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Samuel Fox


RichardB

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I lived in Stocksbridge for a while and still go there regularly.

The size of "Fox's" is beyond belief when you first see it, and when you think that all that was owned by one man it is staggering.

I have a customer in Derbyshire who owns the house where Fox was born and its tiny. There's a little plate on the wall outside in memory of the man himself, the difference between the two room cottage and the three mile long steel works couldn't be greater.

As for the town, well I'm not too keen on the place mainly as it hold iffy memories for me I suppose but surrounding it the country side is amazing, and the history of all those little villages such as Langsett, Bolsterstone and such is still there to be seen today if you go looking.

Ewden valley has to be my favourite. Stand on the top of the hill at Bolsterstone and look across the other side and for a moment or two you can imagine what the area was like before steel came to the area.

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I lived in Stocksbridge for a while and still go there regularly.

The size of "Fox's" is beyond belief when you first see it, and when you think that all that was owned by one man it is staggering.

I have a customer in Derbyshire who owns the house where Fox was born and its tiny. There's a little plate on the wall outside in memory of the man himself, the difference between the two room cottage and the three mile long steel works couldn't be greater.

As for the town, well I'm not too keen on the place but surrounding it the country side is amazing, and the history of all those little villages such as Langsett, Bolsterstone and such is still there to be seen today if you go looking.

Ewden valley has to be my favourite. Stand on the top of the hill at Bolsterstone and look across the other side and for a moment or two you can imagine what the area was like before steel came to the area.

Hi Hjdary Noticed your interest in Stocksbridge when i found these photos the first one is in 1905 the second in 1922 hope you like them??.

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Hi Hjdary Noticed your interest in Stocksbridge when i found these photos the first one is in 1905 the second in 1922 hope you like them??.

Two cracking shots there mate!

Its amazing to think that even today you can take the same shots and there is not much different.

On the first shot (the head office and umberella dept) ...well its a little greener today and thats about it.

As for the second one (from the top of Nanny Hill)...there are no chimnies now and the rail yard has gone. Over on the North side of the valley the house you can see in the picture are now missing I think and thats about it I think.

If I get chance I'll try and recreate those two shots when I get up there tomorrow.

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I have ringed the buildings which have now gone and at first it looks like quite a lot but look again and you'll find the majority of the scene has remained unchanged.

The row of houses at the bottom of the hill have gone to make way for a tyre center but the house to the right of them is still there.

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At one time Foxes were famous for their springs.

One of their customers was Rolls Royce.

Now, most companies would be happy to have springs delivered wrapped in oiled paper and stacked in a wooden crate but not the chaps from Crew.

Foxes employed a man whos sole job it was to sit in a locked cage and stitch the springs by hand in to greased up leather pouches!!

Bet BMW dont do that these days!!

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The photo of Clock Tower Hill flatters to deceive, it's so steep. It gets steeper the further up you get especially on the Nanny Hill part...phew. Knackered just thinking about it.

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I lived in Stocksbridge for a while and still go there regularly.

The size of "Fox's" is beyond belief when you first see it, and when you think that all that was owned by one man it is staggering.

I have a customer in Derbyshire who owns the house where Fox was born and its tiny. There's a little plate on the wall outside in memory of the man himself, the difference between the two room cottage and the three mile long steel works couldn't be greater.

As for the town, well I'm not too keen on the place but surrounding it the country side is amazing, and the history of all those little villages such as Langsett, Bolsterstone and such is still there to be seen today if you go looking.

Ewden valley has to be my favourite. Stand on the top of the hill at Bolsterstone and look across the other side and for a moment or two you can imagine what the area was like before steel came to the area.

Hjdary, a quick search came up with this ... http://www.bradwellinpeak.f9.co.uk/samfox.htm does it ring any bells ;-)

Also came across this, The Real Umbrella Man ... http://www.peaklandheritage.org.uk/index.a...eakkey=20600221

I have a stainless steel candle stick (sadly the other got lost some years back :( ) that was made at Fox's around fifty years ago,

The man who made them was a friend of our family, he worked there as an engineer.

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After promising to do so all week I finally got up Nanny Hill today.

My son and me had a ride up there this afternoon to try and re-create the black and white image....

We found that it is no longer possible to stand in the same place as the original photographer as the area where he/she took it from is now over grown with trees.

So we did our best......

So we then turned to have a look at the clock tower......

And on the tower we found something a bit intriguing.

The Tower is also Stockbridge's war memorial and as such has a list of name of our fallen heros'...one of the names though has been altered.

At the bottom of one of the panels is the name Arthur....and then a hole where his surname was..look here......

So who was Arthur?

We hoped that it was someone who was MIA but then turned up and had his name removed but it is more likely that poor Arthur has had his name vandalized or ...well we don't know.

can any one help with this little mystery

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Hi Hjdary Excellent photos well done its nice to be able to put old and new side by side its frightening at times when you don't see how fast things change. ( Might not have worded that correctly but i know what i mean ( I think ) )

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Hi Hjdary Excellent photos well done its nice to be able to put old and new side by side its frightening at times when you don't see how fast things change. ( Might not have worded that correctly but i know what i mean ( I think ) )

Thank you.

I wish I we had been able to get a shot closer to the original mind.

There is a old wall there which he must have climbed but given I was still full of KFC and pop and my belt was straining a bit I thought better of it. Plus as you can see from the shots its a bit of a jungle there now!

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I helped demolish the housing that stood along the front of the works, late 70's.

Were those the houses that stood where the tyre centre is now, and if so, do you know why were they dropped...worn out or in the way??

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They were the houses that were in front of the main gates and ran along the main road they had a big communal toilet block in the middle of them, I remember doing some near the Church but can't remember which side, also did a stone house on top of the hill behind Fox's.

Can remember a woman who lived in one of the houses on the main road who was a bit strange, I dont think she wanted to move and used to chuck stuff at us, she'd come out swearing at all and sundry.

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That has to be this block then..

I think the rest of the houses round there are still intact.

The only one left is at the far right of the block I have outlined

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That has to be this block then..

I think the rest of the houses round there are still intact.

The only one left is at the far right of the block I have outlined

It could well have been but the old memory's failing a bit and i have'nt been that way for years,

the main houses we did seem a little further on near Bessemer Terrace

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.484311&a...r=0&src=msl

Also did a house on Haywood Lane around the same time there'd been a gas blast

and we had to flatten the remains.

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http://www.peaklandheritage.org.uk/index.a...eakkey=20600221

The Real Umbrella Man

Extract :

Samuel Fox is usually credited with inventing the world’s first successful collapsible umbrella frame. In fact the true inventor was a friend and employee, Joseph Hayward. But Fox’s company was entitled to all production rights and profits.

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Guest Dave W

With reference to post #5.

The house that is still standing on the main road was owned by the Hepworth family in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. Old Mrs Hepworth had an antique shop and was known as Antique Annie. Her son was a local historian, and was responsible for finding the Neolithic remains in Deepcar.

I remember that there was a tragic accident outside the row of houses when a little girl ran out into the road in front of a lorry. This must have been in the late 50’s. If you look in Sheffield Library (Picture Sheffield.Com) S00152

Moving along the bottom of the photo is the start of another block, which are still standing. To the right of them was another row of houses, known as Scotch Row. These were built into the hill side and were actually two rows, one on the top of the other.

The photo also shows Brownhill Row, (the uppermost ring on the photo) this is the row of houses on Pea Royd Lane. They were demolished in the late 50’s or early 60’s.

The ring on the bottom left was the council office which was converted into the Town hall in 1926. Behind the council office was the original Fire Station, which was moved to behind the cinema building and then to the bottom of Park Drive. (Town Hall photograph S03000)

Ref post #18

There was a row of houses known as Horner House at the bottom of Park Drive which is near to Bessemer Terrace, this can be seen on photograph S002978/9 on the extreme left.

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The ring on the bottom left was the council office which was converted into the Town hall in 1926. Behind the council office was the original Fire Station, which was moved to behind the cinema building and then to the bottom of Park Drive. (Town Hall photograph S03000)

On the shot of the Town hall....Look to the left of the image and you can just make out the edge of the car dealership.

When I fist came to Sheffield this fantastically imposing, Victorian building was still being used by Stocksbridge Ford but alas it closed shortly after..this would be around 1993.

The building was demolished and the area behind it which was a car park and Market area was cleared so Lidl could be built.

At the time this was all happening I remember the locals where all whinging about loosing the car park, so they were reasured that when Lidl was built there would be a car park for the whole community to use aswell...but it turnned out that the agreement with Lidl was that the car park belonged to the community for ten year only....so now there is no where to park at all and if you do use the Lidl car park and dont shop there you get a ticket!

Also Dave mentions the fact that the fire station was moved to the back of the cinema...this has since moved again a mile or so along Manchester road.

The "second" Fire Station is now used by Kinsley's Coaches as a small depot for their vehicles.

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Guest Dave W

With referance to post 24.

The car dealership was owned by the Knowles family prior to Stocksbridge Ford. They also had the garage just as you enter Deepcar which is now the RV showroom. Above the main garage was two flats one occupied by a family with three girls, (but that is another story)! In those days (the middle 50's)there were three garages in the valley, Knowles, Schooley's in Deepcar and at the top end one owned by Mr Hayward which later became Bombers’ and now Crown.

In the middle of the photograph is a white sign on the corner the building. This was a green grocer shop owned by another branch of the Knowles family. They had two shops the other being where the “Trader” is at the present time. Old Mrs Knowles lived above and behind the shop on the corner for many years.

At the far end of the block was a photography shop owned by Billy Becket. Going further up the road the Coach and Horses public house, and then the Midland Bank in what I remember as a wooden hut, this was taken over by the Britannia Building Society when the bank moved to its present location in the mid 60’s.

On to the car park at Lidl, this was originally part of the Stocksbridge council depot, and then when the market closed, which was on the land now occupied by the Co-OP, it moved in front of the depot. I also remember the local library being there before the present one was built. At the lower end of the Lidl car park there is still a few spaces for the general public to use except on Friday when the market is supposed to be held.

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Guest metalmickuk

I have ringed the buildings which have now gone and at first it looks like quite a lot but look again and you'll find the majority of the scene has remained unchanged.

The row of houses at the bottom of the hill have gone to make way for a tyre center but the house to the right of them is still there.

my mate paul and his wife lisa live in the house on the right .

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