Just a little diversion... I picked these up in my travels. The first one will hopefully stir a few memories for J4M35 Dad!! Its from the old road over rail bridge on Midland Rd Heanor under which many an hour was spent playing and sheltering as kids... J4M35 your Dad will remember this plate as being on the girder above our heads and below the stonework! They filled in the bridge completely so I took my chance (I was 15) and after chipping the paint off the screw heads the screws came out fairly easily with me Dads big screwdriver. All the girder based bridges on the MR Langley Mill to Butterley branch (via Ripley) were Butterley built inc an extremely fine one at Crosshill. Most had a plate on like this but most had gone apart from this and another at Langley Mill.
🔗Personal-Album-856-Image-46259[linkphoto]Personal-Album-856-Image-46259[/linkphoto][/link]

The second plate came from a bogie hopper wagon (iron ore) built at the other Butterley site which was at Codnor Park, Ironville and of which nothing now remains.
🔗Personal-Album-856-Image-46260[linkphoto]Personal-Album-856-Image-46260[/linkphoto][/link]

Oh I have also uploaded a map showing the works as it stood in 1900 in the Archive Album. Seems 8 Shop may have been around even back then... so certainly pre 1948!! and 1941.

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ICLOK the map is fascinating,iam obsessed with maps,especially local maps so to see that is great.I cant work due to the bad ice,so im going to have a good look at all the uploaded photos today.I have a map my grandad gave me of Swanwick in 1880,unfortunately it only reaches as far as butterley grange,(godkins place) and ive always wished it covered the works,so im going to study yours well.
I agree with you also about us building up a good archive with all the stories and pictures.I cant keep off the forum,i cant wait to see whats coming next,although my wife thinks im getting abit obsessed! Iam going to ask my dad if he took any photos of the bi-centenary open day when we went,he's a keen photographer,i hope he did,although ive got a feeling he didnt.I will try and upload some of my photos today,they are mostly the same as J4M35's and ICLOK's but they are all great to look at all the same.I did take alot on 35mm though,so i could scan them in time and get those on too. 🙂

Its snowing, your stuck... get scanning :lol:
Seriously though if you want any maps of Derbyshire then PM me your address... I have something I know you will want!!! Oooh Err 😉

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Finally managed to upload a few pics,to say im 33 i should be a whizz at this computer lark,but im abit of a technophobe truth be known! im getting there though,just dont know how to connect a picture to a forum thread yet though.The pics are in the user album.Hopefully! 🙂

I agree with those who wish to see some form of campaign to save what is left of our once great engineering heritage

I worked at one time at T I Parkray Belper as a Quality Control Supervisor in the Machine Shops when it was still producing sold fuel and Gas fired boilers etc I realise the buildings are still there but the industry once a life blood for Belper workmen has gone

I am presently seeking to save Haarlem Mill Wirksworth from demolition as it is in such a terrible state of disrepair and no one seems interested in the fact that it is an integral part of the history of Wirksworth

My last employment before I had to finish work due to ill health was a Haarlem Mill when I worked as a Field Engineer with Chord Chemicals my base being at the Mill..

Haarlem Mill, Mill House Green (now known as Millers Green) Wirksworth (although at the time it was not called by that name) was built by Sir Richard Arkwright in the 1770s as a cotton mill on the same site as my 5XGrandfather Peter Simpson had a Fulling Mill in the 1720s ..

By 1810 Richard Arkwright son of Sir Richard leased the Mill to John Hackett of Talbot Street Derby who already had a Tape Manufacturing Mill at Derby known as Haarlem

Haarlem Mill along with its near neighjbour Speedwell Mill becane sites of Tape Manufacturing for over 140 years as it was here that Joseph Wheatcroft of the family of Wheatcroft who were Agents on Cromford Canal and his son George Hanson Wheatcroft practiced the trade

Samuel Evans was one time a manager at Haarlem Mill his niece who wrote books under the name George Eliot
George Eliots books Adam Bede and Mill On The Floss are supposedly based upon the Wirksworth Mills and Samuel Evans was used as her character Adam Bede Elizabeth Evans, Samuels wife was a noted Methodist Local Preacher who often preached in the open air at Hallams Yard Bolehill Hallams my allied kin ..

My apologies for the rant but I am angry with the powers that be who are allowing our heritage to be squandered
although having said that there is one good piece of news which has truly pleased me and that is that Rocester Mill once owned by Sir Richard Arkwright and his son Richard has been saved from the demolition squad as it is soon to be opened as an Academy of Engineering

My kinsman Abraham Flint of Toad Holes (Two Dales) won the contract in 1781 from the Arwrights to convert Rocester Corn Mill onto a Cotton Mill On completing the contract he was offered a position as a manager there under the Works Superintednet Richard Briddon of Bakewell who had a third share in the Mill

Richard Arkwright the son of Sir Richard was more interested in Banking and Finance and began to rid himself of the mills and by the mid 1800s Tutbury Mills took over Rocester Mill.. which they ran up to the mid 1900s

When they left the mill ot stood empty for some years but then JCB Rocester took it over and it is they along with other engineering concerns and educational establishments
who are presently renovating and extending the mill into the new Acadamy Bowmer & Kirkland of Heage have the contract and I ahve been invited by one of the Directors of Bowmer & Kirkland to meet with the project manager on site to view the work thus far..

As far as Haarlem Mill is concerned i have contacted Derbyshire C C. Derbyshire Dales District Council Wirksworth Civic Society and other such organisations to plead with them to prevent the present owner from letting the old Mill fall apart as it is doing at the moment
From my home I can see the Mill and i can see where my Grand fore bares of Simpson and Colledge lived nearbye from 1700-

Some will say that I live to much in the past..but I believe we should learn from the past and from that knowledge make every effort to add to our heritage Engineering was the life blood of this country of ours..Men like Strutt and Arkwright do not grow on trees but we should give every encouragement to men of inventive minds and men of skill to put back the Great in Britain (and I am not let me hasten to add a Nationalist having been a Liberal all my life and proud of it)

🔗Butterley-Ironworks-Smelt-Mill-User-Album-Image-46265[linkphoto]Butterley-Ironworks-Smelt-Mill-User-Album-Image-46265[/linkphoto][/link] Another sad scene..... 😞

I have record of Hilts Quarry ie The Butterley Co 1910 when new lead veins kept being found
ie January 19th 1910 Prince of Wales Vein or A Vein

Report made out by my Gr Gr Uncle S J Sheldon Barmaster Crich Liberty in No 7 Barmaster book which states

Jan 19th Hilts Quarry Crich Butterley Co

Gave one dish of ore to free a new vein situated at the south east end of the quarry about 40 years north of the tramway and north west and south east called Prince of Wales vein or A vien

Laid out in the said vein 16 meers of ground
wording tails off unreadable

Signed by S J Sheldon Barmaster and countersigned by J F Doxey of Middleton and John Bacon of Carsington bboth Grand Jurymen Wirksworth Barmote Court

John Frederick Doxey was my kin via Sheldons..his hier today is a friend of mine her husband and my brother having been colleagues as senior managers in adjoining regions NatWest Bank John Bacon my kin via Flints an hier of John Bacon was my cousins husband (my cousin on my mothers side today they retired School teachers at Chesterfield and Bolsover
Matthew Bacon of this family owned Town Head Mine Carsington Pastures were my Gr Gr Grandfather James Smith was Agent My Gr Gr Uncle John Cauldwell on my mothers side was Head Gamekeeper on the Hopton Hall Estate..He married Anne Flint daughter of Willam and Martha Flint nee Bacon Martha sister of Matthew Bacon

One of the Bacon family was Mining Overseer at Golconda Lead Mine in the 1930s when George Henry Key owned the mine my wifes Grandfather Herbert Evans a miner there in the same period In the 1950s my neighbour G Higton also worked at The Gol underground

S J Sheldon goes on to name other lead veins found at Hilts Quarry ie H vein D vein B vein

ie January 26th 1910 C vein gave one dish of ore for a vein ranging north and south discovered in the north east end of the quarry and called it C vein
Laid out 8 meers of ground (words hard to read ) to the Pingles and Holes and 9 meers of ground southwardly to "Dawes Pastures"

Again signed by S J Sheldon Barmaster and J F Doxey and Jon Bacon

I vein similar wording to the above but with the added words
Laid out 2 meers of ground wording again difficult to read and southardly from meers to The British School

J vein Jan 28th K vein Feb 7th gvein the final wording for this find being eastwardly to Lees Field

E vein Feb 7th O vein found 7th Feb N vein

P vein Hilts Quarry the Butterley Co found Feb 7th
similar wording as the above viens but with added words
3 meers of ground south of Mount Tabor Chapel and laid out 5 meers of ground south wast of a croft south east of Hilts Cottages

I also have a record of the Clay Cross Co Quarry Crich

Unfotunately my dad hasnt got any photos from the 200 yr open day.He said he didnt take his camera,which is a shame because he normally takes it everywhere! He did say he might get in touch with dave brittain and alert him to the forum 🙂

[photo]Butterley-Ironworks-Smelt-Mill-User-Album-Image-31470[/photo]

The shop in the view here alongside the crane,does anyone know what was done in this shop? My dad seems to think at some point in fairly recent history butterley had a contract to build armoured vehicles for the forces,or supply armoured plate,and it was done in this shop?? Anyone know? Also,im quite annoyed with myself for not paying much attention earlier last year when they started demolition,beginning with this shop.I was driving by everyday and didnt think to photograph it.And last summer i was working in hammersmith,passing the site everyday for about two weeks.Most mornings i slowed on butterley hill to flash and let a big ro ro skip WARD lorry out of the side door of shop 8.It only dawned on me recently that they were probably stripping all the machinery and guts out of the place.I feel quite annoyed about that,like we could have started asking questions etc earlier.oh well..... :confused:

Tater24 - The shop next to the crane was originally part of the foundry and was refurbished around 1989/90 after the foundry had closed in 1986. The crane is located in what was the centre shop of the foundry. This shop was demolished in early 1990 and some of the steel sections from it were used to build a new toolroom (see my post to J4M35) The crane is one of the 2 that were relocated from the stockyard adjacent to the main offices. The cast iron sculpture that was mentioned in the article on the foundry I have posted in the album was located near to the doors in the end wall of the offices (old pattern shop) shown on your photo - I can't tell if it is still there. When I left Butterley in December 1995 the old foundry building was being used to build body shells for armoured vehicles for I believe GKN with all the material coming in pre cut and formed and Butterley just assembling and welding them to GKN'S design. After that and prior to closure I believe it was used as a paint shop. 🙂

My old man was right then! Thankyou for the great reply.I remember the cranes in the stockyard,and could see them in the photo's posted the other day. I think i have missed the piece about the cast iron scuplture,what was that for? Is it in the user album you say? The picture i used is one of ICLOK's,it is in the user album and you can 'supersize' it,so you can have a closer look. 🙂

The article is in the derbyshire times,front page! Its a great piece,i hope more people take notice now.Was talking to the old man again last night,and together we think the whole site buyout/demolition/development,the whole shabang seems very suspicious,i cant seem to find much at all on the web about coast properties let alone an official site,and the council not knowing demolition had started a few months ago.It just seems all abit mysterious! Is anyone thinking the same?! 😠

I'll look out for that article, good to hear that there's more publicity about the site and its future getting round.

I'm not surprised you can't find much out online about the developers, they're probably an "investment" company who don't need to advertise themselves but will operate by buying up land as cheaply as they can, then trying to build whatever will wring the maximum profit out of it to return to the people/companies that put the cash in to buy the land up in the first place. Having worked in local government, I'm not surprised that building control didn't tell planning that the demolition application had come in.

One observation I'll make - the demolition application would have claimed that the buildings being taken down were post-war, otherwise listed building consent would have been needed as well. If it can be shown that the buildings demolished were pre-WW2, although it's very unlikely action would be taken against the site owners (they'd claim they'd been told they were modern buildings, and how were they to know different, etc.) when the planning application is put in it could provide grounds to question the accuracy of their supporting information. I'll certainly be taking a close look at any planning application!

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Derbyshire Times is hopefully running a 300 word piece today on this that I worded a few weeks ago, profile of this quite high. Central TV next me thinks! 😉

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We made the front page at any rate... ! 🙂

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The article, as borrowed from the DT web site at http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/alfreton/Save-our-heritage.5978551.jp?articlepage=1 :


Save our heritage!
Campaign to preserve industrial history

Published Date: 14 January 2010
By Tim Cunningham

A CAMPAIGN to save Ripley's industrial past has been launched with a plea to preserve historic buildings on the Butterley Company site.
Following the closure of Butterley Engineering in April 2009 – with the loss of over 50 jobs – the site was bought by London-based Coast Properties and Finance Ltd.

Steel sheds built in the 20th century were demolished during November but the site still contains a number of stone buildings and a furnace bank, which enthusiasts believe should be protected by English Heritage.

Amateur industrial archaelogist Ian Castledine (45), of Ripley, has written to enlist the support of Amber Valley MP Judy Mallaber and now wants English Heritage to recognise the importance of the remaining buildings in co-operation with Amber Valley Council.

He said: "The people in Ripley need to know their heritage could still be swept away.

"We are trying to guarantee that the stone buildings and furnace bank are retained and only the steel sheds are lost to the bulldozer.

"Amber Valley Borough Council seem intent on protecting these buildings but are unable to convince English Heritage of their merit apart from two very early buildings already listed Grade 2.

"We hope that people will support our cause by helping ensure that the Butterley Co site does not just become another housing estate and a paragraph in a book.

"Many local people are horrified that the original stone buildings could still be at risk given the history of the site and its part in the history of the area and the industrial revolution."

The Friends of Cromford Canal campaigned to get the first redevelopment project on the site amended to protect the line of an underground tunnel connecting the Butterley Tunnel on the Cromford canal and the site of the Butterley Company - which was used to transfer raw materials from narrowboats to the iron works.

Chairman Patrick Morriss said: "All this history is in danger of being swept away for ever as demolition of the old Butterley site continues apace. Very few buildings on the site have listed building protection.

"The FCC remains to be convinced that the underground features have had proper consideration and will receive any protection at all."

But English Heritage, who conducted an assessment of the site in March 2009, say the buildings hold no special interest warranting listing but may be considered separately for scheduling.

Amber Valley Borough Council have listed two smaller buildings - but campaigners fear the site's new owners will apply for them to be demolished to make way for housing.

A spokesman for Amber Valley said: "Any proposals to demolish any buildings on the site which were erected prior to 1948 would require a Listed Building Consent application.

"The owner is aware of this position. No Listed Building Consent application has been received by the council.”

Mr Castledine said: “This does not mean these buildings are safe - any proposal can be argued.

“Members of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society are also said to be concerned that the site will not be preserved as a monument to one of the best known classic engineering companies in Britain.”

Butterley Ironworks was established in 1790 by Benjamin Outram and William Jessop, partners who manufactured cast-iron rails and engineered the Cromford Canal.

The steel viaduct at Millers Dale and the 9,096ft long Godavari Bridge, in India, are among several cast-iron bridges around the world that were made at Butterley.

Sorry busy looking after ill family member, been a bit AWOL for a day or two. I do not know what happened with the promised Derby Telegraph article, but the reporter did tell me that he was on holiday this week so it might have been pushed out with him not there to defend it.
The campaign seems to be bringing a lot of history to the surface. I asked about Ad Rem at Ripley lib. before Xmas and they said they had not got it, must contact Ruth Gordon at Matlock. In the meantime if any of you turn up anything regarding the Comford Canal, The Friends of Comford Canal would love to have a high res scan for our archives, including any 'recent' pictures of holes in the yard etc or any articles in Ad Rem concerning the canal, there was a lovely one of Brunton's 'Horse' in the 1960's I think.
Of course our current 'Holy Grail' search is for any photgraphs of the Hammersmith end of the tunnel either before or during the 1890's extension of the Butterley Tunnel for the Butterley to Ripley Railway, but please
anything connected to the canal would be very, very welcome indeed please let me have details off list if you like at [email protected]
Many thanks.

Tater 24 Look on page 2 of the foundry article in the archive album and the sculpture is shown. Looking at ICLOKS pictures it looks like the sculpture disappeared when the new access road was put in. All the best - Ian

Thanks Ian,i will have a look at that now.There is a new picture in the user album of a scene today of them pulling the last bit of roof off shop 8,and they have also torn some more of the wall down up at the other end near the brick offices my grandad built.Im thinking the famous Butterley sign will be down tomorrow,or monday. 😞

Ian i have just found the picture of the sculpture.I wonder what happened to it.......a sad ending i guess. 😞