Fairthorn children's home at Dore

This was the brain child of some Sheffield teachers who in 1893 wanted to give the kids of Sheffields East End a holiday in the countryside.

Originally they took the children to Kirk Edge Orphanage so the could visit Glen Howe Park and Wharncliffe Side but when the Orphanage became unavailable other sites had to be reviewed.

1n 1923 some of the huts that had been used for the Territorial Army at Lodge Moor were used and in 1924 Fairthorn Green at Redmires was purchased.

In 1931 the Corporation told all dwellers around the Redmires Dam that they had to move out because of a water contamination to the supply.

Eventually a site was found at Dore for the sum of £500 but it also cost £4,500

to build. In July 1934 the Lord Mayor of Sheffield opened Fairthorn in Dore.

Thanks for your reply. It's interesting that you specifically mention Fairthorn Green. There was some discussion in this thread about the kids staying at Fairthorn Lodge, but I think the evidence points to them actually staying at the building known as Fairthorn Green Farm.

I believe that this photo on Picture Sheffield might actually be Fairthorn Green Farm (rather than Fairthorn Lodge as it is listed):

hpacde.org.uk/picturesheffield/jpgh_sheffield/y00387.jpg

(I can't list the full link due to being a newbie, just prefix with www)

Notice how close the building is to the reservoir and the track which I believe is the one that leads to Stanage Pole. According to old ordinance survey maps this building should be Fairthorn Green.

---------- Post added 21-02-2018 at 14:12 ----------

I have come across this discussion purely by chance because of the reference to my late grandfather, Valentine Heywood (I had been googling a book he wrote). I can confirm that there is a Fairthorn Lodge situated on the Moors above Redmire Reservoirs which was indeed a private residence occupied by my grandfather between the wars - I don't know the precise dates but I do know my father lived there from or shortly after his birth in 1920 at least until about 1933. I have an album compiled by my grandfather called "The Book of Fairthorn" which shows the house. It appears to be the same as that shown in the photograph for which a link is given. I was taken there by my parents in the 1960s and I returned there in the 1980s when on a visit to Sheffield. The place was still recognisable as that shown in "The Book of Fairthorn" and it still had all or a good part of the extensive grounds shown in that album. It appeared to me then to be a private house, but I never went to the house itself (I merely trespassed a little way into the grounds!) and, as far as I can remember, it was so on my earlier visit, although it seemed to have been "done up" on my later visit. The grounds when my father lived there included woods and also a pond. Photographs in the album show that my father and some visiting cousins or friends were able to ice-skate and play a form of ice hockey on this pond on more than one occasion. My father (and my grandparents) had very happy memories of the place and he had great fun playing in the grounds and being able to go out from them directly onto the Moors. If the place ever did later become a childrens home, it would have been good at least from that point of view, but I imagine it may have seemed a bit remote to any children used to the City - although I was surprised that it was in fact as close to the City as it is. I hope all this may be of some interest to those who have taken part in the discussion, even though it may not provide an answer to the question which originally sparked the discussion.

I would be interested in discussing this further if mheywood still has access to the forum?

---------- Post added 24-02-2018 at 15:23 ----------

The location(s) of the Fairthorne home is a question that could probably be answered by a visit to the Sheffield Archives, but being too far away I have had a look through the resources I have. And I would guess that the Fairthorne institution for children was founded at Redmires in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and that it moved to Dore in 1944. The 1925 Sheffield directory confirms the Redmires location of Fairthorne Lodge. It was at the end of the road along the western edge of the upper reservoir (the name can still be found on the Ordnance Survey map). This is the location suggested by the photo on the picturesheffield.com site. But in 1925 it must have been a private house, as the occupant was “Valentine Heywood, editor”. However, by the 1930s, Fairthorne Lodge at Redmires had evidently been converted to the convalescent home that kingfisher remembers. The National Archives website gives the dates 1944-71 for “Fairthorne Convalescent Home for Children, Sheffield”. So perhaps 1944 was the year when the home was moved from the Redmires building to the one in Dore, with the Dore building being named after the home’s former location.

 

Hi there Hillsbro. I have been doing some research on Fairthorn Lodge. I've been to the Local Studies Library in Sheffield and I'm now convinced that there was another building close to Fairthorn Lodge called Fairthorn Green. I think this is no longer there. It was closer to the reservoir and the track that leads to Stanage Pole. Fairthorn Green is the house that appears mistakenly labeled as Fairthorn Lodge on Picture Sheffield. It was Fairthorn Green that was the childfren's home near Redmires Reservoir prior to moving to Dore.

I think Fairthorn Lodge has always been a private residence.

My cousin was recently doing some family research and came across a few photos of Fairthorn. She knows the place because she went there in the mid 60's too.

She didn't like the place at all apparently, and she has bad memories of it, but I thought I'd post a link to the photos on Picture Sheffield if anyone is interested.

This is the 'headmaster' of Fairthorn apparently.

This is the building itself apparently.

And these are kids playing outside the building in the mid-60's.

F

My Mum Lily went to Fairthorne in 1953 & 1954 due to being underweight. It was run by Mr & Mrs Chumley. My mum recalls how lovely it was, having 3 meals a day and her own bed to sleep in (normally slept with 4 other siblings in a double bed at her parents home). Mum recalls going out to play in big fields, playing in the garden on the swings, long walks and plenty of fresh air. Mum recalls Mrs & Mrs Chumley being very kind and says she’ll never forget them. Chores included making the bed (properly) and helping set out the tables and clear up after. Mum said she felt very happy there and free to be herself because at home she was the “lackey”, running errands & caring for her siblings etc... Mum remembers the concert in which she and her Sister Kathy sang the song called “Sisters”.

My Friends Parents were the Managers at Fairthorn in the late 60's/early 70's. Their surname was Pope. This was at the top of Townhead Rd in Dore. I went and played there quite a lot.

I think my father must have been one of the first into Fairthorn as it opened in 1934, he was 10, had jaundice and his family were really poor in Beall Street, Attercliffe. In some ways it was his making. He befriended the owners of Blackamoor Farm  (I knew them as Uncle Tom and Aunty Emmy) and he loved Dore. After the war, in the RAF as a pilot, he studied at Night School at Sheffield University and became a Mechanical Engineer. He and my mum, a school teacher from Wickersley, bought their first, new build, house in Kerwin Drive, Dore and I grew up there until we left for Fulwood in 1967. Fairthorn became an old people's home and me and my sister looked at it for him in his latter few years. 

I went into Fairthorne as a very small toddler, it must have been mid 1951 along with my 2 older brothers as my mum had gone into hospital to give birth to my sister. I do remember tiny scraps of it such as the first night I arrived, double soiling the bed and someone telling my oldest brother that he would have to clean it up! No molly coddling there then. Also we where given cod over oil and a penny to spend in the tuck shop to buy a sweetie to take away the taste my brother dragging me there as fast as he could to remove the disgusting taste. I remember sitting in a lovely cosy nursery eating toast and being comforted by lovely young nursery nurse, I was crying as I was missing my mum