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265703 "yorkshireman@y..." <yorkshireman@y...> 2018‑04‑11 Re: Another interesting plane iron logo
Osbaldiston - what an absolutely splendid Yorkshire name.  

I was inspired to do a bit of looking, and came across this snippet regarding
their premises.  Now a listed building, so (I hope) protected in some respects.

 ARUNDEL STREET  Challenge Works  
 

Former edge tool manufactory, now workshops. c.1880, with late C20 alterations.
Built for Louis Osbaldiston and Co, saw and file manufacturer and merchant. Red
brick with ashlar sandstone dressings, gable and ridge stacks and a slate roof
covering. PLAN: U-shaped courtyard plan, with frontage range to Arundel Street
and rear yard enclosed by parallel rear workshop ranges. EXTERIOR: Asymmetrical
3-bay frontage range to Arundel Street, 3 storeys above a basement, with central
vehicle entrance within massive ashlar surround, and shallow-arched head with
keyblock and cornice. The opening has tall 8-panel double doors and gives access
to a setted covered way, with arch-headed loading doorway with double doors to
the right, and single doorway to the left. Flanking the entrance are tall 2 and
3-light ground floor window openings within ashlar stone surrounds, each light
with a sash frame. Stone sills form a band at each level, with the windows
diminishing in height at each ascending level. Basement lights at footway level
repeat the pattern of openings above, but are boarded up. Between the first and
second floor windows, a plaque with incised lettering which reads ' CHALLENGE
WORKS ‘




Aaah - protected - maybe.  At least it’s still there - if you walk down the
street using Google, just beyond some new stuff (walking from the SE) you come
to a parked wee truck, and behind it is Challenge Works, now converted to
student flats.  I wonder if any of them are engineering students?  Or metallurgy
students?
An impressive building for its day - they probably had a good business.   
I also note a few Osbaldistons still around the area, so I’d expect family
connections.


Richard Wilson
a Yorkshireman Galoot
now in Northumbria

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