In my last piece I mentioned Paul Brydon, the rag and bone merchant who operated out of Commercial Street and said that he moved to a site near the old Ouzledale Mill in the 1930s. My forgotten corner picture this week is a view of Barlick from the top road below Letcliffe in about 1900. In the foreground you can see Ouzledale Mill and the lodge full of water held back by the dam which is the modern waterfall. By 1932 the water resource was not being used, we know this because we have a record of the wheel being broken for scrap in 1911 by Mr J W Watts who was the tenant of the mill at that time running it as an iron foundry. At the same time a gas supply was laid to the mill by the Council and a gas engine replaced water power.
No doubt the neglected dam was filling with silt already but the flood of July 1932 brought a tremendous amount of silt and debris down and I have no doubt completely filled it. Paul Brydon must have moved from Commercial Street shortly after this and established his new yard on the site of what had been the dam. There was probably a bit more infilling to raise the level but there was enough dry land for him to start on because I have reports of him working from there in the late 1930s.
By November 1913 Henry Brown the engineer was in partnership with Watts and they were trading under the name of Brown and Watts, Dale Foundry. By 1920 this partnership was dissolved, Henry Brown bought land at Havre Park from the Calf Hall Shed Company (who owned Ouzledale) and built a new foundry. Ouzledale laid empty until 1929 when H Brown and Sons liquidated and closed the new foundry. In that same year, James Cecil Ashby who was foreman at the new foundry took over Ouzledale and reopened it as a foundry. A foundry uses scrap and no doubt Paul Brydon came across plenty of that in the course of his rag and bone business, he had a ready outlet for it with James Cecil and the new Ouzledale Foundry which was what he called the business. This was the start of the firm that still survives today at Long Ing. In 1942 the foundry bought all the shafting that had been taken out of Calf Hall Shed for £455 to melt down. We know that James Cecil was still at Ouzledale in 1947, shortly afterwards we have evidence that he was at Long Ing but still renting Ouzledale from Calf Hall Shed Company until at least 1959.
Isn't it wonderful how a bit of effort put into research can fill in the gaps and make it possible to take one element out of an old view and weave a story round it. This is what I was talking about when I encouraged you to be nosey, ask questions and learn. It makes looking at forgotten corners so much more interesting!
A view of Barlick from Letcliffe in about 1900.
Thanks Love......