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Change Alley in Sheffield City Centre


Sheffield History

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22 minutes ago, SteveHB said:

A polite notice  :)

Never take "Google Maps" as fact.

There are loads of mistooks!

 

Oh, indeed! Hence the question mark I put in there. :) Seems Google Maps is very confused on this occasion.

 

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13 minutes ago, deejayone said:

 

Oh, indeed! Hence the question mark I put in there. :) Seems Google Maps is very confused on this occasion.

 

I know :)

Could be a starter for a Topic.

Spot The Google Maps Misteaks hehe

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Here's a view inside the King's Head, Change Alley, taken June 1902. The photographer was Henry Bedford of Bedford Lemere And Company, and the photo was taken for Seligman and Mackay (Sheffield) Ltd, hotel proprietors who owned the Kings Head.

1305416550_KingsHead.png.5b12475afde88e1ed02aa677668116a9.png

and the smoking room:

921442039_KingsHead_2.png.1ceb7458277c80e9157789a4ae6706bb.png

more photos here:  Kings Head Change Alley

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On 13/04/2020 at 07:11, tozzin said:

An ancient street completely lost in the name of progress.

 

 

It's fascinating tp me - don't know why but I'm totally intrigued by it!

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I was told many years ago that the original Change Alley was where the money changers did their business, they were mainly Jewish and not allowed to ply their trade within the walls of Sheffield Castle. I’ve no evidence to support this but thought it worth posting.

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Change Alley does not appear on the 1736 Gosling map.  Leonard Webster (Town Trustee 1744-73 and landlord of Kings Head) cut up the bowling green of the Kings Head for building plots, and made the throroughfare called Change Alley.  That name is used to describe a way into the yard of a large inn.

Although Jewish travellers and journeymen visited Sheffield from the 1650s to buy silverware and cutlery, it was not until 1786 that there is evidence that Jews lived in the town. Isaac and Philip Bright from Biarritz (1786). Jacob Gehrwin (1787) and Abraham Gershon (1797) were the first to live in Sheffield.

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3 hours ago, DaveJC said:

I was told many years ago that the original Change Alley was where the money changers did their business, they were mainly Jewish and not allowed to ply their trade within the walls of Sheffield Castle. I’ve no evidence to support this but thought it worth posting.

The name may give a reference to the changing of the stagecoach horses, just a thought. Charles Dickens sampled the hospitality of the Kings Head on his visits to the town.

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13 hours ago, Edmund said:

Change Alley does not appear on the 1736 Gosling map.  Leonard Webster (Town Trustee 1744-73 and landlord of Kings Head) cut up the bowling green of the Kings Head for building plots, and made the throroughfare called Change Alley.  That name is used to describe a way into the yard of a large inn.

Although Jewish travellers and journeymen visited Sheffield from the 1650s to buy silverware and cutlery, it was not until 1786 that there is evidence that Jews lived in the town. Isaac and Philip Bright from Biarritz (1786). Jacob Gehrwin (1787) and Abraham Gershon (1797) were the first to live in Sheffield.

We could do with my wife’s Uncle Levi on this one, sadly he’s been confined to head office for some years now.

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Whilst we’re adding a Semitic arm this thread it came to mind that Jew Lane is very close to Change Alley, just a thought.

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, DaveJC said:

Whilst we’re adding a Semitic arm this thread it came to mind that Jew Lane is very close to Change Alley, just a thought



It is however cant' find any links at all between the two

Not that much is known about Jew Lane but it's thought not to refer to the same definition of 'jew' at all

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11 hours ago, Sheffield History said:



It is however cant' find any links at all between the two

Not that much is known about Jew Lane but it's thought not to refer to the same definition of 'jew' at all

I know exactly where you’re coming from, but logic implies that there is an explanation somewhere out there. It could quite simply be a product of poor spelling (very likely that one of my ancestors is the culprit, looking at my expertise in this area), however a three letter word/name doesn’t leave a lot of scope, does it?

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1 hour ago, DaveJC said:

I know exactly where you’re coming from, but logic implies that there is an explanation somewhere out there. It could quite simply be a product of poor spelling (very likely that one of my ancestors is the culprit, looking at my expertise in this area), however a three letter word/name doesn’t leave a lot of scope, does it?

It doesn't! It's a real teaser this one!


Here's what we found  so far - 

 

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3 hours ago, Sheffield History said:

EuCo3UnXcAQeZcQ.jpg

This is the start of 

 

3 hours ago, Sheffield History said:

EuCo3UnXcAQeZcQ.jpg

This photo shows the start of Change Alley.

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On 26/07/2020 at 22:42, Edmund said:

Here's a view inside the King's Head, Change Alley, taken June 1902. The photographer was Henry Bedford of Bedford Lemere And Company, and the photo was taken for Seligman and Mackay (Sheffield) Ltd, hotel proprietors who owned the Kings Head.

1305416550_KingsHead.png.5b12475afde88e1ed02aa677668116a9.png

and the smoking room:

921442039_KingsHead_2.png.1ceb7458277c80e9157789a4ae6706bb.png

more photos here:  Kings Head Change Alley

Further to the photo above.

D96EBD7C-E594-4FBB-9D4B-89AB0851E147.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Calvin72 said:

In the General Cemetery. I assume Mr.Booker was someone of some standing.

 

20210401_104237.jpg

Booker, Thos. (, town's husband & collector of rents & debts).
     Address: 14 Change Alley, in 1833.
     Recorded in: Whites History & Directory of Sheffield - 1833.
     

Booker, Thos. (, accountant, appraiser and collector).
     Address: 4 Change alley, in 1837.
     Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham - 1837.
 

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On 25/03/2020 at 14:42, Sheffield History said:

ETyMR6-WoAAGo-f.jpg

How much can you remember about Change Alley in Sheffield City Centre?

What exactly was it? What buildings, shops and businesses were there?

Any memories of change alley that you can share with us?

Can't remember the alley but I remember those little shops well.  One of them was, IIRC, a Ladybird kid's clothes shop, which had an animated display.  I could have watched it all day if I'd not been dragged off by my mum.  Another one of them was, I believe, a cafe.  Part of the ritual of going to town with my mum - I was about 4 - was we'd stop at the cafe for a drink and a sandwich, look at the Ladybird shop for a bit, then my mum would go into another one of the shops - McKenzies - who sold brass ornaments and stuff like that.  She was mad on 'em.  I'd always want to go round the corner to Wilson Gumpert's, the toy shop in Fitzalan Square, and sometimes, we would.

The little shops had some illuminations on them one Christmas, an animated display that was - I guess - supposed to be the Beatles or something like that.  

For all I know, that woman with the little lad in the above pic could be me and my mum, but probably not.  😄

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