Lightning Strikes!

In the News: Stormy Weather in Dore

Over the years it appears that Dore could be a dangerous place in a thunderstorm - particularly in July and August.

Lightning strikes brought down chimney stacks and set fire to haystacks. The storm of 1900 occurred after intense heat of 77° Fahrenheit (25°C) and caused widespread disruption in Sheffield.

Here are extracts from the newspapers of four reports concerning Dore, some of which ended in tragedy.

Derby Mercury: 23rd August 1871

On Friday evening, about 5 o’clock, a terrific thunderstorm burst over the village of Dore causing great damage to property, and in one instance at least, the loss of life. When the storm commenced a young man named George William Shepherdson, was assisting his master, Mr Edward Reeves, Farmer, Dore, to thatch a stack. In order to escape the threatened storm the two took shelter under the lee side of the stack, but had hardly done so when a flash of lightning of unusual brilliance lighted up the neighbourhood, and apparently enveloped the stack in a sheet of flame. Mr Reeves exclaimed to his companion ’George, that stack is on fire’. Receiving no reply he turned to Shepherdson, but found him quite dead. Mr Reeves himself, who was seriously injured, will, it is hoped, recover.

Derbyshire Times: 10th August 1878

The tower of Abbeydale House, formerly the residence of Joseph Rodgers Esq. was struck and the weather-cock bent. The Vicarage at Dore was struck by lightning. The electric fluid made a hole in the roof of the servants’ wing and after following the course of the bell-wires finally buried itself in the ground. A servant in the kitchen was slightly injured and all the bells were rendered useless.

Derby Mercury: 5th July 1893

Sheffield and the neighbourhood was on Monday visited by another thunderstorm, accompanied by rain, and although it was not of a very violent character, one death was reported. Mr Joseph Mossley, farmer of Ryecroft Farm, Dore, while at work in the Hayfield was struck by lightning and instantly killed. It is stated that the deceased was trying to protect himself from the rain by holding over his head a bunch of hay with the hayfork. A terrific flash of lightning occurred, and he fell.

Sheffield Daily Telegraph: Saturday 21 July 1900

In the Sheffield district the storm was of the utmost severity, and numerous accidents - fortunately most of them of a minor character - are reported. The telephone arrangements were seriously interfered with, and nearly all over the city the call bells were kept continuously ringing. The telegraph also suffered as a result of the storm, and the electric tramways were affected to such an extent that on some of the routes there was considerable delay.

The article includes an account of the damage caused to three houses on Cricket Inn Road by one lightning strike when the telephone wire attached to the house of police-sergeant Shearman was struck.

The wire was cut in two, and the electric current dividing itself, one part proceeded along the wire towards Darnall, and the other went through the roof into Shearman's house, tearing away part of the roofs of both a bedroom and the floor below.

The report continues:

It is somewhat singular that the electric fluid which passed along the wire in the opposite direction entered the house P.C. James Dye. First the chimney stack was demolished, and then two fireplaces, one in the bedroom and one in the sitting room, were torn out, the bricks being hurled across the floor. The current also entered the adjoining house of Robert Langwell.

Despite three houses being damaged nobody was injured. It was a different story in Dore however.

A farm labourer named Thomas Hallan, aged 16, employed at Whitelow Farm, Dore, was last evening struck by lightning whilst writing a letter near a window in a hayloft. He was killed on the spot, and the lightning, going through the floor to a stable beneath, killed a horse. Dr. Thorne, of Dore, was called to see Hallan, and he pronounced life to be extinct. Two men were in the stable when the horse was killed, but they escaped uninjured.

An inquest into the death of Thomas Hallam was held the following week. The coroner returned a verdict of Accidental Death.

Quack Medicine

Dr Cassell’s Flesh Forming & Strengthening Tablets.

After a recent event at the Woodland Discovery Centre an extraordinary tablet bottle from 1900 came to light. Found on the edge of Ran Wood in Ecclesall woods it must have washed out in the recent heavy rain from the Victorian midden or rubbish dump nearby.

The amber coloured bottle in the photograph is specifically marketed as the cure required for ‘Flesh Forming and Strengthening.’ It dates from approximately 1900.

Dr Cassell’s products seem to have been widely available from the 1890s into the 20th Century with a focus on Nerve and Kidney Tablets. The products are now perceived as an example of Quack medicine. The manufacture of Dr Cassell products was at King Street in Manchester with various product examples appearing from the late 1890s onwards. This advert was in the Derby Daily Telegraph in 1906.

You would be amazed what you can find in Ecclesall woods!

Stories from Dore Churchyard - The Tragedy of the LOWE Family

Sometimes when walking around a churchyard your eye is caught by an ornate gravestone or an unusual name or a very young child but sometimes the monumental inscription makes you wonder what had happened to a family. This was the case when I spotted the gravestone for the LOWE family whose three sons had all died young, with two of them dying on the same day.

In Affectionate Remembrance of HENRY LOWE who died July 22^nd 1879 aged 17 years also of SAMUEL LOWE who died Oct^r 6^th 1882 aged 28 years also of EDWARD LOWE who died Oct^r 6^th 1882 aged 16 years sons of HENRY & MARY LOWE also of HENRY the beloved husband of MARY LOWE who died Dec^r 5^th 1903, aged 71 years also of MARY the beloved wife of the above HENRY LOWE who died Sep^r 14^th 1912 aged 79 years

This gravestone remembers Henry and Mary Lowe and three of their five sons. Henry and Mary and their family lived on Townhead in Dore. Henry was a saw handle maker and also worked as a labourer at Dore Moor Brickyard. They had eight children the youngest of whom, Mary Alice, died at just three weeks old. Their eldest daughter, Maria, married George Parker in 1877 and in 1881 they were living on Brick Houses, Dore. Henry and Mary's second son, Leonard, moved to County Durham to work as a coal miner and in 1880 married Rose Hannah Partridge.

Fatal Accident at Dore

In 1879 both Henry and his eldest son, Samuel, were working at Mr Sykes' brickyard. On the 22nd July 1879 Henry's son, also called Henry, who was seventeen years old, took his father's and Samuel's dinner to the brickyard. He was in the engine shed where Samuel was working when the driving band came off the wheels. While Samuel was putting the strap on one wheel young Henry tried to put it onto the other. It is not clear how, but Henry was caught and dragged into "the race" which was partly under the floor. The engine was stopped and Henry taken out, his chest having been crushed. He died later that night in hospital.

The Inquest

The inquest, which was held at the hospital on West Street in Sheffield, was reported in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph on the 26th July. At the inquest, Mr Sykes stated that the band was 2½ inches wide and was nearly new and that he had not examined the place or the band since the accident. He told the inquest that there was a Government Inspector of Factories approved rail around the driving wheel to prevent someone inadvertently walking into it but there was no requirement to fence it off. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Samuel and Edward Lowe and Henry Broomhead

Samuel had married Catherine REANEY in Dore Church on the 6th of July 1879 just two weeks before the death of young Henry. Their son, John Henry, was born the following year and baptised on 24th of March 1880 and early in 1882 Catherine gave birth to another son named Arnold who died in 1883.

In 1881 Edward LOWE, aged 15, was still living at home with Henry and Mary together with their two younger children - Ketura who was ten years old and William who was five.

The census of 1881 shows Henry BROOMHEAD was living in Dore with his widowed mother Amelia together with his two older brothers. All three were colliers. Henry had been born in Attercliffe. His mother died in July 1881 and was buried in Dore. It appears that, after her death, Henry stayed in Dore lodging with a file cutter. His brothers, John and Robert returned to their wives in Sheffield.

Shocking Accident at Mickley Colliery

In October 1882 Samuel and Edward LOWE and Henry BROOMHEAD went to work at the newly opened Mickley Colliery near Dronfield. The colliery consisted of an engine house, weigh-house, an office and one shaft. The shaft was about 150 feet deep with about 25 feet of sump water in the bottom which had been boarded over. There was a 'lurry' on rails that was pushed by a banksman over the top of the shaft so that men could step out safely once the tub had been brought up to the surface.

Coal had been dug for the first time on the evening of the 5th of October which provided just enough room for three men to work. On Friday 6th October 1882 Samuel, Edward and Henry were working the afternoon shift from 2pm and 10pm. At 6pm they were due to return to the surface for a meal break. During the afternoon the manager, Mr Maskery, had been up and down the shaft and since the men had driven a short distance underneath he suggested they stayed below to eat but Henry said he was wet and they decided to come to the surface and signalled to be brought up.

Their ascent was being made in the sinking bucket. The banksman who had come on duty at 6 o'clock was ready to push the lurry but, just a few feet from the top, the tub became detached from the pit rope. The heavy tub fell down the shaft and broke through the boarding into the water taking Samuel, Edward and Henry to their deaths.

Their bodies were recovered later that evening and taken to the Heart of Oak in Dronfield where identification took place.

The Inquest

The inquest was opened on the following Monday and Henry LOWE confirmed the identities of the bodies of his two sons. Henry BROOMHEAD was identified by the man in whose house he lodged in Dore. It was thought that the three men failed to check that clivey hook was properly secured. The clivey was a means of connecting the sinking bucket with the winding rope and was provided with a lock to prevent inadvertent detachment of the bucket. Certificates for burial were issued by the deputy coroner who adjourned the inquest until the government inspector could visit the colliery to inspect the gearing.

Reports of the accident appeared in many national newspapers. The Derbyshire Courier of October 18th provided a comprehensive report.

The Village Mourns

Samuel, Edward and Henry were buried at Dore on 10th of October 1882. The following appeared in the Sheffield Independent on 14th October.

...The deceased men were much respected and their remains were followed to the grave by a large number of mourners. A procession was formed in centre of the village, and on its arrival at the entrance to the churchyard, it was met by the Vicar, the Rev J T F Aldred. As the mourners were entering the church, the Dead March from Saul was played by Mr Christian Aldred. The service in the church was read by the vicar. After the internment a sister of Samuel Lowe fainted, and was taken home in an unconscious state. The mournful ceremony was witnessed by a large number of spectators, and the utmost sympathy was expressed for the relatives.

Incident at Dore Moor

In the News: Prize Fighting and a Dastardly Deed

Dore has not always been the tranquil place we know today. An article from the Sheffield Independent newspaper of Saturday 8th January 1842 reveals a dark side.

Daring and Impudent Outrage

On Tuesday forenoon week a respectable young female while on her road to Dore, was stopped by seven ruffians, who demanded her money.

The girl was greatly terrified, and notwithstanding she was near several houses, the fellows had the audacity to turn up her outer garments and take away her pocket, but fortunately it only contained some copper coin. She had 20 shillings in silver, wrapped up in a handkerchief, twisted round her hand, which escaped the notice of the villains.

The men are supposed to be connected with a party of blackguards who had been witnessing a brutal prize fight, on Dore Moor, early in the morning, where several thousand were present.

Memory Lane - Recollections of Stuart Dunn

A Childhood Spent in the Village of Dore

Growing Up on Causeway Head Road

Stuart’s earliest memories are when he was about three in 1945. The last vestiges of war were apparent. His back garden was full of vegetables as were those of his neighbours. There was an Anderson shelter in the garden which was a great place to play with his friends. The black curtains of the enforced blackout were still used in his house for some time.

They lived in 94 Causeway Head Road and he looks back at the facilities they had. A refrigerator must have been a luxury he realises now. The family had a car from 1947, which was unusual. The house was surrounded by fields, with cows grazing, and he would spend his early years playing in these fields or cycling around the roads on his tricycle.

This early photograph, taken before the development of Dore, shows Limpit Cottage on Causeway Head Road.
Note the lamp post and the sycamore tree.

Here is the same cottage, lamp post and sycamore tree in the 1960s. It is at the junction of High Street and Causeway Head Road.
The cottage and tree are still there today.

During the war years his mother Jean Dunn, née Rhodes, had a Canadian or American soldier (he cannot remember which) billeted in their house. His father, John, had been in the Royal Navy and did not come home until 1947, as he was involved in the war with Japan and its aftermath.

He remembers Causeway Head Farm buildings before the main development around Causeway Head Road. The main entrance to the farm was at the junction of Causeway Head Road and Parkers Lane. Causeway Head Road was marsh to the side towards Rushley Road. In 1947/8 the land was drained and pre-fabs were built.

On the opposite side of the road from Stuart’s house there was Causeway House where one of his friends lived, a very grand building owned by the steelmaker, Eldon Lee of Arthur Lee & Sons. This house was demolished to make way for Hassells housing development and only the coach house remains now as an individual dwelling.

From number 94, the family moved to 29, Causeway Head Road, White Corners, that was once a Barnardo’s Children’s home and then a home with an internal doctor’s surgery. After the family moved in the doctor’s surgery and other rooms continued to be rented by Dr Exell from them.

Education - the Early Years

He started going to Miss Trott’s preschool class in the Church Hall just after the war ended. This was held in the back rooms of the hall, now Christ Church Dore Community Centre. Sunday School was held in the same place and was extremely popular. A chance to meet with all the other children of the village.

At 5 years of age he started formal education at Dore School in the Old School buildings. He always walked to school on his own or with friends. There were very few cars and a few on horseback in the village.

Later Stuart (aged 7 years) went to Birkdale School in Sheffield and remembers getting the bus from Dore unless it was snowing. The bus went as far as Ecclesall tram terminus where he had to get a tram into town.

Visiting Dore Hall Farm

Uncle Joseph Denniff and his wife Auntie Connie were farmers at Dore Hall Farm. There were two entrances, one from Vicarage Lane, one on Dore Road about 150 yards below the junction of Causeway Head Road and Dore Road, with a cobbled driveway and side stone paved area, leading to the farmhouse. There were times when lunch was not available at home and Stuart made his way to the farm.

His aunt would feed all the farm labourers, about 15 in total, around a long refectory table with benches either side. The sights and smells of that kitchen are imprinted on his mind. It was always warm and a broth or meat and two veg was on offer. There was a large black Yorkshire range with a black pot for the stewed meat or broth and a black kettle. Fresh bread from the baker and grocer, Huby Frith, was a welcome addition. Adjacent to the kitchen was a scullery where Connie would prepare food.

The house itself was four or five bedrooms and well furnished, although he only got to see it once, as he was only allowed in the kitchen. Stuart explains everyone in the village knew him, same as with the other children, and people looked out for them all. His grandparents, Sydney (a scrap metal merchant) and May Rhodes (née Denniff), also lived around the corner in White Lodge, Church Lane. Dore Hall Farm was demolished in the later 1950s and its land used for housing development.

 

Childhood Interests

 

The interests of the boys of Dore during the 1940s and 50s were similar to the subsequent generation; football, cricket and scouting. He would go and watch county cricket with his father, at Bramall Lane.

He was also a choir boy at Christ Church and attended choir practice once a week.

 

Then in 1960, at the age of 17, he got his first job serving petrol at Dore Garage.

Being brought up in Dore was certainly a good introduction to life, and the world of work for Stuart.