IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Greenland Road, SHEFFIELD, S9 5HZ

One of the processes in manufacturing items from pewter sheet is to use a metal spinning lathe to shape a disc into various circular forms. This is done manually and is a skilled job. Like all the tasks we saw it was done at considerable pace. It was the first time I had seen this and it was fascinating. The works was open for guided tours as part of heritage open days and I was really pleased to see a traditional craft industry going strong.

This shows the casting of hollow handles. The molten pewter is poured into the mould and almost immediately the excess is poured out leaving a hollow coating in the mould. The mould is then opened pneumatically and the handle extracted. We were allowed to handle the warm handle. The handles are then polished in a barrel polisher before being hand soldered to their receptacle. This was part of a Heritage Open Days visit and was a great opportunity to see a traditional craft industry. We weren't sure how good it would be but we weren't disappointed. I wish there were more heritage visits to traditional factories.

A craft factory visited as part of Heritage Open Days. Although the exterior is a bit bland the interior was fascinating with everything from small rolling mills to computerised engraving via metal spinning, hand casting and hand soldering. This is the sort of things that Heritage Open Days excels at but it is becoming all too rare amongst all the churches and civic buildings.

It's not clear what this was halfway to, but it's a very depressing sight. The owners seem to have lost all interest and as long ago as 2006 the City Council had to put up fencing to stop a serious fly-tipping problem. At one time it was a very popular pub with a beer garden and crown green bowling. Today, looking from the outside, you can see huge holes in the roof, so the inside must be in a very poor state. On a Sheffield forum someone says it is about to be pulled down which, given the number of pubs in Darnall which are closed but in better condition, does seem very plausible. What a great pity.

Like a lot of the pubs in this area, this one is well and truly shut. No doubt the closure of local factories, reduction in population, too many competitors, etc; etc; have all contributed. Architecturally it is quite an attractive building, so let us hope it survives.

The sign on this closed pub looks to be quite old. In indicates it was a Stones house. William Stones were a local brewery who were taken over in the late 1960's by Bass. The brand is still available (but sadly not here) but brewed by someone else. Image

Once a proud and busy local.

Sheffield is famous for its heavy industries, particularly the manufacture of steel. Much has gone today and so have many of the pubs around here, which must at one time have served the workers in the local factories, as well as local residents. The building on the left was a pub, appropriately named The Industry. At the moment it seems to be undergoing renovation, but probably not as a pub. It is next door to another former pub, The Meadow Image The building on the right is a barbers and being photographed on a Sunday it is understandably closed. The steel shutters seem designed to keep unwanted visitors out.

This lane goes past allotments and a golf course. On the left of the picture can be seen the closed Halfway House public house. Image