Hoyle Street Works - Were You There?

[PhotoJames]

Hi there. I'm a documentary photographer doing a project about the the site of the old steel works at Hoyle Street, and the immediate environs. The site is now empty and is marked for development by Cassidy, which seems to have been the case for a long time now.  The only remaining artefact is the cementation furnace - the only remaining one of its kind - which stands like a beacon, a lighthouse, keeping watch over the site.

 

My interest is in the renewal of urban space and how some buildings which are deemed important remain, whilst others are pulled down, rebuilt and so on, over time.

 

I'd love to hear from people who might have worked at the works that were on this site (Doncaster's), or the HSBC bank that also stood there - anyone with a memory of this place.

 

Many thanks!

 

 

[AndrewC]

Not quite what you're after but FYI, those Cassidy plans have almost certainly expired in planning terms and won't be happening.

A similar scheme may be progressed by Cassidy or another developer in the future (not within 2-3 years I would bet) but it would be a new planning application/permission required.

[Runningman]

Looking at the condition of that Cementation Furnace, is there anyone / organisation that can do anything about it ?

It will soon be covered in vegetation which has got to disturb the brick work.

[retep]

5 minutes ago, Runningman said:

Looking at the condition of that Cementation Furnace, is there anyone / organisation that can do anything about it ?

It will soon be covered in vegetation which has got to disturb the brick work.

It was tidied up around 1980 looks like it's been abandoned since.

[RJRB]

Daniel Doncaster’s made mainly Heat Resisting castings in Nickel Chrome alloys for furnace parts and furnace furniture.

The Hoyle Street Foundry originally used a bank of graphite crucibles capable of melting around 50 Kgs of metal per crucible.These were oil fired in the  1960s but historically I believe they used coke.

The metal was cast into sand moulds and fettled using hand and swing grinders.Although I worked in the Sales Office at Penistone at Penistone Rd I did few Saturday mornings at Hoyle St to earn a few extra quid overtime as a 20 year old.

I remember a few of the blokes who worked there doing some very hard graft on the furnaces and grinding in particular.Hot ,heavy and at times hazardous graft.

I suppose the works closed around 1970 and the business transferred to the main Penistone Rd site using HF melting.

I believe some of the old tackle was taken by Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet

[johnpm]

The site which includes the Cementation furnace was in fact  the labs & officer of the British Iron & Steel Research Association (BISRA). I worked there 1967 to1976 when it was shut with Metallurgy  & Mechanical Working being transferred  to Swinden Labs Rotherham (shut a about 5 years ago) & Steelmaking to a new laboratory at Teesside Labs Middlesbrough (now Material Processing Institute).   BISRA had a small Lab  on that site  from about 1959, the main buildings were built & opened in 1953 by the Duke of Edinburgh. BISRA had other Laboratories at Battersea (London) & Swansea plus a HQ at Buckingham Gate, London.

After BISRA closed the site was purchased by HSBC who eventually shut it a few years ago.

Daniel Doncaster's factory was on Penistone Road not far from BISRA.

[Runningman]

Good morning RJRB and johnpm and thanks for some very interesting information !

[PhotoJames]

Many thanks RJRB and johnpm for your responses, it's fantastic that you both worked at the site where the cementation furnace remains. This is exactly what I was hoping to discover! Would you be interested in having a chat about your experiences, and sharing some of your stories?

 

As I am new to this forum - I'm actually based in London studying at LCC - I can't yet contact you directly.

 

Many thanks.

[johnpm]

Hi PhotoJames, I am not in Sheffield now but live on Teesside . I have a pdf file about BISRA Sheffield labs particularly Official Opening in 1953 showing pictures & layout drawings  but its too big to put on here . Any idea how I might get it to you ?

 

[PhotoJames]

Hi johnpm, that would be fantastic, thanks! I'm loathed to add my email address to the thread directly, but my contact details are on my website: https://www.jamessebright.com/contact.html

 

Maybe we could have a chat over Zoom or similar? Desk-based research is one thing, but there's no substitute for talking to someone who has that live experience!

 

Many thanks.