NEWSLETTER 78 EARLY SPRING 2010 EDITORIAL Welcome to a new Newsletter and a new decade. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year break and have coped with the arctic conditions. Living on the edge of the Peak District we have had snow drifts of over a foot which I can see now from my window as I write this editorial. This has made getting about difficult, although I did manage a walk along the Rivelin Valley in Sheffield with its interesting remains of water powered sites on New Year’s Day. The valley once had 20 mills along a 3 mile length, and although buildings survive at only one site there are good examples of how water had been used with numerous remains of weirs, goits and dams. If you would like to find out more I recommend the book Water Power on the Sheffield Rivers 2nd (revised), edited by Christine Ball, David Crossley and Neville Flavell and published by the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society in 2006. Turning to Section matters, it is pleasing to note that the Section continues to be successful with a good regular attendance at lectures of around 25 members in the first half of the programme and some walking excursions to look forward to this year when the lecture programme finishes. However I have received a comment that the Section does not produce much in the form of occasional papers or research reports, and it is some time since we produced the last walk leaflet. If any members are actively working on something do let me know, we can either include an item in the Newsletter giving details of your research interests or consider a wider form of publication via the main Society. Publication can take the form of an Occasional Paper, Research Report or an article in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. The YAHS website (www.yas.org.uk) contains information about YAHS publications and you will note that there are very few with industrial history content. It would be good to redress the balance and I am sure that the YAHS Publications Committee would be happy to hear from you. January means that subscriptions for 2010 are due. Main YAHS members will have received their subscription reminders directly from Claremont, but Industrial History Section only members get their reminders from the Section. If you have not already paid, then a reminder will be enclosed with this Newsletter and you will note that Vice Chairman Robert Vickers has kindly taken over the Membership Secretary duties. Since my retirement from the British Library it has been easier for Robert to liaise with the Copy Unit at the BL who produce our copying (at a very reasonable rate) since he lives close to the BL and therefore we felt it was also more practical for him to deal with membership and mailing; Robert’s contact details are given at the end of the Newsletter - please note his new email address. I hope members will continue to support the section by renewing their membership. The YAHS website contains a lot of information about the Society and its sections including the diary of events. Members who have looked at the diary either online or in hard copy (available from Claremont) will have noticed that the section AGM has been listed for Saturday 3 April and 10 April; so a reminder that the correct date is 10 April. As always nominations are welcome for the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, Lecture Secretary, Membership Secretary, Excursions Secretary and Newsletter Editor. The AGM is followed by a Members’ session; these are always of interest for those attending the meeting so start thinking about whether you can give a short presentation. Welcome to new section members who have joined since the last Newsletter: Mr T Knox, Miss F Armitage-Smith and Dr C Oxby; I hope you will be able to join us at a future event. Finally I shall be producing the next Newsletter after the AGM in April, so please send me your news items and short articles for inclusion by 10 April. Please see the item below for a special request for contributions Margaret Tylee NEWS OF MEMBERS AND EX-MEMBERS On behalf of the Section I would like to send our best wishes to Helen Gomersall, who retired from the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service at the beginning of November due to ill health. Helen has been a long standing member and supporter of the Section and has given some excellent presentations. Sadly I have just been told of the death of Nancy Cooper over Christmas. Nancy was a driving force for the Section and its Secretary when I joined in 1979 until I took over in 1992. Nancy was in her late eighties and had moved away from Leeds a few years ago to live in Ashby de la Zouch to be nearer to her son Bob, who had also been an active member. I am sure many longstanding members will have fond memories of Nancy as I have and if members would like to send me their memories of Nancy, I will include them in a special section of the next Newsletter. HELP WANTED Do any members have knowledge of the brick industry in the Thirsk area, specifically Carlton Miniott, either personally or of any studies that have been carried out? If so, the Northallerton Local History Society would like details. Please contact Mark Sissons, 33 Burgate, Pickering, YO18 7AU or email [email protected]. NEWS FROM CLAREMONT A stock check at Claremont has revealed large numbers of back issues of the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, so in order to create much needed space the Management Board has decided that back issues published prior to 2005 can be given away free provided individuals can collect them from Claremont. To help identify appropriate issues, a contents index will shortly be made available on the YAHS website. Details of all YAHS publications can be found on the website. However, in most cases the information available is very limited; therefore it is intended to include more detail about the content with the aim of encouraging more sales. Claremont is well over 200 years old and is a grade II listed building with 17 Georgian and 15 Victorian windows, comprising a total of 330 panes all of which are in urgent need of refurbishment. To date we have been unsuccessful in obtaining grants to repair the windows and an appeal has been launched for individuals to sponsor a window pane. Main Society members will have received details of the appeal with the December 2009 issue of Update and have been asked to consider sponsoring a pane for £100 however any contribution would be welcome. Donations should be made payable to the Yorkshire Archaeological & Historical Society and sent to the Hon Treasurer at Claremont. NEWS ITEMS The Hawley Collection will be opening at the Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield in spring 2010. This is an important collection of over 100,000 objects including edge tools, measuring tools and tools used in the cutlery and silversmithing trade. They have been collected by Ken Hawley since the late 1950s and provide a unique record of toolmaking past and present. A Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled a derelict industrial building at the Kelham Island Museum to be refurbished and provide a new home for the collection making it more accessible for the public. The AIA are visiting Upper Normandy 19-23 April 2010. Based in Rouen there will be an opportunity to visit the port of Rouen, the oldest working windmill in France, see traditional rope making and enjoy a tasting at the Benedictine distillery in Fecamp amongst other things. To express an interest in the visit, please contact Sue Hayton at 31, The High Street, Farnborough, Kent BR6 7BQ, or see the website www.heritageofindustry.co.uk. The historic Lowther Hotel in Aire Street, Goole, is being renovated with a view to being converted into a 14 bedroom wedding and conference centre. The building was opened in 1824 as the Banks Arms and became a focal point for the developing town of Goole, with the Aire and Calder Navigation Company using it for their meetings. Three first floor rooms had murals painted on every wall and members who visited Goole some years ago may recall Bill Slatcher showing us some of these. Most were covered by layers of paint and wallpaper but have been restored over a period of eight weeks revealing dockside scenes and portraits of prominent people including George IV. A Cabman’s Shelter in Ripon Market Place has been given a grade II listing. Dating from 1911, the shelter was built for horse-drawn cabmen by Boulton and Paul of Norwich. It is made of timber with an iron balustrade and is 2m x 3m in plan. Boulton and Paul were most famous for aircraft production in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Newsome Mill in Lockwood, Huddersfield featured in the Victorian Society’s 2008 list of top ten most endangered buildings. The November 2009 issue of The Victorian gives an update indicating that the building is still in a poor state with the clock faces on the tower smashed and there are no plans for any restoration and conversion. The building dates from the 1880s and was occupied by the worsted firm of Taylor and Littlewood. The original grade II listing of the clock tower was extended to cover the four storey mill building with associated weaving sheds, office building and inscribed gateway arch.