Sheffield in the 1980's

[Sheffield History]

What's your memories of Sheffield in the 1980's ?

Were they good or bad ??

I do remember one thing - the skinheads that used to congegate on the balcony at the markets !!

Loads of em !

[Hjdary]

Speaking of the Markets....I know they are to be knocked down soon, but they still advertize on their web site, tours of the castle underneath.

Does any one else fancie another forum meet? It might be a very interesting day out.

Also a good excuse to take lots of photos of another fantastic Sheffield landmark that we're about to loose.

[Guest tsavo]

Cracking idea.....just wish I could join you!

[Guest scottie1980s skin]

What's your memories of Sheffield in the 1980's ?

Were they good or bad ??

I do remember one thing - the skinheads that used to congegate on the balcony at the markets !!

Loads of em !

[Guest scottie1980s skin]

i used to hang around pond street there used to be a lot of skinheads mods ect that hung around the showboat we never botherd no 1 we just met for a chat n laff people came from all the estates there wasnt much else to do in the 80s except the odd disco or pub to go too for a dance i remember the bluebell pub to where alot of skinheads hung around ,,and down castle market were we used to buy our clothes from harringtons memories eh

[Guest liamdsmith]

I was or tried to be a Casual, wearing the uniform of Pringle, Lyle & Scott and Farahs.

Our turf was fargate, and we knew not to go to the markets as thats were teh Skins and Mods would be, most likely buying their Pilot Jackets and drainpipes from Harringtons!

[Guest Danny]

Holy Thread revival batman!!!!! .

My memories of Sheffield in the eighties are BRILLIANT! I was only 3 when the decade started but i seem to have crammed a lot in that 10 years growing up in and around Abbeydale.

Shopping in town, no Meadowhall! Actually wanting to go to the markets to the toy stalls. My mum would take my older brother and myself shopping every weekend to get fresh fruit and veg and meat from the markets. Clothes as well, (Harringtons, Dollar jeans etc) I remember my Mum had a grant from the education each year for our clothes. We used to get skin tight jeans and loads and loads of t-shirts and then use these to play in and our best stuff that she bought was kept for school.

Eating in Wimpy at the top of the Moor and being all confused when going to Mcd's for the first time and you didnt get plates or knives and forks < removed >

Playing out side, all of the time! Riding bikes, playing cricket, chase etc etc etc.

I loved the eighties, things seemed far simpler. Less technology, more imagination.

Dan

[Blacky]

I was born in the mid 70's so the eighties were my childhood!!!

When the weather was half decent we would always drop our school bags at home and be straight out playing football on the top field - pop back home for some tea and then once it had "settled" be straight out again until around 9ish when it would be home for either "The Equalizer", "St Elsewhere" or if i was lucky "Magnum PI"

On Saturdays it was usually a trip into town. footie kit from Suggs or maybe a cassette from hmv a few doors down - followed by chips & bolognese sauce from one of the kiosks on the moor - do you remember the old lay-out with the little slopes down to some benches? - and maybe even a top from "Mark One" or the "Gwat shop"

Sundays was usually swimming at Sheaf Valley!

Six weeks holiday meant morning TV - Wack-a-day on ITV with Mallets Mallet ("Mr Mallet, Mr Mallet i need the toilet!) & the Transformers cartoon - then on the beeb it was The Pink Panther, The Monkees & Why dont you.

The first world cup i can remember was Spain 1982. I remember "legging" it back home from school so i could watch Honduras, New Zealand & Northern Ireland - coupled with that was the obligatory collecting of Panini stickers - i still have a half full "Football 85" book in the wardrobe somewhere.

if we werent playing footie it was either "dalivio" or "three pegs"

pretty random, but very happy memories!

[Guest Danny]

Blacky, i remember all of that stuff!

Also, Action Man! I loved my Action Man. I had three, two regular and one which was a spaceman version and he had blonde hair and a pull cord which meant he could speak! That didnt last long after i took him in the bath! Oops!

Delavio!! I was going to put that but wasnt sure of the spelling.

I also remember being taken to watch 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' at the ABC on Angel Street. It was awesome!!! And I did the theme tune all the way through the Hole in the Road on the way back to the bus stop, all while pretending to crack my bull whip! .

I remember playing with toy guns, I had a good collection, some quite authentic looking too.

I remember my first computer, a ZX Spectrum 128k with the built in datacorder! I thought I was the bees knees when i unwrapped that christmas morning.

We moved from Abbeydale to Dronfield in '89, so there is a clear seperation in my mind as to when the 80's finished and the 90's started.

The scary thing for me these days is that my son is the same age now as I was when we moved house in '89. In one way it seems a million years ago, but in another it seems like just yesterday.

I hopw the next 21 years doesn't go quite so fast!

Dan

[Blacky]

Blacky, i remember all of that stuff!

Also, Action Man! I loved my Action Man. I had three, two regular and one which was a spaceman version and he had blonde hair and a pull cord which meant he could speak! That didnt last long after i took him in the bath! Oops!

Delavio!! I was going to put that but wasnt sure of the spelling.

I also remember being taken to watch 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' at the ABC on Angel Street. It was awesome!!! And I did the theme tune all the way through the Hole in the Road on the way back to the bus stop, all while pretending to crack my bull whip! .

I remember playing with toy guns, I had a good collection, some quite authentic looking too.

I remember my first computer, a ZX Spectrum 128k with the built in datacorder! I thought I was the bees knees when i unwrapped that christmas morning.

We moved from Abbeydale to Dronfield in '89, so there is a clear seperation in my mind as to when the 80's finished and the 90's started.

The scary thing for me these days is that my son is the same age now as I was when we moved house in '89. In one way it seems a million years ago, but in another it seems like just yesterday.

I hopw the next 21 years doesn't go quite so fast!

Dan

Remember having a "spud gun" and my mom going mad at me one tea time cos i'd ruined all the potatoes.

had a fair collection of Action man stuff but my allegiances lay with Luke, Han & Darth!!!

Remember buying my first singles in the 80s also - bought two at the same time - poles apart, they were my perfect cousin by the undertones (the one with the subbuteo player on the front of the cover) and the smurfs & Dr Abrahams!!! bizarre!

What about the dreaded visit of the "nit-nurse" at school, also milk & register monitors!?!?!?!?

[RichardS]

Early, mid eighties.....pen top bangers, Bobby arrows, watching the shows in Norfolk park with the police motorcycle displays, getting carted home in a police car after getting caught hedge hopping and my mum giving me a 'right hiding', millhouses lido, sheaf valley baths, silver blades skates, out from dawn till dusk, the tiny pitch and putt in Richmond park, getting chased off the 'parkie', making 'dens', stradbrooke school vs woodhouse west end.....

...good times!!

[RichardS]

Early, mid eighties.....pen top bangers, Bobby arrows, watching the shows in Norfolk park with the police motorcycle displays, getting carted home in a police car after getting caught hedge hopping and my mum giving me a 'right hiding', millhouses lido, sheaf valley baths, silver blades skates, out from dawn till dusk, the tiny pitch and putt in Richmond park, getting chased off the 'parkie', making 'dens', stradbrooke school vs woodhouse west end.....

...good times!!

[Guest Danny]

I had loads of Star Wars figures/spaceships too, I remember i cut the head off my Han Solo one day by accident, I was mortified.

Nit nurse!!! , yeah i remember. I remember standing in line cringing at the thought of the embarassment i would feel if she found anything, all the while knowing full well i didnt have them.

And spud guns, i remember these. My mum went mad at me too as she was finding little pellets of potato all over the house for weeks, and my clothes were all covered in the starchy water that leaked out, .

What about eighties TV? I remember it being a real family event to all sit down and watch either the A-Team or Knightrider on a Saturday at about 5-ish. All sat there with our tea on our laps. Regardless of what we were doing outside or wherever, everything stopped to watch these. If i watch these now, i cringe at how bad they are.

There was also Airwolf, the Fall Guy and Dukes of Hazzard. What about crappy Wrestling and The Waltons on a sunday morning?

I remember some of ther stuff my mum watched too, St Elsewhere like you said, she loved Magnum (more Tom Selleck than anything else ) Cageny and Lacy, Hill Street Blues, Quincy, Hart to Hart (".........and when they met, it was moider!")

Its all coming back to me now!

[Blacky]

On a roll now.

Remember everyone guessing what Lacey was saying to that flasher on the opening credits of Cagney & Lacey.

Friday night was sometimes video night - used to be a member of "Salvins Video" at woodseats - which is now Blockbuster.

Also remember some kids (well, me really!) with the thin white lines across the bottom of their jeans where their mum had taken them down!

Fall Guy was ace ("I could jump from a tall building i could ruin a brand new car.....") - million dollar man, TJ Hooker, North & South mini-series with Patrick Swayze?

and what about Dempsey & Makepeace! she was very fit and still looks good now on Eastenders!!!

[Guest Danny]

Yeah!!! Dempsey and Makepeace!!! I had forgotten all about that. I dont watch Deadenders, i didnt know she was in it. I used to love that.

I remember North and South too, my Mum and older brother loved it, it was a little too 'grown up' for it to hold my attention for very long. Do you remember Mike Hammer? US detective program with Stacey Keach? Or 'The Master' about a ninja and it had Lee Van Cleef in it? I also remember my mum used to work nights and my brother and I used to stay up and watch Cheers. We would ring mum and say we were off to bed, then stay up and watch that. Also, Moonlighting, with Bruce Willis and Cybil Sheppard, brilliant.

This last christmas I got the entire Miami Vice box set. We have watched them all. Its better than i remember, i love it, .

This has turned into more of an eighties TV thread than anything else, oh well.

I do remember it being a rare treat to have a 'Video' out of the shop. We used Passport Video or Vegas Video on Abbeydale rd, neither of which are there any longer. The video players with the big piano keys and top loading.

Something i often think about is the amount of cars now compared to just 20 odd years ago. When i dive past Empre Rd where i used to live, the road is crammed on both sides with cars. When i was young and right up to when we moved, there was maybe 2-3 maximum cars parked there. We couldnt afford a car and only a few of my friends had cars. It was a real real treat when my mum met my stepdad and we bought a car, i thought we were millionaires, .