Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Hornsea or Hornsey?
There's a fire hydrant cover on the north side pavement on Turnpike outside the Indian food shop next to the Toll Gate pub which refers to 'Hornsea'. That's a town on the Yorkshire coast. Can anyone shine a light on this oddity?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lenny B on
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On the pic I took and attached to the original post there appears the name ' J Blakeborough & Sons'. They were (are?) based in Yorkshire.
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This conversation has come up before. Its something to do with genuine Hornsey ones were no longer being made, so none on the shelf, but one's saying Hornsea were available in stock, so where broken ones in situ needed replacing, Haringey since 1965 settled for Hornsea replacements. There are one or two more in the old borough I think
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Permalink Reply by Lesley Ramm on
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There is also one in NIghtingale Lane, near number 53. i wrote about this for Hornsey Historical Society in the June 2017 Newsletter. Some of the info i found below
Blakeborough & Sons Ltd, Brighouse, Yorkshire
Note - Hornsey misspelled as Hornsea or sent to wrong borough
Hornsea Urban District Council from 1894/95.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23885771@N03/sets/72157625575382532/
Blakeborough & Sons Ltd were a large engineering company established by
Joseph Blakeborough in 1866 and whose core business had been the design and manufacture of industrial water valves. Most of this work was specialised and of bespoke manufacture for the control of liquid flow.
They had a large works and foundry at Brighouse in West Yorkshire that included ancillary works which in addition to their valves, also made cast-iron fire hydrant and manhole covers as well as fire fighting equipment during the 1920’s and 1930’s. During WW2 (early 1940's) the company used their foundry to produce track links for British made tanks. In 1965 the company was bought over by Hopkinsons Holdings of Huddersfield, also specialists in the manufacture of industrial valves. The fortunes of Blakeborough’s became more uncertain and a devastating fire in 1986 made their situation worse. In 1987 a partnership was formed with Wolstenholme Valves, a recent company set up by Chris Wolstenholme and a subsidiary of Hopkinsons Holdings at the time. The Blakeborough works at Brighouse was closed on 12th April 1989 and all drawings and intellectual rights transferred to GA (Golden Anderson) Valves, Hopkinsons and Blackhall Engineering, who were all part of the Weir Group plc. Although valves ceased to be made under the Blakeborough name, these companies retained the drawings and rights to supply spares, maintain and refurbish old Blakeborough valve systems still in operation.
TIMELINE:
1866 - Joseph Blakeborough of Brighouse purchased the Commercial Iron & Brass Foundry to form J. Blakeborough & Sons Ltd. He had four sons – Robert, Thomas, Frank and Peter. Robert (1841-1911) was initially responsible for developing the water valve side of the business for which Blakeborough’s would become world-renown.
1875 - New and larger iron foundry built, named the Woodhouse Works.
29th Aug 1896 - Large fire devastated the Woodhouse Works.
1926 - Fire extinguishers first made at Blakeboroughs who continued to make them under the Blakeborough name with the motto "Ready-Aye-ready". In 1933 NuSwift was formed who continued the fire extinguisher business.
1933 - The NuSwift fire extinguisher company formed when they set up as an independent company and moved to new premises a few years later.
1954 - Death of Robert Arnold Blakeborough who was chairman of the company.
1965 - J. Blakeborough & Sons Ltd take-over by Hopkinsons Holdings of Huddersfield.
1986 - Company damaged by a serious fire.
1987 - Blakeboroughs form a partnership with Wolstenholme Valves (a Hopkinsons subsidiary).
12th April 1989 - Brighouse factory closes down.
Cast-iron manhole & fire hydrant covers by Blakeboroughs www.flickr.com/photos/protactinium/3377067534/In part i wrote
I looked up the manufacturer online and found the following:-
Joseph Blakeborough established his engineering company in 1866 to design and manufacture industrial water valves.
The large works and foundry was at Brighouse W. Yorkshire.As well as water valves they also made cast iron fire hydrant and manhole covers during the 1920s and 1930s.
The company continued, despite various take-overs, until the factory closed in 1989.
So, did Blakeborough misspell Hornsey as Hornsea?
Or did they also make fire hydrant covers for Hornsea and send it to the wrong borough?
It seems they did provide Hornsey with other covers, with the correct spelling as in this 1902 HUDC one in Gisburn Road.
Glad to hear about this new discovery
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53 Nightingale Hornsea.jpg, 3.6 MB
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Bornat on
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Also one on Woodstock Road, N4.
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Adding to Lesley's notes, Hornsea Urban District Council - not the 'Borough of Hornsea' - existed under that name from 1895 to 1974 according to the National Archives [link].
This resource - http://civicheraldry.co.uk/yorkshire.html - shows a coat of arms for the current Hornsea Town Council that was first granted in 1955 to Hornsea Urban District Council.
J Blakeborough & Sons made cast iron street furniture for many undertakings, not just in Yorkshire.
Perhaps the nearby MP for Islington North can shed some light? Mr Corbyn takes a keen interest in street furniture (no, I'm not making this up).
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