 | |
| Type | Ltd |
|---|---|
| Industry | Foundry |
| Founded | 1848 |
| Defunct | 1920s |
| Headquarters | Derby |
Key people | Andrew Handyside |
| Products | Ornamental cast iron, bridges, structural components |
Andrew Handyside and Company was an iron founder in Derby, England, in the nineteenth century.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1805, Handyside worked in his uncle Charles Baird's engineering business in St. Petersburg before taking over the Brittania Foundry in 1848. It had first been opened around 1820 by Weatherhead and Glover to cast ornamental ironwork, and had achieved a high reputation, partly from the skill of the workers, but also because of the quality of the local moulding sand. By the 1840s it was diversifying into railway components. Among the early customers was the Midland Railway's Derby Works for which it supplied cylinder blocks and other castings.
Although cast iron ornaments were going out of fashion, until the advent of steel there was an increasing demand for engineering and for iron framed construction. He concentrated in improving the strength of the material, which, when tested at Woolwich in 1854 proved to have a tensile strength of between 20 and 23 tons per square inch, against a norm of about seventeen. He also retained the artistry that had gone before and improved upon it.
His output ranged from garden ornaments to railway bridges. He produced lamp posts for the new gas street lighting (one of which still exists on Silk Mill Lane in Derby) and was one of the first to produce the new standard Post Office letterboxes. [1] Nearly two thousand different window frames designs were produced. The company even supplied a dome to the steel maker Henry Bessemer for the roof of his conservatory.
When one considers the small area occupied by the works, on the bank of the River Derwent, hemmed in by the slope behind, its output seems remarkable. Between 1840 and 1846, for instance, it produced four hundred bridges for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.
In time, the works also produced rolling mills, hammers, forges and presses, at first for its own use, then for others, including the new steel mills.
It began manufacturing arched structures, such as the train sheds for railway stations, including, in 1854, Bradford Adolphus Street, Middlesbrough, and St. Enoch in Glasgow. In the 1870s the company's prefabricated market halls, built from standardised components were exported all over the world. In 1870 it built Wilford Toll Bridge, 1871 Trent Bridge, both at Nottingham and, in 1872, the Albert Suspension Bridge in London. Other bridges and structures were built in Russia, Japan, Africa, South America, Tasmania (Australia), Canada and India. Structural components, such as support columns, were also used by architects in many countries - an example being found in the main square of the city of Tampico, Mexico.
In 1874, Andrew Handyside achieved another first, realising that the depreciation of buildings, plant and machinery should be set against their net profits. Unfortunately, their local inspector of taxes disagreed. The company won its initial appeal but then lost in the Court of Exchequer Chamber.[ citation needed ]
In 1877, the Great Northern Railway came to Derby, with a long viaduct from the east across the Derwent Valley, slicing through the northern part of the city, including Friar Gate – a very well-to-do area. To placate the residents, a graceful bridge was built across the road. This, though initially reviled, is now much prized by the citizens of the city, who have successfully resisted several attempts by the modernisers to replace it with a bypass.[ citation needed ] Handyside also provided a bridge across the River Derwent which was tested by running six locomotives across it. [2]
In 1877, the Cheshire Lines Committee opened its new line and Handysides provided the structures of the Manchester Central and of Liverpool Central stations. Another Handyside structure that still exists is the Outwood Viaduct on the Bury to Clifton Junction line, converted from a timber superstructure in 1881. Although the line closed in 1966 it has since been restored as part of a nature trail. One of his bridges, Koshiji Bridge, in Japan has been shortened and moved to a park so that it can be preserved. [3]
The largest structure built by Handysides, said to be the largest hall in the kingdom covered by one span of iron and glass, was the 1886 National Agricultural Hall in London, now known as Olympia.
In 1893 Handysides provided the structures for the Manchester Ship Canal, including the Barton Swing Aqueduct and the Barton Road Swing Bridge. Such was his thoroughness, that he assembled and tested it in the yard before shipping it to site.
Handyside died in 1887 and the firm gradually declined until it closed early in the twentieth century. The foundry was demolished to be replaced by a housing estate, the only remaining traces being the Furnace public house [4] and the name of a road: Handyside Street. [5]
William Handyside - Engineer
Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership. The modern factory, or 'mill', system was born here in the 18th century to accommodate the new technology for spinning cotton developed by Richard Arkwright. With advancements in technology, it became possible to produce cotton continuously. The system was adopted throughout the valley, and later spread so that by 1788 there were over 200 Arkwright-type mills in Britain. Arkwright's inventions and system of organising labour was exported to Europe and the United States.
The Derwent is a river in Derbyshire, England. It is 50 miles (80 km) long and is a tributary of the River Trent, which it joins south of Derby. Throughout its course, the river mostly flows through the Peak District and its foothills.
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling Act of Parliament stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but the navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county.
Stamford Bridge is a village and civil parish on the River Derwent in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of York and 22 miles (35 km) west of Driffield. The village sits astride an ancient ford on the River Derwent.
The Derby Canal ran 14 miles (23 km) from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, in Derbyshire, England. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 1796. It featured a level crossing of the River Derwent in the centre of Derby. An early tramroad, known as the Little Eaton Gangway, linked Little Eaton to coal mines at Denby. The canal's main cargo was coal, and it was relatively successful until the arrival of the railways in 1840. It gradually declined, with the gangway closing in 1908 and the Little Eaton Branch in 1935. Early attempts at restoration were thwarted by the closure of the whole canal in 1964. Since 1994, there has been an active campaign for restoration spearheaded by the Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust and Society. Loss of the Derwent crossing due to development has resulted in an innovative engineering solution called the Derby Arm being proposed, as a way of transferring boats across the river.
Matlock railway station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway; it serves the Derbyshire Dales town of Matlock, Derbyshire, England. The station is the terminus of both the Derwent Valley Line from Derby and Peak Rail who operate heritage services to Rowsley South. Both lines are formed from portions of the Midland Railway's former main line to Manchester Central. Through running is technically possible but is not done in normal service.
Ambergate railway station is a railway station owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway. It serves the village of Ambergate in Derbyshire, England. The station is located on the Derwent Valley Line from Derby to Matlock, which diverges from the Midland Main Line just south of the station at Ambergate Junction.
The Barton Swing Aqueduct is a moveable navigable aqueduct in Barton upon Irwell, Greater Manchester, England. It carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal. The swinging action allows large vessels using the ship canal to pass through and smaller craft, both narrowboats and broad-beam barges, to cross over the top. The aqueduct, the first and only swing aqueduct in the world, is a Grade II* listed building, and considered a major feat of Victorian civil engineering. Designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams and built by Andrew Handyside and Company of Derby, the swing bridge opened in 1894 and remains in regular use.
Rowsley is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire. The population as at the 2011 census was 507.
Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester city centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it has been converted into an exhibition and conference centre, originally known as G-MEX, but now named Manchester Central. The structure is a Grade II* listed building.
Cross Keys Bridge is a swing bridge that carries the busy single carriageway A17 road which runs from Newark in Nottinghamshire to King’s Lynn in Norfolk over the tidal River Nene in Sutton Bridge in the extreme south east of Lincolnshire close to the borders of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
The Bennerley Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct spanning the Erewash Valley between Awsworth (Nottinghamshire) and Ilkeston (Derbyshire) in central England. It was built in 1877 but closed to rail traffic in 1968, as part of the Beeching cuts. It was sold to conservation group Railway Paths Ltd in 2001.
Outwood Viaduct is a Grade II listed railway viaduct crossing the River Irwell in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. Following a period of disuse, it was restored and opened to the general public as a footpath.
Barton Road Swing Bridge is a swing bridge for road traffic in Greater Manchester that crosses the Manchester Ship Canal between Trafford Park in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford to Barton-upon-Irwell in the City of Salford. The bridge is a Grade II listed building, and is part of a surrounding conservation area. It runs parallel to the Barton Swing Aqueduct which carries the Bridgewater Canal. The bridge opens regularly for traffic along the Manchester Ship Canal, which can cause delays for road traffic.
The River Irwell Railway Bridge was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR), the world's first passenger railway which used only steam locomotives and operated as a scheduled service, near Water Street in Manchester, England. The stone railway bridge, built in 1830 by George Stephenson, was part of Liverpool Road railway station. The bridge was designated a Grade I listed building on 20 June 1988.
Handyside Bridge, also known as Derwent Bridge, is a former railway bridge in Darley Abbey, Derbyshire, England which was converted to a foot bridge in 1976 following closure of the railway in 1968.
Friar Gate Bridge, was made by Andew Handyside & Co is a railway bridge at the end of Friar Gate in the centre of Derby in the East Midlands of England. It was made by Andrew Handyside & Co whose foundry was close to Derby's Handyside Bridge over the River Derwent. The bridge is a remnant of the GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension ; it formed the approach to Derby Friargate railway station. It is a grade II listed building.
Richard Johnson, MICE was a British railway engineer, latterly chief engineer for the Great Northern Railway (GNR).
The Macquarie River railway bridge is a heritage-listed disused railway bridge across the Macquarie River that was previously located on the Main Western line in Bathurst in the Bathurst Region local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built in 1876. It is also known as Bathurst Rail Bridge over Macquarie River and Bathurst - Kelso Railway Bridge. The property is owned by RailCorp, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. The bridge was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 and was added to the Register of the National Estate on 18 April 1989.
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