Sheffield History Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 SHEAF HOUSE Photo circa 1969 I'm not sure what road/street this would have been classed as being on does anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffield History Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Sheaf House outside Sheffield Midland Train Station circa 1966 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTinsley Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 On 07/04/2020 at 10:14, Sheffield History said: SHEAF HOUSE Photo circa 1969 I'm not sure what road/street this would have been classed as being on does anyone know? Sheaf Street 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamal Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 One on Cross Turner Street Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldomsmith Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 I have a memory that the stainless steel ships bell from HMS Sheffield was in the entrance of Sheaf House. I occasionally had to work in there. Apparently the bell was also made in Sheffield and is now in the cathedral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey1889 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 It definitely was. Did my YTS there in 1987 and remember the bell in the lobby area... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulhib48 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 The downstairs part of Sheaf House accessed by the yard round the back was occupied by WH Smith Wholesale. They supplied most of the newsagents in Sheffield with newspapers and mags from there in the 60s/70s and maybe later. They also had a showroom where you could buy toys and stationery etc The postal address was : Sheaf House , Sheaf Street 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History dude Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 The main function of the building was the railway offices of course. I was on a Manpower Services Commission (MSC) Work Experience Scheme with British Rail in 1977. I started in that building. Unfortunately nobody bothered to explain the scheme to the vast majority of the staff. This caused me lots of trouble, with staff thinking I was cheap labour. There was also an agency called "Manpower" and many staff confused the agency with the first name of the work scheme provider. I was paid an allowance of about £16 pounds a week for a 9 to 5 hours job. The scheme allowed me mostly to watch the job of various members of staff. I wasn't to take part, though I did really. Generally being the type of person I still am, I would assist the person I was assigned. The Rail Unions had reluctantly agreed to the scheme as long as the people employed didn't replace actual staff employed at full rates of pay etc. This meant that if the Union man was around I had to stop anything I was doing and just stand and watch! At the time the scheme became the but of comic jokes on TV and Radio, as British Rail was always under attack from comics. Many of you probably remember the Morecambe and Wise sketch. With them talking about a British Rail Sausage, with the line that "it moves, which is more than their trains do". One of my roles was to work with the mail room people in Sheaf House. There was a lot of mail and messages that had to be sent to the various departments in Sheaf House. One of the few jobs that could be undertaken by anyone under 18 on the railways was this post room job. And I was assigned to probably a very bored and fed up young lad only about a year older than me. Of course to him I was his new dogsbody and he thought he could pile all his work onto me and I had to lump it. He didn't like the fact that he was meant to show me and do the work himself! The result that he became a bully to me. And so I told the staff in charge and they had to transfer me to the main station and that's where I discovered what the railway was like. Moving around the various jobs I picked up that what British Rail really was the old LMS, well in the Sheffield area anyway. The practices I believe had changed little since it was run by the LMS. They had just added on new management. Most of which knew little about the railway. As this episode with the Area Manger for Chesterfield shows. At one point I was transferred to Chesterfield Station by the this area manger. I explained to him that I was supposed to observe ALL the jobs at Chesterfield. So for two weeks he had me sweeping the car park infront of the station. I used to eat with the other members of the station staff at Chesterfield and I explained all about the job to them, including the rules and how I did things at Sheffield Station. The rest of the staff said to me why has he got you doing sweeping? I said I don't know. They were all agreed that what I was doing was pointless and they would have been happy for me to work with them! So they even went to the area manger and told him. The next day I was still sweeping the car park! I did it for the rest of the week too, he wouldn't budge! I was to be assigned to Chesterfield with him for the following week also. And on Friday he mentioned that Monday I was to continue to sweep the Car Park. So I thought I would be off sick for that week and did! The following week I was back in Midland helping out there again. I bumped into the Area Manger again, and he mentioned finishing off the work in Chesterfield. But I managed to avoid going back to Chesterfield. I mentioned the whole incident to the chap from the MSC, who was checking my progress in the scheme. So I think that helped. Though I had some great times for the six months I was on the scheme, they did, as one member of the staff pointed out to me, mess me around a lot. As I still wasn't 18 when the scheme finished, the only job they offered me was the post room at Sheaf House! Yes I was going to work with the bully! And his boss was not much better either! I did try for a job when I was over 18, with B.R. Unfortunately the guy who interviewed me pulled up my scheme records and saw that they had not docked my allowance for the week I was off, entirely B.R.'s fault of course. But by the late 70's employers had lots of choice in staff hired and people who had time off and or were late to work had little chance of getting jobs. So I was sent packing with a flee in my ear! Still the scheme was fun at times, like the Irish porter who was fun to work with and would occasionally shout to passengers "plenty of room on top". Or the woman passenger who asked me "what time is the next train to Bristol" So I went from one end of platform 7 to the other to find out and then finding her again and told her 10.30. Only to be asked "I thought it was 10.31?" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Did Sheaf House once accomodate "overspill" from the Poly or was that in the adjacent block or am I dreaming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snozzle Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 The adjacent block was Dyson House, which was owned by the Poly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Thanks for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffield History Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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