Leaderboard

The firm was established by David Champion in 1780 and was in partnership with Ebenezer Rhodes until 1822 (Rhodes was Master Cutler in 1808 and author of "Peak Scenery"). David's grandson Thomas Champion was Master Cutler in 1822, but went bankrupt in 1834. The business passed into the hands of the Walsh family, descendants of the founder on the female side. They had works at 2 Eyre Street (1825), 39 High Street (1839), 53 Russell Street (1837), 168 Broad Lane (1846, 1932), Petre Street (1950) and Hoyle Street (1950), Glasshouse Lane Mexborough (1947). Following the death of R.L.Walsh, another Master Cutler, the firm was sold to Prestige Group, of Holborn, London in 1950. At this time trading was poor and a branch at Barnsley and two in Sheffield were closed down, and the Mexborough premises were extended to be the main production site, with 60 workers. In 1957 the firm was sold to George Wostenholm & Son. Eight of the key personnel at Mexborough travelled from Sheffield (2 foremen, 2 grinders, 2 assemblers, a plater and a warehouse chargehand). Lots more detail here: Hawley Sheffield Knives Stationers Company An advertisement from 1951: The factory at Mexborough:

Thank you You’re a star ⭐️ Edmund The baker Cyril Verhamme is my grandfather , I’ve sent the info to my sister. We’re both thrilled to have another piece of our family history . It was a marriage of convenience , at the time my grandmother was seeing a young man approx 17 yrs old she became pregnant with their child . He never found out as he signed up for the military WW1 and was killed almost immediately . The family story is my Grandmother worked at the same bakery as Cyril Verhamme, he vowed he would not let her go into a work house to have the child and would look after her when the child arrived ,she gave birth to a boy,their marriage followed and after 2 yrs of marriage my mum was born . I suppose the need to look for accommodation became priority for him .Luckily they ended up in a house 99 Holme Lane Hillsbro , where Grandma ended her days. Thank you so much Edmund ⭐️ Regards Suzy

Having only just seen this thread (been abroad for quite a while!) I looked in my diary. I have a note that traction engines began to dredge the dams in Rivelin Valley in February 1967. :-)

Found em! Because of the position of the dam at Shepherd Wheel it wasn't possible to get machinery next to the water. Behind the engines in the pictures is the river and the high bank is the dam wall. At one end of the dam is the little bridge on Hangingwater Rd, and at the other end are the mill buildings, so there was a system of pulleys rigged with the engines on the main path below the dam wall. I can't give any details as I'm passing on the comments and photos from a friend who took them.