Sheffield’s Old Factories & Workshops (Pic Heavy)

Thanks Jack for posting that and spending the time to preserve it as you have.
 
Thanks for the tour Jack. That took a lot of effort on your part and I'm sure we all appreciate it. I love those old buildings, what stories they have to tell!
Some of us like patina and some don't....boy do those buildings have it! It sure is good to see them re-purposed.
 
Wow that's an amazing tour you've treated us to here Jack. It's fascinating to see these - I felt like I was on a tour with you. It's fun to have an idea of what these places looked like where those old classic pocket knives and straight razors came from back in the day. :thumbup:
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks for the kind words folks, I'm glad the pics are of interest :thumbup:



Yes indeed. Sadly, while the owners are not allowed to demolish them, they tend to just be left to crumble, until eventually they are in such a state they have to be demolished for public safety :(



Thanks for a very interesting post :) Another Pittsburgh poster (Vanguard) very kindly sent me a book about the city. There are only two surviving Bessamer Converters in the world, the one in Sheffield shown above, and this one in Pittsburgh :thumbup:

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Sadly, not :(
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My wife and I visited that last summer. It's amazing to think about the amount of metal that poured out of that before they retired it...
 
scrteened porch said:
It would be nice if those preservation orders came with the money to accomplish the preservation.
Thanks for sharing your photographic preservations.
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I had a builder friend when I lived in the UK that explained that it is even more difficult to repair the buildings that have preservation orders, since period materials must be used. Very difficult and expensive to locate replacement materials that are sound.
 
Thank you for this, Jack. When I saw the title I held off opening the thread until I'd brewed some coffee. Cup in hand, iPad perched on my lap, I clicked in and, wow! I was so enthralled with the photos that I found I still had a nearly full cup when I reached the end.

These old buildings have a real beauty about them. The brickwork on many of them is gorgeous. I hope that the means are found to preserve as many as possible.

I don't know how large of a geographic area those photos represent, but I can imagine those buildings making excellent waypoints on an epic urban hike.
 
Outstanding photos Jack. BTW did you ever get a chance to see Martin Pick's photo essay book on Sheffield Cutlers? It was available (but too costly for me) a few years back. Some of the images are probably still viewable if searched for. A lot of images of the interiors of several Sheffield Cutlers from the turn of the current century, as things were shutting down. I believe the book covered 2000-2010.
 
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Stringplucker said:
My wife and I visited that last summer. It's amazing to think about the amount of metal that poured out of that before they retired it...
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Yes indeed. I can remember when the Sheffield steel works were still in full use. They had huge front doors, which were left open to let the heat escape, and passing them was like viewing scenes from Dante's Inferno.

Bartleby said:
I had a builder friend when I lived in the UK that explained that it is even more difficult to repair the buildings that have preservation orders, since period materials must be used. Very difficult and expensive to locate replacement materials that are sound.
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Yes, I can imagine. Mind you, while visiting York yesterday, I was shocked to see the many modern repairs to the ancient city walls, made using concrete, and of a completely different colour! :eek:

WhittlinAway said:
Thank you for this, Jack. When I saw the title I held off opening the thread until I'd brewed some coffee. Cup in hand, iPad perched on my lap, I clicked in and, wow! I was so enthralled with the photos that I found I still had a nearly full cup when I reached the end.

These old buildings have a real beauty about them. The brickwork on many of them is gorgeous. I hope that the means are found to preserve as many as possible.

I don't know how large of a geographic area those photos represent, but I can imagine those buildings making excellent waypoints on an epic urban hike.
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Thank you my friend, my coffee was going cold by the time I had finished viewing one of Horsewright's wonderful threads earlier in the week! :D The buildings photographed all ring the city centre - a man with a good sling-shot could probably hit half of them from the Town Hall! :D :thumbup:
 
Bartleby said:
Outstanding photos Jack. BTW did you ever get a chance to see Martin Pick's photo essay book on Sheffield Cutlers? It was available (but too costly for me) a few years back. Some of the images are probably still viewable if searched for. A lot of images of Sheffield Cutlers from the turn of the current century, as things were shutting down. I believe it covered 2000-2010.
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Thanks :) I didn't my friend, but I think I recognise that bench on the front cover :)
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks :) I didn't my friend, but I think I recognise that bench on the front cover :)
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If it can be viewed, I believe you can preview it for free by clicking on the book. As I recall a lot of photos of Stan Shaw, Trevor Ablett, Reg Cooper and the old Stephenson and Wilson Garden Street location as it was being transferred to Egginton's.
 
Bartleby said:
If it can be viewed, I believe you can preview it for free by clicking on the book. As I recall a lot of photos of Stan Shaw, Trevor Ablett, Reg Cooper and the old Stephenson and Wilson Garden Street location as it was being transferred to Egginton's.
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I had a quick look just now, think I recognise that bench on the cover :D :thumbup:
 
Great show and greatly appreciated, Jack! I see things through the windows in many of the shots. If only one could get inside to have a look around, no telling what you could still find. I was just sitting here thinking , if only some of these young youtubers with their drones took an interest, and did a few videos of the Old Factories of Sheffield :D
 
Jack Black said:
I had a quick look just now, think I recognise that bench on the cover :D :thumbup:
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Sorry, didn't hear you the first time. My wife says I am getting deafer as I get thicker, or thicker as I get deafer...never can quite make it out.
 
Jack, I too had to wait to sit down and open up my tablet to get a good look. A wonderful chronical that puts a face to the words 'Sheffield steel', albeit a somewhat grim one. I'm a jumble of thoughts and questions. I just learned about Eye Witness in the forum last week, and here it is. And the Wharncliffe works too. And what a shame that there are only 2 Bessemer converters left.

Has the city been at all successful in reinventing itself?

As already noted, the environmental cleanup is a plus. I could be quite happy living in one of those townhomes with a trout stream at my door! (I may just check out Air B&B.)

Thanks for sharing!
 
Jack, amazing thread, no doubt quite sometime to put together, thank you for that. Love the architecture, the keystone in one of the pictures with adjacent artwork is impressive.

Thank you for a WONDERFUL tour:cool::thumbup:
 
Gevonovich said:
Great show and greatly appreciated, Jack! I see things through the windows in many of the shots. If only one could get inside to have a look around, no telling what you could still find. I was just sitting here thinking , if only some of these young youtubers with their drones took an interest, and did a few videos of the Old Factories of Sheffield :D
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Thanks Gev :) There are lots of internal pics of some of the old factories on 'urban exploration ' sites, as our friend Chin has noted :thumbup: A lot of the works closed down very suddenly, and all sorts of things got left behind.

Bartleby said:
Sorry, didn't hear you the first time. My wife says I am getting deafer as I get thicker, or thicker as I get deafer...never can quite make it out.
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LOL! Sorry! :D I think I'm going senile, I didn't realise I'd posted that twice! :o :D :thumbup:

Cambertree said:
A superb series of photos, Jack. There's some fine haunting industrial landscapes in there.

Thanks for putting that excellent tour together.

There's some fascinating photos of the interiors of some of these buildings on this urban exploration site too.

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2016/02/abandoned-sheffield-steel-city-urbex/
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Thanks my friend, it was great to be able to see some of them with you when you visited :) :thumbup:

Bugdoc said:
Jack, I too had to wait to sit down and open up my tablet to get a good look. A wonderful chronical that puts a face to the words 'Sheffield steel', albeit a somewhat grim one. I'm a jumble of thoughts and questions. I just learned about Eye Witness in the forum last week, and here it is. And the Wharncliffe works too. And what a shame that there are only 2 Bessemer converters left.

Has the city been at all successful in reinventing itself?

As already noted, the environmental cleanup is a plus. I could be quite happy living in one of those townhomes with a trout stream at my door! (I may just check out Air B&B.)

Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Tom :) Sheffield struggled with high unemployment for decades, but is a big enough place that it has recovered better than many smaller places in the north of England. It is incredible how fast the rivers have recovered, with a little help. I used to canoe down the Don in the 80's, and there were strict instructions to get a tetanus shot if you ended up in the water! :eek: :D :thumbup:
 
paulhilborn said:
Jack, amazing thread, no doubt quite sometime to put together, thank you for that. Love the architecture, the keystone in one of the pictures with adjacent artwork is impressive.

Thank you for a WONDERFUL tour:cool::thumbup:
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Thanks a lot Paul, I've actually had this one on the slow burner for three or four years now! :D :thumbup:
 
Jack: Just fantastic! Thank you for the time you put into that. It's really quite an interesting thing to see. I love that old industrial architecture. It's a shame some of those great old buildings will wither away and actually a shame some will be turned into trendy apartments and the like. It's happening all over the US too. Reading your comment about canoeing in the river, reminded me of the time one of our rivers in the midwest caught on fire, the pollution was that bad.
 
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