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Record of FHG meeting 21/10/2

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Record of FULWOOD HISTORY GROUP MEETING 21st October 2024

Present: J.B., A.C., D.M., C.M., K.P.

Ringinglow Ramble Part II

October’s meeting took the form of fieldwork around the Ringinglow area, building on our first Ringinglow walk in June. Our main focus was the mines and quarries of the area. Throughout our walk, DM referred us to the report From Cairns to Craters: Conservation Heritage Assessment of Burbage (Bevan, B. 2006. Moors for the Future) which contains information relating to features we looked at. See also Friends of the Porter Valley’s publication Mining and Quarrying in the Porter Valley – Delving into the Past (Peter Kennett, 2006) which provides details of most of the features we looked at.

  1. We met at the layby opposite the Norfolk Arms where we began by looking at AC’s copy of Burdett’s 1791 Map of Derbyshire
  2. We headed west towards Sheephill Road, passing the site of the old Weigh House and weigh bridge – see notes from June’s Ringinglow Ramble
  3. We took a short diversion over the stile on Sheephill Road and into Barberfield and the Limb Valley to revisit the site of former mines and remains of spoil heaps (see Bevan, 2006). We discussed the alignment of the Roman Road between Brough and Templeborough, how it may well have run across this area and recent archaeological work on this – a focus for a future walk.
  4. After returning to Sheephill Road, we crossed over to the Houndkirk Road which leads to Stanage Pole. A couple of hundred metres along the track, (what3words) there are a number of embedded stones which appear to have a range of marks cut into them, one of which is a benchmark-type symbol. It was suggested that this could be connected with the military, who were active in this area during WWII.
  5. After following the boundary of Lady Canning’s Plantation round to the northwest, we crossed Ringinglow Road and followed the track leading north to Brown Edge Quarries. Immediately to right of the footpath, we passed the sites of bell pits which were obscured by the heather and bracken. We heard about scars in the land left by peat workings and the remains of Kelly’s House, all of which lie to the west side of the footpath. For information on Kelly’s House, see AC’s December ’23 post on this website: Ringinglow People: Henry Kelly
  6. Heading up to Brown Edge, we passed the site of a WWII bomb crater.
  7. We then dropped down over the edge and walked in a roughly westerly direction towards Brown Edge Quarries. On the way, AC pointed out possible boundary stones marking the former Derbyshire/Yorkshire border. See Alan’s Substack piece ‘Searching for Knaves’ to find out more.
  8. We reached the Brown Edge quarry complex, ‘the most extensive in the [Porter Valley]’ (page 6, Kennett, 2006). It dates from at least 1715 and was still in use in the early twentieth century when Henry Hancock was the owner. The different types of stone extracted were suitable for various aspects of building such as walls, roof tiles, flagstones and paving stones. AC discovered what may have been a quarrymen’s shelter in the rock as well as an intriguing hole which seemed to have been built into the turf.
  9. A rainbow led our walk back to the layby along Ringinglow Road
  10. Next meeting November 21st at Broomhill Library

 

 

Gilcrest Wood

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This area of local green space has had a number of names over the centuries: maps from the 1700s indicate it was known as Goulhirst or Gallhirst, (perhaps linking to Goole/Gold as in Goole Green). More recently, the area was named by local people as  Bluebell Wood, The Meadow and simply The Field. Its official name, according to the local authority, is Crimicar Lane Open Space. In 2013, a local group formed to take care of this precious area and, in keeping with historical records, have adopted the name Gilcrest Wood and Meadow. For more information, here’s a link to their website: https://www.fogwam.org/

 

A bit of local history from the 1960s

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Life is full of surprises! Yesterday, this  message popped into my Scout Group eMail from Rob Bishop who grew up in Fulwood. I wonder who else remembers the Jumble Sales, apart from Rob and me?
 
Hello 142nd Fulwood Scouts,
I recently stumbled across your website by reading your URL: from the front door of the Scout Hut on Google Earth. I was a member of the 142nd from 1962 to 1968 until I went off to university. I could write a book about the influence and benefits that my scouting experience had on my life.
My father, Arthur Bishop, was an architect and it was he who designed the new Scout Hut that you mention moving into in 1968 in your “History.” When he passed away in 2006, I remember finding a set of the plans he had prepared amongst his effects.
This new hut was the result of a very long fund-raising campaign. Every year at Easter or “half-term,” we held a Jumble Sale in the Guild Hall. For the week ahead, we scouts would go out every day canvassing for donations from households in roughly your current “catchment area.” It was organized with military precision to make sure we covered every street. Some donations we brought back immediately on a hand cart. Larger items were collected by parents in the evening. On the Friday evening, the items were sorted and laid out on tables or hung on racks in the Hall. They filled the main floor, the stage and the basement and usually overflowed into the old Nissan Hut that stood on the site of the eventual new Scout Hut. It was a well-known annual event in Sheffield at the time and on the day of the sale (Saturday), people started lining up at 7am to wait for the doors to open. Many of them were second hand dealers and when the doors opened, they would run to the tables containing their specialty items to get first pick. Scouts and parents would oversee the tables and haggle with the customers from 9am to mid-afternoon and then a scrap merchant would come in and buy everything remaining. If memory serves, by 1966/7 we had reached a certain target and were able to get some type of grant to top up the funds to the amount needed to build the hut.
Ironically, I headed to university in 1968 and only visited the new hut a few times before I emigrated to Canada in 1971. It’s good to see it still exists although in a modified format. I was also very surprised to read that the Guild Hall had been turned into a private residence. Lots of fond memories of that place including almost getting annihilated playing British Bulldogs at my first Scout meeting! All the best, Rob Bishop.