Pillar Box in London Zoological Gardens made by Andrew Handyside between 1887-1901

Did you know that Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made thousands of iconic Pillar boxes for the UK and Ireland? I doubt many people are aware of this fact that they were made right here in Derby at the Britannia Ironworks on Duke Street, Derby.

Handyside had the Post Office Contract to make pillar boxes from 1878 to 1933 (1931-1933 known as Derby Castings). So its highly likely that at some point in your life a letter will have been posted via a Handyside box.

Here is one such Pillar Box in the grounds of London Zoological Gardens.
On the front of this box is a "VR" which is the Royal Cypher of Queen Victoria. This would have been manufactured in Derby sometime between 1887-1901.

This pillar box has been converted to a money box, you can put money in the slot to donate to the Tiger SOS charity : http://www.zsl.org/tiger-sos/

What a great paint job they have done to this Handyside box!!

Photograph of the amazing paint job :

Photograph by Sludgegulper.

As you can see this box used to be orange in 2005, I prefer the new paint job to this one as
its much more eye catching.

Photograph by PSD.

Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this Pillar Box 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 Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other Pillar Boxes 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

Roof of former St Enoch Railway Station, Glasgow, Scotland, UK Built by Andrew Handyside in 1876 (now Demolished).

NOTE : This no longer exists! It was completely demolished in 1977. A real shame.

Did you know that Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made the Structural steelwork and cast-ironwork for many Railway Stations around the world and they were made right here in Derby at the Britannia Ironworks. Some of their railway stations are still in use today while others have been converted into buildings for a different function.
Unfortunately this station was one of many that was demolished but luckily there are photographs that we can look at to see what it was like. The station was built for the city of glasgow Union Railway.

The roof of the former St Enoch Railway Station was made in Derby by Andrew Handyside. The main roof had a span of 205ft [62.5m] and a length of 525ft [160.1m], and is of wrought iron, covering six platforms.
The arch-ribs bare the date 1877and makers stamps "Andrew Handyside & Co. Ltd. of Derby and London"
The roof over the southern extension 1901 was of similar but smaller arched form, being 293 ft 7 ins (89.48m) long, 65 ft (19.81m) high, and having an internal clear span of 143 ft (43.6m)

St Enoch Station was Glasgow's equivalent to London' St Pancras railway station (Which was built by The Butterley Company in 1867, also a Derbyshire company).
In 1880 St Enoch Railway Station was Scotland's premier passenger terminal!

St Enoch station closed in June 1966. It was convered into a car park for many years and eventually demolished in the 1977

This whole area was cleared in the late 1970s and a shopping centre was built on this land in the late 1980s.
The St Enoch Shopping Centre was officially opened in 1989 and redeveloped in 2009.
St Enoch Shopping Centre website : www.st-enoch.co.uk

Photographs of the former St Enoch Railway Station.
1) Nice view from above showing the two large roof structures built by Andrew Handyside.

Photograph by Hollowhorn.

2) A view inside of the roof in 1973 when it was used as a car park.

Photograph by Gordon Haws.

3) Another view of the Handyside roof structure when the station as used as a car park.

Photograph by Gordon Haws.

4) Amazing photo from 1936 of a steam with the Handyside roof in the background.

Photograph by 53A Models.

More photographs :
North Train Shed Plaque "Andrew Handyside 1877".

Looking out from the station on the last day  of operation, June 26th 1966.

Looking at the main roof from the central platform in June 1966.

Lots of photographs of the former station.

A Video:
See the roof of the former station in this old video footage:
St Enoch Railway Station


Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this railway station on my 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.
Here is a Google Streetview of St Enoch Shopping Centre which was built on the land of the former St Enoch Railway Station.

Can you help find more Andrew Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other railway stations 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

Andrew Handyside Iron work at Middlesbrough Railway Station built in 1877.

Andrew Handyside who built Friargate bridge in Derby also built quite a few Railway Stations in the UK and around the world, Since starting my Handyside research and launching this blog I am begining to discover more and more of these stations.
Here is a recent discovery in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, UK. Here at Middlesbrough Railway station you will find lots of decorative ironwork by Handyside, including lots of coumns with the company badge on it. I would like to thank Ian Stubbs for finding this station for me and taking lots of photographs.

The railway station was officially opened in 1877 for passengers but goods trains were used by the Evening Gazette to distribute its newspapers before that date. The present station was designed by the North Eastern Railway's principal architect William Peachey and it was described at the time as one of the largest and finest on the North Eastern system. The original building boasted an ornate arched roof which was infamously destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1942. The building was repaired and remains today as one of the few remaining Victorian public buildings in Middlesbrough.

Photographs of Andrew Handyside Iron work at Middlesbrough Railway Station:

1) Over 40 Handyside roof support columns in this station !


2) Andrew Handyside makers badge on base of column.


3) A highly decorated capital on support column.


4)A highly decorated Handyside roof support column.


5) Decorative ironwork near roof.


6) Decorative filler ironwork


7) Wrought Iron panels by Andrew Handyside? on Albert Bridge.


Ian has taken lots more photographs of Andrew Handyside ironwork at this station, please see his set here.

Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this railway station on my 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 railway stations 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

Handyside Fountain in gardens of Temple Newsam House, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK

Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge also made lots of decorative fountains, they were renowned for their high quality and much sort after around the world. Many examples of their work are still in use today.
These fountains were made right here in Derby at the Duke Street Foundry "Britannia Ironworks".

Andrew Handyside exported many decorative fountains around the world during the Victorian era.
The Britannia Foundry's work was well known for its fine quality so these fountains can be found all over the globe but where exactly they are located is difficult to find out.
Thankfully because of my research here people are beginning to contact me with details of Handyside work, I am then able to add it to my world map. It really helps my research being able to use Flickr to see these items for myself.

This fountain is located in the gardens of Temple Newsam House in Leeds. The fountain was Grade II listed on 5th August 1976. As you can see in the photographs below its not in bad condition apart from one of the Lions hears seems to be damaged.

This particular design of fountain is listed as Design Number 19 on Page 18 of the 1879 publication "An Illustrated book of Designs for Fountains and Vases, costing from £1 to £1200 manufactured by Andrew Handyside". This same design of fountain is in Tucuman Argentina.

Video
A short video of the Temple Newsam Fountain working. Click the PLAY button to view it.


Photographs
Photographs of the Temple Newsam Fountain:
1) Stunning shot of the complete fountain


2) A shot showing the location of the fountain in front of the house.


3) A view showing the underneath of the top bowl and the two cherubs as well as the
three Baroque style dolphins which you often find on Handyside fountains.


4) A close up view of the two cherubs (putti) embracing the torch which delivers water from the fountain head. Here not running.


5) Close up of the lions heads on the base. These would have originally had water pumped through them.


Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this fountain 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 Fountains 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

Tower Bridge Road Railway Bridge built by Handyside in London, UK.

The Derby firm Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made many hundreds of other bridges of many different sizes around the world such as this railway bridge thats still in constant use today.

While on a recent trip to London I found this Handyside railway bridge. When you look at my photographs  you will notice lots of ornate details that have gone into this design.
I wonder how many millions of people have gone under and over it during the hundred years this bridge has been in situe.

This railway bridge is located on Tower Bridge Road (A100) near The Shard, you can see The Shard (almost completed) in one of my photographs so you can see where this bridge is located. Druid Street runs along side the North East edge of the bridge.

This bridge carries 12 sets of railway tracks over Tower Bridge Road, The nearest underground station to this bridge is London Bridge. As you can see in my photographs its quite a wide bridge consisting of 28 single span arched girders. There are four makers badges which read "Handyside Derby & London", these are located on both ends of the two outer girders.
It does not say "Andrew Handyside" just "Handyside" so must have been a late work from the Britannia Foundry in Derby, Probably around 1910.

The top of the bridge on both sides consists of 6 panels of decorative cast iron Balustrades (10 Balusters per panel section). These 6 panels are supported by the outer arches on 11 decorative posts (which vary in height around the arch), these are adorned by scrolled capitals.

Here are my six photographs of the various aspects of this railway bridge.

A photograph showing Tower Bridge Road Railway Bridge and The Shard in the background.


A train travelling over Tower Bridge Road Railway Bridge.


A shot showing the many single span arches under the bridge.


A close up of the decorative cast iron Balustrades and scrolled capital supports.


Close up showing the location of the makers badge "Handyside Derby & London"


Close up of the makers badge "Handyside Derby & London"



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.

Google Streetview has captured this bridge HERE.

Can you help find more Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other 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