Fountain in Pearson Conservatory, St. Georges Park, South Africa, Made By Andrew Handyside about 1882.

Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge also made lots of decorative fountains. These fountains were made right here in Derby at the Duke Street Foundry "Britannia Iron Works". 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.

Here is one I found last year but decided now was a good time to post about it due to the fact that I've just seen it in the background of a TV Advert !!!
This Handyside fountain is located inside the Pearson Conservatory, St. Georges Park, South Africa. It was made in Derby around 1882.

This particular design of fountain is listed as Design Number 15 on Page 30 of the 1879 publication "An Illustrated book of Designs for Fountains and Vases, costing from £1 to £1200 manufactured by Andrew Handyside".  Its the same design as the one at Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, Australia. and the one at Sarmiento School Fountain in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina, South America.

Photograph of the Handyside fountain :

The TV Advert for Truvia sweetener that features this fountain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0aWd8KH1M

The advert was filmed in St. Georges Park, South Africa, the advert is set in a greenhouse originally brought from Scotland in 1882. Filled with hundreds of locally grown Stevia plants, the scene brought beauty and nature together in perfect syngery. In the advert Ebony Buckle, a classically trained singer takes centre stage as she sings ‘Truvia® Scrumptious’ to the tune of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s iconic ‘Truly Scrumptious’.

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

Former New Brighton Tower, Wallasey, Merseyside, UK Built by Andrew Handyside in 1896 (now Demolished).

NOTE : This no longer exists! It was completely demolished in 1919.

Update : October 2022, Darren of the YouTube channel AdventureMe has made a really interesting and details video about this wonderful structure, highly recommend you watch it :

https://youtu.be/Z27vSyceY4Y

You may have seen this on Episode 7 of the BBC2 TV Series "Britain's First Photo Album - Liverpool to Blackpool" shown on Tuesday 20th March 2012.

Did you know that Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made the Structural steelwork and cast-ironwork for many buildings around the world and they were made right here in Derby at the Britannia Ironworks.

The New Brighton Tower was inspired by the Eiffel Tower (Paris, 1889) and built as the centre of a popular amusement park and pleasure garden. Located near Liverpool in Wallasey, Merseyside.

At the time, this was the highest structure in England !

It was begun in 1896, finished about 1900 at a cost of £120,000. The architects were Maxwell and Turk of Manchester

According to my 1904 guide published by Andrew Handyside the tower was 574 Foot high (From the ground to the top of the Cooper Ball on the flag-staff) and the base was 143 foot wide.

The weight of Steel used in the Tower is 1,760 Tons
The weight of Steel in the buildings surrounding the tower is 650 Tons.
Handyside designed it with an octagonal cross-sectional design unlike the simple square plan used on Blackpool Tower (518 feet, built 1894).

In the building which surrounded the base of the tower was a ballroom and other popular assembly spaces.

The tower had four lifts to take sightseers to the top of the structure at a cost of 6d.
From there you could see for miles around including the Isle of Man, part of the Lake District and the Welsh Mountains. The Tower attracted a half a million people in its opening year.
During the first world war the steel structure was neglected and became rusty through lack of maintenance and the cost of renovating was more than the owner could afford.

The top portion of the structure commenced to be dismantled on 7th May 1919 and was completed by June 1921 (see the photographs below)
The brick portion comprising of the Ballroom and Theatre remained, together with the turrets. During the Second World War the basement was used as a communal air-raid shelter.
The remaining parts of the surrounding buildings were destroyed by fire in 1969, the entire area was redeveloped as River View Park. Nothing remains of this site.


Photographs of this Victorian Tower built by Andrew Handyside.


Photograph by Noctorum.

Photograph by Andrew Handyside at the time of construction of the lower section of the tower from 1897 :

1912 Souvenir Guide for the New Brighton Tower and Amusement Park.

Photograph by Noctorum.

New Brighton Tower Guide Cover.

Photograph by Noctorum.

Photograph showing the tower during its demolition 1919-1921.

Photograph by Les Ward.

A video "Wallasey - New Brighton Tower's Rise & Fall"
From 1897 to 1969, when the Tower met its final demise. This short pictoral history video captures what has gone and in many ways been forgotten.

Video by Parapiranha.

Learn more about New Brighton Tower here :
http://www.liberator31.co.uk/wallasey/towergrounds/index.html


My Reference :
Page 38 of Steel & Iron Structures Made and erected by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd of Derby and London. Published 1904.

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

Drinking fountain in St Pancras Old Church Gardens built by Andrew Handyside in 1877.

Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge also made lots of decorative fountains. These fountains were made right here in Derby at the Duke Street Foundry "Britannia Iron Works".

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 and share these finds with the world.

This drinking fountain is located in the gardens of St Pancras Old Church, London.
Dated 1877 on plaque. Manufactured by Andrew Handyside and Co of Derby for William Thornton, a
senior Church Warden who presented it to the church.

This particular design of fountain is listed as Design Number 48 on Page 40 of the 1879 publication "An Illustrated book of Designs for Fountains and Vases, costing from £1 to £1200 manufactured by Andrew Handyside".

There is another of these fountains and in much better condition in Australia.
See my post : Belcher Drinking Fountain in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Photographs of this fountain.

View of the fountain in the Church gardens.


View of the top of the fountain.


The makers badge on the base of the fountain.


Showing the location of the fountain within the church gardens





Google Streetview of this fountain.

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

Footbridge at King's Cross Railway Station, London was made 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 this world famous footbridge which up until December 2008 was located in King's Cross Railway Station, London, UK.

As well as King's Cross footbridge, this bridge has many other names such as The Harry Potter Bridge, Handyside bridge.

Update for June 2013 : This bridge is now open at Ropely, Hampshire. See my video here.

King's Cross Footbridge is a Grade I listed structure built in Derby in 1892 by Andrew Handyside and installed at Kings Cross in 1893.

In 2008, as part of a major redevelopment of Kings Cross, the footbridge had to be dismantled and removed. English Heritage and the London Borough of Camden, as Planning Authority, stipulated that Network Rail should find a suitable alternative use for the footbridge. This alternative use has now been found at Mid-Hants Railway, Watercress Line, Alresford, Hampshire.

www.watercressline.co.uk

The Handyside footbridge used to run across the main station train shed, between platform 1 on the E side and platform 8 on the W side. This structure, approximately 66m long, and is made of composite lattice girders with diagonal straps and it is supported by cast iron columns with octagonal bases on all platforms except on platforms 7-6. Although it only linked platforms 1 and 8, the presence of gates within the south parapet in line with the intermediate platforms suggest staircases were once present to allow access to these.

A clock was situated directly over platform 8, with two large clock faces, to N and S, fixed above the faces of the bridge, driven via a rod by a clock mechanism housed inside the W range of buildings nearby. The West side of the footbridge was constructed in 1892 and has makers plates "A. Handyside & Co. of Derby and London" The East half of the bridge looks like an addition, or else a replacement. Perhaps the western half, if built first,was to connect only departure platforms, which the clock would also have served, when trains arrived at and departed from different platforms in the two halves of the station.

A new hope for the Handyside footbridge.

Currently (Nov 2011) the bridge is being shot blasted and will be installed at a heritage railway site in Mid-Hants. The plans for the bridge are based on 1/2 the bridge crossing the Mid Hants Railway’s main line, yard shunt road and two tracks into a new workshop i.e. 4 in total, with the second half creating a walkway from the end of the first bit to the entrance to viewing galleries in the workshop where we will place most of the interpretation materials. It could well be 6 months before this is complete.

I would like to thank David Snow and Elissa May at Mid Hants Railway watercressline for their help and information.

Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone :

On this footbridge is where Hagrid was filmed giving Harry his first Hogwarts Express ticket in the well known 2001 film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

For many years the trellis lattice work was covered along the inside of the bridge by fiberglass panels, these were removed for the film. Fans of Harry Potter used to visit this bridge so they could stand where Harry was when he was given his special ticket. See my images lower down of this bridge as seen in the Harry Potter film.

Photographs

Long Panoramic photograph of the entire King's Cross footbridge when it was still in location.







"A. Handyside" makers plaque on the stairs in Kings Cross Station.



A Handyside badge on one of the footbridge supports.


Video
A time-lapse video showing the removal of this footbridge in 2008



King's Cross bridge removal time-lapse from NCE Magazine on Vimeo.

Handyside bridge as seen in the Harry Potter film:







Photographs of the bridge in its new location:
Awaiting restoration before installation at the Watercress line.


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 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

Shoe Lane road bridge, Holborn Viaduct, London Built by Andrew Handyside in 1869.

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.
On a recent trip to London while investigating some other work by Andrew Handyside I found a bridge with some lions heads on it and wondered if it was by Andrew Handyside so had a real good look around and managed to find a makers badge on one of the panels. It reads "A. Handyside & Co Britannia Foundry Derby". This bridge is located on Holborn Viaduct and goes over Shoe Lane.

Photographs of this bridge.
A vew of the decorative panels on the top of this bridge as seen from the A40.


Another view of the decorative panels showing the 3D lions heads.


One of the decorative cast iton Lions Heads


A view underneath from Shoe Lane


Another view showing the construction of the bridge from underneath


The decorative cast iron scrolls


The makers badge "A. Handyside & Co Britannia Foundry Derby"



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

Rossmore Road bridge near Marylebone Railway Station, London built by Andrew Handyside in 1897.

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.
On a recent trip to London I have found another bridge made by this local firm. This road bridge is located next to Marylebone Railway Station, it carries Rossmore Road over the 7 sets of tracks that terminate at Marylebone Railway Station. This is where you can then get on the Underground as Marylebone tube station is also located here.
Marylebone Station opened on 15 March 1899 and was originally the London terminus of the ill-fated Great Central Main Line, it now serves as the terminus of the Chiltern Main Line route.
All of the support stanchions that are located under Rossmore Road are embellished with "Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd 1897 Derby & London" as you can see in my photographs below.
Marylebone Station its self has recently been restored, I'm not sure if the station ironwork was built by Handyside as I could not see any makers marks on the ironwork but I did find "George Smith & Co Glasgow & Clippens Ltd" on the supports of a canopy outside the station.

Photographs of this bridge.
A view of Rossmore Road bridge as viewed from Marylebone Railway Station.



A view from the centre platform showing 10 bridge stanchions.


A view showing the construction of the road bridge from underneath.


Decorative Handyside ironwork.


Andrew Handyside makers badge on the bridge stanchions:


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 

Derby Castings Limited GR Wall Box on Western Road, Mickleover, Derby made in 1933.

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 example of a Wall Box that was made at the Britannia Ironworks in 1933. This one is still in constant use to this day. Its located in the wall outside a shop on Westrn Road, Mickleover, Derby, Derbyshire, UK. The GR is the Royal cipher for King George V.

Manufacture of cast-iron wall boxes in the UK for postal use finished in 1980.

Photographs

Photograph showing the location of the Wall Box outside the shop on Western Road


Photograph showing the complete wall box.


Photograph showing the Royal Cipher and makers badge "Derby Castings Limited, Derby"


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

Google Streetview of this wall box.

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