Decorative Vase at Erewash Museum, Ilkeston, Derbyshire Made by Andrew Handyside

The Derby firm Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby were also famous at the item for making highly decorative cast iron vases, urns and fountains. They were made to such high quality that they were in high demand. Here at Erewash Museum in Ilkeston, Derbyshire is a very fine example of such work.

Have a look at my photographs and you will see how amazingly intricate this cast iron work is.
Just below the large bowl of the vase are busts of Peel, Nelson, Watt, Wellington, Stephenson, Scott, Shakespeare and Milton.

This vase design is No.16 on page 66 of Catalogue C August 1879 of "A illustrated catalogue of fountains and vases, manufactured by Andrew Handyside & Co. Derby" So there are probably many more vases like this out there in the world, do you own one?

Handyside showed this design of vase at the Great exhibition of London in 1851.

This vase is also featured on page 6 of the 1862 Art-Journal catalogue. Which has details about the vase as follows.
"The establishment of Mr Handyside, of Derby - the "Britannia Foundry" - is principally represented by the elegant Iron Case which we have engraved above it. The base is an octagon having eight open-work screens hanging in front of the pedestal, which give it singular lightness and elegance to the entire object. As an example of the taste and improvement which characterises the iron manufactures of our own country, we believe our readers will consider this work deserving of much beter attention: It is an excellent design, as excellently worked out, and reflects credit on the establishment from which it has emanated - one that from the magnitude of its operations is second to none in England."

Photographs of the Vase:
Overview of vase


A close view of the entire vase.


View of the very intricate cast iron screen panels.


View looking up underneath the bowl showing the fine decoration.


Shakespeare, One of eight portrait heads on this bowl, these are cast iron!


Show your support for this museum by making a dontation next time you visit.
www.erewashmuseum.co.uk

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

You can now search for items made by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd.

My Andrew Handyside blog is starting to get quite large now due to the amount of items I am finding around the world. Because of the blog people are starting to get in touch because they have an item in their city with a "A. Handyside" makers badge on it.

I have now added a "Search this blog" widget to my blog. This is on the right side near the top of every blog post. This will allow you to search all of my posts for something.
In addition to this I have now started a page which lists all of the items which I have posted about so far.
Posts list of items made by Andrew Handyside.
Hopefully this will allow you to find any item you are looking for.

I have a few recent finds to blog about very soon such as...
Two fountains in Norway
An old railway station in Durban, South Africa.
Tucuman Railway Station in Argentina.
Santiago Del Estero railway station in Argentina.
Windsor railway station.
Vase in Ilkeston.

I am struggling to find a photographer in Tampico, Mexico who can speak English. Anyone out there know of someone in Tampico? The entire square has lots of ironwork by Handyside!

Thanks
Andy

Footbridge in Belper River Gardens built by Andrew Handyside in 1907.

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 footbridge located in the River Gardens at Belper, Derbyshire, UK.
Next time you visit Belper River Gardens have a look at this bridge, its located near the car park area.

This footbridge was supplied by Andrew Handyside and Company Ltd in 1907 at a cost of £339. It was installed when a refreshments centre pavilion was built on the triangle of land at the southern end of the river gardens. You can clearly see this triangle of land using my map link below.

As you can see by my photographs (May 2011) this bridge is in a very poor state at the moment and in need of some serious restoration work. Belper River Gardens has recently been revamped and is looking nice so shame this bridge has been left. I hope its going to get restored.

Updates :
In 2012 I applied to English Heritage to get this bridge listed but they decided its not worth saving.
8th March 2014 - I have just been to see this bridge today and its still standing, surrounded by metal fencing.Its only a matter of time before its rusted away and lost forever.

Even though this is "just a footbridge" you can see that Handyside has embellished the side panels with some decorative ironwork. See my 4th photograph.


Photographs of the bridge at Belper River Gardens:

Wide view showing the location of the bridge below East Mill


Photograph showing four of the bridge sections


The South end of the bridge.


A side view showing some of the decorative ironwork


A bridge in need of some TLC.



This is a photograph of how the footbridge looked in 1908, As you can see its was an attractive looking footbridge. A pitty its got into the state its in today in 2011.

I would like to thank Adrian Farmer for this old photograph.



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

Gouritz River Bridge, Cape Province, South Africa built in Derby by Andrew Handyside in 1892.

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 the Gouritz River Road Bridge in Cape Province, South Africa.
Today this bridge is no longer used a road bridge as there is a newer one (built 1972), but is in fact now used for Bungee Jumping !
I think its great that despite the fact that the bridge no longer serves its original purpose, its now used for fun. You can book a bungee jump on Handyside's bridge here:
http://www.faceadrenalin.com/gouritsbridge.html

The parts for this bridge were manufactured at the Fox Street foundry in Derby by Andrew Handyside & Co. Ltd. The bridge would have probably been transported via Englands railway network to a sea port for shipping to South Africa and assembly.

The engineer for this bridge was Sir Benjamin Baker, M Inst, C.E, London.
It has a central span of 420 feet and two side spans of 140 feet each.
The height above the river bed is 210 feet.
The total weight of the bridge is 1,000 tons.

Photographs of Gouritz River road bridge by Andrew Handyside :









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 the bridge but you can only just see it as its the middle bridge of the three that run parallel with each other.

Video of someone doing a Bungee Jump off this bridge:


This road bridge was built in 1892 and is one of the longest (219 metres) and highest (61 metres) bridges in South Africa. A new double-laned road bridge to replace this bridge was built in 1972.
The railway line between Riversdale arid Mossel Bay was opened in 1906 and crossed the river by the same bridge, but a new railway bridge was built in 1931.

My Reference :
Page 14 of Steel & Iron Structures Made and erected by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd of Derby and London. Published 1904.

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

Handyside Bridge, Darley Abbey, Derby built by Andrew Handyside in 1877.

The Derby firm Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made the next GNR railway bridge North of Friargate Bridge, today this bridge is called Handyside Bridge but when originally built it was just a "GNR railway bridge" of course. This bridge is located very near to Handyside's former Britannia Foundry and even had its own branch line which it was able to use to get goods onto the Friargate line.

This bridge contains 155 tons of wrought iron and 11 tons of cast iron.
The railway bridge was converted into a footbridge in 1978.

I have made a short film about this bridge to get across the facts about the bridge which you can watch below. I have recorded it in 720p HD so best watched in fullscreen. This film pretty much covers all the details about this bridge. Let me know if I have missed any details and I will add it to this text.

Handyside Bridge in Derby.
A short film about this 134 year old bridge built by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd


The Beeching Axe.

Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage.

The GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension route or Derby Friar Gate Line as its often referred to locally was a "back line"that opened in 1878 and ran from Nottingham through Derby (over Handyside bridge and Friar Gate Bridge) and to Egginton where it joined the North Staffordshire Railway.
This line closed in 1964 and slowly taken apart but there are still plenty of reminders where the Friargate line once ran such as Handyside bridge.
If you would like to know more about the GNR Derby Friargate Line then you can follow the entire route of it on my map here

The Derby Friargate Line Route Map (aka GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension).

If you would like a map centred over this bridge the click here:
http://tinyurl.com/handysidebridge

The next bridge downstream to cross over the River Derwent is Saint Mary's Bridge which is 448 meters downstream.

The next bridge upstream to cross the river is Haslam's Lane Toll bridge which is 1541 metres upstream

Hope you found my video of interest. Next time you walk over Handyside bridge take some time to have a look at how its constructed and imagine what it must have been like to see trains thundering across it.

Photographs of Handyside Bridge:







Photograph of the makers badge.
This plaque used to be fixed to the top arch of the bridge. It was removed and put into storage at the museum so doubt many people will have seen this.
I would like to thank Roger Shelley, principal keeper of Derby Industrial Museum (The Silk Mill) for allowing me to photograph this.


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 not managed to capture the bridge but you can see the path that goes over it here.

Can you help find more Andrew 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

Edmund Road Drill Hall, Sheffield built by Andrew Handyside in 1878

Did you know that Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge also made the Structural steelwork and cast-ironwork for many large buildings around the world and they were made right here in Derby at the Duke Street Foundry "Britannia Iron Works". Some of their buildings are still in use today while others have been converted into buildings for a different function.
On a recent visit to Sheffield (to See Adam and the Ants) I tracked down another of Andrew Handysides creations, that of the internal arched cast-iron structure of a former Drill Hall. Today the building is used as a car showroom.

The Volunteer Artillery Drill Hall, on Edmund Road Sheffield was built for the use of the 4th West York Artillery Volunteers. The building is confusingly known both as the Volunteer Artillery Drill Hall and
Norfolk Barracks, and the address given as either Clough Road or Edmund Road.
The main frontage of the building is on Clough road (see my first photograph below). Its an amazing looking building as you can see. Looks like its currently having some work done to it.

The roof was manufactured in Derby by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd and is constructed in one span, without pillars. The drill room, 108 feet long and 90 feet wide, and a gun-shed the same length, but
narrower. Messrs. M. E. Hadfield and Son were the architects

This building was Grade II listed on 20 December 1978.

I would like to thanks the guys at www.thecarspecialists.com for giving me permission to take photographs inside this building.

Photographs of Sheffield Drill Hall:

The Drill Hall exterior shot (May 2011)


The Handyside roof on the top floor.


Arched support trusses by Andrew Handyside :


Another view of the roof:


The far wall of the drill hall has this mural painted on it.
It translates as Always, where right and glory lead. The motto of the Royal Artillery :


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

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

Holgate Road bridge in York built in Derby by Handyside in 1911.

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 road bridge in York, UK which is still in use today.

This road bridge, south west of York Railway station carries Holgate Road (A59) over the railway tracks.
At the western entrace to this bridge stands St Paul's church.
This bridge was renovated in 2007, when strengthening work was carried out on the underside of the bridge which is why it looks in pretty good condition for a hundred year old structure.
Using Google Streetview it would appear that this bridge has two Handyside badges on it, located at the far ends of the bridge.

Photographs of this bridge

Photograph of the Handyside badge on this bridge:

Photograph taken by Ian Stubbs.

Photograph of the bridge from a pedestrians point of view.

Photograph taken by Carl Spencer.

Photograph of this bridge from a pedestrians point of view on the other side.


Photograph taken by Carl Spencer.


Photograph of nice light and shadows on the bridge.

Photograph taken by Ivana Thng.

Photograph of Steam train "Green Arrow" passing under this bridge in 1979.

Photograph by Don Tate.

Notice how the makers badge on this bridge does not say "Andrew Handyside", it just says Handyside. This is because the original company of Andrew Handyside went into liquidation in 1910, a new company using the original foundry and name was set up to continue making bridges. This re-use of the Handyside brand happened a few more times.

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 of this bridge. Take a look around the entire structure!

Can you help find more Andrew 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