Jam Factory - oldminer.co.uk

Bottom. Carr Vale Jam factory.

Original Railway Plans from cloth originals show Factory.

(All photographs copyright the author A.N. Bridgewater).

Built late in the 1890’s and sited on a siding in the yard of Carr Vale Station the factory had the best location to utilise local transport in and out by the railway. It had as much water as it needed from the local water supply of the Bolsover & District Water Company formed in 1904. Local fruit was grown and as demand grew fruit was imported from other growing areas including Lincolnshire and surrounding areas. Coal was in plentiful supply locally and was turned into gas to fire the boilers in the boiling room from the Bolsover Gas, Light and Coke Company, electricity was supplied by the Bolsover Urban Council and sugar was imported from Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire beet growers. Labour in the form of women was also in plentiful supply from coal mining families of Bolsover, Carr Vale & New Bolsover.

Although fruit production was seasonal vegetables were canned in later years giving the seasonal work an extension. Produce was sent out of the factory to local shops but one can postulate that this trade may have been nationwide and possibly worldwide wherever the need for this type of produce was needed. During the two World Wars the tins, jars and bottles of Bolsover preserve would have been a welcome sight to ‘our boys’.

All manner of fruit and some vegetables were processed but many locals I have spoken to remember with affection the summers when the strawberry jam was being produced as the sweet  smell of the cooking strawberries was everywhere in the air around the factory.

The factory was run by Sidebothams at one stage and they had a series of delivery vans operating from the factory when the railway closed in the 1950’s.

Upon closure in about 1959 the factory was purchased by Walker & Hall Master Cutlery makers from Sheffield. They produced many types of flatware or cutlery including silver plate and it may well have been this firm that extended the factory to its present size.

Until total closure in 1995 Mercol Products Ltd. Used the site, they then moved to Grassmoor and the site was boarded up and demolished for a housing development in the Autumn of 2007..

Roof lites provide natural light from the sun to illuminate the work area. To the right the roofs are slate tiled.

Water is collected from the roof area and finds its way out of  holes at the side of the roof.

The later building  possibly to house further machinery to can, bottle and fill jars as the factory expanded its sales. It might be however that it was built later after the jam factory closed. I will let you know about that. On the 1938 O.S. Maps this building is not shown. It does appear on the 1962 O.S. Maps.

Offices were built around the same time as the rounded roof building.

On the 1962 Ordnance Survey map a building is shown here, whether or not it is this one remains to be seen.

Beginning life in the mid 1800’s Walker & Hall were one of the largest manufacturers and retailers of silver and plate flatware or cutlery from the late 19th Century and first half of the 20th Century. Their products can be found with London, Sheffield and Chester hallmarks on them.