Retired demolition worker uncovers long-lost secret recipes
Retired demolition worker John Senior could never understand why younger demolition colleagues ignored the history at their feet and, in some cases, took a hammer to old objects.
Senior’s desire to preserve the past served him well when he discovered a hoard of secret papers hidden in the roof space of an old factory at Apperley Bridge, near Bradford, once occupied by Hammonds sauce company. Carefully concealed by straw and stones, he found a metal box containing more than 100 documents relating to the history of the once-famous Leeds firm Goodall, Backhouse & Company.
There were hand-written recipes for company top sellers, including Yorkshire Relish, which once sold several million bottles a year across the British Empire and beyond.
The papers are now in the hands of Leeds auctioneer Gary Don, who says the historical value is great, although the monetary value may be more modest. “The most important things here are the recipes,” he says. “They were well hidden and would have been top secret documents. I would imagine lots of companies would have wanted to get their hands on them.”
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