Wednesday 29 April 2015

Midland Railway Bridge over River Trent at Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, UK built by Andrew Handyside in 1894

This railway bridge is on the Long Eaton to Leicester section of the Midland Counties Railway and carries trains over the river Trent (aka Trent Lock) at Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, UK

Here at Trent Lock the three counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire meet up. This is also where the River Soar and River Trent connect with the Trent and Mersey Canal.
Just down river from this bridge is Thrumpton Weir.

Midland Railway Bridge over River Trent at Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, UK built by Andrew Handyside in 1894

The engineer for this was Mr J.A. McDonald.

Work on the original bridge (See technical engraving below, Original bridge at back, Handyside one in foreground) started in June 1838, a foundation stone was laid in December 1838 by its designer Charles Vignoles. This original bridge had three spans of 100 foot flanked
by ten twenty-five foot flood arches on the north side and two on the south. The ironwork for the original bridge was supplied by The Butterly company of Derbyshire and was completed in October 1839.

Here is a technical engraving of the new bridge with the orignal Vignoles bridge behind it.
Drawing from The Engineer January 12th 1894 :

Midland Railway Bridge over River Trent at Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, UK built by Andrew Handyside in 1894


Andrew Handyside were contracted to install the second bridge to cater for the two extra tracks in 1894, you can see Vignoles original bridge in the background behind the new one. It would appear that Andrew Handyside may have replaced the original bridge too at a later date as this is in the same style as the additional 1894 one.

I created a looping Vine video showing this bridge which I took from a train window. you can see the structure :





Here is another view of the Handyside bridge close up

Midland Railway Bridge over River Trent at Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, UK built by Andrew Handyside in 1894

Red Hill Tunnel into which this railway line passes is 133 yards long, 26 1/2 Foot diameter and was built by the contractor Wm. Mackenzie.
The North end of the tunnel is castellated in Norman Style architecture.

Orignally there was just one tunnel here (built 1830's) but in 1895 the line was expanded to four tracks and a second tunnel was was dug adjacent to the original tunnel. The very same castellated entrance was applied to the new one.
The reason that the railway tunnel was castellated was as a concession to the owner of Thrumpton Hall, whose estate this section of railway passes through!

Here is a photograph showing the castellated entrances to the tunnels. The one on the right is the original 1830's tunnel. The one on the left is the younger 1892-93 tunnel to cope with the two extra railway tracks :



The Midland Counties Railway (MCR) was a railway company that existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby vis a junction with the London and Birmingham Railway.
The MCR system connected with the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway in Derby at what become known as the Tri Junct Station.

Links for further reading :
Charles Blacker Vignoles.
Midland Counties Railway

Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this bridge on the world map. 
My world map is the result of hundreds of hours of research into the company, plotting out each item as I find it. 

Can you help find more Andrew Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other Handyside bridges around the world bearing the Handyside badge that I have not mentioned yet then please get in touch with details, location, photographs etc.

Thanks
Andy

Tuesday 28 April 2015

Night and Morning vase, Restored in 2014. Swiss Gardens, Shuttleworth Collection, Bedfordshire, UK

The restoration team have done an excellent restoration on this vase, so good to see Handyside's work being looked after like this.

This is a Night and Morning Vase by Andrew Handyside, which is based on Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Night and Day plaques.

The Swiss Gardens have had a £2.8 million revamp thanks to the Heritage Lottery fund. There are 13 listed structures on the site and the Handyside vase is one of them.

The Britannia Foundry established a reputation with ornamental work, it was well known for producing elaborate vases. They had great success at the 1851 Great Exhibition.
They also achieved a Gold Medal "Ornamental Fountains and Vases" at Birmingham in 1872, and at the 1871 Cordova Exhibition in Argentina.
Handyside had their own dedicated catalog for fountains and urns which I have a copy of which is very useful in my research of Andrew Handyside work and identifying its products around the world.

For the 1862 International Exhibition in London they provided a cast iron fountain and several vases. One of these vases was the "Night and Morning" vase, this is the model that
you can see wonderfully restored in the Swiss Gardens here.

This is Vase Design No. 23 on Page 60 of my 1879 publication "An Illustrated book of Designs for Fountains and Vases, costing from £1 to £1200 manufactured by Andrew Handyside"

A photograph of the restored vase :

Night and Morning vase by Andrew Handyside, Swiss Gardens, Shuttleworth Collection.


Here is this model of vase in my 1879 publication "An Illustrated book of Designs for Fountains and Vases, costing from £1 to £1200 manufactured by Andrew Handyside" It provides dimentions and good views of the amazing design :

"Night and Morning" vase by Andrew Handyside.



Here is a page from the The Art Journal Catalogue of the International Exhibition 1862 and it shows four items that Andrew Handyside exhibited at the show. Their "Night and Morning Vase" is in the top right of the page.
The Work of Andrew Handyside for the International Exhibition 1862.
The Art Journal Catalogue of the International Exhibition 1862.


Here is a photograph of the very same vase before its restoration:

Urn


Here is another photograph of the vase in April 2011 before its restoration :
https://flic.kr/p/9BG7Hi

Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this vase on the world map. 
My world map is the result of hundreds of hours of research into the company, plotting out each item as I find it. 

Can you help find more Andrew Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other vases around the world bearing the Handyside badge that I have not mentioned yet then please get in touch with details, location, photographs etc.

Thanks
Andy

Thursday 9 April 2015

The grave of Andrew Handyside (1805-1887) and Alexander Buchanan (1829-1916) and other family members.

I have finally located the grave of Andrew Handyside and Anastasia Handyside and other relations.

As you can see its a very basic grave indeed, I imagine the headstone has been placed down for "health and safety gone mad" reasons.
This grave is located in Uttoxeter New Road Cemetery, Derby.

The grave of Andrew Handyside and wife Anastasia.
The grave of Andrew Handyside and wife Anastasia.


The inscription in the centre of the cross is MS but I think this is just a generic makers mark.

Andrew Handyside's headstone marking.

Andrew Handyside was the son of Hugh Handyside and Margaret Baird.

In the 1871 Census for Derby shows the people living at "The Cedars" as
Andrew Handyside - Head of house - 65 years old - Civil Engineer - Born in Scotland.
Anastasia Handyside - Wife - 48 years old - Born in Babanka, Poland.
Anastasia Henley - Motherinlaw - 88 years old - Born in Russia, St Petersburg.
Jane Ruddle - Servant Cook - 27 years old


Anastasia Henley was Anastasia Handyside's Mother (Andrew Handyside's Mother in law). She was born in St Petersburg on December 9th 1782 and died of Bronchitison at the age of 92 on February 17th 1875.
Her husband was John Henleywho from St Petersburg born on Bebruary 7th 1767 and died on July 1st 1855.

In the 1881 Census for Derby shows the people living at "The Cedars" as
Andrew Handyside - Head of house - 75 years old - Civil Engineer (Retired) Born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Anastasia Handyside - Wife - 58 years old - Born in Babanka, Ukraine, Poland.
Eleanor Haverfield - Grand niece - 10 years old - Scholar - Born in Callander, Scotland
Ann Webb - Servant - 29 years old - Cook - Born in Arley, Shropshire
Emma Ault - Servant - 29 - Housemaid - Born in Derby, Derbyshire. 


Anastasia Handyside  Death Certificate
Registration District  Kensington
Sub-district Kensington North in the County of London
When and where died:  16th Nov 1910, 50 St Marks Road, North Kensington
Name and Surname:  Anastasia Handyside
Sex:  Female
Age: 89 years
Occupation: Widow of Andrew Handyside, Civil Engineer
Cause of Death:  Syncope following shock the result of a fracture of the femur caused by a fall Accidental
[Syncope – fainting, loss of consciousness from fall of blood pressure – Concise OED]
Signature,description and residence of informant:  Certificate received from C Luxinoore Drew [?] Coroner for London Inquest this day 19th Nov 1910
When Registered: Twenty First November 1910
I would like to thank Peter Butt for the above information.

Anastasia Henley  Death certificate
Registration District:  Saint Peter, Derby.
When and Where died:  17 February 1875, The Cedars, Ashbourne Road
Name and Surname:  Anastasia Henley
Sex: Female
Age: 92 Years
Occupation: Widow of John Henley a Merchant
Cause of Death: Gradual decay – Bronchitis, certified by HW Baker MRCS
Signature, description and resident of information:
Emily Buchanon, Daughter of dedeased, present at death, 8 Wilson Street, Derby
When registered:  18 Feb 1875

Andrew Handyside - Will
Made in 1877
Andrew left everything to his wife and sole executor Anastasia for her sole use.
In the case of Anastasia dying before him then to his niece Louise for her sole use and as sole executor.

In this plot are....
Andrew Handyside - Age 81 Interment date 13th June 1887
Anastasia Handyside - Age 87 Interment date 21st November 1910

Andrew Handyside died on Thursday 9th June 1887 from bronchitis.

Andrew Handyside was seventeen years older than his wife, Anastasia's mother was also called Anastasia and was born in St Petersburg (now Leningrad) both became British subjects.
According to the register, Andrew Handyside paid for this plot in advance !

While hunting for the gravestone of Andrew Handyside I found the plot for Alexander Buchanan. Alexander was Andrew Handyside's Nephew and also a manager at the Britannia Iron Works in Derby.

The gravestone details:
Alexander Buchanan 1829-1916
Emily Buchanan 1827-1912

This grave is located in Uttoxeter New Road Cemetery, Derby.

The grave of Alexander Buchanan (Nephew of Andrew Handyside)


Uttoxeter New Road Cemetery, Derby
This graveyard is rather large and very heavily populated with plots so it took several visits to locate it. Because the grave stone is on its face I had no choice but to identify it using adjacent plots.

Uttoxeter New Road Cemetery, Derby tilt-view.



Thanks
Andy
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