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Cottage Industry

Just here was a small industry that hand-made sports equipment. The main items were Cricket bats and Hockey sticks. A Jim Wade and Ronald Ellis ran the business in the two-storey building, which survived the gales in Sheffield, with very little damage, but the upper floor had to be replaced after a fire. Six or seven people including Wade & Ellis worked at any one time in conditions which would not be allowed these days. Wood dust and wood shavings were everywhere. I worked there from 1957-1963. The building stood to the north end of a court yard. Attached to it was a long row of wooden buildings that were probably stables. An archway led to some steps that dropped down to an alleyway between a row of shops, which led onto Fulwood road. Adjacent to the alleyway was a Baker's shop that sold yummy cream buns, egg custards and apple charlottes. Across the road a Butcher's shop sold hot pork sandwiches, in a bread bun, with loads of crispy crackling. The Baker's shop went when the others were demolished. The factory was raised to the ground as was a pub called the South Sea Hotel. The pub has been replaced, as have the shops, which now have a roof-top car park. Because the courtyard space was available for building on, it meant the shops could be set further back from Fulwood Road. They now also have shop-front parking spaces and a separate adjoining drive-through parallel to Fulwood Road.