Steel factory in the 40's

Hello, i write from Italy.

Some days ago, while I was tidying up the garden of the country house were I'm going to live, I found an old shovel. On the iron part, close to the handle, there's an inscription:

"1941 - Skeleton & Co. - Sheffield - AM"

The letters "AM" are surmounted by a symbol looking like a stylized crown.

At http://www.thermos.ancona.it/images/upload/shovel.jpg you can see a photo (i'm sorry about the quality but it's not easy tu put a shovel in a scanner).

I think it's something left here by the troops during the war front shifting to north.

Can anybody say something more to me about this shovel?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry!!! I read "Skeleton" instead of "Skelton".

Is this "Skelton" factory still active?

If my memory is correct,back in the 1960s/70s their used to be a Garden Tool factory,somewhere on chesterfield road at heeley.Sheffield, I'm pretty sure it was called skeltons.

Hope this helps bubba, chow Steve

hi,yes i seem to think it would be the old skelton works at heeley

Skeltons was a general steel manufacturer situated on prospect road,"above where the car lots are now". depending on the condition of the shovel,you have a piece of sheffield history the likes of which will never be seen again. Try get a shovel from B&* to last 60+ years.

Originally posted by Viper17

Skeltons was a general steel manufacturer situated on prospect road,"above where the car lots are now". depending on the condition of the shovel,you have a piece of sheffield history the likes of which will never be seen again. Try get a shovel from B&* to last 60+ years.

I used to work at Spear and Jackson in 1975/76 at the top of Prospect Road but cannot remember Skeltons being there.

They were taken over by a French firm whos name i cannot remember.

The AM surmounted by a crown means Air Ministry, although I have only seen this before on electronic equipment. Presumably the shovel was made as part of an Air Ministry contract.

C. T. Skelton @ Co. Ltd were a well known firm of edge tool manufacturers in the war years. They made large quantities of spades and trenching tools for the forces, also, special spades made of non-magnetic alloys for the use of bomb disposal personel. They produced also thousands of drop forgings, including parts for the Daimler scout car, Napier Sabre aero engine,shell bases, and forgings for parts of the Mulberry harbour.

After the war they went back to tool and cutlery manufacture.

my great grandfather Fredrick Skelton was the brother of Charles Skelton who founded the C.T. Skelton company...he immigrated to the U-S in the late 1880's where he worked in shovel making, creating plants through Pennsylvania, New York State and in Ontario, Canada where he eventually settled. Fredrick and Charles were 3rd generation steel and farm tool makers. I would love to know more about the history of Charles who stayed in Sheffield and continued the family business there.

Skelton and Co sighns can still be seen if you were to walk down a pathway called Skellys bridge. This runs between Comet on Guernsey rd and the bottom of Gleadless rd.