Key dates relating to the Britannia Iron Works and Andrew Handyside inc Wetherhead and Glover, Thomas Wright, Anastasia, Alexander Buchanan

Having researched everything to do with Andrew Handyside for 19 years I thought it would be handy to create a simple bullet list of key dates relating to the Britannia Iron Works and Andrew Handyside. Here it is : 

► 1805 25th July Andrew Handyside born in Edinburgh (To Hugh Handyside & Margaret Baird)

► 1818 Messrs Wetherhead and Glover established The Britannia Foundry, Duke Street, Derby.

► 1822 Andrew Handyside moved to St Petersburg, Russia to work with uncle Charles Baird.

► 1839 Andrew Handyside Married Anastasia Henley in St Petersburg, Russia.

► 1844 Andrew & Anastasia Handyside moved to England at 35 Ashbourne Road, Derby.

► 1845 September Thomas Wright takes over The Britannia Foundry.

► 1845 29th October Thomas Wright died, age 42.

► 1846 18th March Britannia Foundry buildings for sale.

► 1847 21st June Andrew Handyside takes over The Britannia Foundry.

► 1873 Alexander Buchanan became the Managing Director of the firm.

► 1887 9th June Andrew Handyside died from bronchitis, age 81.

► 1891 Anastasia Handyside moved to Twickenham.

► 1900 Anastasia Handyside moved to The Manor House at Elmswell, Suffolk.

► 1904 Site enlarged to include new Clarke street works, alongside Duke street and Fox street works.

► 1910 16th November Anastasia Handyside died, age 89.

► 1910 28th September Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd went into voluntary liquidation.

► 1915 A new company of the same name Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd was registered 

► 1923 24th August again went into voluntary liquidation.

► 1924 Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd was again used to register a company.

► 1931 13th April this final version of the company also went into voluntary liquidation.

► 1931 11th May Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd of Britannia Iron Works was acquired by Derby Castings Limited.

► 1933 Derby Castings ltd went into liquidation.

► 1936 February The Duke Street works were demolished, all buildings were demolished nothing survived to this day.

► 1936 Handyside Street and Buchanan Street built in honour of the two directors of the foundry.

► 1978 The former GNR railway bridge over Derwent named Handyside Bridge in honour.

► 2007 August I started my research into Andrew Handyside.

► 2007 November created a petition to restore Friar Gate bridge.

► 2011 February 2011 I started my Andrew Handyside blog.

► 2026 March I started my Andrew Handyside Facebook Group.

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Here is a very rare photograph of their Plate shop looking south taken in 1904. Look at all that ironwork destined for places around the world, I wonder where they are located now?

Peel Street bridge, Bristol made by Andrew Handyside 1878

Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby made hundreds of bridges across the globe, here is a bridge made in the same year as Friar Gate bridge that I went to see on a recent visit to Bristol.

Peel Street bridge, Saint Pauls/Judes, Bristol, UK.

This bridge was designed by Frederick Ashmead and made by Andrew Handyside of Derby in 1878. It has a span of 49 feet and it is 25 feet wide.

It was reported in the Western Daily Press on 2nd January 1878 that the tender from Messrs Handyside had been accepted.

The bridge was built to connect the new communities in the area, spanning across the River Frome.

The bridge was opened in October 1878 and is still in use by pedestrians and cyclists 148 years later.

It originally connected the former Peel Street to Wellington Road and Monk Street, Its a lattice girder bridge, made from semi-circular upper chords of wrought iron.

Today this is only used as a footbridge, connecting Riverside Park to Peel Street Green Space. Riverside Park was established in 1975.

Peel Street disappeared when the area was redeveloped and the M32 and A4032 were built as you can see in the "then and now" section of my video.

The Frome Valley Walkway runs alongside the River Frome here.

In the "then and now" view I have used two vertical top-down photographs of a location, one taken by the RAF in the 1940's and one from Google Maps Satellite view, I have 

lined them up precisely with each other so that you can watch as it fades back and forth to reveal what has changed in the decades that have passed between the two views.

As you can clearly see there has been significant changes with lots of the streets demolished. On the far left is the former St Paul's church, built 1794 but since 2004 the home of Circomedia. 

Old map link to this area : https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=19.1&lat=51.46217&lon=-2.57787&layers=117746211&b=ESRIWorld&o=100

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.

Join my Andrew Handyside Facebook group :

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

View 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

Follow my Andrew Handyside Blog :

https://friargatebridge.blogspot.com/

Join my Andrew Handyside Flickr group : 

https://www.flickr.com/groups/1531851@N22/

View my Andrew Handyside video playlist : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL6EmDnqQPU&list=PLA6EB1C556ABA75AF

Thanks

Andy

Video markers :
0:00 How the bridge looked in 1878
0:05 How it looks in 2026

0:09 Views of the roadway and north parapet of bridge
0:22 Views of the south parapet of bridge
0:32 view of the substructure of the bridge viewed from the south side
0:49 Views of the north parapet of bridge
0:59 An 1890 map of the bridge and surrounding streets
1:11 The and now view from 1946 to 2026

Millers Dale Viaduct, Derbyshire, UK 1860's

Andrew Handyside who made Friargate bridge in Derby made loads of different viaducts around the world that are still in place today such as this one in the Peak District.

Millers Dale Viaduct which opened on 30th May 1863, today this is part of the Monsal Trail.

This viaduct was built by Andrew Handyside for the Midland Railway in Derbyshire's Wye Valley to help connect London and Manchester. Built between 1862 and 1863 (opening in 1863) as part of a challenging Peak District rail route. It carried trains over the River Wye and served nearby Millers Dale Station to link passengers to Buxton and transport local goods like limestone.

Each iron arch consists of five offset ribs with lattice-work struts filling the spandrels (the triangular space between the arch curve and the deck), Features three wrought iron segmental arches, each with a 95-foot span.

In 1905 because of increased traffic, The Butterley Company erected a second viaduct right next to the Handyside one. The aim was for the old viaduct to take slower trains and for the new viaduct to take faster ones.

It stood alone as a single track until a second parallel viaduct opened in 1905 to handle rising traffic. 

It shut down in July 1968 following the Beeching-era railway cuts, now a popular walking route of the Monsal Trail.

So now you know, there are two Millers Dale Viaducts next to each other, the original one by Handyside and the newer one by The Butterly Company.

Map location for this first viaduct :
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ChYbpKL8gYUbfJsE9

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.

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

View 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

Follow my Andrew Handyside Blog :
https://friargatebridge.blogspot.com/

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

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

Thanks

Andy