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In 1866 Thomas A. Ashton trundled his handcart through the cobbled streets of Sheffield and district delivering wares, mainly paraffin.
As he plied his rounds supplying his customers, he noticed that the booming industrial revolution was suffering a great hunger. Sheffield industry needed pulleys, shaftings and other equipment in the power transmission field, but the only suppliers were usually in London. A long wait was inevitable if some machinery broke down and parts were needed quickly for repairs. |
So with very limited capacity and a lot of trust from his customers, an astute Thomas Ashton took a lease on premises in Norfolk Street and began stockpiling for the needs of Sheffield industry and where he couldn’t stockpile, he began manufacturing and ended up with a highly diversified family company that was to become well known as Thomas A. Ashton of Sheffield.
As Ashton’s customers increased in number he began buying up more premises in Norfolk Street and eventually found himself having to look elsewhere and in 1875, just nine years after acquiring the first lease in Norfolk Street, Ashton purchased premises in Sidney Street and built the Speedwell works. It became the centre for the company’s manufacturing of leather driving belts and power transmission equipment.
Norfolk Street played its role by having stores of other manufacturers’ equipment ready to be distributed to steel mills, engineering works and forges in the city when the need arose. |
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