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Hi all, so glad I found this site, so much history in one place. I was born at walkley in 65, moved to Bubwith rd Brightside where my mum was born and grandparents lived. From there we lived in a cottage in Roe Woods, my dad became one of the first 6 park patrollers, on motorbikes, in Sheffield while at Roe Wood. From there we moved to Shiregreen where mum still lives. Dad was born at the bottom end of Bellhouse rd. Have lived in a few places in Sheffield and now 20 years in Chesterfield. Looking forward to reading lots more and to dig up some of my own memories and photos to share with everyone. :-))

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For your information the letters on the bridge BB & JH refer to Benjamin Blonk and John Huntsman. Blonk Street was so called because when it was made the "tilt" shown on the map on the river side of Blonk St.was "The Wicker ***" belonging to the Blonk Family. On the other side of Blonk St. was "The Wicker Wheel" also belonging to the Blonk Family. You will also see a third grinding shop belonging to the Blonks at the end of the dam to the right of "Blonk Island". Later on John Huntsman had a Huntsman Melting Furnace at the end of the Wicker Tilt building. If you look through the large window nearest to Blonk Bridge you will see the chimney of the Huntsman furnace preserved as a monument. Remember the old Sheffield saying "Down T'Wicker were t'water goes o'er t'weir" the weir on the upstream side of Ladys Bridge diverted water to the Wicker Tilt and Wicker Wheel. I learnt all about this by carrying out research for descendants of this branch of the Blonk family who live in Australia. My Blonk family come from a later branch of the Blonk family

I've read somewhere that the flats that face Lady's bridge and Nursery Street were originally called Castle House, the windows just above the river was where the dogs were kept when it was a Dogs Home when it re-located there from the Pond Street area in c1900 I think , it wasn't used for long as it was always damp because of the river often flooding the place. The ornamental front door was the entrance and you can still make out the name. At the end of the walk on Blonk Street bridge you can see the initials of one of the men who ran the stables there plus possibly the vets initials too, the chap that owned and ran the stables also had stabling and shoeing available at 30-36 Burton Road now known as the Yellow Arch Recording Studios but the Horseshoe above the arch tells just what it was .

Hi Syrup Thank you for the news article clipping. It's very tantalising close apart from one minor detail the name in the article states G Lyon not J Lyon. However, the date and stables are spot on which leads me to believe Joseph Lyon worked at Sheffield Tramway Company. Joseph (27) married Emma(22) in 1869, the two witnesses are George (53) & Ann Lyon (55). His father is named Thomas so judging by the age gap George is probably Joseph's uncle. They come from a farming background in Lincolnshire so working together with horses makes sense. In 1883 George would have been aged 67 hence the article (oldest servant) makes it more probable that it was presented to George rather than Joseph, who was only 41 at that time. Joseph died (unknown) not long after aged just 44 and was buried at Heeley Christ Church on 2nd Jan 1887. So another connection to the article (he is now going to Heeley). I can only assume that the inscriber perhaps made an unlikely error with the initial on the trophy? I can't find a record of George & Ann having children hence the trophy must have been passed down to one of Joseph's two sons. I did find a very interesting post on this site on the STC and will make contact to see if any employee records still survive and hopefully will provide the proof that George & Joseph did work together. https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/topic/154-sheffield-trams/ Again thanks for the clipping. John O.

If my memory serves me well, it doesn't usually, I seem to remember that it was used as a stand for milk churns awaiting collection. I may possibly remember a fellow miscreant trying to get one of the lids off to quench a thirst but if pressed I would plead the UK version of the fifth amendment

It really frustrates me that not enough is known about Sheffield Castle. We don't really seem to have any information at all on this place considering what an important Sheffield structure it was. Sheffield Castle is still an enigma. Why is that?

modern 'journalism' at its finest. Hide behind youtube and stir some s***. It brought the city together, made us very proud to be sheffielders and remembered the lads who paid the ultimate sacrifice. who plants the bedding plants and sweeps up from time to time is of little or no consequence. I dont see what youre trying to achieve by posting it to be honest.

Anyone living in any of these houses may be interested in this postcard on Ebay. ------------------- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173604248815?ul_noapp=true Google Street View -------https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.3837307,-1.4973794,3a,75y,81.23h,90.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s24w0G3NbxJMMlYOd7eyZgw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Probably of no interest to anyone else, but one of the photos here shows the location of my Dad’s bench, sited and dedicated to his memory for almost twenty years now...

Now and then.

Was down at Crich last week. 510 was being moved late in the afternoon and is looking very smart.

This is a recommendation for a book available from Amazon (£8 well spent) - an edited and updated version (with corrections and new information and pictures) of James Hayton Stainton's "Past Chapters in Sheffield History". It was originally published in 1918 for the benefit of prisoners of war. It's very good on old street layouts and especially the background to the High Street widening. There is a "Look Inside" feature on the Amazon site that allows skinflints to read some of its pages: Past Chapters in Sheffield History - Amazon Link

There was a pub called the Rising Sun on Hunshelf Road at Stocksbridge directly across the road from the billet mill. In the billet mill large ingots were rolled at yellow heat down into blooms of say up to 4" plus square, and then cut up on a hot saw into lengths to suit the customers. In an early application of technology the blooms were measured for length and a very early computer made by Elliot Automation determined the best cuts to make out of a given length to suit the various customers. The computer use first generation germanium transistors and had a 1K magnetic core store for it's memory. The pub was obviously very (too) convenient for the parched workforce and I was told the Fox's had bought out the licence and closed and demolished the pub in 1967. My connection with this came in the early nineteen seventies when I parked my A35 van (Wallace & Gromit Mobile) on the cleared ground of the pub in order to carry out the " Redex Treatment". This consisted of running around until the engine was hot, parking up, removing the air filter; and pouring a can full of Redex engine detergent/cleaner into the top of the carb. This was supposed to clear the valve stems and piston rings and restore performance. It also produced huge quantities of black smoke. When I started this procedure I had failed to notice the large billet mill high voltage substation downwind just a few yards away. I'd also forgotten that large substations often used photo-electric ray fire detection in case of fire in the oil-filled switchgear. I'd just got about half the can of Redex in the engine and couldn't see a hand in front of my face when there was a loud bang from the substation and the loud whine from the billet mill opposite wound down to a worrying silence. The penny dropped ! I flung the air filter inside the car, shut down the bonnet and was speeding back down the hill in the opposite direction to where I knew the high voltage gang would be approaching within about ten seconds. My stealthy departure was not helped by a smoke trail that the Red Arrows would have been proud of. I think I got away with it 'so don't tell anyone. hilldweller.

The demolition of Sheffield in the 1960's, 1970's & 1980's a blaze was the sky with fires from the demolition sites there were only a few known Sheffield Companies at the time A.D.H Demolition Limited (contracted to Sheffield Council) A. Whites Demoliiton Ltd Childs Demolition Ltd Demex Ltd J. Whites Ltd and later T.D.E (Rotherham) (ancestors of A. Whites demolition) i remember as an only child going with my parents to the demolition sites, i remember the black sooty days crooks moor was ablaze with fires and being situated on a hill you could look across Sheffield and see other contractors lighting the sky. The forgotten demolition men and woman contractors that made Adolf Hitler assault on sheffield oblivious. The Sheffield Council pillaged property with compulsory purchase took peoples homes and business for pittance of monies, i remember sometimes wed pull houses down leaving the odd one still standing whilst the owners or tenants were fighting for their legal rights to stay or be given a better deal. Sheffield Council insisted on the demolition of what we would see today as historical buildings but to the council they was drab, nuisance and needed to be pulled down our sheffield architecture of centuries past were stone masons are not of what is today ended up a pile of rubble and down the tip it went. Odd pieces will have survived and relocated without knowing and the next generation losing site. I know the red set that lay on the floor in kelham island were taken from the Sheffield Abattoir and re laid in the museum yet a piece of history is lost again and no mention of where they arrived from they just part of the decor of the museum yet in truth is part of a bigger history. i attach a stone fireplace my parents built in a property still in the sheffield area, the new owners of that property will never know the history of that house or where that huge fireplace with its ornate archway came from. The archway formed the door way to the GAS HOUSE on commercial Street its were you paid your account (its historic significance to Sheffield is when sheffield turned from Candle Light to Gas. i attach another photo of a font that was part of the St josephs convent, common side htpp://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/environmental-health-part-park-hill-slums-1-5 I'm hoping a log can be made on this site for anyone to upload demolition photographs and maybe if theres any demolition men left that worked on these site can contribute before history is lost. I was a fortunate person i know much of sheffield i lived the era and a breathed it with my family. Im trying to see if we can make a single page where all the data of the lost (demolished) can be found, before it is too late. I want to see what the public holds before i update this site again with All the 1000 pictures and documents i hold of Sheffield

171 on corner of Alfred Street and Dane Street https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/437500/389500/13/101329

I remember as a child in the '70s being so proud of that fountain because my Dad had told me that it had been made (partially at least) at Bramahs, which he worked at as a fabricator for some years Cant honestly remember if Dad had actually had anything to do with its construction, but in my head 'My Dad made that!', and I told anyone that would listen !

Picture Sheffield gives date as 22 July 1961 ( spot on boginspro!) which was a Saturday. The AEC Regent III - VWJ 541 was one of nine Roe bodied vehicles out of 85 AEC's delivered in 1956/57 for tram replacement services, seen here on Route 24 to Tinsley. Used to love the smell of Ground coffee which drifted out of Davy's.

A stunning bit of film. Anyone seen this before?http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/environmental-health-part-park-hill-slums-1-5

Not sure if we already have a drinking fountain thread, but this image posted by Aiden Stones on his Twitter account is fantastic. It shows the drinking fountain that was at the junction of Gibraltar St, Allen St and Bowling Green Street, and todays view from Moorfileds facing towards Penistone Rd.. https://twitter.com/OldSheffield

One of my husband's hobbies is collecting transport tickets, and occasionally in the bits of paper he buys something interesting turns up, such as this one. It is a ticket for the City Clopper, a horse bus which operated in the city in the early 1980s: I remember reading about the horse bus but I wasn't living in Sheffield at the time and I don't think I ever saw it operating. A short film about the service:

If you follow the supertram which is blurred above to the road, is where the church would have been. Possibly where the big tree is now. Also I note that Midland Station has now lost it's first foot bridge.

Hi Folks, I wrote a new blog about seeing I'm So Hollow at Romeo's & Juliet's in February 1981. Link - http://www.mylifeinthemoshofghosts.com/2017/08/26/im-so-hollow-atmosphere-at-romeos-juliets-bank-street-sheffield-wednesday-11th-february-1981/ Enjoy. Dodger

Hello is I was trawling through Ebay’s scissors looking for a scissorsmith when I saw the scissors shown below. I was intrigued and I had to have a bid, all be it, ultimately unsuccessfully. I felt I must post a photo, as these grape scissors are certainly “Sheffield”. These mixed metal scissors are easy to date using the date letter associated with the hallmark on the silver finger holes. The unembellished letter “o” without a Monarch’s head, together with the crown (for Sheffield) indicates the assay at the Sheffield Assay Office in 1931. The maker of the silver part of the scissors is indicated by the “S.H.&Co.” but I will reference that later. We can see from the rear pivot area of the scissors that the blades are made of Sheffield England stainless steel and from the pivot front we a clear pictorial probable trademark with lettering below it. The “nest” with eggs in was the trademark of Sheffield’s Southern & Richardson and I think you will be able to “fill in the spaces” to confirm that makers name. These cutlery makers were known at the “Don Cutlery Works” from the middle of the 19th century and there are several images of knives spread around the forum. One of these did suggest the trademark was a “thistle” or has this been a mis-interpretation of the image on a much older and tarnished knife compared to these 20th century scissors. From a reference I think I read on line, technically, the grape scissors may not have been made by “Southern & Richardson” as in the 1920s that named company had been incorporated into a larger Sheffield concern and the latter continued with the trademarks. Hopefully the “forum” can clear this up. Returning to the “S.H.&Co.” maker’s mark now. The website www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk that I always confidently use for identifying British silversmiths, identifies the silver finger parts as having been made “probably, by Sydney Hall & Co”, and gives them an address of “Birmingham”. If there is other information regarding the maker please enlighten us, as there will be would be many interested to know. I hope there are others on the forum, like me, who like and wish they owned the grape scissors. Kalfred

Fulwood Termius, Canterbury Ave 501 looks brand new in this shot so I’m guessing that means it was taken in the late 40’s.

This country used to equip the railways of the world. My first machine commissioning job in Asia was in South Korea. One of the British men stopping in my hotel was overseeing the assembly of 200 underground trains exported from GEC Manchester. The new trains were to improve the Seoul underground ready for the Seoul Olympics. Having thrown our industry away we have to import trains now.

I knew the area in the 50' and 60's but can't remember that being there (doesn't mean it wasn't mind) even though it was at the top of High House Road which now seems to have vanished.,. I have so far failed to find an early picture but the Picture Sheffield image below shows the building to the right of it with the archway was still there in 1979. Both are shown on the maps of 1905 and 1950's. The drain cover can still be seen on the modern Google image, I wonder if it was cut down to that castellated building when the building with the archway was demolished.

These were certainly a feature of my early days in Sheffield. The bubble gum machines in particular! I have rescued a few over the years, one for bubble gum, one which gave out Kit Kats (best not used on a hot day), and a couple of old cigarette machines which I found in the Orchard Square when they were pulling it apart for redevelopment. Hard to imagine how a tin box full of fags could survive on a wall these days. I did take some snaps recently as they've been in my garage for years. See what you think!

It's a pretty good comparison. It's also nice to think that Robin was a Yorkshire lad.

Hia, I believe it is the one storey high walkway, that went from the Castle Market accross to the back of the opposite shops, looking down on the building site that would end up being the Sheaf Market, and the shops in view, with peolple seen walking through a gap by the Bakery, was on the edge of the old 'Rag & Tag' market.

Have they renamed Snig Hill Police Station? I thought West Bar Police Headquarters used to be just up from the National Emergency Services Museum on West Bar at the corner with Scotland Street. The building has been converted into a 3* hotel called Hampton by Hilton Sheffield. I think many will remember The Boardwalk as The Black Swan or its nickname Mucky Duck

Have a look at Carmel House on Fargate and just look at the carvings of the creation of the world by the Tory family.

http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s26186&pos=102&action=zoom&id=28613 Very similar view. I think it is top of Newhall Rd and the Attercliffe swimming baths would have been across the road from it. As you say more Attercliffe Road/Newhall Road. And this one a bit further round the corner onto Newhall Rd - http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;t07203&pos=110&action=zoom&id=95886

When I'm doing my articles, I look through Sheffield Directories from 1780 to 1911 not consecutive I might add, but you see place and street names spelt different, Broomhill, was Broom Hill, Ringinglow was Ringinglowe, there's plenty more but not having the directories at had these two are just an example. It really annoys me when names that have been used for years are altered for no good reason.

I went a few times too, I was far more impressed by the Hi-Fi than the hotel itself, it looked very cheap and nasty inside.

Did anyone go to the York Viking festival last week? It is a must for anyone who loves the history of the vikings. It is such a fun week with Viking living history camps, a Viking procession, Viking markets and Viking battles. It is always in the February half term and lasts a whole week! It is amazing, Vikings are walking around the streets and you can have your photographs taken with them and see them going about their business. The battles are so realistic, you all need to go next year, believe me you will not be disappointed. Here are some photographs I took when there, enjoy.

I was on call one night and more than a little bored when a call came in for a site in Derby, closely followed by a second call for Burton on Trent. Knowing I’d be out all night I looked for something to download to fill my driving time and found a ‘Learn to Speak German’ podcast by a chap called Peter Myer I have to say, I wasn’t very good at it but, should you ever find yourself needing to say... “Hello, my name is Peter Myer” or “Go straight past the large sign” I’m your man!

I don't suppose that it really matters in the context of the comparison between then and now, but I think that old photo of Joseph Rodgers dates from rather later than 1900. The tramway terminated in Fitzalan Square until 1908 when a single track siding was built on Flat Street, terminating opposite Sycamore Street. The line along Flat Street was only doubled and extended along Pond Street in the early 1920s.

Assuming we are talking about the Queens Head at 40 Pond Hill at the junction of River Lane, it is marked as a pub:

The first picture is a class 56 loco pulling MGR wagons on a colliery to power station run. The nearest thing you can get to a model railway on the full size thing. Since they went around in a circle from colliery to power station and back again. The second picture is a class 37 loco pulling oil tankers. Most of these classes of locomotive have now been scrapped, even though the 56 had only started to come in service the year before the photograph was taken.

I used to work with ammonia refrigeration plant. A very effective refrigerant, but wicked stuff to work with. The ammonia gas, was fed from the compressors into coiled tubes which sat in the bottom of a brine (water-salt solution) filled tanks, and it was this chilled brine solution which acted as the secondary coolant, as it was pumped from those tanks through plate heat exchangers and shell and tube heat exchangers. A very similar kind of set-up, I would imagine to the one described in the brewery. We had very few problems with running the ammonia compressors themselves, or indeed the ammonia condensers. After-all, we were all too well aware as to the nature of the beast that we were dealing with. The problems, when they came, always came with the brine-tank-coils, as after-all, brine-solutions, like sea-water, can be particularly corrosive, despite any amount of anti-corrosion agent used, or planned preventative maintenance employed. Fortuitously, the brine solution itself, seemed very effective at 'mopping-up' ammonia, so, if you did have a leak in the brine-tank-coils, it was still detectable, but not so much as to prevent a hasty evacuation. Being overcome in an enclosed room with ammonia gas exhausting directly into the air however, must have been a particularly unpleasant way to die.

Join David Templeman for a fascinating look into the origins of central Sheffield street names through images, maps and text. Hear how the town’s rural roots are still remembered and journey back through Tudor, Medieval times and beyond to discover where the street names originated. Mon 9 October 2017 - 10:30 – 11:30 Carpenter Room Sheffield Central Library Surrey Street Sheffield S1 1XZ Tickets - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-history-of-sheffield-street-names-tickets-36895704044

I'm sure some of our members will be able to put some flesh on the bones of some of those photos.

I remember an eccentric old lady (Nora?) who used to stride around the bus station shouting at all and sundry.

Great images, the gardens were peaceful then, and not seen before, but as for date. Looking at the cars parked behind the garden wall, we seem to have a Morris Minor (which of course is timeless), possibly a Standard 10 (third from left), then a Mini, and a then, possibly an Austin-Morris 1100 Hatch-back, or similar and then, a Ford Anglia 105E. So, I would guess middle to late sixties.

I can so relate to this video..Back then went to Hope valley in identical Sunblest van with Dave Baldwin a mate of mine at the time, a bit earlier than this video. Worked in forge at Browne Baileys 1968 on train wheels similar to that on video. Got married at that old register office in 1970, Worked on the abatour roof in 78 scaffolding then went inside to meet the workersand saw all the slaughter area with the cows getting the hilti spike in the top of the head, ...that rumbler with the sheep in was to remove the hairs of the body, it was like sand paper lined inside the rumbler...and The Black Swan part is brill...I posiibly was in the Swan that day watching the dancers... i used to frequent there most dinner times after the morning shift in the rolling mills where i worked near Town..I,m sure that girl was called either Tina or Kathy..AKA tantilising Tina And curvacious Kathy...if the footage had have gone on a bit longer it would have shown her topless, ha them shows were regular in the week in the afternoons and saturday dinnertime too...they also included Mighty Melvin the male stripper and resident topless Booby Ann a giant of a girl. Great times and def the best times of The Black Swan when Terry Steeples was landlord...The days of Joe Cocker and Marty Caine and the Fabulous Disco's...(three mimes) and not forgeting Top covers band fronted by Barry Marshall superb vocalist..."Bitter Suite" sheffields Best at the time. Yes This video was great to watch. Took me back 45 yrs in a blip. Thanks for putting it on here. Made me feel 20 again. Picture is me and mate Done Savage back then.

Hi again. I have two more photos, for the preceding and following seasons. In the latter my dad Clifford was captain and Firth's were champions of the Raleigh League. I also have his medals, gold that year but two seasons later 1922-23 silver, runners up in the Drake League, so I wonder if Drake was a promotion from Raleigh. The inscription on the silver suggests they were the Sheffield and District Works Sports Association, which still has a website, but no longer seems to include football. All pictures attached. I wonder why they were named after Elizabethan sailors, and if there were any other divisions.

Can anyone help with some queries about the local operation of WW1 “On War Service” badges, please? I’m researching the activities of the Sheffield Committee on Munitions of War. This operated via the University of Sheffield, and its remaining records are fairly detailed about contracts with local companies (around a million steel helmets, half a million shells and so on). But many points are far from clear. A summary report of October 1918 says: “For many months the issuing of War Badges required constant care and work, all applications for badges in the City were submitted to the Committee for enquiry and recommendation, thus saving the Badge Department in London a vast amount of work as they came to understand that an application carefully considered and recommended by men on the spot could be granted without further enquiry. The Committee issued a report on the subject of recruiting and the need of exemption for certain branches of the Sheffield Steel Trades. In this connection the return of skilled and necessary men from the colours formed a most important part of the Committee’s work . . . . The enquiry made and reports given in these cases were judged to be so reliable that altogether over 2,000 men have been returned from the Army.” Elsewhere in the records it is indicated that nearly 20,000 badges were issued. It would be great to learn more. For example: Question 1: Why is there a focus in the first words above on “for many months”? The Committee might have been busy with this over several years, but it seems as though one period caused special problems. Reading the helpful account by Tom Tulloch-Marshall (http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/OWS.html), I wonder if this period was the middle of 1916, when the first set of official badges was replaced by more stringent assessment. Does anyone have knowledge/ideas about what was going on in Sheffield at that time? Question 2: The records of the Sheffield Munitions Committee contain no other documentation about this side of their activity. Are any badge applications, acceptances or other forms or letters available, please? Question 3: Each issued badge was accompanied by a certificate naming its holder and presumably prohibiting misuse. It would be good to see one of these certificates; are any available? Question 4: Are examples of Sheffield’s unofficial badges still in circulation? I see (from the article above and elsewhere) that from the early days of the war some companies issued their own badges to employees. Do you know of Sheffield examples? Are there any images of them? These badges must have been part of everyday life in Sheffield, and they need to be properly documented. If you can comment on any of these questions (or anything else about the badges), that would be great. With many thanks.