Brian Cawley - Winchester Hampshire 14th December 1959

 I was researching for some information relating to one of the many articles on my website and I came upon the murder of one Rupert Poole Steed in Basingstoke Hampshire on 2nd August 1959.,

4th August 1959

5th August 1959

21st August 1959

The trial took place on 14th December 1959 at the Winchester Assizes and was the the shortest murder trial in British legal history  - the proceedings take just 30 seconds.

Brian Cawley pleaded and was found guilty of the murder of Rupert Poole Steed and was later sentenced to life imprisonment

From the press reports Cawley, a 30-year-old council worker lived, along with his wife and three children, rent free in a house owned by Rupert Steed, in New Road, Basingstoke. Rupert Steed was a 67-year-old retired grocer’s manager and bachelor who had befriended the family by helping them out financially.

However, Cawley started to drink and as a consequence lost his job. To compound his problems his wife left him, taking their children with her. One night Cawley returned home and this is what happened

Evening News 14th December 1959

View From A Hill - 31st December 2025

 Well this year I have only posted 20 items which is the lowest total since I started the blog back in 2010. And this post in the first in over two months. 

I have been trying to tie up matters regarding my family tree which I have neglected for the last few years and in doing so I have uncovered more information which is pleasing to say the least. I am also addressing an issue that is more difficult to resolve - what to do with all the information and material I have collected over the years. 

I have also assisted a couple of friends with their family history which as also been a pleasure 

Anyway a big thanks to the many readers who have contacted me in the last year, I have been able to update a few of the earlier articles on the site with new information and content

And so all that remains is to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2026

   

 

An Outing in the Peak District, Derbyshire - early twentieth century

 

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

  

 

Walkley Heritage Open Day, Saturday 20th September 2025

 Heritage Open Days Saturday 20th September 2025

 Walkley 1920

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

APPALLING DISASTER AT SHEFFIELD - Matthew Street, Sheffield - 25th August 1886 - An Update

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,  

'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)' 

Walkley Cemetery Summer Tour - Sunday 13th July 2025

 

The entrance to the cemetery is in Nichols Road which is a short, unadopted road off Waller Road (post code S6 5DU).

- If you are arriving by car there is a limited area for parking in the cemetery and space on Waller Road. Please avoid parking in Nichols Road.

- Please note, there are no buildings or toilet facilities on the site.

St Pauls Church Pinstone Street Sheffield - An Update

 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.

  

Yorkshire Water - 1983 - A Step Back in Time

 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. 

 It appears that Yorkshire Water have a long tradition of polluting Sheffield's rivers and streams. Of course the real reason why this affront to public health keeps happening is that there is insufficient investment in the industry. This occurred when the industry was nationalised as in 1983 and it continues to this day with the privatised companies. 

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,   

Bryan Beedham (1935 - 2025) - A Sheffield Artist

 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. 

I entered his name in a search engine was was saddened to find that Bryan had passed away last month at the age of 90. Here are the details from Legacy.com

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