john68 wrote:patrickblue wrote:There you go John, the old Hyde Road stand at the Shay.
Thanks for bumping this thread up Craig, I missed it the 1st time round....and thanks for the pic PaddyBlue...It is far better than the one I had previously seen.
Can someone clarify which side it is? Is it the side nearest to the side road where Glynn Webb is (used to be?)...or is it the side nearest the main road that goes in to Halifax centre?
Thanks
It's on Skircoat Road/Huddersfield Road. The stand looked different when it was Hyde Rd because back then it was a multi-span roof, not one long continuous span. They basically stuck the spans together to create the stand. This image shows a re-clad version of the stand as well (it was re-clad in the 90s).
However..... According to most Halifax material (library, football club etc.) the stand was built in 2 parts - there's a noticeable difference in the 2 sections on photos of the stand pre-the re-clad. The first part of the stand (the left side if stood under the roof) to be built was erected in 1921 - 2 years before City left Hyde Rd!
The second section was erected later in the 20s.
The assumption was always that only the right side (if stood under the roof) was from Hyde Rd. I inspected the stand in 1987 and compared the stanchions with those at Hyde Rd from photos and they all looked the same, yet part of the stand was in place before City moved - it didn't make sense. Then in the late 90s a guy got in touch with me about his factory in South Manchester that had been built out of the metalwork from a Hyde Rd stand. I went to his factory, checked the girders etc and it matched the Shay (notice the standchions are quite distinctive) and when we measured they also matched the scale of those at Hyde Rd.
This guy had absolute proof that his metalwork came from Hyde Rd - there was a document in his club's archives. His factory was demolished and all of the metalwork was offered to City (late 1990s) and they willingly accepted some of it (not all - one or two spans). I helped organise this but in 2002 when I started setting up the museum at City all the metalwork had mysteriously disappeared. The guy who had accepted the metalwork on City's behalf was no longer working there and no one knew what had happened to it - it seems it was given away to a scrap dealer!
Back to The Shay - the conclusion I reached (though there are still some loose ends to tie up) is that the stand used for the factory in South Manchester was probably from the Popular Side at Hyde Rd, and that the entire stand from the Shay may be from Hyde Rd. The first section (that nearest the left in the photo) was erected in 1921 and was probably the Galloway End at Hyde Rd (no photos of this in place at Hyde Rd have yet been found from 1922-23 and an earlier photo from 1920 suggests it was in the process of being dismantled though that's not conclusive).
The second section (built after 1923) could be from the Stoneyard Stand or the Galloway End (depending on the first section's history) at Hyde Rd. The stanchions certainly match.
I have no doubt that part of this stand is from Hyde Rd and I know that those stanchions seen clearly on the photo are the same as the ones on City's old multi-span roofs. The big issue is the actual purchase date. I was once contacted by a guy who also had evidence of turnstiles/payboxes at the Shay that came from Hyde Rd, but they don't appear to be in place now.
The roof and some turnstile/payboxes cost Halifax Town £1,000.
Sorry for going on, but this is something I have a great interest in. A few years back they announced a total redevelopment of the Shay including the removal of this stand, so I've had it on my 'watch' list. Fortunately, the financial issues that have affected sport in Halifax and Calderdale Council have meant that the Stand has survived and probably will for some time yet.
Finally, good luck Halifax.
