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Does Anyone Know What This Used To Be?


tdh-syorks

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Driven past this hundreds of times and never really noticed it, its on woodseats road,

Any ideas or old pictures??

Cheers Tom

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We've covered this topic before in this forum. I seem to remember that it was a building housing a set of steps leading up to the pair of villas above the structure.

HD

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Right, so through the garden gate,

Through the arch shown today and up more steps to villas, makes sense I suppose,

There is a public staircase to the right of this leading to the houses behind.

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You can see there are 2 gate posts in the low outer wall. But it still seems a strange structure to just be a staircase. Anyone got an old photo of it?

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You would need a substantial structure like that to climb such a steep banking in so short a space from the road. I guess the stairs would wind around inside it. A straight forward flight of steps would be like the north face of the Eiger.

If you look at the 1904 map you can see a series of outlines in front of the villas that seem to have pathways leading out of the top of the structures and splitting to the corner of each villa.

My guess is that the "thing" being located against such a steep banking became unsafe due to subsidence at some time and was taken out of service.

It certainly seems to be something to do with the villas as it appeared at the same time as them.

What happened to the previous thread about this structure ?

I'm sure it was on this forum.

HD

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There's a photo on Picture Sheffield of Woodbank Crescent which shows that the villas were gone by the time of the photo.
It shows a long run of chestnut paling fencing along the frontage where the villas were.
It's dated 14/08/1966 and is ref. S20703.
They can be seen in longshot at the extreme middle right of an aerial photo ref. S12443

HD

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Surely, ( who are you calling Shirley ), there is a simple way to establish beyond all reasonable doubt what the "thing" really was for.

There was a time when someone like Vox would have been up there in a jiffy, pointing his camera through the neat rectangular hole that some friendly vandal has knocked out.

I'm not sure how Vox could get his van included in an interior shot of the "thing" but I'm sure he would find a way.

I'd have a go myself but the hydraulic hoist necessary to get me over the little brick wall might be a dead give away.

If anyone does have a go, my money's on a flight of steps and probably a rusting Sainsbury's shopping trolley and a Toffee Crisp wrapper..

It might be interesting to see what's still left of the villas in the jungle accessible from Woodbank Crescent above.

HD

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The pennies just dropped that the house numbers refer to Chesterfield Road.

Therefore there must have been access to the villas from Chesterfield Road and unless the occupants abseiled up and down the bank on their way to and from the office each morning and evening, there must have been steps, simples.

HD

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"Your wish ---" as they say HD

I'm on it next time I'm in the area.

I'll walk down the path from Woodbank as well.

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Great stuff, thanks for the info,

I'm tempted myself to stick a camera through the hole,

Couldn't imagine a house with its own (muggers ally).

But that's what the 1904 map seems to show.

If the villas are long gone maybe they were there long before the rest of the housing behind on

Woodbank crescent.

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Great stuff, thanks for the info,

I'm tempted myself to stick a camera through the hole,

Couldn't imagine a house with its own (muggers ally).

But that's what the 1904 map seems to show.

If the villas are long gone maybe they were there long before the rest of the housing behind on

Woodbank crescent.

The Villas on Chesterfield Road appear on a 1898 map,

as do the houses behind on Woodbank Crescent, prior to that shown on a 1894 map,

the area appears to be woodland and fields, with a footpath heading east to Derbyshire Lane.

c.1894

Link to Flash Earth

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I'm none the wiser

At the moment it is full of rubbish but it doesn't look as if there have been any steps inside.

View from above. Concrete slab with a seat and railings.

There are a couple of what look like water pipes on the walls.

And a hole which has been bricked up. Too small for any sort of exit though. and can't have been a window because it faces back into the hill.

More to follow.

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All of which brings me to another question.

Just up the road (Chesterfield Road) from here, there is a bricked up doorway in the wall. Where did that lead to ?

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There was a time when someone like Vox would have been up there in a jiffy, pointing his camera through the neat rectangular hole that some friendly vandal has knocked out.

I'm not sure how Vox could get his van included in an interior shot of the "thing" but I'm sure he would find a way.

HD

Just managed to squeeze it through the hole HD :)

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Guest plain talker

Amazing work, Vox, that you managed to get your van into that little building!

Well done ;)

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