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Iron Bridge


Stuart0742

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Hello All, Very sadly my friend and organiser of the Bridgehouses friends group, John Errington, passed away before Xmas after a long fight with cancer. The friends group, his family, and other supporters will be looking to build on the work previously done on the site. It's worth a visit! The signage and information remains in place and will be expanded on.

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There's a lot of info on the first Iron Bridge in Coalbrook Dale but this little bridge was only built a few years after so it should have more recognition for its place in history BUT like Mary Queen of Scots time in Sheffield it's never ever mentioned. Sadly the original bridge was destroyed by the bursting of the Dale Dyke Dam or so I've been led to believe.

 

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Hello All, I'm running the friends group of the bridge and would appreciate a small bit of help. Was the 1841 bridge always just called 'Iron Bridge'? Or was it, or any of it's predecessors, ever named? We are looking at giving it a name (or restoring it's original name). 

Many thanks!

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On 25/03/2010 at 22:45, syrup said:

Found this in an advert for The Riverside Cafe Bar at Bridgehouses as was.

 

A plotted History of the Riverside and the area -

The Riverside pub began life as the Brown Cow, and nestled in a small hamlet of cottages and shops then known as Bridgehouses, this was due to the wooden bridge which was built to allow access to and from Sheffield, the wood bridge was replaced in 1815 with an Iron one, again replaced by the Borough Bridge in 1851 when Corporation Street was opened, this bridge was washed away when the Dale Dyke dam burst in 1864. Another Iron bridge was later built. A public bathing area was developed at the side of the Brown Cow, and now forms part of the beer garden at the Riverside.

 

A brewer by the name of John Smith made a claim for £15.10.9d for damages to the 'Old Brown Cow at Bridgehouses. The brewer had acquired the pub as Carters and Smith in November 1851. The Riverside was rebuilt as a residential hotel with staff being accomadated in the MASSIVE cellar system which comprised of 16 seperate cellars.

In 1890 SH ward & Co took over the pub were it remained in their estate until their demise in 1994, it then under went major changes both in ownership and name, renamed as Morriseys Riverside Pub. In 2002 the present management team took over and the Riverside Cafe bar was born.

 

http://travel.ciao.co.uk/Riverside_Cafe_Bar_Sheffield__6348223

 

Please feel free to remove link if advertising is not allowed ( Not sure about copyright rules )

Some very interesting info there, some things I didn't know about the Brown Cow despite living there for some years. In my period there, the Pub area (as many will remember)  consisted of a Tap room to the immediate left/front, a games room to the right/front. A central area with the bar and staircase, centre rear was a small snug and to the left/rear a large lounge area with a dukebox. The far right rear was a kitchen, which had the stairs to the cellars. Access to the outside toilets was along a covered passage to the far right of the building which also gave barrell access to the cellars. The cellars as I remember were not made up of that many rooms at the time. I recall the beer cellar was under the Tap room/bar. the bottle storage under the games room, a large storage area under the lounge and a small wash house under the snug. There were a few narrow corridors leading to other areas which as a disinterested 18 year old I never explored. The first floor was 4 rooms off a large landing, we used them as a landlords lounge and two bedrooms, a large function room took almost the entire rear of the floor with only a bathroom at the far right. The second floor was without windows and we used it as storage, the gas lights were still on the walls but we never tried to light them!!, it consisted of two large rooms either side of the staircase as I remember but I could be wrong. My parents were the landlord/lady (Maisie and Les) This was their first pub after Dad took early retirement from BSC in 1977. He took over the pub from Harry Saul and his wife who had retired after many years in the Pub. Nothing could have prepared Mum and Dad for the hard work ahead of them, they transformed the pub into a thriving hub for the community. Various games teams competed in the Sheffield leagues, outings were organised, even a trip to Spain on one occasion. The pub in those days benefited from the various factories/works in the area, lunchtimes were busy serving drinks and food to the workers mainly, I earned my keep by opening up for the evening sometimes at 5.30-8.00 and served mainly the forge workers. My parents took over for the rest of the evening, which was busy with pub goers. Long days for Mum and Dad but they seemed to enjoy it. Eventually, after only about 5 years they had the chance to take over the Bird in Hand at Eckington, this was a totally different enterprise with quiet days and busy evenings in a rural setting, sort of semi retirement for them, still hard work but not on the scale of the Brown Cow. I have visited the pub as it is now, and had lunch there with one of my brothers. We love what it has become, and the fact it still remains when others have not. I would urge people to visit the place and enjoy the hospitalty, maybe have a stroll on the walks in the area. I didn't appreciate it in the 1970s, but they were great times.

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