I came across this photograph that was mounted and features a large group of men sat on a rock formation. There is no caption or date to the photograph but I estimate that it was taken prior to the First World War. The clothing seems to indicate that this was an excursion rather than a sporting endeavour,
Excursions to the Peak District from Sheffield were popular in the early twentieth century as witnessed by this photograph
If anyone could throw more light on the photograph please let me know
Heritage Open Days Saturday 20th September 2025
On Saturday 20th September 2025 six local historic buildings in Walkley will be open to the public. One of those buildings will be St Mary's Church, which will be open from 10am to 4pm. We will be present with information, stories, maps and images of Walkley Cemetery, the burial ground for this parish.
Here is a note of the other buildings and their open hours (entrance is free for all of them)
Sheffield Buddhist Centre, Howard Road 10am-4:00pm
The former St Mary's School, South Road (times tbc)
Walkley Community Centre, Fir Street 12:30pm-4:00pm
Ebenezer Methodist Church Schoolroom, Greenhow Street 1:30pm-5:00pm
Walkley Carnegie Library, South Road 10:00am-2:00pm
Many years ago I posted an article to the site recalling a terrible disaster that occurred in Sheffield in August 1886
It was titled "APPALLING DISASTER AT SHEFFIELD - Eight children killed Matthew Street, Sheffield - 25th August 1886"
The Friends of Wardsend Cemetery have organised a series of events on Sunday 28th September 2025 in the Cemetery to commemorate this tragic episode in Sheffield's history,
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'In August 1886, a wall on the grounds of Messrs, Daniel Doncaster and Sons, supporting 200 tonnes of steel, collapsed on a number of children playing below on Matthews Street. Eight children lost their lives. Despite the failure to consider the impact of the weight and the insufficiency of the wall to carry it, no one was held responsible, and the story of the children and their families has been lost.
Of the eight children, four are buried in unmarked graves in Wardsend Cemetery, with the remaining children buried across our city, in Burngreave and Sheffield General Cemetery.
On Sunday 28th September, between 12pm - 3:30pm, Wardsend Cemetery will be hosting a memorial event, to honour the lives of the children, their families, and the often forgotten deaths of working-class people in our area during a celebrated period of industrial progress.
• Tour the graves of four children buried in Wardsend.
• Learn about the disaster, the aftermath and lives of the children lost.
The event will also feature a performance of ‘The Children of Furnace Park’, a piece dedicated to the Matthews Street Disaster, written by Alice Collins, at 2:30pm on the Chapel Ground.
We hope to see as many of you there as possible. For any enquiries, please contact us by email (wardsendcem@gmail.com)'
A reader of an article I posted to my website many years ago has kindly sent mw a marvellous photograph of the church and its grounds. There is no date on the photograph but it was taken before construction began on Sheffield's Town Hall. In the background you can see the spire of St Marie's Church on Norfolk Row. I have estimated that the photograph was taken circa 1890.
Whist I was reviewing the previous article on Bran Beedham I saw this article from 1983 and it brought a wry smile to my face.
The problem is compounded by the continuing refusal of the water industry to acknowledge that putting raw sewage into the nations watercourses is a disgrace that should NOT happen in the twenty-first century,
I came across this newspaper cutting from 1983 that relates to an amateur artist from Sheffield who found success in the USA where his pictures depicted scenes from the American West.
UPCOMING SERVICE
Jun. 20, 2025 12:00 p.m. St Johns Church
Bryan Beedham Obituary
Aged 90 years.
Formerly of Hallam Grange Road.
Died peacefully on 19th May 2025 in Bedworth.
Loving husband of the late Anne, much loved father of Paul and Aitch and dear father in law of Lorna.
Service at St John's Church, Ranmoor, on Friday 20thJune at 12.00noon followed by private cremation.
Family flowers only please.
Donations, if wished, made payable to "Dementia UK" may be sent to
Adam Heath, John Heath & Sons, 14 Earsham Street, S4 7LS or made online at www.JohnHeath.co.uk
Most of the blogs I have posted over the years have been connected with either my family history or the history of Sheffield.
But I came across an article in the Guardian dated 23rd April 1973 which refers to the exploits of a newspaperman from Huddersfield Gilbert Lawton.
When I checked on-line I found that Gilbert had died in 2005 and an amazing obituary was placed in the aforementioned Guardian. He deserves a lot more recognition for his exploits
Gilbert Lawton by David Ferguson
John Gilbert Lawton, who has died aged 95, introduced himself to me when we moved to our Huddersfield street. A small, smartly dressed man in tattersall check shirt, paisley cravat and cardigan, he looked to be in his 60s. My prejudices suggested a conservative figure, but I could not have been more wrong: Gilbert was a lifelong communist.
As we got to know him, a remarkable life was unveiled. He had lived in his house since it was built in the 1930s. His father had been a piano tuner, and Gilbert seems to have written music. On leaving school, he went to work on his local newspaper. It was a time of poverty, unemployment and the rise of fascism, and he joined the Communist party. He was soon in London, on the Daily Worker, covering stunts organised by the National Union of Unemployed Workers, among them a sit-in at the Savoy hotel. At the end of the Spanish civil war, he helped look after refugee children in Huddersfield.
Gilbert was working on the Press Association desk in London in December 1941 when news of the bombing of Pearl Harbour came through. He was probably the first person in England, outside government circles, to learn of the Japanese attack. He spent the rest of the war in Huddersfield, working in local engineering factories. After the conflict, he worked as a subeditor on the Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds, where he continued to compile the crossword for 27 years after retirement, until his eyesight failed in 2002.
Aside from politics, Gilbert's first loves were cycling and walking. He was an ardent member of the local cycling club, keen on time trials and long-distance touring - some club members turned up at his funeral in their road-gear. He took his adopted stray dog, Jasper, walking on the moors (on one occasion catching a hare, which Gilbert skinned and cooked) and into work, where the animal performed tricks at the news desk.
Another love was France, which Gilbert toured in a Morris 1000. In his garden is an oak tree grown from an acorn brought back from a French trip. Beer was another passion, and he collected pub names. He amassed thousands, and would go cycling off to collect more. Until last year, he could often be seen making his way to the Liberal Club - for a beer, of course.
He remained an unreconstructed communist and faced death with equanimity. "Death, where is thy sting, Oh grave thy victory," he sang when I visited him in hospital, and laughed when I said that even he was not old enough to have sung that in Flanders.
And here is the 1973 article that list some of his exploits - not a bad life at all!
A fellow researcher kindly sent me this information about the life and achievements of his ancestor John R. Corlett.
The report in the Sheffield Star referred to an obituary and so I found this in The Newcastle Journal dated 26th July 1915
John was laid to rest in Sheffield's Tinsley Park Cemetery
Many years ago I posted and article to my website relating to the murder of a nurse Ada Bradley in April 1923. The last update to the article was in December 1921 when I attempted to locate Ada's grave in Wadsley Churchyard. It was ultimately a thankless task which is rather surprising given the nature of Ada's death and the large crowds that attended her funeral.
I have just further updated the article with the entries for Ada and her family from the 1921 UK Census and also discovered the committal document for the murderer Rose Artliff.
Last September I posted an article to my website charting the history of The Albany Temperance Hotel in Fargate Sheffield,
In May 2025 there was an article on the BBC website that gave an update on the building and its future
"A pub in a former city centre bank is set to open in autumn, its owners have confirmed. The former Yorkshire Bank building on Fargate in Sheffield will host up to 250 revellers following a £1m interior renovation. The pub, named The Fargate, is part of the regeneration of the street which saw three years of construction come to a close in early April.2025. Thornbridge & Co's Simon Webster said: "This project has been over two years in the making, and we're thrilled to be nearing the finish line." The firm is a joint venture of Peak District-based Thornbridge Brewery and York-based Pivovar, which runs three pubs across the country.
Coun. Ben Miskell, chair of regeneration at Sheffield City Council, said he looked forward to another business opening. Footfall on Fargate was up 14% between 3 March and 6 April this year compared to the same time in 2024, the council said. "We can't wait to welcome the people of Sheffield and become a part of this dynamic and evolving city centre," Mr. Webster added."
And so the former Temperance Hotel has now become a public house hosting up to 250 revellers. Strange world!
These items appeared on a well established e-commerce site in July 2020 and refers to a boy named E Bailey. The assumption is that these were found after the death of one of his descendants and the vendor had no further interest in them. But it is a fascinating collection of local memorabilia.
"A very nice lot of assorted vintage United Kingdom Boy Scouts documents / paperwork & photographs from a young man who was a member between 1921 & 1923
1) Boy Scouts membership & enrolment card for E.Bailey of the Eagle troop, 3rd Sheffield. He lived at 147 Industry Street in Walkley, Sheffield & joined 6-8-1921 & left in 1923
2) Sheffield Boy Scouts postcard with regards to a presentation of a warrant (Postmarked 11-11-1926)
3) Walkley scouts & Cubs bank contribution card from the Yorkshire Penny bank from 1925
4) Message form dated 27-5-1921 to Mr Marshall assistant scout master 11th Sheffield troop
5) Photograph of E.Bailey in uniform
6) 3 x small snap shot photographs of scouts in uniform
7) A small newspaper clipping about Boy Scouts"
I was going to research as to what happened to the boy scout after he left the Scout movement but I made no real progress.
At the end of March I received this email from a reader of my website and blog
"I live by Middlewood shops and there's a new coffee shop opening on Middlewood Road next to the Mermaid Kebab shop. Interestingly they uncovered this sign when they've been doing up the shop.
A little googling I came across your website and thought it might be of interest. Would love to know if you know any more about it. "
I replied that my first thought was that the shop was tied in with the Park Cinema on Middlewood Road
But when I did a search on the British Newspaper Archive for Cinema Dainties and it appears that they were sweetmeats - copy attached from the 1914 newspaper Pictures and the Picturegoer
If anyone can add to this blog please contact me
Thanks again for taking the time and the trouble to contact me
