s cotton, now there are only two left and soon it’s possible there may be none.

Eighteen papers from the First International Early Main Line Railways Conference held at Caernarfon 19-22 June 2014 are due to be published by subscription in early 2016. All subscribers will receive a copy of the book at a discounted price for advance payments and will have their subscription acknowledged in the book. The subscription list will close on 1 February 2016. The discounted price is £36 + £3 p&p. The full retail price will be £55. Cheques made payable to Six Martlets Publishing should be sent to Six Martlets Publishing, 4 Market Hill, Clare, Sudbury CO10 8NN. Alternatively subscriptions can be made online via www.earlymainlinerailways.org.uk.

The Yorkshire Dales Mining Museum in Earby closed in September 2015. The trustees of this museum which concentrated on telling the story of Craven’s mining industry felt it was no longer sustainable. The museum had lost a grant of £2,500 a few years ago and had managed to keep going through individual donations, but needed to make £200 a week to remain open. It was the biggest lead mining museum in the country with the prominent feature of the water wheel and ore crusher from the Kettlewell Providence Mine rescued from a scrap man in 1971. Fortunately the collection has not been lost because all the artefacts will be moved to the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes. All portable items such as mining trucks, tools and mining ledgers have already been moved, the waterwheel and crushers will follow. The Dales Countryside Museum is putting an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for money to extend the display area and re-site the waterwheel and crushers. YAS had been asked to support the application which will make the collection available to a wider audience than it had before, the Society was happy to do so and President Gill Cookson wrote in support in mid-November – we await the outcome.

Also on the subject of support, members who attended the section lecture on 12 December given by Tim Kirker on the Calderdale Industrial Museumwould have heard about the risk to the Museum’s future. Having been rescued in the past by volunteers, following its closure by Calderdale Council in 2000, the current potential cost of external repairs to the building threatens its existence again. The Section has written to Calderdale Council calling for the Council to support the continuation of the building rather than see it demolished; a decision is expected in early January. Members can join the Calderdale Industrial Museum Association for £12pa, a membership form can be downloaded from their website https://sites.google.com/site/calderdaleima/ or you can write to the Treasurer CIMA, Lee Lane, Lumbutts, Todmorden, OL14 6HS.

The last remaining mine headgear in the North Pennines at the Grove Rake Mine near Rookhope in Weardale is under threat following a fire in November 2015. Mining started in the 1800s developed by the Beaumont Company, followed in 1884 by the Weardale Lead Company who produced fluorspar and lead. It became a major producer of fluorspar after the 2nd World War when it was owned by British Steel. When it closed in 1999 it was the last commercial fluorspar mine operating in the North Pennines (Fig 1). Applications to have the site listed have not been successful and the site, currently owned by the Sherburn Stone Company, is becoming increasingly derelict. A Friends of Grove Rake Mine has been set up to preserve the site. More information and images can be found by internet searching “Grove Rake Mine”.

Fig 1. Grove Rake Mine, April 2000. © Copyright Malcolm Street. Licensed for reuse under the Geograph Creative Commons Licence The University Technical College, Leeds, the new engineering and manufacturing college due to open in September 2016, is progressing with its redevelopment of part of the grade II listed Braime Pressings factory on Road. Built 1911-13, the office building has an impressive facade of red brick with round- arched windows and has well-preserved panelled interiors. Founded in 1888, Braime Pressings Ltd continues its operations in the adjacent modern factory. IHS members visited the area on a guided walk in April 2010 – see Newsletter 80, page 8.

Last year I received the following request from Robert (Bob) Aspey, a volunteer with the National Trust at a property in York, the Treasurer's House. He wrote: “The House was purchased in 1897 by a wealthy industrialist, Frank Green, partly as an antiquarian restoration project and partly to provide him with a home for his collection of antique furniture. I'm a member of a group that researches aspects of the House, its collection, and of Frank Green and his family. Our purpose is to help visitors to interpret the House. Frank Green's wealth came from his family engineering business, E Green and Son Ltd ... in . Frank's grandfather, Edward Green, founded the company in 1821, initially as a general engineering company. In 1845 Edward Green invented ... 'Green's Economiser', a unit which recycled waste heat in steam engines enabling fuel savings. Frank Green joined the company in the 1880s and was Chairman between 1923 and 1954. Does the YAS have any information about E Green and Son Ltd? I am interested in putting the company into the context of engineering business in Wakefield in the 19th century”. The request was circulated to members on the email circulation list and a number of members provided information to Bob for which he is grateful. Bob also mentioned that Frank Green liked fast, good quality cars starting in 1905/6 with Napiers, later moving onto Rolls-Royces. Research by Robert Vickers revealed that between 1908 and 1930, when he moved from York to Somerset, Frank owned five Rolls-Royces, two with bodywork by Yorkshire coachbuilders. One was by Rippon Bros. Ltd, of Viaduct Street, Huddersfield, established 1870; the other was by the now little-known Myers & Burnell, of Davygate, York, established c1790. Frank Green, an engineer himself, obviously appreciated, and could afford, the high quality products created by other engineers.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

10 February Class and Coal – John Goodchild. Wakefield Historical Society lecture. Chantry Chapel, Wakefield Bridge 7.30pm. Contact Dr Phil Judkins email [email protected] 13 February From Village to Town in West Riding Yorkshire - Tony Dodsworth. Family History Section Lecture. Swarthmore 11am. Contact John Korna email [email protected] 14 February Mills, Moravians and More. A Calderdale Heritage Walk exploring the changes in this area from 1750, through carpet making to today. Meet Mary Twentyman at the end of Victoria Road, Bailiff Bridge, near the traffic lights at 2pm. £3 per person. 15 February A Historical Exploration of the Dearne & Dove Canal – Graham Hague. South Yorkshire Industrial History Section (SYIHS) lecture. Kelham Island Museum, . 7.30pm non SYIHS members £2. Contact Derek Bayliss T 0114 230 7693 email [email protected] 20 February South Yorkshire Iron – Derek Bayliss. Joint SYIHS and & District Local History Society lecture. 10.30am. Contact Derek Bayliss as above for details of venue.

20 February Worth Valley. Railway Ramblers 6 mile linear walk down the Worth valley from Oxenhope to Keighley visiting on the way. Led by Stuart de Boer. Meet in Oxenhope station car park at 10.15am (there is an overflow car park – go up Mill Lane and turn left). If using public transport you can take the 9.40am train from Keighley to Oxenhope. At the end of the walk at Keighley Station you will need to take a bus or steam train back to Oxenhope to collect car if necessary. Bring a packed lunch, boots essential as parts will be muddy in places. Details from Jane Ellis T 0113 265 9970 8 March First Waltz: development and deployment of Blue Danube,Britain’s post-war atomic bomb - Jonathan Aylen. 25th Dr Kenneth Barraclough Memorial Lecture. Joint SYIHS and SMEA meeting. Holiday Inn Royal Victoria Hotel, Sheffield. 5.30pm for 6pm. Contact Derek Bayliss as above.

12 March Inns and Public Houses. Joint Yorkshire Vernacular Buildings Study Group and YAS Day School. Leeds Beckett University, (Beckett’s Park) Campus, Leeds. 10am-4.30pm. The speakers will discuss the development of these buildings and how they have been used, drawing on documentary sources and the buildings themselves. Buffet lunch available if booked in advance. Cost for YVBSG or YAS members £26 with buffet, £17 without. Details and booking to Tony Robinson, 68 Thirsk Road, Northallerton, DL6 1PL T 01609 771673 email [email protected] 14 March Bringing the Newcomen Engine back to life – Geoff Wallis. Joseph Bramah Lecture sponsored by Council and presented by SYIHS. Cooper Gallery, Church Street, Barnsley 7pm. Contact Derek Bayliss details as above. Admission free but donations welcome. 16 March Lead Smelting in the Yorkshire Dales – Richard Lamb. East Riding Archaeological and History Society Lecture. Lecture Room S1, Wilberforce Building, University of Hull. 7.30pm. Contact Richard Coates email [email protected] 20 March Barnsley History Day. Barnsley Town Hall 10am – 3pm. Admission free. 21 March Joseph Town and the papermaking – Catherine Wright. Thoresby Society lecture. Friends Meeting House, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds. 7.15pm. Contact Mrs D Taylor c/o The Leeds Library, 18 Commercial Street, Leeds LS1 6AL. 9 April Archaeology & the Historic Environment in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Yorkshire Dales Archaeology Day. Grassington Town Hall, 10am – 4.30pm. A variety of talks including Hay Rake making at West Mill, Askrigg and Managing Industrial Monuments in the National Park. Cost £15 includes refreshments but not lunch. £12.50 for main YAS members. Tickets available T 01969 652353, email [email protected] or via website www.yorkshiredales.org.uk

9 April Woodhouse to Kiveton Park. Railway Ramblers 8-10 miles linear walk via the Chesterfield Canal led by Chris Thompson. Meet at Woodhouse Station at approx. 10am. Travelling from the Sheffield direction book to Kiveton Park where walk will end. Lunch stop at Rother Valley Country Park café area by Bedgreave Mill or bring your own food. Sections may be muddy, boots are recommended. Details from Jane Ellis as above.

18 April The Sheffield Armaments Industry in 1914 – Chris Coker. SYIHS lecture. Details as above. 21 -24 April Industrial Explorer Weekend in the Black Country. Heritage of Industry event looking at the area around Dudley and Smethwick. Includes the iron industry, chain making, glass making and mining. Based in a hotel in Dudley, cost around £420. To register interest, go to website www.citysafaris.co.uk or T 01235 352275

23 April Speaking Up for Industrial Archaeology. AIA Ironbridge Practical weekend to explore the challenges and practicalities of speaking up for industrial archaeology at the local level. Ironbridge Institute, Coalbrookdale. 10am – 4.30pm. Cost £18 including lunch and refreshments; £15 discounted rate for AIA members and affiliated groups (the Section is affiliated). For more details see www.industrial-archaeology.org.

Association for Industrial Archaeology Annual Conference 2016

The 2016 Annual Conference of the AIA will be held in Telford at the University of Wolverhampton campus 9-14 September. Full details and booking arrangements will be available in due course from me and the AIA website www.industrial-archaeology.org. Planned visits include industrial sites near to Ironbridge, Ditherington Mill in Shrewsbury, the RAF’s Museum’s conservation centre in Shifnal, mining sites in Shropshire, Evans’ Silver Works and the Coffin Works in , Burleigh Pottery in Middleport, Stoke and Telford’s roads and canals in . The Rolt Memorial Lecture will be given by John Yates of Historic . Also via the AIA website you can download the tour notes from some recent conferences – Preston 2007; Dundee 2013 and 2014 and read a report of the most recent AIA Council meeting.

FOR YOUR BOOKSHELF Mills: a lost textile heritage. Ruth Strong. Published by the Pudsey Civic Society. 2014. 157pp. ISBN 9781898088149. £20

Pudsey’s last textile mill closed over 15 years ago and the author (a longstanding Section member) felt it was time to record Pudsey’s over the last 200 years. The area covered by the book is mostly the original boundary of the township of Pudsey, but excludes , which the author feels warrants its own history. Each mill is described separately from its origins as a textile mill to whatever it has become; the definition of “textile” excludes flock mills which used woollen waste, mending shops and any mill such as Glenroyd Mill where all the manufacturing was put out on commission. A lengthy introduction covers an outline history of woollen manufacture in the area, including a definition of the various processes, from the early clothiers through to mechanisation, the company mills and into the 20th century’s decline and fall. Also covered are descriptions of the clothiers’ and cloth makers’ houses and the problems associated with water supply, waste disposal and smoke pollution.

The main part of the book consists of separate histories of each mill arranged in chronological order of its building, complete with location maps, archive and recent photographs and often advertising material, for sale notices and photographs of the workers and owners. Each description is followed by references to primary and/or secondary sources. The first mill covered is Union Bridge Mill built in the 1790s by Richard Farrer as a steam powered woollen mill, originally called Low Mill. It ceased woollen production in 1965 and was then let to various tenants before the whole site was bought by a building firm in 2006. Much of the mill was demolished but the four storyed original mill was retained. The site is now a complex of offices and apartments. The last mill described in the book is Uppermoor Mill, which, surprisingly for me, was built in 1962 at a cost of £60,000 for H.M.Hudson & Co. Ltd. It was said to be the first textile mill to be built in Yorkshire for many years, its main product was striped blazer cloth. It was badly affected by the embargo on imports to South Africa in late 1970s and changing fashions and the firm was wound up in 1983. Following demolition the site has been developed for housing. Twenty eight mills are described in detail and all but three have gone completely, having been developed into housing estates or offices. Waterloo Mill survives relatively intact as small industrial units; at the time of writing the book, Valley Mill is virtually derelict and as mentioned above, part of Union Bridge Mill survives at the heart of a modern development.

As the author points out in the postscript, the story of Pudsey’s wool textile industry is one of a long growth reaching a peak around 1900 followed by a swift decline so that by the beginning of the 21st century all vestiges of the industry have gone. It is fitting therefore that this book records that industry in such an effective and well researched way. Probably best used as a reference work to be dipped into, with its extensive illustrations and maps showing the location of all the mills and associated houses. It is also a comprehensive account of Pudsey’s textile industry and would be of interest not only to local people but also a wider audience interested in the subject. Available direct from Pudsey & District Civic Society, PO Box 146, Leeds, LS28 8WY or via http://www.panddcs.com If ordering by post or online please add £5 p&p.

Margaret Tylee

650 Years on the South Pennine Moors. David Nortcliffe. eBook published by Pennine Pens www.penninepens.co.uk, 2015, for Amazon Kindle or Apple iBooks. £4.95

This is a brief history of a semi remote moorland area in the Pennines, in north- west Calderdale. From the late 1300s onwards, the upland community moved from farming to a dual economy of farming combined with hand-textile operations. That, in turn, resulted in the emergence of a new group of local textile merchants. This ended in the early 1800s when the industry moved to the valley bottom in to become mechanised and factory based. The upland areas were given over to reservoirs to provide water for the growing mill towns.

Matthew Murray 1765-1826 and the firm of Fenton Murray and Co. 1795-1844. Paul Murray Thompson. Published by the author, 2015. £30 + £5 p&p

Written by a descendant of , this is a well-researched, large format book, with new technical information, lists of Murray's engines and a history of his firm. He has also produced a long-overdue biography of the often overlooked Matthew Murray, the father of the Leeds -building industry.

Available from the author who can be contacted at: [email protected]. REPORTS OF EVENTS ETC

Joint YAS Industrial History Section and Railway Ramblers walk to Saturday 19th September 2015.

A group of 14 met in the main concourse of Leeds station to start a gentle 3 mile walk down the riverside paths to Thwaite Mills – a preserved water powered mill in the care of . The on-going Aire valley flood alleviation works were much in evidence throughout the day but thankfully caused only one deviation from the route originally contemplated by Jane Ellis, the leader for the day. The route was generally on the south bank of the river and was a mix of original towing path of the Aire and Calder Navigation and river side paths created as part of modern riverside developments. Along the way various places of interest were pointed out and their history - often in detail – was provided from the researches done by Jane. What was most striking was the sheer quantity of modern and modernised buildings on the waterfront.

The townscape changed where the Knowsthorpe (or Knostrop) Cut left the , after predominantly leisure / residential properties, the norm became modern industrial buildings. A walk through typical anonymous industrial estate roads was needed to reach the lunch stop – a rare example of a city owner-run pub that provided a range of quality food options to satisfy all tastes. The industrial estate is on the site of Hunslet Old Mills. No trace remains of the mills and scant remains exist of the original course of the river which was by-passed in the late 19th century. The river and navigation were improved in the late 20th century which further removed historical remnants.

Thwaite Mills survived into preservation with its machinery substantially intact as a result of problematic access and the lack of power and other utilities on the site. All these latter had to be remedied before opening to the public was possible. Jane had arranged a conducted tour of the mills and the party was shown how chalk and flint were processed with the aid of water power inter-alia into whiting, putty and materials for the pottery, food (!) and pharmaceutical industries (Fig 2). After the tour participants were free to explore the site for the rest of the day.

Fig 2. The group on the guided tour of Thwaite Mills. (photo Jane Ellis)

Structures commented on included: Leeds Bridge, the Aire & Calder warehouses (converted to residential), Langtons Wharf, Turton’s tower, Crown Point Bridge, Royal Armouries & Clarence Dock, Leeds (Lower) Dam, Leeds Locks, Richmond Bridge (South Accommodation Road), Hunslet Mills (derelict), GN Railway Hunslet Branch swing bridge remnants, and the remains of the coal loading staithes.

A good and interesting day out - and the weather was kind. Bill Jagger

Industrial History Section Walk – Railways on the West Side of Sunday 20th September 2015

On 20th September Bill Jagger led the Section on a well-researched walk looking at the railways and industry to the west of Leeds centre. Our party of 8 began the day in a very civilised way with “brunch” at on the elegant 1930s concourse which is the grand approach to the – a car park some years ago but these days a very pleasant and spacious area of shops and eateries.

Walking out upstream along the north bank of the River Aire, Bill pointed out the site of Waterloo Ford under the arches beneath the present-day station and the medieval Bondman Dam, from this the goit originally flowed under the station and several streets to power several industrial premises (notably King’s Mill) before emptying back into the river. Another unexpected survivor was the series of iron mooring rings where, until the 1970s, coal barges tied up to supply the power station on Whitehall Road. This once industrial river now has banks lined with greenery and it was pleasing to hear that it supports a variety of wildlife – otters, trout, salmon, kingfishers to name but a few examples.

Moving on to Wellington Street, we saw the one surviving fragment of the 1st floor level corridor into Central Station, which we lost in 1967, tacked onto the rear corner of the former Great Northern Hotel. Back on the riverbank (with its recent flood alleviation work) we came to the site of Whitehall Soap Works, known to all as “Soapy Joe’s”! Between the river and Wellington Street there are new buildings going up everywhere, with associated car parking, on what was extensive railway land, but good to see amongst all this modernity was the only surviving wagon hoist tower, now thankfully preserved and protected. This raised and lowered railway wagons between the high and low level good stations by means of hydraulic power (Fig 3).

Fig 3. The hydraulic powered wagon hoist tower, now a feature in the newly created Tower Square, part of the Wellington Place office development stretching from the tower to Whitehall Road, Leeds. Note the blue plaque. (photo Robert Vickers

Walking along Whitehall Road we came to Monk Bridge, from which the Leeds & Whitehall Turnpike Trust’s tolls were removed in 1871. Here we could view the balustraded viaduct, preserved with its Grecian ornamentation, crossing the river as it approached Central Station and the high-level goods station. Next came the site of Monkbridge Ironworks (its rail access tunnel running under the road) about which we had an IHS talk recently. Between and beneath two railway bridges Bill pointed out the inconspicuous entrance to Low Level Station, now a blocked arch just before the access to Whitehall Road Goods Station.

In an area of what was back-to-back housing in Sutton Street, later Petty’s printers, we walked through a very low pedestrian tunnel – there used to be a gap in the centre where it surfaced between two railway lines, but this has been completely roofed over to form one long underpass which emerges close to the very busy and noisy Gelderd Road. Across the road had been the main gasworks for the city, but we stayed on the east side to see the other blocked entrance to Holbeck Low Level station. The name of a new road beyond here commemorates Thomas Grainger, the designer of two remarkable survivors, the Leeds & Thirsk Railway’s roundhouses of 1847 (Fig 4), the “half” one still containing its hand- operated overhead crane. Behind this building are the grade 2* listed L&TR workshops.

Fig 4. The Leeds & Thirsk Railway’s “full circle” roundhouse of 1847, (photo Jane Ellis)

Crossing the footbridge over Wellington Road we could just make out, through the bushes, the redundant North Eastern Railway coal cells and yard. Another interesting, if more recent, relic just nearby was a Plessey traffic light control box (1950s?) though the traffic signals it controlled are long gone. We had a little peace from traffic noise now as we returned to the railway station via the Leeds & Canal towpath, with plenty more still to see. We passed the fairly unobtrusive Globe Foundry, (listed grade 2), and Tower Works with its dust-extraction towers, which are a well-known feature of the Holbeck skyline, now coming into view, Adrian Bailey was able to give us chapter and verse on the factory they had served, now gone. A blocked arch was the clue to where Monk Pit Lock, under the railway station, formerly enabled canal vessels to access the river above the medieval weir.

A more modern curiosity was the impressive “Grand Depart Mechanical Theatre” clock, installed as a feature at the start of the Tour de France, when Leeds hosted the event in 2014. This stands in the foyer of the Doubletree Hilton Hotel on the canal-side. Work was well under way for the construction of the new southern entrance to Leeds Station, but we came across something much older nearby, a very faded wooden notice on an iron gate by the station arches stating “LNER & LMSR Leeds Joint Station. In case of fire ….. for keys at Parcel Office”, some of its wording now becoming illegible but remarkable to see when you consider that it must be pre-1948.

Afternoon tea in the lovely, art deco surroundings of the Queen’s Hotel, attached to the railway station, completed our day and here we were able to absorb the information from the notes our leader had given out, containing a timeline plus detailed maps of various vintages showing the area we had walked.

Jane Ellis. South Yorkshire Archaeology Day Saturday 14 November 2015

The annual South Yorkshire Archaeology Day was held, as usual, at the Showroom Cinema, Sheffield and followed the tried and tested format of eight half hour presentations covering a range of archaeological and historical activities across South Yorkshire from the prehistoric to the 20th century. For the first time since I have been attending, the Day was not sold out, which was surprising because it represents good value for money at £12.50 full price and £6.50 concessions, which included morning and afternoon refreshments – perhaps the sign of straightened times.

The first presentation was given by Barry Tylee on the recent community investigation of the Wortley Tin Mill. I won’t go into the detail of the talk because it was a shortened version of the talk Barry is giving to the Section in February, which will be reported in full in Newsletter no. 97. This was followed by James Thompson on “South Yorkshire’s Weirs: reviewing our historic water management assets” This was a review funded by Historic England into the water management structures such as weirs, goits, ponds, along the South Yorkshire rivers. There was a somewhat lengthy introduction to the different types of structures and their relative power involving rather complicated Powerpoint slides before a look in detail at the example of Forge Island in Rotherham. The talk then described the various different styles of weirs that could be found and their construction methods e.g. sloping, stepped, straight. It was important to be aware that the weir was often the only remaining evidence of an industrial water powered site. The study also looked at the impact of new legislation covering water management - each river catchment area has to have a plan covering the impact on ecology amongst other things. The aim of the study was to develop criteria that could be used to make decisions on whether a weir should be retained with a fish pass, be reduced or removed.

After the morning break we heard from Zoe Horn (Archaeological Service WYAS) who spoke about the excavation of a Romano-British Settlement at Hatfield Lane, Edenthorpe. The talk was of some interest to an industrial historian in that evidence of extensive charcoal working and pottery making had been found. Other finds included a metal saw blade and pottery. The site appeared to go out of use in the first quarter of the 3rd century. This was followed by a group presentation on “Branching out at Tinsley Meadows” - a community archaeology project involving local schools in Tinsley. The project had been in progress for three years with the aim of bringing Tinsley’s history to the wider community, particularly to the young – Tinsley has a population of about 3,000 and 96.7% of school age children came from a BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) background. The children had studied the Tinsley Court Rolls, covering the period 1284-1805, housed in Sheffield Archives which gave a lot of information. Very little was left of pre-industrial activity but the children had been involved in an excavation of Manor House Farm which stood on the site of their school and had interviewed the older generation about their experiences of working in industry. The group were hoping for a further two years funding to continue the project.

The break for lunch gave us the opportunity to browse the book stalls and catch up with old friends then it was back to the talks. The first of the afternoon was from Graham Hague, my colleague from the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society who spoke about the Industrial History of the Don Gorge near Conisborough. A well- researched presentation illustrated with old photographs and maps. The Don Gorge was an important route through the magnesium limestone belt; the River Don Navigation was operating from the early 1730s and there were three railways - the South Yorkshire, the Hull & Barnsley and the Dearne Valley. The latter route ran from Wakefield to travelling over the impressive Conisborough Viaduct built in 1909. Quarrying of limestone was an important industry together with coal from the nearby Cadeby Colliery, both using rail and the Navigation to transport goods. The talk concluded with an examination of the mills and weir at Sprotborough with its new fish pass. The next speaker should have been Dr Malcolm Lillie talking about early prehistoric activity at the Iron Age site at Sutton Common, near Doncaster; unfortunately he was indisposed so Dinah Saich from the South Yorkshire Archaeology Service stepped in at the last moment also to speak about the excavations which had taken place on Sutton Common on the site of an Iron Age marsh fort.

The final session of the day started with Lucy Dawson from Wessex Archaeology describing the buildings that had been lost as a result of the building of Sheffield’s Inner Ring Road about 10 years ago. 23 buildings had been recorded prior to demolition, the level of recording ranged from a photographic record to a full survey. The results were due to be published shortly. The area was one of the worst slum areas of Sheffield and at one time had one pub for every 100 houses. Several categories of buildings were identified: pubs, dwellings, factories, warehouses, garages, and buildings associated with Sheffield’s metal trades. Each building was described and illustrated and it was interesting to see the then and now comparisons. The final talk was given by Mark Douglas from Historic England who described the HLF funded project to improve the visitor centre facilities at Conisborough Castle which involved the first excavation on the site for 40 years. Unfortunately little of interest seemed to have been found.

This year, I found the quality of presentations more varied, some speakers were unclear and Barry’s talk on the Tin Mill was the only one that ran to time without a rush at the end to get through all the material. There was a problem in some talks in the use of the visual aids, some of the colour combinations used in the power point slides made them virtually impossible to read and some were too complicated for their own good, but overall an interesting day and thanks go to the South Yorkshire Archaeology Service for being able to run the day.

Margaret Tylee

Celebrating Yorkshire’s Industrial Heritage 9 December 2015

This was a day school hosted by the Heritage Lottery Fund and held at the Ironworks, , Barnsley. The aim of the day was to explore how the HLF can help organisations with projects in the industrial, maritime and transport fields and to describe projects that had been funded by the HLF. There was a good turnout with almost 60 participants representing organisations across Yorkshire, including Robert Vickers, John Suter and me from the Section. The morning consisted of presentations by the HLF and organisations that had benefited from their support.

Katherine Boardman, Development Officer for the HLF Yorkshire & Humber, spoke about the work to promote the industrial, transport and maritime heritage of the region. £1.8billion had been spent on this sector (I think this was a national figure) with 280 Industrial related projects funded in the region and over 3,000 country wide. She described the range of grant programmes available and stressed the need to talk to the team first for help in applying and also to talk to groups that had been successful in obtaining grants. Points to consider when submitting applications included being clear about the focus, who is the audience, who will benefit and what will be the end result. Details can be found at www.hlf.org or T 0113 388 8030.

Two case studies followed. The first was an impressive presentation on the development of the Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield given by John Hamshere from the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust which had been set up in 1994. It was recognised that museums needed to have continuous change, however small, to keep up with external developments. In the case of Kelham Island, there had been a need to be aware of changes in the national curriculum when wanting to educate and inspire children about science and technology. These developments in the Museum were funded from a number of sources including the Research Councils as well as the HLF. Things were going well until the floods of 2007 when much of the Museum was badly affected and many galleries had to be completely restored. Further grants enabled the Museum to re-open in 2008. Change still continues - an HLF grant enabled the Hawley Tool Collection to move to the Museum into a new Gallery in 2010. Work also continues at the Abbeydale site to maintain the structures and provide new interpretations. John stressed the need to look for alternative ways to increase income e.g. holding beer festivals and being licenced for weddings. The thing that struck me was the energy and dynamism required to face these challenges.

The second presentation by Kevin Smith was on a much smaller scale. Kevin was part of a group investigating ships from Grimsby which had sunk in the Humber during the 1st World war. The HLF grant they received funded an investigation of 30 boats that had sailed from Grimsby. The project involved training a team of divers for underwater investigation, training volunteers how to investigate records and to meet descendants of the crew and record their stories. Many of the boats were built by Cochranes of and the group had discovered plans of the ships, records of minefields laid by the Germans and taken underwater videos of the remains of the boats, some of which were shown to the meeting.

Ian Babty spoke next about his role as the Industrial Heritage Support Officer funded by Historic England until March 2017 and based at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum. He can provide advice, develop local networks and promote sites. He described examples of industrial sites that had been successfully run by volunteers and pointed out the common problems of funding and finding enough volunteers to help. Developing local networks can help – for example there is a North West Industrial Heritage Network with a plan being developed to link sites with stationary steam engines. He ended by reminding the meeting that conservation grants are available from the AIA and the possibility of crowd funding should not be forgotten.

During the lunch period, participants were invited to look round the Elsecar site, including the Newcomen Engine. Since the Section had visited the site last year I took the opportunity for a ride on the . After lunch, Dieter Hopkin, from Museum Development Yorkshire, spoke about the role of this organisation in providing support for local authority and independent museums to help them improve and develop. This can include carrying out collections reviews, business planning and fund raising strategies. He suggested that a regional network for Yorkshire could be beneficial in sharing experiences and expertise. The last session of the day was a small group discussion session exploring the possibilities of a regional network and how this could help deal with the challenges facing our industrial heritage organisations. There seemed to be general agreement about the familiar challenges – increasing age of volunteers, how to turn having a hobby into a professional, sustainable organisation, lack of funding and marketing expertise. The advantages of having a network could be the ability to transfer skills, share volunteers and experiences. The first step could be to set up an onlne contact list so that groups could work with each other.

Feedback from these sessions is intended to be circulated to those present; to date a list of email contacts has been sent. The day was partly useful in establishing contacts but it seemed to me to be focused very much at organisations that were responsible for sites and small museums.

Margaret Tylee

INDUSTRIAL HISTORY SECTION OFFICERS 2015-2016

Chairman & Newsletter Editor Vice-Chairman & Membership Lecture Secretary Secretary

T 0114 283 0056 T 01937 588446 T 0113 265 9970

Margaret Tylee Robert Vickers Jane Ellis