Wadsley Bridge is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, northwest of the city centre. The area is a mixture of residential housing and small industrial and commercial premises. The suburb falls within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Etymology Wadsley Bridge was named after the bridge at called High Bridge near the eastern end of the Sheffield Wednesday ground in what is now called Owlerton. The bridge carried the track between the villages of Ecclesfield and Wadsley over the River Don in the early 17th century, and the immediate area around the bridge became known as Wadsley Bridge. The original description was “the hamlet near the bridge at Wadsley”. The centre of the suburb has now moved northerly being centred on the railway bridge over the A61 road at and many people think that the district is named after this bridge. History Wadsley Bridge started to expand during the 18th century when water power was harnessed and various mills were built on the River Don on Clay Wheels Lane and at the foot of Leppings Lane. John Hoult had a paper mill which was later converted into a steel tilt and run by the Sanderson Bros firm. The suburb was changed by the opening of the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway in 1845; Wadsley Bridge railway station was opened to serve the community and the railway bridge was constructed over the rough trail which went north to Ecclesfield which was later to become the A61. The Sheffield Tramway was extended to Wadsley Bridge in June 1924 with the ground beneath the railway bridge having to be excavated so the tram could pass under. The bridge itself was a small stone arched structure which double decker buses later had trouble getting under, having to move into the middle of the road to avoid hitting the stonework. It was replaced in the early 1970s when the A61 became dual carriageway, by a higher and wider structure. Other industrial facilities in the area by the start of the 20th century included the Lepping Forge iron and steel works at the junction of Leppings Lane and Penistone Road, built by Joseph Clifton Allen (died 1924). This was demolished in the 1960s after the death of Joseph's son, Charles Edmund Allen (died December 1954), and the site is now a petrol station. Niagara Works on Clay Wheels Lane produced edge tools; the firm was