Have you heard of the unsolved murder of shopkeeper Eleanor Hammerton in Sheffield in 1945? - An update

I was checking some information earlier this week and purely by chance I came across an article in the Sheffield Star dated Monday, 13th July 2020 with the headline

"Have you heard of the unsolved murder of shopkeeper Eleanor Hammerton in Sheffield in 1945?"

The writer of the article was Andy Done-Johnson.

Well readers of this blog and my website will have known about the murder of Eleanor before it appeared in the Sheffield Star. Many years ago I posted an article about the murder to the site and in the interim posted a few updates. In fact the article in the Sheffield Star does bear marked similarities to my article but with one noticeable exception - the murderer of Eleanor was apprehended and sentenced to death for the crime. As far as everyone was concerned the crime was solved and the perpetrator brought to justice

 I posted a blog to this effect on 9th February 2018 when I announced that I had finished an article entitled "The Confession of Ernest Bramham - March 1945". 

Bramham was not arrested for the murder until 28th March 1945, fully two months after the murder of Eleanor on Saturday 27th January 1945. It was this time period between the murder and the arrest that thwarted me at the Local Studies Library - I only checked the local and national press until the end of February 1945 when the police inferred that they were no nearer finding the murderer.

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury dated Saturday 28th April 1945

In the article "The Confession of Ernest Bramham - March 1945" I expressed my doubts about the whole case from start to finish - it is most unusual if not unique that a "callous and brutal murderer" is spared the death penalty but Ernest was, believe it or nor, reprieved.

I did make an oversight in that I failed to place a link in the original article ("Who Murdered Eleanor Hammerton") relating to the apprehension and conviction of Ernest Bramham. If I had done this , I am sure that the journalist who wrote the Star article would have amended his article and removed the word "unsolved" from the headline and text.  

It is a problem to ascertain the facts surrounding an event when you are relying on just one source. Over the years I have had to shelve or delay a number of articles relating to Sheffield as I was not convinced about the authenticity and veracity of the source.    

   

Crookes Junction - Then and Now

 Another postcard that is simply entitled "Broomhill, Sheffield"

But to be more specific it shows the junction of Crookes with Glossop Road at Broomhill probably circa 1910.

I took a similar photograph in November 2006 although unlike the photographer in the above photo I stood on the pavement!

But the whole scene is better expressed in the George Cunningham painting "Crookes Junction"

  

Alsops Farm, Crookes, Sheffield

 I came across this old postcard of "Old Crookes." The only information on the postcard was that it is a photograph of Alsop's Farm.

It is difficult to believe nowadays but the district of Crookes in Sheffield was predominantly a farming community up until the late C19th

The location of the farm is a matter of guesswork. Picture Sheffield have a couple of images showing 

"Cottages in Barker's Yard, off Crookes (situated between Toyne Street and Marston Road), possibly also known as Alsops Yard. Demolished 1908 or 1909"

I think that the lane that dissects the photograph may well be Toyne Street and the taller house to the rear of the photograph may be the ols Punch Bowl public house.The chimney stack on the house is very similar to the one on The Punch Bowl