James Maude Sherwood Foundry

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• Regarding Alan’s message about records, I knew some of the Fish family, George’s two daughters, there was a brother who apparently had a lot of the old records, these have now all died, maybe the brother’s family retained them who are far south now.
  George Fish lived at Greystoke? the right hand semi at the back of Henley Hall, then to King Edward Avenue, the family were descendants of James Maude, and related to the Shacklock family, who were at the local brewery during WJ Chadburn’s day

  By Mark Wilson (07/02/2023)

• Does anyone know what happened to the archives, i.e. records, drawings, etc. when the foundry closed? Have they been saved anywhere?

  By alan wahlers (19/10/2021)

• I worked as a fettler for about 14 years, then had a couple of years in the foundry. Great bunch of workers some good mates made, but the management was awful.

  By Steve walker (30/08/2021)

• My dad Keith Naylor worked at James Maud foundry, always came home with a distinct smell of sulphur. I can remember Terry Wiffen, I went to school with your daughter Clair and Barry (Baz), top right on photo. I believe you went to Stags on a regular basis.

  By Andrew Naylor (31/12/2019)

• Grammar correction of earlier comment; I should say my dad’s name IS Steve! – He works at Mallatite now.
  And he is in picture no. 9.

  By Stephanie Bognar (11/06/2019)

• My dad was one of the fettlers at James Maude. His name was Steve but everyone called him ‘Lenny’. He started in the mid 70s when he left school and finished when it closed in 2004.
  I remember he’d come home completely covered in black soot. He says it was heavy, dirty work, but he has the best memories of the people he used to work with, and the laughs they had.
  The only picture of him here is of him in the fettling shop, wearing a mask, kneeling down and using an angle grinder (note the lack of safety gloves).

  By Stephanie Bognar (05/06/2019)

• I worked in the machine shop at  Stokes Castings 1960 till they closed. I think some people would be shocked at the working conditions.

  By Dennis Norman (04/02/2016)

• Anthony I to am  getting old but I worked at the Meadow Foundry around that time on the machine moulding section. I have vivid memories of that time and we made Post Boxes and also the Lamp Standards for the Thames Embankment. The Post boxes were the Town and Country Style not those you generally saw outside of London. I don’t know if both companies were part of a same group but the was a lot of co-operation between Maudes and the Meadow Foundry I seem to think that was the case as we always had visits from a Leicester group of Companies.

  By Malcolm Raynor (18/08/2013)

• Ii remember this photo well. I am to the right bottom row. We were all fettlers a job not for the faint hearted. A great bunch of lads, I later became fettling shop manager and when the foundry closed I moved to a foundry in sandiacre where I still work today.

  By malcolm (syd) foster (27/11/2011)

• Same old Smile, you wouldnt have lasted 2 minutes on the back with me mate… Regards Jim Penman x

  By Jim Penman (30/10/2011)

• What a bunch of good looking geezers? I hope you are all OK

  By Jim Penman (30/10/2011)

• Went to Clown Tech 1980-84. Knew 2 kids from Mansfield,one called Tim Smith, hippy biker and a kid called Steve. Can’t remember his second name. One of them worked for Maudes, both good lads though,all the best “dee-dah”Paul.

  By paul (09/09/2011)

• Really sad to learn the foundry is no longer there but was interested to learn that the foundry made the enbankment lamp standards and post office boxes. Now when I worked at the Meadow Foundry in Mansfield (in the sixties) we got the work producing the very same things which I helped to make, it was rumoured that we got the work because thre original foundry couldnt do the work anymore!I never knew it was Maudes which was a pity because there was friendly rivalry between the apprentices as to who was the better foundry. I do remember once being very curious about the type of work the moulders did there and very early one morning on my way to work I managed to jump a wall and get inside and have a quick look around and leave before anyone spotted me, these were the daft things we used to get up to back then – fond memories – I only wish someone had taken photos of the Meadow foundry there seems to be nothing online which is a great pity .

  By Anthony Holmes (30/06/2011)