Parkwood Springs

[Guest MikeB]

Rock House. 51 Pickering Road. [ see Pickering Castle thread ] W/E.

They were interesting times . You must remember that we were young and had no responsibilities . I am grateful to my parents for having given me a wonderful free life . the freedom to open up a world of imagination . Not make belief - that is not what it is .

It was reality , but what our minds could extend to .

You have to remember that we were living in the centre of a city . But we were remote from the everyday turmoil of the city life . We were quite often seen as the lost world - certainly by the city council . They wished often that we would get lost . " Cocoon " comes to mind .

The times however were real . I have a brother and a sister . They may have some photographs , I know there are some but .

One thing I am interested is " Pickering Castle Thread " But I can not find it .

[neddy]

They were interesting times . You must remember that we were young and had no responsibilities . I am grateful to my parents for having given me a wonderful free life . the freedom to open up a world of imagination . Not make belief - that is not what it is .

It was reality , but what our minds could extend to .

You have to remember that we were living in the centre of a city . But we were remote from the everyday turmoil of the city life . We were quite often seen as the lost world - certainly by the city council . They wished often that we would get lost . " Cocoon " comes to mind .

The times however were real . I have a brother and a sister . They may have some photographs , I know there are some but .

One thing I am interested is " Pickering Castle Thread " But I can not find it .

Nah come on Mick your T would have found it,

http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=5655&st=0&p=42078&hl=+pickering%20+castle&fromsearch=1&#entry42078

[Guest MikeB]

Do you have any photos of the house or tower.

Sorry , I don' t , but I do recall there being some of both the house and the " castle house as we called it " . I will check with my family .

One thing I am pleased about is the dialogue it has created .

[Waterside Echo]

Hi , I am sorry to take up so much time and space - but I am smitten .

I am sure many people will remember the times in Parkwood springs when social events were the norm .

One example was the Whitsuntide events .

On Whit Sunday all the kids dressed in their Sunday best . There was a march under the unfurled banners and pennants of their

local churches " multidenominational" of course , congregating in the local park .

After marching to and from Weston park on Whit Monday we would all go up to the Atlas and Norfolk sports ground at Shirecliffe, after the games etc we would return to PWS Methodist church for tea. W/E.

[Guest MikeB]

Nah come on Mick your T would have found it,

http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=5655&st=0&p=42078&hl=+pickering%20+castle&fromsearch=1&#entry42078

Nah come on yourself " S " none of you were that fingers on pulse . " T " said it could only be you .

[Waterside Echo]

Hi , I am sorry to take up so much time and space - but I am smitten .

I am sure many people will remember the times in Parkwood springs when social events were the norm .

" St. Michaels " on Vale Road . This was a church hall in the form of a " prefabricated "? building at the back of a house in Vale Road . Maybe someone else will remember it .

I take it you will remember the weekly film shows and Christmas partys then ! W/E.

[Guest MikeB]

I take it you will remember the weekly film shows and Christmas partys then ! W/E.

And the " Bingo" sessions which my mum went to with some neighbours .

[Guest MikeB]

someone somewhere was was trying to define the area of PWS . As we knew it back in the" dark ages ", - From the bridge at the bottom of Douglas Rd. to where it met with Parkwood Rd. at the end of the allotments ; On the left along Parkwood Rd. to the railway line and along to the left of the railway line ie. co-terminally with Wallace Rd. back down to the bridge at Douglas Rd. : Everything within that area was " The Springs " .

The" Gunpits" were at Shirecliffe - the "tip" was Shirecliffe - the railway line ; ( including Neepsend Station and the Gas works ) was Neepsend - Bardwell St. was Neepsend and the Brick Yard which backed on to Douglas Rd. was Rutland Rd .

When we were younger we used to go " Penny For the Guy " round the streets . When we got into our early teens My mum refused point blank - under threat of what ever she could get away with . However , we dressed one of the lads up as a " Guy "

and sat outside the pub at the bottom of Douglas Rd. Some old gadger gave the " guy " a kick ; not a flinch , so he got a tip for his staying power .

[Waterside Echo]

Parkwood Springs from another angle W/E.

[ukelele lady]

Parkwood Springs from another angle W/E.

Hi W/E

Is there a date to this wonderful picture.

[Waterside Echo]

Hi W/E

Is there a date to this wonderful picture.

No date but 'neddy' should know. The Parkwood Hotel is still there if little else, should be a good clue. W/E.

[neddy]

Would think about 1978ish

[hilldweller]

I remember as a kid in the 1950's trekking all around the area behind the Neepsend Power Station. Up the hillside behind the now demolished "white bridge" was a tall circular concrete chimney structure.

There was another one a little way along Wordsworth Avenue.

The 1954 Geographier map shows a series of towers/shafts joined by a dotted line and running all the way from the site of Neepsend Power Station, through Parson Cross, along by the Tongue Gutter and back through Blackburn to the site of Blackburn Meadows Power Station.

I would think that it must have been the route of a National Grid power circuit linking the two stations.

Because of the presence of ventilation shafts it must have been laid in a tunnel to require ventilation to release the heat build-up from the cables.

Nowadays all such references have been removed from maps. I wonder if the link is still in use and if any of the shafts remain ?

HD

[Waterside Echo]

I remember as a kid in the 1950's trekking all around the area behind the Neepsend Power Station. Up the hillside behind the now demolished "white bridge" was a tall circular concrete chimney structure.

There was another one a little way along Wordsworth Avenue.

The 1954 Geographier map shows a series of towers/shafts joined by a dotted line and running all the way from the site of Neepsend Power Station, through Parson Cross, along by the Tongue Gutter and back through Blackburn to the site of Blackburn Meadows Power Station.

I would think that it must have been the route of a National Grid power circuit linking the two stations.

Because of the presence of ventilation shafts it must have been laid in a tunnel to require ventilation to release the heat build-up from the cables.

Nowadays all such references have been removed from maps. I wonder if the link is still in use and if any of the shafts remain ?

HD

Hello HD. The shafts must still be there. Every weekend from the mid 50s I walked from PWS via Douglas Road/Parkwood Road North to Herries Road, I watched those [i called them chimneys] being built out of Sheffield brick in what was then a valley. I was always told they were inspection shafts for a sewer that ran from Owlerton to Blackburn Meadows. though it would have made sense if there had been a link to both power stations if one had been put out of action by enemy bombing. The brickwork was extended by at least 30 ft every year as the site was used by among others James Childs and Sir Robert McAlpine for tipping. Building stopped when the valley was leveled off I think in the early 60s. I seem to remember there were at least 4 shafts. W/E.

[Waterside Echo]

Hello HD. The shafts must still be there. Every weekend from the mid 50s I walked from PWS via Douglas Road/Parkwood Road North to Herries Road, I watched those [i called them chimneys] being built out of Sheffield brick in what was then a valley. I was always told they were inspection shafts for a sewer that ran from Owlerton to Blackburn Meadows. though it would have made sense if there had been a link to both power stations if one had been put out of action by enemy bombing. The brickwork was extended by at least 30 ft every year as the site was used by among others James Childs and Sir Robert McAlpine for tipping. Building stopped when the valley was leveled off I think in the early 60s. I seem to remember there were at least 4 shafts. W/E.

[Waterside Echo]

As a postscript many years ago I got talking to a chap whilst waiting for a bus on Penistone Road. He had worked on the third cooling tower at Neepsend in the late 40s and mentioned in passing about a tunnel near the power station that supplied water to the east end of Sheffield. W/E.

[hilldweller]

As a postscript many years ago I got talking to a chap whilst waiting for a bus on Penistone Road. He had worked on the third cooling tower at Neepsend in the late 40s and mentioned in passing about a tunnel near the power station that supplied water to the east end of Sheffield. W/E.

It gets curiouser and curiouser. The 1954 map shows the "whatever" starting at one of the Neepsend cooling towers. I haven't got my copy of the Geographier map any more (the one with the riveted tape measure) but I remember that it showed the "whatever" looping all the way around Parson Cross and connecting to Blackburn Meadows Power Station. That was why I thought it might be a power inter-connector.

The modern (1980's) Sheffield Interceptor Sewer ( the one a double deck bus would fit into) runs from Middlewood to Blackburn Meadows, following the course of the Don, and runs along Penistone Road to Sheaf Square and then out along Brightside Lane to Blackburn Meadows. Sheffield Hallam Buildings Department did some of the research into the vortex chambers that separate the rainwater from the other stuff.

Early in the 20th century a pumping station was built below the Blackburn Meadows outfall to re-circulate river water along a long pipeline through Sheffield to a small concrete holding dam below Dam Flask. This was to maintain compensation flow for the mill owners. Perhaps the pipeline he mentioned was for a similar purpose to ensure a supply of Neepsend cooling water in times of drought, although if that was the case the line would be pressurised with no need of ventilation shafts.

I've had a good look on Google Maps and I can't see much along the course of the "whatever" except for a little brick square structure beside the footpath from Dryden Road to Wordsworth Crescent. The one I remember on Wordsworth Avenue would now be in the car-park of the Forty Foot Pub !

Interesting but I guess we'll never know. I'm afraid I'm not in a position nowadays to start exploring.

HD

[neddy]

Whilst looking for information about Parkwood some time back, I came across an article about Viridor disposing of tip run off down a foul sewer to Blackburn Meadows treatment plant.

[Waterside Echo]

It gets curiouser and curiouser. The 1954 map shows the "whatever" starting at one of the Neepsend cooling towers. I haven't got my copy of the Geographier map any more (the one with the riveted tape measure) but I remember that it showed the "whatever" looping all the way around Parson Cross and connecting to Blackburn Meadows Power Station. That was why I thought it might be a power inter-connector.

Early in the 20th century a pumping station was built below the Blackburn Meadows outfall to re-circulate river water along a long pipeline through Sheffield to a small concrete holding dam below Dam Flask. This was to maintain compensation flow for the mill owners. Perhaps the pipeline he mentioned was for a similar purpose to ensure a supply of Neepsend cooling water in times of drought, although if that was the case the line would be pressurised with no need of ventilation shafts.

HD

We spent a lot of our 6 weeks off school in the summer fishing up Rivelin Valley, we were always told that the dam opposite the Norfolk Arms was the water for the steel works. W/E.

[hilldweller]

We spent a lot of our 6 weeks off school in the summer fishing up Rivelin Valley, we were always told that the dam opposite the Norfolk Arms was the water for the steel works. W/E.

I think at different times the lower dams in several locations were used for compensation water, e.g. Dam Flask, Underbank.

The lower Rivelin Dam now receives water from the three Redmires Dams via the Wyming Brook for processing at the Rivelin Treatment plant before some of it is pumped back up the hill to a service reservoir at Redmires. The Redmires Treatment Plant is now mothballed and out of service.

The little concrete dam at Dam Flask is empty and derelict. You can see it below the Nags Head. It did rupture just after filling initially but didn't cause any problems due to it's small size.

HD

[neddy]

Anyone remember when actor Tony Booth was filming at Parkwood.

[Waterside Echo]

Anyone remember when actor Tony Booth was filming at Parkwood.

I remember seeing a 30 second clip from a film of PWS on TV in the 60s. Who was in it and what it was about I have no idea. What I saw must have been shot from a car traveling down Douglas Road showing the bottom of Vale Road, the Reindeer, the Parkwood Hotel, Charlie Watsons corner shop and then the railway arch. And that was it.. W/E.

[neddy]

Apparently the cast were celebrating in the Parkwood after filming, I seem to remember the concrete walls on the Staion steps being painted black at the time.

[Guest T.T.]

I remember as a kid in the 1950's trekking all around the area behind the Neepsend Power Station. Up the hillside behind the now demolished "white bridge" was a tall circular concrete chimney structure.

There was another one a little way along Wordsworth Avenue.

The 1954 Geographier map shows a series of towers/shafts joined by a dotted line and running all the way from the site of Neepsend Power Station, through Parson Cross, along by the Tongue Gutter and back through Blackburn to the site of Blackburn Meadows Power Station.

I would think that it must have been the route of a National Grid power circuit linking the two stations.

Because of the presence of ventilation shafts it must have been laid in a tunnel to require ventilation to release the heat build-up from the cables.

Nowadays all such references have been removed from maps. I wonder if the link is still in use and if any of the shafts remain ?

HD

Hilldweller - this sounds interesting, have you got a link to the map you refer to? ta

[hilldweller]

Hilldweller - this sounds interesting, have you got a link to the map you refer to? ta

As far as I can remember the map was published by Geographer (sp) and was in the form of a booklet with a paper tape measure riveted to the top by the fold. There were graduations along the tape and marks around the edge of the maps after the style of a sundials rays. The index at the back gave the mark to align the tape with and a number (letter ?) along the tape to find the street.

There is a partial map on the SH maps page under Geographer (see maps index page) but it only shows the start of the tunnel. The book I had was the Sheffield & Rotherham Edition that showed the length to Blackburn Meadows. There must still be hundreds of them about. Perhaps someone could scan the relevant bits?

HD

PS

If you're interest is from a exploration point of view I would seriously council against it.

High voltage/high power electricity is not to be trifled with. Old cables don't like being disturbed.

Some years ago cable thieves discovered a tunnel at Neepsend with what they thought were abandoned smaller cables. They cut them and plunged the entire western side of Sheffield into a lengthy power cut. The cables were "pilot wires" forming part of the protection system of the high voltage distribution and they tripped the Neepsend 400/275 kV main switching station out. It took a long time to trace the fault.

There used to be an air vent in front of where the Fourty Foot pub was built but that has disappeared.

HD

PPS

High voltage/high energy electricity can be extremely destructive. I have witnessed the 60 foot long concrete roof of a steelworks substation lifted many feet into the air. I was about 100 yards away at the time and wouldn't have wanted to have been any nearer. Sub-station doors are always arranged to open outwards for blast relief, but in this case didn't open quick enough. In another case an overhead travelling crane caught a high voltage cable, it spot welded all the crane wheels down to the track.

HD