Gleadless

[lysander]

I recently came across the official guide to the Parish of Eckington ( civil parish) published by the Parish Council sometime in the 1950/60s and certainly before the boundary changes of 1967. The Parish consisted of Eckington, Renishaw, Spinkhill, Mosborough ( spelled Mosbrough), Halfway and Holbrook, Ridgeway, Marsh Lane ( Bramley).Troway and Gleadless. The latter is described as:

"This is the largest ward in Eckington with a population of over 6,800 borders the SE suburbs of Sheffield. Its development is entirely residential, began in 1937 when people from Sheffield began buying houses in the locality. Since then private developers, Sheffield Corporation, Chesterfield RDC and the Royal Air Force ( who had a balloon camp here during the war and now have a signal station in the area) have built houses in Gleadless. Sheffield Corporation, the largest developers have built 258 flats, 10 maisonettes and 351 houses as well as 159 garages: the Chesterfield RDC have provided 189 dwellings, the RAF 52 and private developers 650. Thus open country has been turned into a growing town of Commuters with its own shops, churches and schools and a very lively community spirit. In fact the Charnock Green Community Association is one of the oldest in the country dating back to 1926. The area is entirely residential with a very high proportion of the residents working "over the border" in Sheffield. The parish church is a handsome new building that comes under the Ridgeway vicar whilst also new is Charnock Hall Junior and Primary school, a steel and glass building of a high architectural standard".

 

At the time the guide was written Sheffield Corporation Transport and East Midlands Motor Services offered no less than ten regular services to the Eckington area.