Chapeltown, South Yorkshire
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Chapeltown (colloquialy known as Chap) is a former town that is now a suburb in the north of Sheffield, England. It is also part of the Ecclesfield civil parish. There is a wide variety of shops, pubs and restaurants as well as a supermarket. The town also has a twice-weekly market (Tuesday and Friday).
Like much of Sheffield there is a large amount of greenspace in and around Chapeltown. The town centre has a cricket ground and a wooded park on either side of it. Between Chapeltown and Ecclesfield the land is used for residential purposes on one side of the main road and agricultural on the other. There is also a brownfield site above the park.
It has two railway stations, one being a disused and allegedly haunted passenger station which is very well hidden in nearby overgrown woodlands, plus the railway station next to the Asda supermarket which is on the Penistone Line. Chapeltown is near the M1 motorway. There are two junctions (35 and 35a) serving the town: the latter is mainly used by Thorncliffe industrial estate. There are also regular bus services into Sheffield and Rotherham town centres.
Most of the industry in the town lies within the Thorncliffe industrial estate, formerly the Thorncliffe Works of Newton, Chambers & Co. This company was first established on this site in 1793 (Jones 1999:148), initially an iron works but which over time expanded into related mining industries and the production of products produced by the fractional distillation of coal. These included the famous 'Izal' disinfectant range. During World War Two Churchill tanks were built in the estate. A tank now sits where the factory formally stood. The proximity of the M1 has helped the industrial estate's expansion in recent years, especially with companies involved in distribution. The disused railway station can be found by trekking though approximately a mile of dense woodland from the west (J35A), from White Lane. Part of this once-beautiful building is still lived in, but it is need of restoration and could be done very easily. The alleged ghosts are said to be WWII soldiers, killed by bomb blast whilst on the train to the Tank factory.
References
Jones J 1993 'An Illustrated History of Izal' in Jones M "Aspects of Sheffield Vol 2, Sheffield: Wharncliffe Books
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