Jump to content

Extinct Sheffield Food Brands


lysander

Recommended Posts

Sheffield once produced an array of its own branded foodstuffs. Here are just a few:_

Fowlers "Beet awl" pickles, Maxon's mint rock, Dixons mint rock, Hulley's ice cream, Burdall's gravy salts. Fletchers bread and confectionary, Gunstone's bread, Bachelor's peas ( I know the brand name still exists) Stone's beer, S H Ward beer, Tennants beer

Cast your mind back and see if you can remember anymore

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stones' beer (I was surprised to find that the founder was Mr. Stones, not Stone) is still brewed, but in Burton. I'll raise you Littlewood's Non-Brewed Condiment.

I remember Fletcher's bread (which my Mum bought) and Gunstone's (which she didn't), and I think Hulley's ice cream vans. Along Gleadless Avenue we had two regular ice-cream vans, Ronksley's (which we didn't buy) and Granelli's (which we did). I must browse t'internet and see if they are still in operation.

EDIT: it looks as if Granelli's are going strong, and Ronksley's ice cream is listed,, but in Barnsley. Maxon's apparently still make sweets in Sheffield too, or did in 2012 anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gilmours' Windsor Ales, Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts (still going strong), Sutherlands' Potted Meat Spreads (still made at Waleswood, in plastic jars, though the same-label glass-jars are now made in Norfolk / Suffolk). Stones of course, were 'Cannon Ales'. Did Gunstones make biscuits once upon a time? Wasn't 'Jubilee Milk Stout' once brewed by Bass, in Sheffield, but I think that it's origins might be much earlier than that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gunstones did make biscuits. I saw that in the original bakery somewhere near the bottom of City Road. I remember a huge  dial on the rolls calibrated in 1/64" to control.the mixture thickness. The guide pointed out that the finished packets were sold by weight, either under or over being illegal so the individual biscuits had to be spot on. If not the Weights and Measures inspectors got upset. (Under-- fraud, over--unfair competition) We went round the new plant at Unstone; presumably they still did but all I remember is the time spent on spelling out how they producefd  perfect sterlile sliced bread.

Prewar, 0 Reels icecream was made  in a building in the common backyard of houses on Unstone Street, Denby Street and Bramall Lane. Conveniently family friends lived next door and on Saturday evenings all the local kids gathered  after tea waiting for the men pushing their hand carts back to base. Each cart had a big insulated  container which was left on the barrow on Unstone Street while we cleaned out what was unsold. We had the freedom of the cone box. Summer was poor, sales were good.  Before and after were better times. Winter was close season. A family firm I believe, it looked nothing outside but was spotless inside.   Being free it tasted better.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gunstone's still exists, sort of. It is now owned by Two Sisters food group, alongside Fox's Bis(qu)its. Confusingly, Gunstone's were mentioned in a 2017 news article, something about a charity event, but they are not named on the Two Sisters web site. The factory (in Dronfield) is still open it seems.

Oh, and yes, they used to make biscuits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Burdall's  were in my original post...but there was also Carters in Attercliffe who also made gravy salts...and did they also make "Carter's Little Liver Pills".

Jubilee Stout was originally brewed by Carter , Milner and Bird who originated in Bridghehouses but moved to at their new Hope Brewery on Claywheels Lane. This became Hope and Anchor and ,  after many mergers, eventually became a part of Bass Charrington who closed it down in 1994.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bowlers  potted meat makers of Hemper Lane, Bradway  :   Davys the  baker's of Paternoster Row, didn't they also have a cafe somewhere in town?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed they did...and a large one at that.

I know Cunningham's Pickles are still around but  I don't believe they are any longer made in Sheffield and does anyone remember if Burdall's also made soft drinks?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the rare occasions we had any "pop" when I was a kid it was usually Dandelion and Burdock and Burdall's Dandelion and Burdock  is a distant memory...which is why I asked the question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Athy said:

I occasionally drank it - I was mostly a Tizer man during my junior school days - but I don't remember the brand.

Tizer with a crust on top.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Athy said:

Gunstone's still exists, sort of. It is now owned by Two Sisters food group, alongside Fox's Bis(qu)its. Confusingly, Gunstone's were mentioned in a 2017 news article, something about a charity event, but they are not named on the Two Sisters web site. The factory (in Dronfield) is still open it seems.

Oh, and yes, they used to make biscuits.

Many years ago when i was about 10 years old,in 1957 i had an uncle who was a van driver at gunstones and some days in school holidays i would go with him,delivering biscuits.In the early 70s i was a salesman for mcvities cakes and we were based at gunstones in dronfield.It is indeed still open today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Tizer was invented in Manchester  in 1924 by Fred and Tom Pickup who called it  Tizer the Appetizer. The product was taken over in 1972 by Scotland's A G Barr.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 13/01/2018 at 14:15, Athy said:

Stones' beer (I was surprised to find that the founder was Mr. Stones, not Stone) is still brewed, but in Burton.

It's always been called 'Stooanses' which is a Sheffield version of the possessive form of Stones (Stones's).

I still think it can taste as it used to - hence this pic today, slooo

IMG_20180114_174431022 (2).jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stones advertised as "Brewed with a difference"...An old workmate always reckoned the difference was the addition of ether!:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, lysander said:

Stones advertised as "Brewed with a difference"...An old workmate always reckoned the difference was the addition of ether!:rolleyes:

You do know of course, that the brewing industry does not use water. Instead, they use 'liquor' apparently, which looks and tastes exactly the same, and which, apparently can be sourced from the same suppliers. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

May be called Stones and may taste similar but it's not like the Stones as brewed in Sheffield, sometimes known as 'jungle juice'!

Did Stones used to produce a mild? I believe it was a similar colour to the bitter such that some landlords unfortunately got the two mixed up and served mild instead of bitter but charged for bitter, or did I dream that?

It's the same with Gold Label Barley Wine. That brewed today is like a soft drink compared to the brew from Exchange Brewery, that really was falling down 'water'.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's still 7.5% alcohol, which is very strong compared with most beers. The original Tennants' brew was about 10.6%, a strength which I think Whitbread continued when they took it over. The style was, after all, first brewed to be drunk as a wine rather than as a beer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...