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.