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Saint Hildas Church, Firth Park


Stunmon

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Dooes this church still exist? I remember a friend of my fathers, Tommy Milner ran a dramatic society there in the 1950s at the time that my father Ernest Morton ran St.Patricks Players at St.Patrick RC Church at Sheffield Lane Top. It was a lovely looking church!!

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2 hours ago, Stunmon said:

Dooes this church still exist? I remember a friend of my fathers, Tommy Milner ran a dramatic society there in the 1950s at the time that my father Ernest Morton ran St.Patricks Players at St.Patrick RC Church at Sheffield Lane Top. It was a lovely looking church!!

Hi Stunmon. See a post on here, by Guest sthildas - January 14, 2012

     title:-                            St Hilda's Church Threatened By Imminent Demolition

                                                                                                                                               Regards Heartshome

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cimg0006-2017_06_02-14_44_40-utc.thumb.jpg.b87f01d434477bb8a4f8edd61fb61666.jpg

St. Hilda's, Windmill Lane used to have a Youth club in the church hall (entered by a door under the long window) and the "Donbeats" ran a Disco there in the mid 60's called the 45 Club.

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The battered and well used membership card. 

Live groups as well as records to dance to. The outstanding memory is of Frankenstein & the Monsters. Ray Stuart and his mates dressed up to scare the girls, but they weren't bad musicians either. 

Photo downloaded off the Internet. No idea who the gent is in the photo. 

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St. Hilda's C of E Church, Windmill Lane. Built 1930's, closed 2007, demolished 2013. 

a04706.jpg.e6f2e3cfa4d3d90197cd7b43a894a1ce.jpg

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p00056.jpg.1c2aed849a9e4b3417998e9f1b96bb76.jpg

p00056   From a photograph album entitled 'vol. 2 England 1923, 1925-1926.' The album appears to relate to St Cuthbert�s parish, Fir Vale. It is possible, given the title, it belonged to Rev. B. Jayawardina who features on a few of the photographs. (He may have originated from Sri Lanka.)

 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;t12243&pos=5&action=zoom&id=142832

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;c03909&pos=1&action=zoom&id=90376

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;c03912&pos=2&action=zoom&id=90379

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;c03913&pos=3&action=zoom&id=90380

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;c03918&pos=4&action=zoom&id=90387

 

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I wasn’t a member of St. Hilda’s but ,way back in the days when the Reverend Ron Thompson was it’s Vicar…and I think Rural Dean….I was Secretary of the Shiregreen and Firth Park Council of Churches and attended many meetings at St. Hilda’s. ….even then, I always got the feeling that the church was struggling a bit.
 

 

 

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Reverend Thompson married us in 1964 and baptized our children. Before him there was  one named Grundy in the 1950s and then the one whose wife was killed in the great gale. I went to Sunday school, brownies etc as the church played a big part in our lives back then. Concerts, dancing, celebrating religious events. 

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5 hours ago, Lyn 1 said:

Reverend Thompson married us in 1964 and baptized our children. Before him there was  one named Grundy in the 1950s and then the one whose wife was killed in the great gale. I went to Sunday school, brownies etc as the church played a big part in our lives back then. Concerts, dancing, celebrating religious events. 

Am I correct in remembering the vicars wife died when the chimney stack came through the roof and killed her. It was a terrifying night, one I've never forgotten. Somebody told us the stack came through to the downstairs where she was sitting. Stories often get embellished with the telling so I'm not sure how true it was. 

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According to the Star it was the Vicar of Brightside’s 57 year old wife, Ida Stubbs, who was killed when the Vicarage on  Firth Park Avenue was badly damaged in February 1962.

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2 minutes ago, Lysanderix said:

It was the Vicar of Brightside’s 57 year old wife, Ida Stubbs, who was killed when the Vicarage on  Firth Park Avenue was badly damaged in February 1962.

Thank you Lysanderix for putting the record straight, I think the close proximity to St Hilda's Church caused the confusion. Incidentally where was the Vicarage of St. Hilda's? 

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No idea where the vicarage was,,,,I imagine Lyn 1 will know…but my searches revealed that the Reverend Ron Thomson’s son ,David ,was the Bishop of Huntingdon…now retired.

 

 

now retired

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Very large house top of Firth Park Crescent on corner of Hinde House Lane. They sometimes had the summer fete there. Fancy dress - I went as a  hula hula girl one year with raffia skirt crepe paper garland over my cousins bikini top.  My mother covered me in Burdalls gravy salt mix to give me some darker colour. Politically incorrect nowadays of course. I seem to recall another vicar whose first name was Colin.

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My parents had friends called Ralston who lived on Firth Park Crescent in the 1950s. Their children were Valerie and Caroline. They went to St.Patricks Church and school.

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Thank you Steve, that explains it. The damage to the vicarage and the death of the wife of the vicar, February 1962 was the cause of debate as to which Vicarage it was, being eleven, at the time, the discussion went over my head. I didn't realise they were neighbours. Now finally, I understand!!! 

From my memory it was the vicarage at the top of Firth Park Avenue, that stood high. My great grandparents lived on the Avenue before St. Hilda's was built and the house numbering finish at No. 39 in 1905 Directories  when they lived there. 

The parish church then was St. Cuthberts, Fir Vale where my grandparents married in 1907. Assuming then, when St. Hilda's came into being they built the Vicarage next to St. Thomas Vicarage or were they both built at the same time? How strange, which leads to the questions. Why was St Thomas Brightside Vicarage built there? And why build a Vicarage in another Churches Parish?

 

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Looking at this newspaper report, Lysanderix was correct, it was the St. Thomas Vicarage the one damaged in the Great Sheffield Gale. 

sheffgale1962a.jpg.fbddec7de03de436d6f39371c6d26404.jpg

https://secretsheffield.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/the-great-sheffield-gale-1962/

The story I knew at the time that the chimney stack crashed through to the downstairs was correct according to the report, but my memory of which property it was isn't. 

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Looks as if there was some confusion in the Star report….was it a 57 year old Ida Stubbs or a 30 year old Shirley Hill who died in the vicarage?

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Looks as if there was some confusion in the Star report….was it a 57 year old Ida Stubbs or a 30 year old Shirley Hill who died in the vicarage?

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4 hours ago, Ponytail said:

Thank you Steve, that explains it. The damage to the vicarage and the death of the wife of the vicar, February 1962 was the cause of debate as to which Vicarage it was, being eleven, at the time, the discussion went over my head. I didn't realise they were neighbours. Now finally, I understand!!! 

From my memory it was the vicarage at the top of Firth Park Avenue, that stood high. My great grandparents lived on the Avenue before St. Hilda's was built and the house numbering finish at No. 39 in 1905 Directories  when they lived there. 

The parish church then was St. Cuthberts, Fir Vale where my grandparents married in 1907. Assuming then, when St. Hilda's came into being they built the Vicarage next to St. Thomas Vicarage or were they both built at the same time? How strange, which leads to the questions. Why was St Thomas Brightside Vicarage built there? And why build a Vicarage in another Churches Parish?

 

If the house numberings are correct, I woud say that the ajoined vicarages (45 & 47) were built at the same time.
Perhaps the term vicarage was also used when a vicar lived in a house, that was not necessarily  built as a vicarage? 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4145788,

Screenshot 2023-03-27 at 16-45-49 Google Maps.png

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