Stairfoot

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|53.54|-1.44|display=inline,title}}

| official_name = Stairfoot

| static_image_name = RowofshopsinStairfoot - 04052015.jpg

| static_image_caption = A row of shops on Doncaster Road

| population = 11,510

| population_ref = (ward.2011)

| metropolitan_borough = Barnsley

| region = Yorkshire and the Humber

| metropolitan_county = South Yorkshire

| post_town = BARNSLEY

| postcode_district = S70

| postcode_area = S

| dial_code = 01226

| os_grid_reference =

| constituency_westminster = Barnsley South

}}

Stairfoot is a ward{{cite web|title=Stairfoot|url=https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/community-and-living/where-i-live/my-local-area/central-barnsley-area/stairfoot|website=Barnsley Council Online|accessdate=9 May 2015}} in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. It is perhaps so named because it lies at the bottom of a valley in between the undulations of two small hills on the old road from Barnsley to Doncaster. Stairfoot is surrounded by the villages of Kendray and Ardsley.{{cite book|last1=Heald|first1=Tony|last2=Chance|first2=Michael|title=Ardsley & Stairfoot revisited : a photographic record|date=2008|publisher=Greenman Enterprise|location=Wadhurst|isbn=978-0-9545-8029-2}}

Stairfoot is known widely throughout South Yorkshire for its roundabout. Controlled by traffic signals, it is notorious for its delays to the local traffic system{{cite web|last1=Cotton|first1=Mike|title=Stairfoot roundabout to be overhauled|url=http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/8499/stairfoot-roundabout-to-be-overhauled|website=Barnsley Chronicle|accessdate=9 May 2015|date=18 July 2014}} and has inspired a local song.{{cite web|last1=Cherry|first1=Dave|title=Stairfoot Rounabout (Live version)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO69pk5L1OA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/TO69pk5L1OA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=Youtube.com|date=2012|accessdate=9 May 2015}}{{cbignore}} The ward used to have its own railway station, but this closed in 1957 due to competition from local buses.

The area supports over 300 businesses, including retail outlets such as McDonald's, Dunelm Mill and Tesco, along with various restaurants and convenience stores.

The Trans Pennine Trail also passes through Stairfoot using the old railway bridges which cross the roads leading to the roundabout, and the old railway bedding which has been mainly tarmacked. It is suitable for cyclists, pushchairs and wheelchair users, and some parts are open to horse riding.

Hope Glass Works

In 1867, Ben Rylands founded the Hope Glass Works at Stairfoot on what is now derelict land alongside the Aldi supermarket. During 1873, Rylands was heavily involved in perfecting the manufacture process for Hiram Codd's new globe-stoppered mineral water bottle.{{cite web|title=An act of Codd|url=http://www.bottlebooks.com/Codd/an_act_of_codd.htm|website=Bottlebooks.com|publisher=Digger Odell Publications|accessdate=9 May 2015}} Codd rewarded him with a licence to manufacture the bottle in April 1874 and the business took off. Orders for the new bottle were so good that Rylands could not meet demand from his original works, so work was commenced on a second factory on land that was occupied by Beatson Clark.{{cite book|last1=Kangsanant|first1=V.|title=A Study of Shift Workers at Stairfoot Works, Beatson Clark & Co. Ltd|date=1973|location=University of Sheffield}}{{cite web|title=Glass's sparkling past|url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/nostalgia/retro-glass-s-sparkling-past-1-6920445|website=The Star|accessdate=9 May 2015|date=28 October 2014}} Hiram Codd joined Ben Rylands in partnership at Stairfoot in May 1877.

In 1881, after four years together, Ben died leaving Codd to carry on the business alone. In 1882, Codd admitted Ben's son, Dan Rylands as a business partner.{{cite web|last1=Robinson|first1=Andrew|title=In Barnsley, where there's muck, there's glass|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/in-barnsley-where-there-s-muck-there-s-glass-1-7066264|website=Yorkshire Post|accessdate=9 May 2015|date=22 January 2015}} Dan Rylands took over the partnership after his father's death but this new alliance was doomed to failure, even though they patented 'the crystal' (valve codd) in 1882. On October 6, 1884, probably resenting the young Rylands inventive intrusion, Hiram Codd allowed his partner to buy him out of the business and left to pursue other interests. The Hope Glass Works under the stewardship of Dan Rylands was now the largest factory of its kind in the world.

References

Category:Villages in South Yorkshire

Category:Geography of Barnsley

Stairfoot

Hope Glass Works

See also

References