Peeks at the Past - Remember Sheffield, in the fifties, sixties and seventies - An Ecclesfield Camera - A Portrait of the Manor in the 1930s - Peakland Roads and Trackways - Crosses of the Peak District - Lathkill Dale Derbyshire its Mines and Miners - Peak District Mining and Quarrying

Sheffield in print - Living in Sheffield, we ought already to be aware how interesting the city and its surrounding area can be. Yet it is all to easy in our busy lives to miss out on some of this rich heritage, that is, until someone stops to bring our attention to it. Sheffield’s history is one of its people, buildings and industry, and the more you delve the more interesting it becomes, a fascination which draws many authors to explore the past of the city or particular areas within it. Four new books, published by Pickards Publishing reflect this interest in our past.

A new book by Ann Beedham, who works for Sheffield Star, is appropriately called Peeks at the Past. Her own fascination with Sheffield buildings in particular has led to her putting together a compendium of photographs and illustrations introducing some familiar favourites and some other sites and stories we might have missed.

Its 116 A4 size pages span 38 locations, from the well known Town Hall to Conisborough Castle, to lesser known locations and people such as Wilson Snuff Mill and the poet Ebanezer Elliott who has a monument in Weston Park. Each location is illustrated in colour with details of the main features and snippets of history. Thus we learn that Carbrook Hall, an old pub by busy Attercliffe common, was once owned by Colonel Bright an officer in Cromwell’s army and one time Govenor of Sheffield Castle. One of its wood panelled rooms is illustrated, with an ornate mantlepiece you must see for yourself, and yes it is haunted.

Complete with bibliography and a useful index for more research, this is a book for your own stocking, or that of friends in or out of the city. Peeks at the Past is price £11.99 ISBN 0-9544045-05.

If a single picture is worth a thousand words, then another new book Remember Sheffield, in the fifties, sixties and seventies will provide hours of interest. Author David Richardson has pulled together nearly 200 black and white pictures from the three decades, capturing the recent history and changes in Sheffield. Together they provide a fascinating glimpse of the changes many of us experienced yet often hardly noticed. Trams in their heyday, the building of ‘the hole in the road’, wartime dereliction and reconstruction from the extension to Sheffield Cathedral to the creation of Moorfoot. This book will be of interest to anyone who has lived in Sheffield during the period and fills a gap in the record of the citys development. Remember Sheffield, in the fifties, sixties and seventies is published in A4 format price £11.99 ISBN 0-9534267-7-7.

For those living in Ecclesfield, An Ecclesfield Camera, which pulls together pictures over the last forty to fifty years, provides another nostalgia trip. Author Jack Wrigley, a retired schoolmaster, has lived in the area since 1950 and it is his camera which has captured scenes from long lost buildings to a heavy snowfall, from village events to the effergy of Sir Richard Scott in Ecclesfield Church. Containing 80 mainly black and white photographs with brief captions, An Ecclesfield Camera is priced at £7.99. ISBN 09534267-7-7

A Portrait of the Manor in the 1930s has been written by Malcolm Mercer, author and contributor of a number of education and local history books. Having lived most of his life in and around the Manor, he has pulled together a social history of the 1930s and the evolution of the council estate using the collective memories of an oral history group. The personal experiences of residents and pictures are woven together, and will stir the memories and interests of those who have lived on the estate or shared the poverty of those years. A Portrait of the Manor in the 1930s is priced at £9.99. 09534267-7-7

About in the Peak - Everyone uses them, driving to work or taking the dog for a walk, but how many of us stop to wonder why a road or footpath is there in the first place and what it can tell us about the past?

Ever since man began travelling between places routes developed, possibly taking the easiest ground or simply linking a series of settlements. The need to move livestock, the advent of pack animals and horse riding, all created different needs, as did the passage of armies or wagons. Old routeways fell into disuse, new routes had to be diverted around man made obstacles or sometimes unsympathetic land owners.

Peakland Roads and Trackways, originally written by A & E Dodd and now in its third edition, has become the definitive guide to the history of routes in The Peak. Generously illustrated with pictures and maps, it takes a chronological approach starting from the evidence of Prehistoric Trackways, through the Roman, Dark and Middle Ages, to the beginning of modern roads in the Tudor and Stuart times. There are also chapters on Packhorse Ways and Drovers Roads as well as the Turnpike Era.

This is a fascinating story, finding ancient routes and solving the links between them is still going on, as new clues are explored and put together.

Salt for instance was a vital commodity for preserving meat and traded over long distances. It formed part of a Roman soldiers pay as his ‘salarium’ hence our word salary. Salt routes to the west of Sheffield can still be traced through names such as Psalter Lane and Saltersford. Guide stones, old coaching inns, toll bars and milestones can still be found all giving clues to the past. Peakland Roads and Trackways, is published in a 190 page hardback by Landmark Publishing, price £19.95 ISBN 1-901522-91-1.

Another interesting Peak Land book is Crosses of the Peak District written by Neville Sharpe author of several local history books. Over the years he has gathered information on nearly two hundred crosses ancient and modern to be found in churchyards, along old tracks or at parish boundaries. These vary from richly carved Saxon Crosses to comparatively plain ones or even a remaining base or stump.

After an introduction to the history of crosses and their sad destruction by royal edict, vandalism and acid rain, the crosses are catagororised and detailed in seven chapters. Details on each cross are supplemented by numerous photographs plus illustrations and positional maps.

The result is a book which opens up a whole new fascinating world and which provides many a location to seek out when travelling around the Peak. Crosses of the Peak District is published in a 130 page hardback by Landmark Publishing, price £14.95 ISBN 1-84306-044-2.

Chances are that, if you ask anyone what they know about the Peak District, after the scenery they will mention lead mining. It seems almost a contradiction that such a beautiful area should have been the scene of an extensive metal industry from pre-Roman times almost up to the present day. The evidence is all around us, from hummocks and pits in fields to ruined buildings and waterworks.

Lathkill Dale is now a renown beauty spot and favourite walking location. Now a new book Lathkill Dale Derbyshire its Mines and Miners will put a whole new slant on its beauty. Written by J Rieuwerts the book sets out to explain the history of mining in the area, illustrated by maps and pictures including many underground. The location of mine shafts, the purposes of remaining buildings and the machinery used are all explained.

I happened to walk the dale a week before the book arrived and had many questions to be answered which it did. Lathkill Dale Derbyshire its Mines and Miners is published in a 110 page hardback by Landmark Publishing, price £16.95 ISBN 1-901522-80-6

Peak District Mining and Quarrying is a more general guide to the history of these activities in the area. Full of photographs capturing the buildings, action and mood of the two related industries, the book has 14 chapters covering early mining, mining law, the technics used, and caring for our mining heritage. The pictures taken underground of tools and artifacts left behind are particularly interesting.

Together the chapters outline the history of the mining industry and its decline and help to explain what remains for us to see today. Published in paperback by Tempus publishing Peak District Mining and Quarrying runs to 128 pages in paperback price £9.99 ISBN 0-7524-1710-x

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