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Sharrow Hurst


Bayleaf

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I was born and brought up in Hurst Road which came into the borough of Sharrow I'm fairly certain. It was off the bottom of Clarence Street just across from The Arcade. Surely if there was a large house name Sharrow Vale it must have been somewhere near?

Grannypat

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In 1879 William Sorby Manufacturer, lived at Sharrow Hurst and by 1905 Henry Bedford,Steel manufacturer lived at Sharrow Hurst.

On picture Sheffield a photo of this soldier can be viewed;

Second-Lieutenant Seaton Hall Bedford, Royal Berkshire Regiment , son of Mr and Mrs H. H. Bedford, Sharrow Hurst. Fell in the Great Push. Solicitor. LLB. , Cambridge

 

 

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I've taken my time over this, as it's a big claim and even sounds like something of an urban myth.

I am pretty sure that Sharrow Hurst is now in Japan.  I remember that a house was removed stone by stone and exported to Japan some years ago, pre-Conservation Area.  At the time I was horrified but very busy with other things.  However, the story has haunted me and now that I have more time I have started to investigate.  I was pretty sure it was on Sharrow View and started to ask a few questions locally.  Today, at the Nether Edge Farmers Market, my husband (manning the N E History Group stall) met the people who live at the Coach House and they have important information about the old house.  Hope to visit them within the next fortnight, although a bit preoccupied with family matters at the moment.

I've now spoken with several local people, the same story is being repeated and it fits with my own memory of the house.  I now believe that Sharrow Hurst was taken down very carefully and every piece of it was numbered.  The whole thing was then exported to Japan and  - so the story goes - was re-erected on a Japanese golf course.  All of this happened around 1996/97.  I have been unable to find any photos of the old house.  The original Coach House still exists and has been carefully converted into a very attractive dwelling house.

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Still working on Sharrow Hurst and I was astonished to find that not only was Seaton Hall Bedford killed in the Battle of the Somme on 1st  July 1916, but William Arthur Colley was also killed there on the same day.  They were in different regiments and probably didn't know of each other's existence or their special connection through Sharrow Hurst, but both are remembered on the memorial at Thiepval.

CWGC site tells us:

On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/80800/THIEPVAL MEMORIAL

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Oh dear, I see I was ahead of myself there.  William Arthur Colley was the brother of John Herbert Colley, mentioned in  an earlier post on this thread and son of Francis W Colley, the tanner who lived at Sharrow Hurst in 1881.

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