Dronfield Eye Issue 213 September 2023

dronfield EYE
We’re remembering Redgates
A
N original architects’ pencil
drawing of the frontage of
famous toy shop Redgates as it was
in the 1920s has been bought by
Dronfield’s Maggie Cotton.
The business was founded in
Sheffield in 1857, originally selling
items like furs, sewing machines and
prams, before moving into toys by the Another sketch of the proposed Redgates shop front acquired by Maggie and Bill
end of the century.
Zodiac Toys in 1986. It closed in 1988 and the building was
In 1925 The Redgate Company Ltd bought an old building on
demolished in 2018 to make way for a new retail development.
Moorhead – a former brewery – which they converted.
Maggie, formerly Nunn, is part of the family who founded
The new shop was five times the size of the previous premises
Redgates and has been keen to see the name of the shop kept
and it allowed the business to prosper, despite opening on the alive.
first day of the General Strike in 1926!
When she spotted the pencil drawing up for auction, together
Sadly, the shop was to be severely damaged during the Blitz with a coloured sketch from the same period, she was keen to
of 1940 when fire spread from a nearby store.
buy them. She and husband Bill went on to make a successful
This prompted a further relocation of the business, this time to bid.
Ecclesall Road.
Maggie led a campaign to have a plaque dedicated to the
Redgates went back to Moorhead in 1954, and then moved to business where the final shop stood on Furnival Gate.
Furnival Gate, in 1962. The Nunn family, who had run the
• Did your family shop at Redgate’s? Why not share your
business since the early 20th century, sold Redgates to UK chain memories with Dronfield Eye?
8
Bill and Maggie Cotton with the pencil-drawn plan of how the new Redgate & Co shop would look almost a century ago
Village coffee morning to support Macmillan
F
UNDRAISER Vivien Hobson is inviting people to attend her Macmillan Coffee Morning.
To be held at Coal Aston Village Hall between 10am and noon on Saturday, 30th September, you
can expect to find teas, coffees, delicious home-made jams and home-baked goods, including glutenfree
and vegan options.
There will also be a tombola and a sale of second-hand books.
All proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support. Last year’s effort raised £880 and Vivian says: “Thank
you to everyone who supported us last year. I hope to see you there again this time!”