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Excerpts from the book should cover most of the questions. SIMMONS, NEVILL (Publisher and Bookseller, of Sheffield). B. [16..] D. 21 July, 1735. The question was asked in " N. & Q." about fifty years ago by a Sheffield gentleman, Mr. Henry Jackson, surgeon " Who was Nevill Simmons ? " He was the first bookseller and publisher of whom we have any trace in Sheffield. The Cutlers' Company's Accounts show dealings with one or two earlier names, but they have not come down to us on publications like the name of Nevill Simmons, and ought not to be taken seriously into account. The late Rev. Giles Hester's pamphlet, "Nevill Simmons, Bookseller and Publisher," . . . (Sheffield, 1893), was very helpful and interesting at the time it appeared. He said, " We catch the first glimpse of [the Sheffield] Nevill Simmons in 1692," . . . and ..." There is reason to believe Nevill Simmons came to Sheffield in 1692." This at least is a sign of relationship between Nevill Simmons (IV.) and Thomas Simmons (III.) How close was it ? I can quite imagine they were brothers, and that Nevill Simmons (IV.), whose imprints at " the Three Golden Cocks " cease in 1681, now made way for B. Simmons, who came on the scene in 1681, " at the Three Golden Cocks," and continued up to 1684. There is every probability that Nevill Simmons (IV.) left London about this time and settled in Sheffield and married, as we have seen, in 1687. We sadly need proof of the actual relationship of these persons. I venture to think, however, with a careful consideration of the dates, &c., it is only a matter of time for some one in a fortunate moment to clear the matter up and show the connection between the various members of this family and thus answer the question exactly, " Who was Nevill Simmons ? " To resume the account of Nevil Simmons (V.) in Sheffield. His book shop was in the Market Place, and next to that of his Father-in-law, Thomas Bretland, between the bottom of High Street and the narrow passage leading to Hartshead. The identical place was a book shop and post office, &c., occupied by Nevill Simmons and his sons, Nevill and Samuel, for just over one hundred years. Nevil Simmons had nine children. His wife, Ruth, died in 1707, and a brass plate is found on the floor just within the chancel door of the Parish Church, Sheffield, bearing the following inscription : " Here lyeth the body of Ruth late wife of Nevill Simmons interred ye 25th of December 1707, aged 41. She left 4 sons and five daughters. Nevill their 2d son died June ye 11, 1730, Aged 37. Elizabeth their third Daughter died May the i5th I 75S aged 56 years." The imprints we give in this volume of Nevil Simmons in Sheffield are reliable evidences, with the exception of the last one in 1724, which may possibly be attributed to his son Nevil Simmons (VI.), of Sheffield. Nevil Simmons (V.), whom we will now call " Father " Simmons, as he appears in a certain Diary, was now getting on into years, and it is possible by about the end of 1722 he had relinquished the business in Sheffield to his second son, Nevil. Meanwhile the death of Nevil Simmons, Junior (or VI. of our Summary), of Sheffield, took place as stated, on June nth, 1730, at the early age of 37. He was buried on the I3th, and in the Register is described as " Bookseller." During all this time and up to 1735 we have no trace of " Father " Nevil Simmons, but the end is near. He is evidently living with his son-in-law, presumably in Nicholas Lane, London, and has now become an old man. We read in the Diary ; " Father Simmons was Suddenly removed from us July 21, [1735], being found dead in his Bed in te [sic] Posture He usually slept with his Head upon his hand. There seem'd to have been no Struggles of dissolving Nature, but as with inoffensiveness he lived so without uneasiness He dyed. He is gone to Rest." Now arises a question we should like to see settled. Where was " Father " Nevil Simmons buried ? We read he was buried at Sheffield Parish Church. [burgery of Sheffield, 1901]. The Register, however, has been searched in vain and so has that of Wakefield. Neither is there any Will found at York. It is almost a certainty the burial took place in London or the neighbourhood, and having already searched also in a few directions there without avail, the question still awaits better fortune. Any book or pamphlet bearing the imprint of Nevill Simmons Bookseller in Sheffield is a rarity and a much desired item. I imagine the list here given is almost exhaustive, however, if the supposition given earlier [see BAXTER, Richard] has any basis, there may be about 18 other items to be added.

Although it's our local cemetry I have not been in there for about 5 years. looked at the war memorial then (up at the top of the hill edge nearest to the lane into deep pits and the Travellers Rest boozer) and it was not a disgrace at that time, in fact it looked very much like those Picture Sheffield images in the links.

Think you will find the fish and chip shop on Manor Lane was Steads, Vinney's ran the shop further up the hill. JIGINC

Does anyone remember if there was more than one shop on Bromley Street please? The one I'm interested was run by the Pyecroft family. Willis and Amy (nee Lane) and their daughter Joyce b 1924 , who married a Berresford. My Dad used to watch Roger Taylor as a boy practicing on the Weston Park tennis courts. The trainer used to put sixpence in the corner of the serving square and if he managed to hit the target, he kept the cash. Vicki

Thursday was the traditional half day for Sheffield If you shopped at Gleadless Town End, half the shops were shut but the others on the White Lane side of the road were open. Their half day was Wednesday as they came under Derbyshire. Don't think many shops uphold either day now. Vicki

I wonder if anyone has any more information on OWEN BRADSHAW, who drew the Gloops cartoons in The Star from 1936 to November 1946 when he died suddenly at the age of 56. He was born around 1890 and joined the staff of the Sheffield Weekly Telegraph at the age of 14 in 1904. He later became a sub-editor on that paper, and combined those duties with that of artist. At some stage he also started doing some artistic work for The Star, hence he was on hand to take over the job of producing the daily Gloops cartoons. (Does anyone know who was the previous Gloops cartoonist?) Owen Bradshaw served with the Sheffield City Battalion in the Great War, and was a sergeant. In WW2 he served with the Home Guard. At the time of his death he was living at 44 Watt Lane, and he left a widow and a daughter.

I suppose this would go under the "Other" Section: The Cantors national chain of furniture shops, naturally called "Cantor's" was started by a Sheffield cabinet maker Abe Cantor. Under Music: Were the "Human League" band members on the list? I don't know what their names are. Also one of the members of "The Beautiful South" - went to Lydgate Lane School for a while and might have been in King Edwards.(?) Can't remember his name. The following bits don't really count as the people were just passing through Sheffield. Other: "Sir Monagtue Burton - of the Burton tailoring/clothes group. Founded from one small shop in Chesterfield. Though not a Sheffielder his business empire orignated in this area. Montague Burton married Cissie Marks, of Worksop at North Church Street Synagogue in Sheffield." (does not exist anymore) Samuel Marks who was an important figure in South African History. Amongst other things he was a mediator between the Boers and British in negotiations that ended the Boer War in 1902. He was born in Lithuania but emigrated. He arrived in Sheffield in 1866 and worked in a shop but was disatisfied at the prospect of spending the rest of life as a store assistant immigrated to South Africa in 1868. I remember reading in Enid Blyton's biography by Barbara Stoney, that her father was born in Kent but had later lived in Sheffield for a long time and even had a Yorkshire accent. I think he either worked as a cutlery salesman or selling Yorkshire cloth. I can't remember. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I should check it out but the book's in storage. Don't know why she didn't put in more Yorkshire characters in her books instead of middle class Southerners ;)

Evening of the great Sheffield flood. My great grandfather was an infant when the cottage they lived in on Holme Lane got flooded. The story goes that if it was not for the fact that the crib he was in was able to float I would not be here today. "My birthday March the 12th" .

Slitting Mill Cottage, Slitting Mill lane, Sheet 295.01 Attercliffe 1903 This cottage stands on the site of one of the oldest recorded iron works in Sheffield. The slitting (ie rolling) mill was originally a 'finery' and forge where pig iron from the Shrewsbury blast furnaces at Wadsley and Kimberworth was processed into malleable iron in the 16th. century. Known as the Upper Forge or Hammer, it was one of two powered by water taken from the Don at Sanderson's weir. The Shrewsbury estate accounts record that 89 tons of iron were produced here at the 'Upper Hammer' in 1587. Detail from Fairbank's 1795 map of Sheffield. The forge was converted to a slitting mill in the 1740s but by 1819 industrial activity seems to have ceased and at some time thereafter the goit was filled in and the site became a farm. The buildings shown on the 1905 map are probably the remnants of Slitting Mill Farm occupied in 1876 by George Darwin and possibly twenty years earlier by Benjamin Seaman. In the twentieth century the site was reunited with its industrial past, built over by the Industrial Steels Company on Stevenson road.

There are a couple of pictures on Picture Sheffield, but it is listed as a boys home. Picture Sheffield Image Another Picture Sheffield Image The building is still at the bottom of Lydgate lane, but is now offices.

Bruce Woodcock Born: 18th January 1921, Doncaster. Died: 21st December 1997, aged 76. Fights: 39. Won 35, lost 4. Career span 1942-50. British and Empire heavyweight champion 1945-50; European heavyweight champion 1946-49. Britain’s boxing hero of the years immediately following the Second World War, Bruce Woodcock was a decent boxer with a fair dig, but wasn’t good enough to survive in the higher class. He is fondly remembered as Britain’s best and bravest heavyweight hope in the 40s and early 50s. In July 1945 he defeated the current champion Jack London at White Hart Lane to take the British and heavyweight crowns. He won by a KO in round six after having London down three times in that round. Woodcock went to New York to make his American debut in Madison Square Garden against New Yorker Tami Mauriello, and, after being stunned by a clash of heads, was knocked out in the fifth round. Yet a fortnight later he outpointed Freddie Mills over 12 rounds at Harringay. Two months later he KO’d Albert Renet of France in six rounds to become European champion. Immensely popular, he then enjoyed one of his best wins when he wore down the world light-heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevish for an eighth round stoppage before a sell-out crowd at Harringay in Sept 1946. However, Woodcock was badly hurt in a seven rounds mauling by the big and powerful Joe Baksi at Harringay in April 1947. (Baksi had beaten Freddie Mills, the leading British light-heavyweight, in six rounds in London in November 1946.) Woodcock showed great courage before the referee stopped it in round seven. It was said that in a later era the fight would have been ended in round one. The pounding Woodcock took was terrible. A right almost had Bruce out in round one (he went down three times in that round, and twice in the second round) and, when it was all over his left eye was seriously damaged. With hindsight he should have been taken straight to hospital. Instead he was driven home to Yorkshire. When the eye showed no improvement, he went to hospital, where doctors discovered he was in danger of going blind, and they operated. He was in hospital a month. “I had a detached retina,” he said. “A specialist told me I must never box again, but what could I do? I had a young family, and it was the only way I knew of making money.” He also broke his jaw. The film of Woodcock’s fight with Baksi is chilling. Woodcock said later: “I couldn’t see properly. The whole vast arena seemed to be swimming round me in a crazy whirlpool of lights and heads and white shirts…I lost all sense of balance and distance, all count of time. I don’t remember going down but Tom says I was on my back, looking vaguely up at the roof.” He returned to the ring in September 1948 with an effortless four-round knockout of a reluctant Lee Orma (real name Frank Czajewski, from Chicago), who was pilloried for his lack of fight. In December 1948 Woodcock fought Lee Savold for the first time. It says much for the popularity of boxing in England in those days that when Savold arrived at Waterloo Station in London, he was welcomed by huge crowds, who ignored film stars Virginia Mayo and Joan Caulfield, who also stepped off the train. The fight was billed as an eliminator for the heavyweight title. Before a sell-out crowd at Harringay, Woodcock won on a low-blow disqualification in the fourth round. After a successful Empire title defence in Johannesburg against Johnny Ralph came a fourteenth round KO win (to take the vacant British and European and Empire heavyweight titles) over the reigning world light-heavyweight champion Freddie Mills before a 46,000 crowd at White City, London, on June 2nd 1949. In 1950 promoter Jack Solomons declared a June 6th fight between Woodcock and Lee Savold (it was their second meeting) a world heavyweight title fight following the retirement, fifteen months earlier, of Joe Louis. Solomons canvassed and received support from the British Board of Boxing Control and from the New York State Commission. Solomons was foiled when Savold (born in Minnesota, and of Norwegian descent) won because of a dreadful curving cut above Woodcock’s left eye that curtailed the fight at the end of the fourth round. Blood cascaded down Woodcock’s face from the gash, and his nose and mouth bled, too. This time the crowd at White City was estimated at 60,000. Savold’s claim that he had won the world title was never accepted in the US. (Savold lost the remaining two fights of his career, against 37 year-old Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano.) Wooodcock’s finale came when he retired in the eleventh round against Jack Gardner after his one good eye was swollen shut during their fight on 14th November 1950, and he gave up boxing. Eventually, Woodcock did go blind in that left eye, and lost interest in boxing, but he remained a down-to-earth, honest man who preferred a quiet homely existence to the bright lights. He ran a pub in Doncaster for some years. He died on 21st December 1997 aged 76. Can anyone add any more --and a picture, perhaps?

THE PRIDE OF DINNINGTON R A O B CLUB 39 BARLEYCROFT LANE, DINNINGTON SHEFFIELD

ST.MARYS CATHOLIC CLUB MORTOMLEY LANE HIGH GREEN SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S35 3HR

STEEL CITY COMMUNITY CLUB THE PAVILLION, SHIREGREEN LANE, SHEFFIELD

OUGHTIBRIDGE WAR MEMORIAL SPORTS CLUB STATION LANE OUGHTIBRIDGE SHEFFIELD S35 0HS

LA PLATA SOCIAL CLUB & INSTITUTE WALKLEY LANE SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S6 2PB

JUBILEE SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB CLAYWHEELS LANE SHEFFIELD S6 1LY

ECKINGTON MINERS WELFARE SOCIAL CLUB LTD THE BUNGALOWS ECKINGTON SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S21 4FA also listed at ECKINGTON MINERS WELFARE SOCIAL CLUB LTD PIPEYARD LANE, ECKINGTON SHEFFIELD S21 4FA

DIAL HOUSE SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB FAR LANE SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S6 4FF Picture Sheffield link : http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/pi...ff.refno=c01547 http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/pi...ff.refno=c01550

CIVIL SERVICE SOCIAL CLUB GREEN LANE ECCLESFIELD SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S35 9WY

CARBROOK CONSERVATIVE CLUB 49-53 BROUGHTON LANE SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S9 2DD Fredk. A. RODGERS sec. (Carbrook Working Men's Conservative Club) 337 Attercliffe Common White's 1911 Henry SODEN steward (Carbrook Working Men's Conservative Club) 337 Attercliffe Common White's 1911 1925 John Christopherson, sec/Robet Panton, steward, Carbrook Conservative Club, 337 Attercliffe Road

BRACKEN MOOR SPORTS CLUB BRACKEN MOOR LANE STOCKSBRIDGE SHEFFIELD S36 2AN

BARLEYCORN WORKING MENS CLUB 5 BARLEYCROFT LANE, DINNINGTON, SHEFFIELD

Yes its carlton lane the railway embankment is in the back ground Not sure which sheaf line deker it is they had three marshall/ AN68 one of them didnt last long only two were used at anyone time the third was acquired to replace the one that was lost due to major mechanical problems

Chris Anybody got any pictures of old cinema posters? In the old days there used to be posters all over the place advertising what was coming at the local cinemas. I remember, for instance, there was a huge hoarding just up Kilton Hill, off Burngreave Road, and I always looked for this as I passed on the top deck of a tram because on one board it displayed all the films showing Mon, Tues & Wed and, separately, Thurs Fri and Sat at the Paragon, the Roxy, and the Esseldo Lane Top; and on an adjoining board it advertised films at the Coliseum and, I think, one of the city centre cinemas. There may also have been one advertsising the Empire. All those old boards have long since disappeared, but a photograph of a display of them would be a major contribution to social history --and the education of the modern film-buff! (Mind you, I also wonder if Dunsbyowl can remember when Wednesday used to have posters all over the city --and United, of course. You never see them now.)