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Drainspotting!


Calvin72

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Sheffield Electric Light and Power Co Ltd - any idea of dates? For a long time I had only seen a handful of these, but they are numerous around Nether Edge and the Botanical Gardens area.

light and power board.jpg

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An 1899 (i think) vent in the pavement, at Commonside just past the top of Barber Road, probably installed at the same time as the electric Tramway route was being constructed.

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I've been scouting around for Sheffield manufacturers of manhole covers, drain covers etc, but I haven't come up with anything.

Any ideas on search terms to use.

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I've been scouting around for Sheffield manufacturers of manhole covers, drain covers etc, but I haven't come up with anything.

Any ideas on search terms to use.

Try Foundry (iron foundries),

there is one within yards from where I am sitting, a drain grate, not a foundry lol

'Beeley Foundry' had me puzzled for years, thinking it was at Beeley Wood, turns out it was on't Cliff.

http://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s20283&pos=3&action=zoom&id=22799

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I've been scouting around for Sheffield manufacturers of manhole covers, drain covers etc, but I haven't come up with anything.

Any ideas on search terms to use.

Most common names on features today are Blakes Foundry and Charlton Ironworks.

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Been working at a house near Carterknowle Rd today and there's a Sheffield made one on the path. It's badly worn so I can't make out the maker.

Back tomorrow so I'll have a walk down the street to see if there's a readable one.

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Been working at a house near Carterknowle Rd today and there's a Sheffield made one on the path. It's badly worn so I can't make out the maker.

Back tomorrow so I'll have a walk down the street to see if there's a readable one.

Be prepared that if you kneel down and try to feel the letters 'braille' style then people will look!

They do when i do it anyway :)

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Been working at a house near Carterknowle Rd today and there's a Sheffield made one on the path. It's badly worn so I can't make out the maker.

Back tomorrow so I'll have a walk down the street to see if there's a readable one.

The cast iron inspection chamber lids found in peoples gardens and paths often are marked with the name of the builder of the property, rather than the name of the foundry.

The foundries must have offered an easy option for customised lids.

We have owned three houses which had a name on the lid which matched the builder named on the deeds.

HD

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I'm wondering if that round cover originally had glass in it to provide some daylight to anyone working in the drain?

I think that the holes in these lids were there purely to ventilate the sewer below, of methane and leaking coal gas.

Over the years the holes and slots have been partially or completely blocked by ashphalt used to repair the roads.

There are often very deep shafts under these lids and not much light would reach the bottom.

HD

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The cast iron inspection chamber lids found in peoples gardens and paths often are marked with the name of the builder of the property, rather than the name of the foundry.

The foundries must have offered an easy option for customised lids.

We have owned three houses which had a name on the lid which matched the builder named on the deeds.

HD

Interesting observation HD

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Thanks to Andy for summing up our findings and, not least, for driving us both around Sheffield recently!

For quite a while i only saw the 'Sheffield Corporation' covers dated between 1896 and 1899, however recently i have found a few with 1902, 1906 and 1912 dates. However these total only half a dozen or so and represent replacements rather than a programme of drainage such as i believe happened in the late 1890s. As Andy suggests this does tie in with the plans and construction of the Electric Tramway in 1899. Something else that leads me to think there is a link is that i originally became interested in these features whilst looking at, and for, tramway remnants. They do appear more regularly alongside tramway routes from 1899 than in other places.

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In October 1899 the Brightside Foundry Company became the Brightside Foundry and Engineering Company with the amalgamation of J.C and J.S Ellis Ltd, and Walker, Eaton and Co. The resulting firm was still operating in 1949.

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