Spartan steel works

[jordan y 10]

does anyone know the history of the spartan works on attercliffe rd in sheffield ive been working on the site for about a year and intrested to know the history of the place one of the shops i work in used to be the rolling mill as ive seen a picture of it in action but apart from that there dosant seem to be any more imfomation about it i was told a bit ago that if you go in the old offices its like walking back to 1970

[rabitter 10]

started work at spartan 1971 and it was a very old building then it belonged to a firm called shipmans before spartans took it over

under spartans it was owned by a group of americans who used to come over a couple of times a year to visit all our steel was produced at spartans in birmingham and brought to sheffield to be rolled in our mill which was the first process to the finished bar we used to make

in 1984 it was bought out by 3 of the upper management there and the workforce cut by about 20% we carried on working till 1999 when firth rixons bought the order book and moved the works to ecclesfield myself and the majority of the staff took redundancy

the mill is still rolling steel at ecclesfield

[jordan y 10]

first of all thanks for the info and do you know what the workshop on the right hand side was used for when you go through the blue doors and the shop next to that what backs on to the canal

[rabitter 10]

when you go through the main doors and turn right that shop was the warehouse where we used to load lorries and unload

if you walk up the shop on the left side were two radiac machines for cutting ends off bars on the right were two band saws at the top of the shop if you turn left there is another shop which had two centreless grinders

at the top of this shop were some wooden stairs which went into the shop that backs on to the canal this contained a drawbench for pulling bars straight also a bar straightening machine the shop at the bottom of the steel steps which lead over the canal had two band saws for cutting the billets for rolling in the mill

[pegaso 10]

jordan Y .. mt late husband Lou and his brother in law Doug started a painting business late 60's and they did quite a few jobs for spartan steel

[wednesday115 10]

does anyone know the history of the spartan works on attercliffe rd in sheffield ive been working on the site for about a year and intrested to know the history of the place one of the shops i work in used to be the rolling mill as ive seen a picture of it in action but apart from that there dosant seem to be any more imfomation about it i was told a bit ago that if you go in the old offices its like walking back to 1970

 

I have only just joined the Forum.

I worked at Spartan steels until June 1967 , I wasn't there long because I got married and moved to Durham.

I only vaguely remember just the rolling mills nnot much of the rest of the factory.

Nearly all the mill hands were head hunted from Brown Baileys.

The head roller hand picked a furnace man I think his name was Snell and together they rounded up a work force to make a full set of mill hands.

I remember them running trials at the rolling mill with different types of steel.

But it is long ago to remember much because I moved away. I remember I missed a lot of the banter we had between the lads

[rabitter 10]

wednesday 115

you are going back a long time.i started working there in 1971 and it was before then,tho i think i recall a snell.at that time it was owned by a american group,the main works were in birmingham where the steel was made then transported to sheffield for rolling

[wednesday115 10]

wednesday 115

you are going back a long time.i started working there in 1971 and it was before then,tho i think i recall a snell.at that time it was owned by a american group,the main works were in birmingham where the steel was made then transported to sheffield for rolling

 

It was really a very long time ago.

The only other name I can recall was my mate Alf but I don't know when he left.

The rolling mills operated at really high speed compared to Brown Bailleys.

We had a lot of the steel bars splitting and wrapping around the rollers.

I think I can recall our boss having a go on the mill and had a very bad accident.

But the memory is not what it was.

[rabitter 10]

wednesday115

there was a alf smith worked in mill and a jo wright who was in charge

[loopy 10]

my dad drove the lorry his name was George France............

[rabitter 10]

knew george well,cant remember whether he took redundancy or not,his job was taken by jo watts who lived on hackenthorpe

[loopy 10]

knew george well,cant remember whether he took redundancy or not,his job was taken by jo watts who lived on hackenthorpe

 

he left due to ill health (lung cancer),he died in june 1978.