Can Anyone Help Ganister Works

Hi everyone,

I am researching my family history and I have just purchased

a birth certificate from the 1950's.

The occupation of the father is recorded as lorry drivers mate

Ganister works.

I wondered if anyone might know anything at all about Ganister

works especially where it was located.

Many thanks

Cher

Marshalls works at Loxley used to have a ganister mine on part of it's site.

It is recorded that ganister was mined on this site since Roman times. I dont know of any other ganister producers [past or present] in this area.

Have just 'googled it' and found several references to ganister production all over the Sheffield area. One of them might contain the info you are looking for. Good Luck.

There was a gannister mine at Parkwood Road Neepsend 1950's

Taken from A History of Neepsend by Paul Hodkinson

, ‘The City’s Most Central Pit is also a happy one’ The Star 1st April 1954.

The mine was a drift mine, the shaft being driven horizontally into the hillside instead of downwards. It was described as a happy pit, because of no falls, accidents, labour trouble or strikes. The Labour Force was 28 miners, 5 surface men and one pit pony ‘Tommy’. The mine produced about 200 tons of ganister and 40 tons of coal per week. On the surface were small pit head baths and a small canteen for miners. By 1954 the main road had been driven about half a mile into the hillside.

Used to be ganister works in Oughtibridge and Deepcar also

There were gannister mines and pits all around the city area. It is the basic ingredient for making refractories (furnace bricks), so it was very heavily sought after up until about the 1950 's. Being raised around Malin Bridge I remember a few local pits.There was a mine just off Stannington Rd almost outside the Anvil pub, also one beneath the Robin Hood at Little Matlock. I think the biggest one in the ares was at Loxley, George C Siddons. Hope this helps.

Ray Battye's book The Forgotten Mines of Sheffield, published 2 years ago is largely about ganister mining. I think it is still on sale in Sheffield Scene (Surrey Street) and probably in local bookshops.

Hugh

Ganister clay was a prticularly good quality clay used for making the crucibles for smelting steel. Many of my ancestors in the Bradfield / cclesfield areas were ganister miners.

Ganister was also used in brick making. There was a mine at the bottom of Hutcliff wood road near Sainsbury's. This supermarket sits on the site of an old brickworks where my dad worked in the late fifties early sixties.

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wharncliffe wood has got a dissused ganister mine in them hope this helps.