The Brewery
Cubley Brook brewery had been a significant part of Penistone’s history. It was founded at Cubley Bottom on Mortimer Road as a beer brewery in 1848. The water supply was from Cubley Brook. It is possible that beer/porter brewing had started in that location earlier than 1848 and possibly by one of the Marsh family. In those days there would have been a turnpike nearby but a track/road/path would have existed there even before it was turnpiked as Mortimer's road.
After such a long run of brewing beers, from about 1923 the brewery moved away from beer to brewing only malt vinegar. It became incorporated in 1925 as 'Penistone Pure Malt Vinegar Company' (Company Check) and it kept that name right to the end in 1983. Penistone vinegar was prolifically sold under a multitude of familiar labels, including Sarson's and Heinz but it continued also under its own name. When telephones started to be installed in Penistone, the brewery phone number was Penistone 274.
See the Old Inns page for more about the brewery in the days of beer brewing.
Cubley Brook
The brewery maintained its high-quality products by using fresh spring water supplied from by Cubley Brook, from a long way above Cubley. The brook flows through Cubley Wood, which Penistone people used to enjoy as a favourite beauty and picnic spot for many years before 'Private - Keep Out' signs went up to disrupt our pleasure. The brook fed a small dam for the brewery and powered a water-wheel, which might still be around somewhere. Just above the dam there is a short but pleasant public footpath leading down from Mortimer Road. It crosses the brook over a small wooden bridge, passing near the 'out of bounds' wood and emerging on to Chapel Lane near the bad bend. I often walk up there and, judging by the wear and tear on the path, I would say it's a popular route.
Following the brook down towards its ultimate merge with the River Don which is in the upper Don valley - a name much-appropriated by a certain town on the River Porter. It flows under Mortimer Road and runs parallel with Green Road until the bottom of Ward Street. There it goes under Green Road to the former David Brown's site and proceeds towards Spring Vale. The lowest point on Green Road has seen many floods which on occasions have reached right up to the windows of the old Airey houses (later demolished) at the bottom of Ward Street.
Towards Spring Vale it used to top up the former 'Nibble' dam (now a housing estate) used by the steelworks. The Nibble was well-known locally and findable from Sheffield Road after scrambling up a very high wall behind the houses on Sheffield Road. The brook continues under Sheffield Road somewhere near the former Britannia pub and across a field behind the houses to finally disburse its contents into the River Don.
The Brook Family
Returning to Joseph Brook, he was an ancestor to Jill Bernadotte who posted this message in the (now demised) Penpictorial Guestbook. My thanks to Jill:
"Hello, I am the Great-great grand-daughter of Joseph Brook who founded Cubley Brook Brewery in 1848. His Grand-son, (my Grand-father) was Joseph Brook Rhodes who, although born in Croydon, returned to Sheffield to Penistone College, (does that still exist?) and was in the Sheffield Yeomanry and was a member of The Odd Fellows. He died in the first world war.
" As for the family Brook, it is possible that the name run out despite there being about 7 children in the family, two of whom were boys. The only trace I have is through the girls who are named in rather a strange ’additional account’ to a will dated 1905, which must have been long after Joseph Brooks death. Their married names were Dickinson, Stones and Rhodes (my maiden name, also a Yorkshire name) there was also a Swift but not named in that particular part of the will."
The Vinegar Lorry
A 1954 'Albion Chieftan' flatbed lorry named 'Pennine Lady' is often to be seen at vintage vehicle meetings and particularly at Penistone Show, registration 'XUA 223'. It is in the company's dark green livery, with a red undercarriage and wheel centres, with the lettering 'Penistone Pure Malt Vinegar Co.' on each cab door. The door-side panels have the name and phone number. The front has two bottles shown, each on an oval white background. The grille has a red badge with 'Albion Oil Engine' in white lettering.
Old Pictures
Mr. Peter Lawford very kindly sent me pictures and information, for which I offer my thanks. In fact, he rescued the old picture (first and second shots below) from a skip in 1974. He says that the managing director in 1970 was Martin Nicholson from Thurgoland. Peter bumped into him by chance in Edinburgh whilst visiting the Royal Yacht 'Britannia' in 2001. The old MD remembered the brewery quite well. Peter has also noted that the office roof was rotated through 90 degrees but could not discover why, having consulted various records.
The first two pictures of Penistone's vinegar brewery were taken from Chapel lane and look south towards Cubley. The tall building on the left was the maltings, which was originally the beer brewery. The close-up view (third picture is a close-up from the fourth) clearly shows barrels being transported by horse and cart on the dog-leg in Mortimer Road at 'Cubley Bottom' or 'Vinegar Bottom' which was later straightened out.
It was always exciting to travel down Cubley hill in a Baddeley's bus, to hit the kink in the road at speed. That was before drink-driving laws and there are stories about The Flouch and Baddeleys but - not here. The road was straightened after the brewery was demolished in the 1970s and new houses sprouted up on either side. The vinegar smell was well known in Cubley Bottom but it quickly disappeared with the demise of the company. I'll bet the houses don't use the address of 'Cubley Bottom' or 'Vinegar Bottom' - but they really ought to do.
According to this advertisement in Penistone Almanack 1900 (last picture above), a range of beers was available in 6, 9 and 12 gallon casks and upwards. Cubley Brook Brewery - Brook and Co. 'Brewed from the Finest Pale Malt and English Hops'.
The Vinegar Production Line
New high-res pictures arrived in 2012 from Steve Millwood, who had been an apprentice at the company, for which I thank him. The first one might have been taken in a dark basement. Steve writes: 'I'm guessing it was taken circa 1964. It shows all the members of the Maintenance Team supposedly working on a centrifuge machine. Obviously posed! We are (L-R) Steve Millwood (me) - apprentice electrician, Mike Crowther - electrician, Dennis Richmond - gaffa and joiner by trade, and Graham Walker - fitter.'
The remaining pictures here are all close-up fragments from the wide view (top-middle) of the new Bottling Plant production line which was installed around 1967. The vinegar starts from the shiny tank top-right in the picture and the end of the line is on the left.
These pictures are reproduced here with the kind permission of these fine companies:
Maintenance Team - By courtesy of The South Yorkshire Times of Mexborough, and
Bottling Plant - By courtesy of Greaves Photographers of Huddersfield.
Steve remarked: 'The people in this picture are (L-R): My future wife Christine Tozer (now Millwood), Phylis Ranson, Peggy Rathbone and Glynis Walker (nee Cox). Peggy is still married to Derek Rathbone who was a lorry driver for the brewery at the time. Glynis was married to Graham Walker (maintenance team). Both Phylis and Glynis died some years ago.'
Steve continued: 'The picture shows the new bottling line with the filling machine at the far end, followed by the capping machine then the labelling machine. Unfortunately there was no packing machine. This was done by hand and what isn't apparent in this photograph is that the bottles were being filled with hot vinegar. Hands got rather sore when packing so the operators were moved around from time to time. Prior to this new plant being built the vinegar was bottled cold. Along the other wall of the building (unseen behind the photographer) is another bottling line just like the one shown. The plant machinery and all the electrics were completely fitted out by the maintenance team seen in the other photograph. We were a versatile gang.'
The floor in the bottling plant looked wet because it was covered with a special acid-resisting seal. It could also have been wet in places but that would have been water, not vinegar. Regarding the hot bottling process, the vinegar was shipped in wooden barrels as well as bottles, and the last process before filling either was pasteurisation. In this process the vinegar was heated to 80 degC and then cooled rapidly to normal ambient temperature or perhaps a bit lower (cold water temperature). When the vinegar cooled in the sealed bottles it created a partial vacuum which would help to preserve it.
Vinegar aficionados might be interested to know that there is an International Vinegar Museum in South Dakota, USA. Also, as a matter of interest, a TV advert had been filmed at the Brewery for the US market. A WWII label for Penistone vinegar can be found at Pinterest.
The Latter Years
Although PPMV Co made quality vinegar for a wide range of brand-names, it was doomed to close down. The London Gazette (pdf file) of 22nd February 1983 reported on the application for liquidation of PPMVC. Here is the Notice of Liquidation
BEAUFOY GRIMBLE & CO. LIMITED, HOLBROOKS LIMITED, LIBBY, McNEILL & LIBBY (STORAGE) LIMITED. PENISTONE PURE MALT VINEGAR COMPANY LIMITED
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to sections 290 and 341 (1) (b) of the Companies Act 1948 that a General Meeting of the Members of each of the above-named Companies will be held at St. George's House, Croydon, Surrey, on Monday, 14th March 1983 at 10 10.05, 10.10 and 10.15 in the forenoon respectively, for the purpose of having an account laid before them, and to receive the reports of the Liquidator showing how the winding-up of each Company is being conducted and its property disposed of, and of hearing any explanation that may be given by the Liquidator; and also of determining "by Extraordinary Resolution the manner in which the books, accounts, papers and documents of the Company and of the Liquidatator thereof, shall be disposed of. Any Member entitled to attend and vote at the above-mentioned Meetings is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote instead of him, and such proxy need not also be a Member. R. P. J. Sonneborn, Liquidator.
Peter Lawford in Winnipeg explained what happened at the end:
'The Vinegar Brewery closed its doors in April 1974, almost four years to the day after I joined them. Much of the business was transferred to Middleton, Manchester, where many of us were offered employment. Eventually all of British Vinegar's holdings were wound up including the Tower Bridge site in London. Silkstone Construction purchased the property but they too fell by the wayside and the whole site was cleared in order to build people boxes.'
Looking at this batch of pictures, the sad demolition view is one of my own. The oval wood etch shows the centre detail of a sign which mysteriously turned up in a Yeovil antiques shop, a scan of which was sent by my cousin Betty. It shows much the same view as Peter's picture but as a wood carving. The office staff picture was kindly sent by Pat Crawford, who says that the date on the back was 1st April 1966. She also gaves these names:
Regarding the bottles, PPMV bottled 'H.M.S. Cod' and '10 Downing Street' vinegar, produced for H.M.S. Cod Inc., Palos Verdes, California. Guestbook correspondent Stuart Turner found the bottles in his mother's cupboard from when she worked at PPMV Co. They were produced for the US market and special attention was paid to applying the metallic shrinks and the "netlon" covering. The bottles were also different from standard issue.
The MD Martin Nicholson made a trip to the USA some time between 1970 and 1973, which led to vinegar being shipped there in 45 gallon wooden barrels. Peter does not know the details but recalls hushed whispers about how the barrels leaked on a UK dockside.
The last picture was from the early 1970s and kindly loaned by Lynn Dean, nee Harley, whose parents kept The Commercial, Thurlstone, now The Huntsman. I don't have any other names besides Lynn's and she can be seen bottom-right in the picture. My thanks to Lynn for this picture and others on the Old Thurlstone page.
Demolition
Unlike the modern times, there was no archealogical dig when the brewery buildings were demolished. In a section on Penistone Archive's Facebook about the corn mill demolition, referring to their archealogical dig, Mr Lawford made the following interesting comment (included here with his permission):
'As far as I am aware, back in (approx) 1976 when the Vinegar Brewery was demolished there was no such archaeological requirements. There were extensive cellars below the brewery and also a large waterwheel. Two wells were also discovered when some vats were removed. Across the road there were also cellars below the "Maltings" and the remains of a smaller water wheel within the outbuildings. It is good to see that there is now more thought applied. Not everything can be preserved in situ, but excavation and recording is the next best thing.'
Demise of a Historic Horse Trough
The obliteration of a heritage object and half a footpath removed from public use. Right up to recent times, the last remaining connection with this old business was an old horse trough at Cubley Bottom, which is visible in old photographs of the brewery. On the old picture at the page top, it was just above the maltings building (near the second horse). It might have been installed when the brewery was built as horse-drawn wagons were the only way to transport goods in and out and the horses would needed water. The trough could even predate the brewery. Either way, it was obliterated in stages (photographs below) as building work proceeded. Then a retrospective application was put in to restore the boundary but which did not mention it.
There had been a pronounced 'dog-leg' in the dip of Mortimer Road, later to be straightened out but resulting in a very wide pavement. In the first picture below, from 2006, the trough is shown in good condition at the corner of the wide pavement. A year later in 2007 it was buried under builders' rubble as a prelude to its ultimate fate. Planning Application No. 2005/1607, was for a house to be built next to No. 11, described as 'Erection of detached dwelling and garage (Reserved Matters).'
The new home took over about half of the existing wide pavement and the horse trough was made to disappear. Penistone Town Council was aware of what happened and expressed their concern to Barnsley Council about a our town losing a heritage feature but nothing was done by BMBC to remedy it. In 2009, Penistone Town Council's Planning Committee (probably July 2009) responded to a request from BMBC about closing the road for work. PTC responded thus:
Barnsley M.B.C. Mortimer Road Cubley - Closing of part the highway following a development which housed a horse trough, and comments were being sought as to whether the Town Council would have any objections to the closure. After a brief discussion, Town Council asked the Clerk to inform the officer that it did object to the closure as it appeared that this had taken place on land which formed part of the adopted highway, without permission from the Local Planning Authority, and although not listed, removed an ancient structure which was part of the history of the area.
New boundary walls were built along the middle of the wide pavement and the horse trough tarmacked over to disappear under the new wall. A retrospective Planning Application 2009/0097 applied for the 'Need to put back the curtilage of the property' which we might assume referred to the pavement removed from public use. It avoided mention of the obliterated horse trough which would have been in the way of the new wall. A legal definition of 'Curtilage' is: 'A piece of ground lying immediately next to and belonging to a dwelling, typically a courtyard or garden with any outbuildings, etc.' (from Curtilage UK).
The top-middle and top-right pictures from 2007 show the builder's rubble, while the bottom-left picture from August 2008 is after the trough was buried and tarmacked over (or possibly dug out). The last picture from June 2009 shows the trough's complete eradication. No it's not barrel distortion in the camera lens, the walls really do lean forward. Unless the house leans backwards.
Horse troughs may well have limited uses in modern times but it is always a sad day when a piece of local history is unceremoniously erased; be it milestone, monument, boundary stone or horse trough, especially if it is just to extend a curtilage. Various heritage groups, such as English heritage, took a passing interest in the matter but did nothing about it and said that it was a local matter beyond their control. It is amazing that the matter was not resolved by BMBC with the wall demolished and the trough restored.
Saint Augustine: 'Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.'