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Pond Street Bus Station in 1947


Sheffield History

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Yes,and don't the buses look clean in that great livery! The single- deck AEC Regal (bottom left) looks like the 'Demonstrator' LMC745, fleet No. 54 taken "on loan" in January 1940, into the fleet in December that year. More distant is one of the Rotherham liveried Bristol single- deckers on the 77 Doncaster route (jointly operated). The double-deck vehicle in the foreground could be one of the 1936 Weymann bodied AEC Regents which stayed in service for a couple more years by which time a large number of new Leylands were in service. Those wartime utility bus shelters offered little protection from the weather but probably were a better guide to drivers and passengers rather than just a pole sign.

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I have always wondered about this stretch of waste ground, used for parking at the back of the old Pond Street Bus Station, which seems to have been there for years.

Was it created as the result of bomb demolition, or just the clearance of derelict old buildings?

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Would love to know how it looked before that area was cleared. I guess if you go far enough back it would have ben ponds and marshland?

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17 hours ago, Sheffield History said:

Pond Street Bus Station Sheffield.jpg


Great photo of Pond Street Bus Station in Sheffield City Centre way back in 1947


Recognise this scene?

The long  building with the windows just below Pond Street Brewery (the building with the chimney) is the Howard Hotel before it was refurbished in its mock Tudor style.

 

Howard Hotel.jpg

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9 hours ago, southside said:

The long  building with the windows just below Pond Street Brewery (the building with the chimney) is the Howard Hotel before it was refurbished in its mock Tudor style.

Interesting, I assumed the photo was slap bang on the site of the current bus station, but obviously it was actually over to the left of it.

Whats the big white building on the skyline, above the busses. Surely it can't be the building that would later be home to Roxys nightclub?

 

I imagine the tall spire is the cathedral? Would the domed roof to its left be the now demolished St Pauls church on the Peace Gardens?

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The spire is St Marie's RC Church, the dome is on the Lyceum Theatre and the white building is the Central Library (back of) on Surrey Street. Interesting how the Advertising hoardings appeared on buildings in prominent locations after the war damage. 'Dunhills cigarettes' at a time when one of the hit songs was "Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild, wild women" !

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On 12/21/2017 at 09:39, LeadFarmer said:

Would love to know how it looked before that area was cleared. I guess if you go far enough back it would have ben ponds and marshland?

Here is an aerial view before the bus station.

aereal_view_before_CBS.jpg

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So mostly commercial, or industrial from the looks of it, with a smattering of three-story terraced housing along Pond Street itself.

Fantastic image by the way.

So, when was it demolished exactly?

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40 minutes ago, Unitedite Returns said:

So, when was it demolished exactly?

The first bus station was about 1936, but there were still some industrial and other buildings around it in the 50's.

I seem to recollect some plans in the maps on this site showing what was in the area in earlier days.

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http://maps.nls.uk/view/125651209#zoom=4&lat=2696&lon=5112&layers=BT      This is the 1903 OS  (published 1905) plan showing parts of the area, but be aware the Aerial photo was taken looking from west to east whereas the plan is south to north(top). Later years , especially 20's/30's, are mainly only partial revisions until the new survey in the early 50's at 1/1250 scale; see over 300 of these in the map section in the main index.  The first post view was obviously taken from Sheaf Street looking west towards Town.

A 1935 plan is on this other site showing changes which had occurred by then;  https://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html#/Map/435843/387179/12/100747https://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html#/Map/435843/387179/12/100747   , (added to post at 2232hrs).

Further edit to add 1923 status:  https://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html#/Map/435843/387179/12/101162

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10 hours ago, Voldy said:

http://maps.nls.uk/view/125651209#zoom=4&lat=2696&lon=5112&layers=BT      This is the 1903 OS  (published 1905) plan showing parts of the area, but be aware the Aerial photo was taken looking from west to east whereas the plan is south to north(top). Later years , especially 20's/30's, are mainly only partial revisions until the new survey in the early 50's at 1/1250 scale; see over 300 of these in the map section in the main index.  The first post view was obviously taken from Sheaf Street looking west towards Town.

A 1935 plan is on this other site showing changes which had occurred by then;  https://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html#/Map/435843/387179/12/100747https://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html#/Map/435843/387179/12/100747   , (added to post at 2232hrs).

Further edit to add 1923 status:  https://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html#/Map/435843/387179/12/101162

 

 

Superb work 

Very much appreciated! Thank you :)

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34 minutes ago, Sheffield History said:

Does anyone know what this strange thing would be going diagonally across Gilbert Street?

The exposed section of the Midland Railway line, coming out of one tunnel, under Gilbert Street and into the next tunnel.

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Fantastic map Boginspro.

We have always known that my paternal grandfather, a self-employed edge tool grinder had his business premises within W. Jackson and Company's works.

The location of the grinding shop, adjoining the River Sheaf is now clearly known.

We also know that in later years, still self-employed, he took business premises within Mawhood Brothers, Palm Works, also portrayed.

POST-SCRIPT: to the left-hand-side of the Sheaf Island Works, there seems to be a water-course, which probably used to draw water from further up the River Sheaf, and which presumably was used, once upon a time, to supply the power to some of these industrial premises.

Still studying this map, and so, I might feel inclined to add further post-scripts. As said above - absolutely fascinating.

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5 minutes ago, Unitedite Returns said:

Fantastic map Boginspro.

 

Absolutely - and far clearer than most maps from that period. I assume that the colouring and some of the annotation are more recent additions.

It shows that at that time, industry was prolific in the heart of the city. I wonder if some of the factories had been established there to make use of water transport, or water power for mills, on the River Sheaf; I don't actually know if that stretch was navigable but it would seem to be a possible reason.

I also note a "Knacker's Yard", where I presume superannuated horses were "processed". That can't have been pleasant for people in the adjoining "courts" which I presume were blocks of housing.

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1 hour ago, Unitedite Returns said:

We have always known that my paternal grandfather, a self-employed edge tool grinder had his business premises within W. Jackson and Company's works.

There is a short bit about William Jackson and Co. of Sheaf Island Works on Grace's Guide here    ----------       https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Jackson_and_Co

 

58 minutes ago, Athy said:

It shows that at that time, industry was prolific in the heart of the city. I wonder if some of the factories had been established there to make use of water transport, or water power for mills, on the River Sheaf; I don't actually know if that stretch was navigable but it would seem to be a possible reason.

It seems that the area has gone from a place of leisure, when the lords of the manner had fish ponds there, then as industry crept in the water was used for power and other industrial uses, and though I have not seen the area for many years it appears to some extent to be going back to a place of leisure pursuits.  I am told there is a pub called Sheaf Island, is that in the Joseph Rodgers cutlery works please?

mark_w_jackson_sheaf_island_works.jpg

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5 hours ago, Athy said:

Absolutely - and far clearer than most maps from that period. I assume that the colouring and some of the annotation are more recent additions.

 

If you look at the thread by HughW   -  "Oldmapsonline"    in the Maps section on this site, you will find more about those excellent Insurance Maps and where to find them. Warning!  they may be addictive;-)

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14 minutes ago, Voldy said:

If you look at the thread by HughW   -  "Oldmapsonline"    in the Maps section on this site, you will find more about those excellent Insurance Maps and where to find them. Warning!  they may be addictive;-)

No no no. They ARE addictive. I spent far too long studying them when HughW first brought them to our attention, and I still love to look at them. The level of detail is amazing.

The place to find them is http://www.oldmapsonline.org 

Just type Sheffield in the search box, follow the instructions ans be prepared to spend a long time looking at old maps of all kinds. 

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8 hours ago, boginspro said:

Here are some details from 1896.

pond_street_1896.jpg

I see that there are four pubs fronting onto Pond St. But the Queens Head isn't marked as a pub. Anyone know when it became a pub?

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28 minutes ago, LeadFarmer said:

I see that there are four pubs fronting onto Pond St. But the Queens Head isn't marked as a pub. Anyone know when it became a pub?

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

queens head pond hill map.jpg

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There are actually five public houses marked on this stretch of Pond Street. From the Pubs lists on here, I deduce that these were:

75 Greyhound

83/85 Royal Oak

95/97 Grapes

105 Barrel

133 Clarence Hotel

although there seems to have been at least one renumbering of Pond Street and some renaming of the pubs, so I could have some of it wrong. I think we need one of our pub experts to take a look! 

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10 hours ago, boginspro said:

Here are some details from 1896.

pond_street_1896.jpg

What a lovely map. I could (and will) look at those maps for hours.

And when my son asks on Christmas Day morning why non of his presents have been wrapped, i shall speaketh your name :-)

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