Ecclesall Mineral Water Works / J F Eardley - looking for information

[Alastair]

I recently found an old soda syphon engraved with "J F Eardley - Pharmaceutical Chemist - Ecclesall Mineral Works Sheffield"

 

Does anyone have any iformation on either J F Eardley or where the Ecclesall Mineral Works were?

[Lucifer]

My sister-in-laws husband used to work there many moons ago, I will ask him about the company.

[Lucifer]

My sister-in-laws husband used to work there many moons ago, I will try and find out some history for you but don't hod your hopes up.

[Fareast]

It used to be on Stalker Lees Road, at the junction of Cemetery Avenue. The rear of the building backed on to the Porter Brook . Round that area was our ' playground ', in the early 1950 's-----and a great area it was too ! On hot summer days, we kids had fantasies about breaking into Eardley 's and drinking it dry ! [ Never had the bottle though [ sic ! ] ].

I don 't know when it ceased operations.....or was demolished.....maybe the 1960 's ? Anybody tell us what 's there now ?

[DUFFEMS]

There were here in 1905:

Eardley, James F (, pharm. chemist,min.water manftr & Agent.).

Residing at 265 Glossop Road etc.h.14 Broomhall Road, in 1905.

Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham.

 

On "picturesheffield" there are several photos of the various addresses where the business was including the one mentioned by Fareast.

Edited May 28, 2010 by DUFFEMS

[hillsbro]

I well remember Eardley's soda syphons. The syphon was much more valuable than the contents and so you paid a large deposit (4s 6d in the mid-1960s) which you got back when you returned the syphon to the shop. Eardley's product sold better locally than Schweppes because the deposit on the Schweppes syphon was 7s 6d.

 

James Furnival Eardley was born the son of a farmer at Mucklestone, Shropshire, on 22 March 1856. After training as a chemist in London and attaining the M.P.S. qualification he moved to Sheffield in the 1880s, where he eventually had three shops at Ranmoor, Glossop Road and Broomhill. At the time of the 1901 census the Eardleys lived over the shop at 283 Fulwood Road, Broomhill, but later they moved to a large house called "Woodside" at Lindrick Common near Worksop. After the establishment of the mineral water business, the chemist's shops traded under the name "Eardley & Furnival". James Eardley retired in the 1920s to Woodside, where he died in 1931. The mineral water business continued to prosper in the care of James Eardley's son Harold and grandson James E. Eardley. It is listed in the 1973 Kelly's Directory but perhaps did not survive much longer than the 1970s. James E. Eardley still lives at Crosspool.

 

As Fareast wrote, J.F. Eardley's mineral water plant was on Stalker Lees Road - here is a photo. The building was opposite the end of Denham Road and was eventually demolished. An Eardley's syphon was recently offered on eBay.

Edited May 28, 2010 by hillsbro

[Alastair]

Thanks for all the great information!

 

I like the "Sheffield History and Expats" section of SF. The rest of the forum is shouty and argumentative, but this section is always so friendly and helpful.

[Alastair]

Looking at Google street view I presume it was on this site. The workshop there and car park seem to be built on the foundations of an earlier building:

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&q=65+stalker+lees+road&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=65+Stalker+Lees+Rd,+Norton,+Sheffield+S11+8,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&ei=QJ__S9LWB5Hu0wTl6533Ag&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.369577,-1.490047&panoid=jdCh4fVrQz1JGWB_CfswUw&cbp=12,132.58,,0,-3.61

[hillsbro]

Looking at Google street view I presume it was on this site...

Yep - that's the place!

 

I'm almost tempted to keep an eye on eBay in case another Eardley's syphon is offered for sale. But I don't suppose I'd be able to take it to Sam Mason's off-licence in Dykes Hall Road, pay the 1s 9d and swop it for a full one!.

[DUFFEMS]

My mother has a brass ash-tray with an inscription, something on the lines of:

"Eardley's Aerated Waters", I'm sure there's an lampost/signpost on it. I must ask her what it says and how old it may be, I know it was my grandmother's originally so it's very old.