Business related items
Hillside Fisheries Sign 1960s
This Hillside Fisheries sign from the 1960s shows the then owners of this Fish & Chip shop. It also features advertising by one of the leading soft drinks manufacturers of the time. It lay hidden for many years beneath more recent signs and was only rediscovered in 2017 when the property was being renovated by the present owner and a new sign was being erected. It can currently be seen hanging on the wall inside the shop on Barnsley rd.
Ulbricht's Wassail Cups
The wassail cup factory on Bell Lane was owned by the Ulbricht family and employed many ladies in the village as outworkers who hand painted these brightly coloured wassail cups.
Older Ackworth residents will remember the distinctive smell that was like pear drops boiled sweets.
These were owned by the Johnson family who lived next door to the wassail cup factory at Johnson's Garage. They went with Bessie Hanson (Nee Johnson) in 1985 when she moved to Hemsworth, only to return to her niece next door to the factory when she died in 2017.
Sabco & GT Smith's items 1970s - 90s
These items were found in recent years having been purchased from what is now the Co-op.
Sabco was one of the first large DIY stores in the area during the 1970s and GT Smiths was Ackworth's first supermarket chain store before the Co-op.
Bell box
Many of Ackworth's older folk may remember this bell box, not because they've seen it before, but because they drove over the wire on the forecourt of Johnson's Garage to summon Bessie to fill their tank with petrol, top up their oil or inflate their tyres.
Some of the slightly younger generation will remember it ringing out when they rode their bike over the wire or trod on the wire as a prank, then scarpered quickly before Bessie came out to berate them for doing it.
Metal Signs
A selection of metal signs and a wall thermometer that were displayed at Johnson's Garage between 1950 and 1979
Metal Sign
Found whilst digging the foundations for Inscribery / Craft Inn workshop in the garden of 18 Wakefield Road on the site of what used to be a petrol station and car repair business, Johnson's Garage.
Lavulite - Cleans your car- keeps it bright
Probably dates from the 1950s
Johnson's Garage biscuit tins
These large tins measure approximately 30cm square and would have been what biscuits and wafers were stored in in shops to sell loose biscuits to the customer.
As William Meredith established his bakery in London in 1830 that suggests that the top tin dates from around 1960 and the bottom tin is date stamped 1961 just below the 's' of Westons.
Animal food sign
For many years this sign hung in the workshop at Mill House, the small holding at Mill Dam. It probably originated from Vaux Bros in Pontefract where Len Moxon who lived at Mill House worked. (See more about Len in the "Photographs of Ackworth people section").
Oil Jugs and Cans
A selection of different sized Castrol and Duckhams oil jugs still containing the dregs of oil used at Johnson's Garage either to top up customers oil when they pulled onto the forecourt for petrol or in the car repair business down the yard.
The largest one is approximately 25cm high.
Below are a set of small oil cans used in Johnson's car repair garage.
MIlk Round Collection Book
Bridget Malloy's (Low Ackworth) milk round collection book (available to view in Ackworth Heritage cabinet upstairs in Parish rooms, Bell Lane)