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A new book commemorating the equivalent of a local gold rush 150 years ago has just been published. In this case it wasn't gold, but a special cherry red ironstone in the Churnet Valley, between Consall Forge & Froghall and Ipstones & Kingsley. Millions of tons of it were to be found from 1853 up to 1923 when the last mine - Cherry Eye Mine - closed. Unfortunately, the founder of the deposit also died 150 years ago, within weeks of making his discovery. He was William Bishop of Hazles Cross, near Kingsley. For ten hours a day, four boats laden with bright red ore, passed the Black Lion Inn at Consall Forge compared with 1 boat laden with limestone. Consall Forge was no longer producing iron in 1853, it had closed about 100 years before that having started work in the mid 1600s. The earliest ironworks in the valley would seem to be at Eastwall and dating from at least 1290. A forge at Oakamoor (later part of Bolton's copper works) was operating in 1573, giving over 600 years of iron working in the valley. Now many of the tramway, mills and other reminders have become completely overgrown or destroyed, but the hamlet of Consall Forge with its popular pub (The Black Lion) and its steam railway is a reminder that the area was once heavily industrialised with pits and mills, trains, tramways and canal traffic: it's a far cry from today's ramblers, the mature reserves and quietly moving canal boats. This 96 page, £7.95 paperback recalls the former days in detail, with plenty of maps and illustrations indicating what was where. |
CONTENTS: Introduction. Mills featured: Anthony Ward & Co,
Brough Nicholson & Hall, California
Mill, Clemasha Bros & Birch,
California Mill, Co-operative Wholesale,
Davenport Adams & Co, Goodwin &
Tatton, Gwynne & Co, Howards, Hugh
Sleigh, Joe Whites, John Mason, Joshua
Wardle, Leek Spun Silk, Lux, Mayers,
Milners, Mountford Johnson, Myatt &
Co, Premier Dyeing, Pretty Polly, Sir T
& A Wardle, Slimma, Stannard & Co,
Tattons & Co, Victorian Mill, W Hill
& Co, Wardle & Davenport, Watsons,
W H White, Thomas Whittles, AJ
Worthington Includes a map of all the textile mills
in Leek. The Spirit Of
Leek: Volume 1 Volume 1 covers scenes in: The Market
Place, Stockwell St; St Edward St; Church
St; The Old Cattle Market (and building
the bus station); Fairs, Club Day and
Processions; Inns and Taverns; Treading
the Boards (scenes from amateur dramatics
at the Town Hall etc). Most of the photos
have extended captions, collectively
giving a great deal of history of the
buildings, events etc. There are many
photographs of properties now
demolished. Both books will have lots of recent as
well as old photographs of the town and
its people. Vol 1: 192 pages, over 350
photographs. Published: September
2000. Staffordshire
Moorlands & Churnet Valley Lindsey
Porter & Cathryn Walton Covers scenes outside the
towns chiefly taken in the last 110 years:
Country Houses & Other Homes; Winter
Wonder-land ; Inns & Taverns; All in a
Days Work; On the Move (scenes of canals,
railways, horse drawn vehicles etc); At
Play (people enjoying themselves);
Churches and Chapels; Around the Villages.
Chiefly consists of scenes and a way of
life which have changed or disappeared for
ever. 192 pages, 316 photographs.
Published August 2000.
Download order form in PDF
format
The Twentieth Century in
Photographs
by Cathryn Walton &
Lindsey Porter
Photographs from Days Gone
by
plus jacket, printed on art paper at
£19.95.
(Requires Adobe
Acrobat reader)
Landmark Publishing Limited,
Ashbourne Hall,
Cokayne Avenue ,
Ashbourne.
DE6 1EJ
Telephone 01335 347349
Facsimile 01335 347303
web site: www.landmarkpublishing.co.uk