Editorial
Dronfield Miscellany
Conservation Area
Review of Past Activities
Hunter Archaeological Society Winter Programme 2001 - 2002
The Winter Programme of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society

A Happy New Year to members and we look forward to seeing you at the next meeting on 24 January 2002 when Peter Warr (not Gerard Eveleigh as stated on your membership card) of the Ranmoor Society will be speaking on Ranmoor - the suburb of Sheffield which was developed in the nineteenth century to provide stately residences for Sheffield's great industrialists.

The meeting on 28 March is again focused on Sheffield when Sara Morton will give a talk on Sheffield Manor Castle and it is hoped to follow this up with an evening visit in the summer.

The Annual General Meeting will take place on 23 May 2002 when there will be a talk on Chiverton House, one of Dronfield's most distinctive buildings which has, over the past couple of years, been sympathetically refurbished to become once again a family home. We welcome Mr and Mrs Chadwick, the present owners.

The day outing in the summer will be to Newark - further details at future meetings and in the next newsletter.

All meetings will be held in the Edward Lucas hall of the Peel Centre starting at 7.30 p.m.

Transport can be arranged if you have difficulty getting to meetings and if you would prefer to use the side entrance with its less steep staircase, please either contact a committee member beforehand or ask for assistance on the night.

DRONFIELD MISCELLANY

It has been gratifying to find that the second issue was eagerly awaited in some quarters, the Library telephoning to know when it would be out as they were receiving enquiries. A number of copies were sold at the Mayor's tabletop sale in October and the regular outlets at the Post Offices (including Coal Aston) and other shops in the town have asked for further supplies. Copies have winged their way as far afield as Canada and Spain and we now have a mini mailing list for regular readers in these far off places!

Even more encouraging and interesting is to receive responses and reactions to articles and the Editorial Committee (Ann Brown, Margaret Mace, Jean Kendal and Judith Vernier) would welcome feedback from readers and, of course, contributions for future editions.

CONSERVATION AREA

The latest news on the supermarket proposals for Jowitts site on Wreakes Lane is that the detailed plans for the shop and parking area are now available. The Society's main concern is the impact the development will make on the conservation area at the top of High Street. The new owners of the site will acquire the historic medieval barn and we have particularly asked that the shopping public should be kept away from the barn and its surroundings which front on to the High Street.

REVIEW OF PAST ACTIVITIES

The exhibition held on 15/16 September on Pastimes of Times Past was rather poorly attended and it was disappointing to see so few Society members make the effort to call in. However, a small number of elderly Dronfeldians derived considerable pleasure from looking at photographs of cycle parades and church outings and identifying friends and relations, not to mention themselves in younger days, and an effort was made to record their memories.

The first of the winter season of talks was given by Joan Unwin on the Hawley collection of tools. Now suitably housed in an old industrial building (previously Wardlow steel converters) but within the Department of Archaeology of Sheffield University, the collection provides a resource for research, consultation and exhibitions. Built up by Ken Hawley who used to have a tool shop in Earl Street, he would call on a business on the point of closure and with the phrase "So, you'll not want that then" manage to acquire not only specimens of tools which are no longer used or made but archival material, trade catalogues and business records, all of which provide a detailed record of processes of manufacture that no longer exist as well as the products. The collection concentrates on edge tools and those for measuring and it is of note that, while the Science Museum's collection of micrometers numbers 60, there are 350 in Sheffield. At one time a range of 3000 files was manufactured and now they are no longer made in Britain. The emphasis of present day tools is on design - they have to look good and even the shape of a handle is patented. However, the collection provides a unique insight into a world of work that has now long gone.

In November the Society was honoured to host a world première of a new talk by an old friend, Howard Smith, on the history of the road between Sheffield and Derby. The earliest turnpikes date from the late 17th century when highly organised convoys of packhorses plied regular routes so efficiently that salmon from Whitehaven could reach London in four days. Ten horses would carry approximately a ton and there were hundreds of types of wicker baskets to accommodate different cargo. The original turnpikes were constructed on a foundation of heavy stone covered by smaller stones and gravel, the labour provided free by the parish, and enabled wheeled waggons to carry larger loads. Howard then conducted us on a trip from Sheffield to Derby following the route of the original turnpike which came to Dronfield from Heeley over to Dyche Lane and Coal Aston and continued through Unstone and Whittington Moor. Valley bottoms tended to be avoided and the old trails followed the high ground of ridge ways which gave good visibility and were not subject to flooding. It was fascinating to follow a very familiar route though with what are now interesting diversions to minor roads which have been superseded by the modern highway system.

For the Christmas meeting we welcomed another very familiar speaker in Dennis Clareborough who regaled us with a history of football and the importance of Sheffield to that history. For not a few ladies in the audience who had wondered if this subject would hold their interest, it was a revelation. The game evolved from street football that could last several days and be very violent and, in one instance in Derby, required the riot act and two companies of dragoons to quell! It was transformed by the English public schools who developed their own sets of rules which in turn were formalised and codified during the Victorian era. In 1857 a club for young professional men in Sheffield put their rules down on paper and six years later the Football Association was founded in London where they hammered out their own rules. For some years matches played north of Birmingham followed Sheffield rules while those to the south followed London's. Throughout its history, Sheffield has made major contributions to the development of the game, introducing the cross bar to two upright posts and providing a cup for the first cup competition. We were left in no doubt that Dronfield should be very proud to be providing Sheffield Football Club with new facilities worthy of its importance in the game's history.

Hunter Archaeological Society Winter Programme 2001 - 2002

Tuesday 8 January 'Listening to the Trees', Cathy Groves, Dendrochronologist
Research School of Archaeology, University of Sheffield

Friday 1 February Field Research Section - Reports Evening

Tuesday 12 February THE PRESIDENT'S LECTURE
'God's Own County', Pat Wagner

Friday 1 March Annual General Meeting at 7.00 p.m. followed by:
The ARTEAMUS Project, Jill Gorvett and Frank Robinson

Tuesday 12 March Annual General Meeting at 7.00 p.m. followed by:
'The Daughters of Welbeck: Religious Houses or Industrial Centres?'
Colin Merrony, Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield

• Tuesday meetings at Arts Tower Lecture Theatre 9, Sheffield University at 7.30 p.m.
• Friday meetings (Field Research Section) at the Traditional Heritage Museum, next to Ecclesall Methodist Church, Ecclesall Road, at 7.30 p.m.

Non members are welcome but a donation to Society funds would be appreciated. Please contact Barbara Jones for further details

The Winter Programme of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society includes talks on Recent Excavations at a Roman Site at Barton-in-Fabis: Jenny Laing; A Derby Gate: Richard Wood;
the work of the Railway Heritage Committee: Dudley Fowkes; The Sanitary Potteries of South Derbyshire: Janet Spavold; Coins of Medieval England: Ernest Danson; The Normanton Great War Memorial using ICT: David Kenyon; A little known glass making industry in Nottingham: Gloria Roebuck (following the AGM of the Archaeological Research Group); a Workshop on Roofing Materials: Malcolm Burrows (following the AGM of the Architectural Section)

Meetings are weekly on a Friday at 7.30 p.m. at the Red Cross Centre, Liversage Street, Derby.

There is also a DAS/WEA Lecture on 'History in the North Derbyshire Landscape' by Professor David Hey in Room OL1, Derby University, on Friday 1 March 2002 at 7.30 p.m. and on Sunday 10 March Caldon Low Tramroads Walk at 1.45 p.m. from Froghall Wharf Picnic Site [SK027477] for which sturdy footwear is essential.

Anyone interested in any of the above, please contact either Barbara Jones or Judith Vernier for dates and further details (use the email address at the foot of the page).