29 Kenwood Park Road Former Home of Brewer Septimus Henry Ward

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29 Kenwood Park Road
Former Home of Brewer Septimus Henry Ward

 

The gatepost marked Kenwood has a companion on the opposite side of the entrance that completes the name of the home and its House, in the late 1870s it was the home of Sheffield brewer Septimus Henry Ward, a name linked to a much missed beer in the town. On trying to trace a line back to the original brewers who actually started the company proved very hard, in 1833 at 68 Moorfields stood the Earl Grey beer house, which was owned by Samuel Roper, now could he have been the father of William Roper, who along with John Kirby started brewing beer on Sheaf Island on Effingham Street in or around 1837, the brewery was a successful venture for them unfortunately the partnership only lasted five years as William Roper died in 1842, this tragic event left John Kirby in total control of the brewery, after eighteen years or so, John was joined in the business by George Wright, a Maltster from Lincolnshire, strangely enough just a stones throw away from the Sheaf Island brewery, John Roper was operating the Parkside Brewery at 60 Blast Lane, could this chap be either the son or brother of William Roper, maybe.
Septimus Henry Ward joined the company in 1868 when it ran into financial trouble. Due to the substantial amount he invested, the primary brand was renamed Wards Best Bitter. George Wright left the partnership a year later. The business continued to expand buying up other breweries and associated public houses. In 1876 it bought the Soho Brewery from Bradley’s and made it its main premises, renaming it to Sheaf Brewery., Septimus also bought Latham & Quihamptons Albion Brewery also on Ecclesall Road. Wards was made a limited company called S.H. Wards & Company Limited in 1896, . Septimus lived until the 24th of October 1905, he died at his final home at Shirle Hill, Cherry Tree Road. The company continued to expand in the twentieth century by acquiring and restoring pubs, this was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War due to a lack of raw materials. The brewery was hit by three incendiary bombs in 1940, which caused the death of four of its workers. Despite these setbacks it recovered after the end of the war and continued restoring pubs.
Ward’s went from strength to strength for the first half of the 20th century and it was said  that Wards always had a vigorous policy of shedding old properties, rebuilding others and building new ones in in and outside the city boundaries. Throughout the remainder of the century, Ward’s underwent a number of mergers and takeovers. In June 1965 the Truman Hanbury Buxton Group acquired a stake in the brewery. At this period, Ward’s had 93 freehold properties and some 33 leaseholds. Two female members of the Ward family were on the board, Jane Pritchard, who lived in Sussex, and Ann Sutton of Ashford. Ward’s next major development occurred in November 1972 when control of the business changed hands in a £1.7m deal. Vaux and Associated Breweries, established in Sunderland in 1837 by Cuthbert Vaux, bought 51% of the capital, Despite assurances from the management Quote: “Regulars in our pubs will still be able to drink the same ale brewed at our Sheffield brewery. There are certainly no plans to close the brewery down,” he assured

In an average week in the early 1990s Ward’s brewed 650,000 gallons of beer, mainly Sheffield Best Bitter and Darley’s Thorne Best Bitter, along with the stronger Kirby Ale and a mild and a rare German-style beer. It was a bitter-only brewery – lagers came from Sunderland. Vaux Breweries was renamed Vaux Group in the 1990s as the company diversified into hotels and care homes. The hotels traded as Swallow Hotels and the company was finally named The Swallow Group. During the following years, Ward’s hit the Sheffield Star headlines for a number of reasons: raising the price of a pint, tussles with tenants over rent increases, announcing details of pre-tax profits, re-siting the ornate Victorian archway overhanging the brewery and the sale of Ward’s beer in the south. In September 1998, the group dropped issued a statement saying, Ward’s and the Sunderland Vaux brewery were to close. Darley’s Thorne brewery had shut earlier in 1986.
The Star launched a Save Our Ward’s campaign supported by many people both in and out of the public eye. , A ray of hope manifested itself through rescue bids by several management buy-out teams. One was made by Frank Nicholson, managing director of Ward’s and Vaux, who resigned as a director of the Swallow Group mounted a bid to save both breweries, unfortunately, the Swallow Group did not listen to anyone.
A quote from the Star read as follows, Ward’s closed, along with its sister brewery in Sunderland. Frank Nicholson said after his Sheffield bid had failed: “I’m overwhelmingly sad at the waste. A brewery is a living thing and to see it like the Marie Celeste is awful.” Sadly money speaks louder than words. I once visited the Vaux brewery in Sunderland, it amazed me that such a large brewery had very few people working on the brewery floor, everything was automated. There’s now an upsurge in micro breweries in the city, which I suppose is a good thing for the drinkers of the town but some of the prices charged for a pint make it an expensive night out, students and the younger end can sit with a pint all night .