Exploring Sheffield part 2 of 2: Cannon Brewery

William Stones took the lease of the Neepsend Brewery in 1868 and renamed it Cannon Brewery, from where Stones Bitter was brewed.

Rebuilt in 1962, Bass took over in 1968 and in the 1970s and 1980s the Stones brand became one of the UK's most recognised.

As cask conditioned ale declined in popularity, Bass closed the brewery 1999 and it has remained vacant since.

The visit took in the 5 story brewhouse, an on-site underground pub (The Pig & Whistle), extensive cellars which run under the yard and various offices and stores.

Brewhouse

Yard

One of the roofs

The Pig & Whistle on-site pub 

Some kind of stores area

There's some excellent graffiti on display - the site is a hidden art gallery and living museum rolled into one.

coLor

coLor

Coloquix

Photographs below courtesy Amnesiac_radar.

Phlegm

Eugene Booms

Coloquix

?

?

coLor

Finally with a YouTube video of part of the tour:

Exploring Sheffield part 1 of 2: Firth Brown Medical Centre

The north east side of Sheffield was, and to an extent still is the heart of its steel industry.

The areas of Burngreave, Brightside, Darnall, Attercliffe, Newhall, Neepsend, Carbrook, Grimesthorpe, Meadowhall, Wincobank and Tinsley were full of big factories that must have made for a striking landscape in the industry's heyday.

Two extant works in Brightside: Firth Vickers (left) and Forgemasters (right)

One of the foremost companies was Firth Brown Steels, which occupied the Atlas & Norfolk works between Carlisle Street and Saville Street East / Brightside Lane, plus the Vickers Works (armaments) and Staybrite Works near Meadowhall, recently demolished.

It played a key role in the development of Stainless Steel and made products for the rail and shipbuilding industries.

The Atlas Works (shown in the old map below) was demolished in the 1980s, however one section remains, perhaps because it served as a WW2 air raid shelter for the works and nearby school and was bomb proof and hard to knock down.

1948

2014

It was a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) during the war and continued for some time afterwards as a medical centre for the steel works, though it's not clear for how long.

Now it is shielded by a long wall and has a car park on top. Adjacent there is another building, maybe part of the same unit, but that one seems well sealed and filled.

Inside there are several rooms with furniture and relics such as fire extinguishers and empty cordial bottles.

One room has to be accessed via a hole in a wall that has been smashed through - one wonders whether there could be more to this murky space.

Newspaper dated April 1940

Photos courtesy Amnesiac_radar:

Thanks for reading, and if anyone has any more detailed information on this centre, do get in touch as I'd be interested in learning more.

Colliery exploratory: Harworth

Earlier this year it was announced Harworth Colliery in North Nottinghamshire would probably not reopen.

Mothballed since 2006, owners UK Coal had stated they were exploring the viability of restarting mining here, but in April hopes were reported as dashed, and for now the pit remains on care and maintenance.

Harworth Colliery, July 2014

Shafts were sunk towards the Barnsley Seam in the 1920s, and its high quality coal was in demand by the rail industry until the 1960s (coal from here was used to fuel the Mallard's steam train speed record in 1938) and mainly for power thereafter. The current concrete headgears (above) were constructed in 1989 and 1996.

Here is a photo of the last train leaving Harworth colliery in 2006 (courtesy signalboxes.com)

 

And this is the view from possibly the above signal light in 2014:

A little further down the line, looking toward the headgears:

One noticeable feature in the village is a square tube which runs away from the colliery and over a hill. This houses a conveyor belt which was used to transport slag away from the pit. It's readily enterable and made for an interesting afternoon's explore.

The belt is within the structure on the left:

This is where the belt emptied onto the slag heap:

Time will tell whether coal will ever be mined from here again.

Afternoon walk: Thorne Moors

Many people haven't heard of Doncaster's famous raised peat bog or mire system that combines with others spanning the borders of South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire forming the Humberhead Peatlands, part of the Humberhead Levels landscape.

Humberhead levels

But they should, as the reserves' importance is underlined by Thorne & Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum, who explain "the acidic peat of the Moors creates an environment in which few bacteria survive and where there is minimal free oxygen. This inhibits the process of decay and has allowed a veritable Domesday archive of four millennia to be preserved."

The wider area is mostly flat, arable farmland, but remnants of wetland such as Thorne Moors are a Natural England National Nature Reserve (NNR) whose management's main aim is "to create an internationally renowned, unique wetland landscape, supporting thriving communities, economy, ecosystem services and wildlife".

Along with other remnants, these moors make up one of England's twelve Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs), this one a partnership of 15 organisations listed by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust as:

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
North Lincolnshire Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Environment Agency
Natural England
The University of Sheffield
The University of York
Ouse and Humber Drainage Board
Isle of Axholme and North Nottinghamshire Water Level Management Board
Shire Groups of Internal Drainage Boards
English Heritage
RSPB
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (has a very informative website about management of the levels)

In times past it was called Thorne Waste, suggesting the area was disregarded by previous people, however a trackway was discovered in 1972, built in the Bronze Age

Peat was extracted commercially here from the late 19th century, with increasing mechanisation in the 20th - a visit to an abandoned peat factory not far from here was reported here in April.

Environmentalist action in the last half of the 20th century led to the land becoming common and a nature reserve, significantly thanks to campaigning by self confessed "bad-tempered old sod" William Bunting, an early eco-warrior who would patrol the moors with "revolver, swordstick, machete, wire-clippers and business cards". Geoffrey Lean's full 1997 article is published on the Independent's website and there's more information on this remarkable character on another blog.

Angered by no footpaths appearing on a 1952 map, Bunting set upon a lifetime campaign for access across the moors, studying legal speak in order to challenge what he saw as their illegal enclosure. His work helped stop waste dumping from Drax power station and his group, Bunting's Beavers would build dams to counteract their destruction by Fisons in their endeavour to extract the peat.

This 1953 OS map does show some footpaths. Thorne Colliery is shown on the left

Thorne Colliery, 1953

As open access land, under the Countryside & Rights of Way Act (2000), the public can "walk, ramble, run, explore, climb and watch wildlife as they are given the freedom to access land, without having to stay on paths". Doncaster Council has a useful walking map of Doncaster which shows public access routes and this area is shaded red to denote all of it accessible.

Some paths are grassy, some boggy, some overgrown, some with planks laid down to help passage in places. There's woodland, open bush and plenty of bog. The area is popular with birdwatchers - this is one of the few British hideouts of the reticent nightjar. The adder - Britain's only native venemous snake lives here, and there's diverse plant life. Various insects were seen including dragonflies, butterflies and various coloured "fly" flies.

Near the outskirts, the shaft wheel from Thorne Colliery at Moorends recreation ground

This seems to be some remains of the colliery 

En route

Temperate woodland near the start of the reserve

Couldn't work out the exact function of this water receptacle.

This is a view from the raised platform in the middle

A thoroughly recommended place to explore - the visit took in just part of an area which includes Goole, Crowle, Rawcliffe and Snaith & Cowick Moors, the latter detached from its parish several miles away. The size of the place means there's only so much you can see in one visit!