LADIES FROM CANTEEN AT REDFERN`S

The following photo was sent to us via email from Alan and Barbara Tomlinson.

"Here is a photo taken on the top of Redfern`s rubber work`s roof circa 1948/49. It shows the canteen staff and in the background you can see what used to be Slack Mill and, of course, the chimney ".




"On the back row from left to right. Margaret Smith (PEG) Mary Tomlinson, Mrs Crosby    ..?..    front row  ..?..  ..?.. Dorothy Standing. We hope someone can fill the rest in.

What a nice bunch of ladies and what good meals they made."   

Many thanks, Barbara and Alan.
Much appreciated ! :)   

                                                

Magnificent View !

Here are a couple of photo's sent to us by Karl Barlow with the description below.

"Hi Hydonians,
Here are two pictures I took of Gee Cross Mill in the early eighties. 

The view of the tower  in the distance is St Georges church and, I think, James
North's Mill...The black and white photo is of the ladder inside the tower of GX Mill known as a Jacobs Ladder.It led to the hatch that opened at the top of the tower. I climbed it a few times. There was a water tank up there if I remember and lot of pigeon muck ! What a view from the very top of the tower you could see for miles around!...."

Thumbnail for larger view.





Many Thanks Karl ! :)

The Reservoir off Queen Street

Here are a couple of photos showing the old James North/Slack Mill reservoir that used to stand on Queen Street .
The prefab building at the top of the photo stood on Wood Street and it was where a generation of Hydonians bought their families slippers at low prices !
It was known as "Wickles back" by some. I think this was because the prefab was a manufacturer called Wickles at some point . If anybody knows what they manufactured please let us know...


  After the reservoir was drained.


Aerial View showing Lumb Road to the Right and the Douglas Street part of Norths to the left.


Aerial view as it looks today !
Queen Street became Douglas Street at the Lumn Road end after the new Greenfield Primary school cut Queen Street in half.

Disappeared Mills

James North Factory formerly Slack Mill.
Now demolished.
The photo is taken from the top of Bradbury Street.



Photo supplied by Dave.

Queen Street.

Below are two views of the James North factory tunnel that used to be on Queen Street . This was a very busy Mill with the tunnel linking two different sites. There are records of a tram that used to run between the two sites in 1897 when it was known as Slack Mill.






Tramway shown on 1897 map.

An Aerial view 4

This Aerial shot shows St Georges Church which is overlooking the municipal rubbish tip that used to be here. If any child ever wanted a bike, they could be found here scavenging for wheels and frames which they would then take home and make up their own style of bike. Mothers everywhere had heart failure as non of the Home-made bikes possessed any form of brakes! Harndens can be seen middle of the photo ,complete with chimney! Top left to middle is the "Rec" which was a green oasis in the middle of much industry, Queen Street and Slack Mills or James Norths as it was later known. Next to James Norths coming further right you can make out Redferns Rubber Works. The Railway lines off Osborne Road , now the "Pennine Trail" can be seen top right.

Norths from another angle.

Slack Mill, or Norths as it was later to become, covered a huge area from Market Street to Lumn Road and from Smithy Lane to Nelson Street. The only pictures of it that you ever really get to see nowadays are the ones of the front of the building with the large red brick tower.
Here are a few taken from Queen Street.


This one is looking towards the bridge that joined the Lumn Road site to the Douglas Street site. This is taken after the houses on the "Rec" or recreational ground side were demolished.


This one is taken from Queen Street looking at the back of the largest building that fronted Market Street. You can see where new bits of building work were done as the company expanded.


Looking into the goods yard at the back of the main site from Queen Street.

I had the good fortune to grow up in this area. My Nan lived in one of the houses that belonged to the Mill. You can see the gable end of the house to the right of the picture. It was joined to the yard and as children we could play in all the boxes and glove offcuts in the storage areas. It worked well . We didnt bother the workers and they didnt bother us. We used to wander all over the site without any problems. It just wouldn't be allowed in this PC day and age but was a veritible wonderland to us kids. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.