Pillar box, High Street, Hull made by Andrew Handyside c1883

Andrew Handyside who made Friargate bridge in Derby also made hundreds of Pillar boxes and these are still all over the UK, here is one such fine example in Hull.

Derby's Andrew Handyside made the iconic cylindrical British pillar box from March 1879, in 1883 they had to change their design as letters and packets were getting trapped in the top of the box so they changed the design by moving the posting aperture a few inches lower down on the box. This pilar box in Hull has that lower aperture design so it was made after 1883.

High Street in Hull's Old Town is a premier filming location frequently used as a double for Victorian and Dickensian London due to its well-preserved cobbled streets and historic architecture, a few recent things filmed there are Enola Holmes 2, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Bodies, A Royal Night Out, Victoria, The Crown, National Treasure.So keep an eye out and you may notice this very Handyside pillar box on the big screen !

Here is a video of the pillar box and its location on High Street : 

Video of the Pillar box High Street Hull made by Andrew Handyside c1883

Google maps location of this pillar box : 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GVMYJGjVc8N87FL57

Please share this post to anyone you think would be interested.

If you know of any items (apart from Post boxes) in the world bearing the Andrew Handyside badge that I have not marked on my world map then please let me know.

My Andrew Handyside world map : 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?hl=en&mid=1OAACWtSS9PyrJqZ5Ebpy1yb527nkRFk7&ll=52.90829433369387%2C-1.4515525777722327&z=10

My Andrew Handyside Facebook group :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/andrewhandyside

My Andrew Handyside Flickr group :
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1531851@N22/

My Andrew Handyside video playlist :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL6EmDnqQPU&list=PLA6EB1C556ABA75AF

Thanks
Andy

Manchester Central railway station (now Manchester Central Convention Complex) built by Andrew Handyside 1880.

Andrew Handyside, who made Friargate bridge in Derby didn’t just make bridges, Fountains and Pilar boxes they also made hundreds of roofs for railway stations and buildings, here is one such example.

Manchester Central railway station was built between 1875 and 1880 by The Cheshire Lines Committee and was officially opened on 1st July 1880.

The massive wrought iron truss structure roof was made by Andrew Handyside & Co, it is 550 feet long with a span of 210 feet and 90 feet hight at the apex consisting of a total of 2400 tons!

It was Grade II* listed in 1963

The station finally closed on 5th May 1969 and the building fell into a dilapidated state and was damaged by a fire. 

It was then acquired by Greater Manchester County Council and in 1982, work started on repurposing the building into an exhibition centre called GMEX.

It was then rebranded in January 2007 as The Manchester Central Convention Complex (MCCC), I was fortunate to visit this structure when I went to Manchester Beer festival in 2020 and got my video footage.

It’s a very impressive building and it’s great to see Handyside's ironwork still around 146 years after it was made at the Britanna foundry in Derby.

Hope you enjoyed this post, please join my Andrew Handyside Facebook group if you would like to see more of Derby's Handyside work around the world.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/andrewhandyside

Thanks
Andy

Newstead former GNR railway bridge, Nottinghamshire made by Andrew Handyside in 1881

Andrew Handyside who made Friargate bridge in Derby made hundreds of different bridges around the world here is one such example located in Newstead, Nottinghamshire, UK.

The bridge is located to the east of Newstead village, it carries the former Kirkby to Bagthorpe GNR railway line over Station Avenue which was originally the main access route to Newstead Abbey.

The railway line here opened in April 1898 and closed in the 1930s?

The span of the bridge is 25 feet.

The bridge was Grade II listed 27th April 1987

As you can see it has pretty much the same decorative spandrel as Trent Bridge, not quite as ornate but the very same design : 

The simplest way to go and visit this bridge is to catch a train to Newstead railway station

and then walk north up Station Road to Tilford Road and turn right over the railway tracks and then right again down Station Avenue, around the left bend and you will see it ahead of you.

Cast iron and rockfaced ashlar. Chamfered plinth. Single segmental headed arch with pierced spandrels and dentillated sill.

Moulded iron balustrade with cusped lancet openings.

Here is a little video I made of the bridge : 

360 degree view of the bridge as seen from Station Avenue : 

360 degree view of the bridge from the top :

Hope you found this post of interest. 
Andy

Former Leeds Infirmary Winter Gardens made by Andrew Handyside 1868

Andrew Handyside Ltd of Derby who made Friargate bridge also made lots of roofs for buildings around the world, here is one such example.

The Former Leeds Infirmary Winter Gardens 1868

In this short video I have used A.I. to resurrect some old photographs and illustrations of the former Leeds infirmary winter gardens.

The Leeds General Infirmary Winter Garden was a magnificent, glass-roofed central courtyard built in 1868, inspired by London's Crystal Palace, featuring gothic-style arches, exotic plants, and a Andrew Handyside fountain.

Designed to be a therapeutic, airy space for patients, it also hosted the 1868 National Exhibition of Works of Art.

Known officially as the Central Court, it was a big part of the hospital’s early years, hosting the official opening of the building on 30 May 1869 by HRH The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII on 1901).

The impressive roof structure was 151 feet long, 63 feet wide and 60 feet high and featured 150 tons of ironwork, all made in Derby by Andrew Handyside Ltd.

The construction of this building is peculiar, involving no “thrust” upon the walls; the main roof, which is really carried by the four corner rafters, having its thrust taken by the parallelogram of lattice girders connecting the heads of the twelve columns.

Page 89 of the 1868 second edition "Works in Iron by Andrew Handyside & Co, Britannia Iron Works, Derby states that type N cast-iron capitals were used on the 12 support columns in Leeds Winter Gardens :

In 1911 the roof, which had created significant maintenance problems, was dismantled, but the space remained in use as an open-air tennis court as late as 1963

Today this area is known as Leeds Wellbeing Garden.

A real shame the roof only lasted 43 years before being demolished but I hope my video gives a sense of what it looked like at the time.

My source reference :
Page 91 of the 1868 second edition "Works in Iron by Andrew Handyside & Co, Britannia Iron Works, Derby and 32 Walkbrook, London. Published by E.&F.N. Spon 48 Charing Cross."

Hope you found this of interest, join my Facebook group to keep up to date with my latest Handyside finds around the world :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/andrewhandyside

Andy

Blacksmiths Forges at Underfall Yard workshop Bristol made by Andrew Handyside

Blacksmiths Forges at Underfall Yard workshop Bristol made in 1884

Andrew Handyside Ltd of Derby who made Friargate bridge didnt just make bridges and fountains, they also made lots of stuff you may not know about such as forges !

The Britannia foundry in Derby had many forges at the time and I guess it was inevitable that they would also sell them but not many examples of them have survived the 142 years since they made them so it was really good to see these three forges in Bristol. 

I would like to say a massive thankyou to the staff at Underfall Yard for opening up the workshop for me to see them as it was closed when I visited.

In 19 years of researching Handyside stuff I have only found two places that still have intact Handyside Forges, the other place is Combe Mill in Oxfordshire, the forges at Underfall are in excellent condition as you can see below. If you know of any other forges made by Handyside around the world then please get in touch.

The three Andrew Handyside forges in a line : 

Andrew Handyside makers badge on the hood of the forge : 

Here is a little video I made in 2025 of the forges at Underfall Yard :

Here are examples of forges and hearths that Andrew Handyside used to sell, from their sales brochure of the time : 

Here is a 360 degree photograph I took for Google Streetview in front of one of the forges : 

I can highly recommend a visit to Underfall Yard if you are down that way, see their website for more information : https://underfallyard.co.uk/

Click here for a map location for Underfall Yard, Bristol, UK

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Andy

The Royal Drill Hall Derby built 1869, Roof by Andrew Handyside.

The Royal Drill Hall in Derby was built in 1869 Built for the 1st V.B. Sherwood Foresters (Notts. and Derbyshire Regiment), It had an impressive roof of 150 feet length by 75 feet span made from 72 tons of steel fabricated by Andrew Handyside . The Engineer was R.M. Ordish

This drill hall was demolished in 1969 to build Forester House.
Here is a video of where it was located and of the amazing roof made by Handyside.

Best viewed on a large computer screen or smart TV as this is recorded in 4K resolution with great music so a real waste watching it on a small phone screen. Did you know you can cast it to your smart tv from the YouTube app?

Wright’s 1874 directory of Derby lists the Beckett street premises thus:

THE ROYAL DRILL HALL well deserves a favourable notice. It occupies a site beyond the Convenient Poor Law offices and the Chapel of the United Free Methodists, in Beckett street, on the opposite side, and, with its suite of apartments, officers mess-rooms, stabling, and residences for those who have the care of the premises, extends along the greater part of Newland street. It was erected by voluntary subscription, for the special use of the Derbyshire Rifle Volunteers, and was built from the plans, and under the supervision of Mr. Robinson, architect, Derby, an officer of the force.

Kelly, 1891, describes:

The Royal Drill Hall, Becket street, built in 1869 by a limited liability Company, for the use of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, comprises a hall 150 feet by 75 feet, with an and retiring rooms in addition there are orderly rooms, sergeants’ quarters, armoury and stabling.

My source "Steel & Iron structures made and erected by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd Derby and London reproduced from photos taken on the spot."

A map showing where the Derby drill hall was located : 

Hope you find my video of interest, if you do then please leave a comment.

The massive steel roof structure in this drill hall was made in Derby by Andrew Handyside Ltd,  join my Andrew Handyside Facebook group to learn more :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/andrewhandyside

Thanks
Andy

My 1873 book "Works in Iron" by Andrew Handyside Ltd brought to life using A.I.

 I bought this 1873 book from an antique shop, it lists lots of stuff around the world made by the Derby firm Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge. It has full details on lots of their bridges such as Trent Bridge in Nottingham and I thought I would have a go at bringing the book to life. 

Hope you enjoy.

The book is a first edition of "Works in Iron - Bridge and Roof Structures" by Ewing Matheson of the firm Andrew Handyside And Co., Engineers, Derby and London. Published by E & F.N. Spon 1873.

It lists 60 examples of bridges and roofs they have made around the world.

I also have the 1877 Second edition.