past and present
Bell Quarrymasters
The Bell family had been quarry owners in Wickersley from at least 1849 when John Bell was listed as a Quarry Owner.
One of the last recorded Quarry Owners in Wickersley, was Bell's Quarry run by John Bell, who lived at 38, Green Lane, Wickersley with his wife and three children; two sons, one named Derek and a daughter named Jennifer, he was remembered for keeping his lorry on the garden of No 38. John's children and their friends were regular visitors to the quarry at Ulley having been taken there on the lorry.
John had a greenhouse on the garden where he grew his own tobacco and an allotment at the bottom of Green Lane where he kept a few pigs, and a horse for his daughter Jennifer to ride.
The following receipt dated 1953, shows that John was running Blackmoor Quarry, Ulley from office premises at No 1, Green Lane, Wickersley, the home of his brother Leslie Thomas Bell. John's partners in the business were his brothers, Reginald John Bell, Leslie Thomas Bell, Dennis Milton Bell and finally Norman Victor Bell.
It is not known when the family purchased Blackmoor Quarry at Ulley, but, prior to this they owned a quarry at the bottom of Northfield Lane, Wickersley, this quarry was later filled in and built on, it is now known as the Flanderwell Estate.
The brothers were sons of John and Clara Bell who in the 1901 census were recorded as living at Brecks Cottages, Dalton and by 1911 had moved to Mexborough and were living at 26, Hallgate. In 1913 a document records John Bell as a leaseholder of property in Mexborough.
It is thought that Bell's Quarry built the gardens and fountain just inside the main entrance to Clifton Park in Rotherham, though this has not been verified.