Blackmoor quarry
Harris Quarries is a family run business and has been for nearly forty years. The quarry is currently owned and run by the partnership of Peter and John Harris, sons of Bernard Peter Harris who established Harris Quarries along with his younger brither Paul back in the early 1970's.
The quarry itself is much older and has been traced back as far as 1851 when it was first surveyed by the ordnance survey, and probably dates back even further.
The very early years
The reason for Blackmoor Quarry opening is'nt clear but one theory suggests that it may have been the source of stone for the construction of Ulley's Holy Trinity Church, Rectory and Stable Block.
There are several points that support this theory:
- Records show that the church was constructed in the late 1840's, opening in 1852. These dates dates coinciding with the surveying and printing of the o/s map that shows the quarry was open.
- The land that the quarry occupies was owned by Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax, and he was also the man who paid for the building of Ulley's Holy Trinity church in memory of his brother.
- At the time of the churches construction there were several other quarries in the local area but they were all owned by other landlords.
- Most of the local quarries in and around Ulley were situated near or next to a road, the reason being that the quarries primary function was to supply stone for the maintenance of the parish roads. This is not so the case of Blackmoor Quarry with the site being more than a third of a mile from the nearest road suggesting that it was probably started for a specified project.
- Finally, there seems to be the remains of a disused track that takes a more direct route up to the church than the present access track now known as green lane. this track would have reduced the distance by approximately half, a huge saving when all the material was hauled by horse and cart.
The Bell Family
Ordinance survey maps from the late 1980's show that the quarry was disused and it is believed that the Bell family of Wickersly who had been quarry owners and stone masons for at least 850 years re-opened the site is early 1900. The Bell Family had worked out many quarries in and around the Rotherham area and soon in the early 1900. The Bell Family had worked out many quarries in and around the Rotherham area and soon after re-opening Blackmoor Quarry purchased it from the grandson of Sir Charles Wood, Edward Frederiick Lindley Wood 1st Earl of Halifax paying £375 for it. In 1946.
John Bell and his partners in the business, brothers, Reginald John Bell , Leslie Thomas Bell, Dennis Milton Bell and Normon Victor Bellw quarried the stone known as Rotherham Red and used it to manufacture a variety of products that included grindstones and also grave sets that were sent to London by train.
Other items that were produced at the quarry ranged from blocks of stone used for scrubbing the decks of ships to ornamental bird baths and sun dials. It is thought that the Bell Brothers supplied and built the gardens and fountain just inside the main entrance to Clifton Park in Rotherham though this has not been verified. Blackmoor Quarry was owned and run by the Bell Family until early in 1971 when the two remaining brothers Victor and Leslie who were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the stone industry decided to call it a day and sold the quarry to the harris family from Handsworth, Sheffield.
The story so far
The deal to buy Blackmoor Quarry from the Bells was brokered by Bernard Harris although everyone knew him as Pete because he preffered his middle name. As the story goes, the quarry was due to be sold to a haulage contractor but due to a hold up in the post, certain documents and payment hadn't been forthecoming and so at the eleventh hour after borrowing the sum of £2500 from his mother Pete saved the quarry being turned into a lorry park and registered the name of Harris Quarries against Blackmoor Quarry.
Our Quarry
Pete had been in the stone industry for a number of years, and had worked for Albinson Bro's in Sheffield where he learned his trade as a stonemason. He has also worked as a stone fixer repairing bombed out buildings on the moor in Sheffield after the war and had in fact visited the quarry on numerous occasions while working for Albinsons, although at the time of buying the quarry he was wokring for himself travelling round local quarries in an old van collecting stone off cuts, dressing them up and building natural stone fireplaces that were all the range at the time.
Pete and his younger brother Paul were partners in the business at first but soon parted and by the mid seventies the quarry was blooming with plenty of orders coming in. Pete set on his brother in law, Frank, who very quicly became quarry foreman and remained at the quarry until the late 1980's when he left to become a drayman.
By now his eldest son who is also called Pete had started working in the quarry and took over the day to day running of it and shortly after taking over undertook a fairly large contract supplying G L Beal Building contractors with Rotherham red standstone for a project in all saints square Rotherham. Other larger projects followed notably the renovation of the old Rotherham town hall, a project undertaken in conjuction with Rattee and Kette, a well established masonry restoration company. With the installation of a re-conditioned 1500mm diametre diamond circular saw early 1990 the quarry now had a new string to its bow, and started to produce quality, accurate masonry at speeds never seen at Blackmoor Quarry and in the forthecoming years many more saws were installed. 1990 also saw the youngest member of the family, John, join the ranks and working alongside his father and his older brother Pete.
The business went from strength to strength, but sadly, in early 2001, Bernard was diagnosed with cancer but continued to run the quarry and did so for almost two years spending nearly every day at work. His final wish being granted, his coffin was driven around on the back of his lorry with all the saws running.
He will never be forgotten.
Blackmoor Quarry was then passed to his two sons Pete and John who now own and run it with the help of Pete's eldest son also named Peter and his youngest son Thomas. Young Pete, as he is known, turned out to be a natural stonemason and has produced some outstanding pieces of work, notably the bay window and antrim windows that were supplied for Ranmoor Hall in Sheffield, a project directed by The Firth Partnership.
Pete Snr and John both have two sons each so Blackmoor Quarry will be staying in the hands of the Harris Clan for some years to come.
The Quarry in pictures
Splitting the Rock
Once the rock is out of the ground it needs to be made into more manageable sizes. This is done by using plugs and feathers. We drill the desired amount of holes ( in this case three) then we insert a set of plugs and feathers.
Once they are all in place they are struck in turn with a hammer until the block splits along the line of holes.
Chemical Splitting
A very useful, but expensive way of splitting the rock is chemical splitting. This is done very similarly to plugs and feathers but once the holes are drilled a mixture of water and splitting agent is poured down.
After around 24 hours the agent reacts and expands splitting the rock perfectly. Done properly this method gives the best results on very large blocks.
The Quarry Face
Sometimes the 32 ton machine cannot pull out blocks like a man with a wedge and a hammer.
Seen here is john driving in a wedge to loosen the block ready for pulling. By taking a little bit more care and opening up the natural beds in the rock it stops the machine ripping corners off good quality block.
The good the bad and the ugly
Not all the stone that comes out of our quarry is top quality.
Some times you work very hard all day and just ends up with a pile of rockery.
These beds of stone to your right are full of cracks and have a band of soft brown mare running through it.
The view from above
Sometimes working on the top of a windswept hill has its advantages. This is the view from the quarry gate looking west toward Sheffield.
In the foreground Ulley resovoir dam can be seen although the water has been drained whilst repairs work is carried out due to the floods of 2007.