Snow Storms of the Past

The Township of Dore

Dore is not only the central village area as we see it today. The Township on its western border extends beyond Fox House, with Burbage Brook being the parish boundary between Dore and Hathersage. The boundary follows Burbage Brook northwards before swinging towards Ringinglow Road and back towards Whirlow Bridge and Limb Lane. Dore was not subsumed into Sheffield until the 1930s.

Below are just three of the reports from the newspapers detailing how difficult life was in the Township of Dore in heavy snow. Reports of the severity of the snow storm in Derbyshire in 1888 appeared in newspapers throughout the country. In 1897 a death in the snow near to Fox House Inn was widely reported.

The Castleton Mail Cart's Journey

THE STORM IN DERBYSHIRE
THROUGH THE SNOW TO CASTLETON AGAIN
ANOTHER ADVENTUROUS RIDE
Sheffield Daily Telegraph
Wednesday 22nd February 1888

Sheffield markets were very thinly attended yesterday, owing to the roads being blocked in several directions, preventing the farmers from bringing their produce down, and in many instances from getting to town itself. Several Derbyshire friends, who set out determined to force a way through the snow, were obliged to turn back. Edward Hall, the driver of the Castleton mail‑cart, with his companion, William Eyre, had another rough experience yesterday. Leaving Sheffield at half-past five o'clock in the morning, driving tandem, as before, they got on fairly well till Dore Moor was reached, the drifts they encountered up to that stage not being very formidable.

But when they came to the Fox House side of Stony Ridge bar, where their troubles commenced the previous day, they were again in difficulty. It was the "same old place", but looked worse than ever. Hall, thinking he might ride over it if he could not get through, pressed his leader, "Bess" to mount the wreath [drift]. She did so, closely followed by the wheeler, "Polly". Then both horses sank to the girths in the yielding mass. Mr Peat, of the besom industry, had again to be called into service. With two of his men and another helper from Longshaw Lodge, "Bess" was dug out, after some arduous labour. When the leader began to feel her feet she did her best to bring her mate out of the depths, and in the effort plunged about so much that the traces parted. Hall then went back to Peat’s and procured some chains to make fresh traces.

Home Guard Company Dinner

E Company, West Riding 66th Battalion

When Dore became part of Sheffield in 1934 it moved from Derbyshire to the West Riding of Yorkshire. (South Yorkshire was not created until 1974.)

The Home Guard had been stood down on the 3rd of December 1944 so this will also have been a farewell dinner.

Although this menu card does not state where the dinner was held its menu items reference Whirlow and Ecclesall. You can see they ate Celerie de Whinfell and Weet‑a‑wood Biscuits among the other fanciful dishes.

This menu card was donated to Dore Archive in 1999 by Mrs Nicholson. If you have any information about the Home Guard in Dore please do get in touch. Perhaps you recognise one of the autographs. We would be pleased to hear from you.

Dore and Christmas Pudding Traditions

Pudding History

There are lots of recipes for Christmas Puddings often passed down through families, but you may be surprised to learn that in medieval times in Dore the traditional Christmas 'pudding' was a potage. This was a thick soupy porridge made up of boiled beef or mutton broth, plums and various spices. This evolved into frumenty which was still sloppy, being made of boiled wheat, milk, and spices.

During the time of Oliver Cromwell the eating of Christmas Pudding was declared illegal as being 'too sinfully rich'. Apparently this piece of legislation has never been repealed. It gives a new meaning to 'naughty but nice'.

It wasn't until Victorian times that the more solid Christmas pudding appeared. Mrs Beeton's Cookbook from 1861 has a recipe for a Christmas pudding which is recognisable today. However Mrs Beeton also included two recipes for 'Figgy Pudding'. Plum Pudding or Christmas Pudding is supposed to have 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and the Twelve Disciples.

Figgy Pudding dates from the 14th Century and has far fewer ingredients albeit still luxurious for the times: "Take blanched almonds and finely grind them. Mix with water and wine, quartered figs and whole raisins. Add powdered ginger and clarified honey. Boil well, salt and serve."

Stir‑Up Sunday

Going back to Plum Pudding means explaining that 'plums' were raisins and that there was a ritual involved in the making of the pudding. On Stir‑Up Sunday (the first Sunday in Advent — in 2025 this being Sunday 23rd November) all the family were expected to assemble. Each family member stirred the ingredients from East to West mimicking the journey of the Three Wise Men travelling to meet baby Jesus. As they did so they could make a wish for the coming year.

The introduction of silver sixpences to the mix started in Victorian times but must have led to many a cracked tooth. Traditionally whoever found it would have good luck, wealth and happiness in the coming year. It is not a wise thing to do today to our puddings and their potential heating up in a microwave.

Military Stories Leaflet

The results of Dore Archives Research Team's recent research have been used to create a leaflet that visitors to the graveyard of Dore Parish Church can use to navigate their way to the following eight graves.

Click on the name underneath the picture of the gravestone to read their military story. A pdf will open in another tab for you. It can then be downloaded if wished.

Featured Memorials

Private William Bowler, Crimean War	Lieutenant John Henry Waterfall, Crimea and India

	Private Saville Tasker
Lieutenant Cedric Arthur Jackson	Private Herbert Jackson

	Flying Officer Douglas Frank Newsham
Corporal Philip Norman Horner	Pilot Officer Walter Patterson Angus

Dore Military Memorials and Burials

Links to this research can also be found in the Military Stories menu above. In future more research findings about the men and women commemorated in the Dore graveyard will be added to the menu.

RNAS Convalescents in Abbeydale

Pincher Martin’s Story

In April 1918 a group of RNAS (Royal Naval Air Squadron) convalescents were based at St. John's Rooms at Abbeydale, when it was being used as a VAD hospital. We know it today as the Dore And Totley Post Office Sorting Office with its distinctive mosaic plaque on the frontage.

In recognition of their time together, the group all signed a hand‐drawn card, which is part of the Dore Heritage Collection. The original image was shown to Dore Village Society and subsequently copied, by Bill Glossop of Totley History Group in 2010. Bill's aunt was one of the nurses at the VAD hospital.

One of the names at the top of the card is Pincher Martin.

William Golding, most famous for his novel, "The Lord of the Flies", also wrote a story in 1956 about a sailor who was torpedoed during the Second World War: the book being called Pincher Martin.

This coincidence led to further research. William Golding lived latterly in Cornwall, so it is plausible that he could have met our Naval hero should he have come from that area. Alternately, in the Navy anyone who has the surname Martin is called Pincher after a famous Commander‐in‐Chief, Mediterranean, of the 1860's, who was known to be very alert.

To this day RNAS bases are in Cornwall so who knows?

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