Ugliest town in the Old World

[RichardB]

George Orwell in 1937 : "Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World"

Lots of other good history stuff here, sorry if it's been posted before ... probably ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sheffield

Nice graph of Sheffield population growth.

[THYLACINE]

George Orwell in 1937 : "Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World"

Lots of other good history stuff here, sorry if it's been posted before ... probably ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sheffield

Nice graph of Sheffield population growth.

George Orwell "The Road to Wigan Pier"

Even Wigan is beautiful compared to Sheffield. Sheffield I suppose could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World : its inhabitants, who want it to be pre-eminent in everything, very likely do make that claim for it. It has a population of half a milion and it contains fewer decent buildings than the average East Anglian village of five hundred. And the stench! If at rare moments you stop smelling sulphur it is because you have begun smelling gas. Even the shallow river that runs through the town is usualy bright yellow with some chemical or other. Once I halted in the street and counted the factory chimneys I could see; there were thirty three of them but there would have been far moreif te air had not been obscured by smoke. One scene especially lingers in my mind. A frightful patch of waste ground trampled bare of gass and littered with newspapers and old saucepans. To the right an isolated row of gaunt four-roomed houses, dark red, blackened by smoke. To the left, an interminable vista of factory chimneys, chimney beyond chimney, fading away into a dimn blackish haze. Behind me a railway embankment made of the slag from furnaces. In front, across the patch of waste ground, a cubicle building of red and yellow brick, with the sign "Thomas Grocock, Haulage Contractor". At night when you cannot see the hideous shapes of the houses and the blackness of everything, a town like Sheffield asssumes a kind of sinister magnificence. Sometimes the drifts of smoke are rosy with sulphur, and serrated flames like circular saws, squeeze themselves out from beneath the cowls of the foundary chimneys. Through the open doors of foundaries you see fiery serpents of iron being hauled to and fro by redlit boys and you hear the whizz and thump of steam hammers and the scream of the iron under the blow.

Question : Was there really a Thomas Grocock, Haulage Contractor, or is it pure fiction?

[RichardB]

Question : Was there really a Thomas Grocock, Haulage Contractor, or is it pure fiction?

There was a Henry Grocock :

Haulage contractor (1919) of 78 Burngreave Road; he's listed as Fruiterer, same address in 1925

John Grocock :

is a coal dealer & greengrocer of Sorby Street & 15 Ellesmere Road in 1893

is a Fruiterer & furniture remover in 1911

is a Fruiterer, carting contractor & furniture remover in 1919

and a Fruiterer in 1925

the 1911, 1919 and 1925 records show 15 Ellesmere Road; yard, Sorby Street

Thomas Grocock :

Grocer & Beer retailer, 5 Penistone Road, Owlerton (1893)

Grocer, 148 Burgoyne Road (1911, 1919, 1925)

So, grocers, fruiterer, furniture removers, coal dealers - all pointing to some big, heavy truck.

Thomas Grocock in 1937, no idea, could be the son of any of the above.

[dunsbyowl1867]

Been here once or twice before!

Orwell

&

Orwell 2

There was a Henry Grocock :

Haulage contractor (1919) of 78 Burngreave Road; he's listed as Fruiterer, same address in 1925

John Grocock :

is a coal dealer & greengrocer of Sorby Street & 15 Ellesmere Road in 1893

is a Fruiterer & furniture remover in 1911

is a Fruiterer, carting contractor & furniture remover in 1919

and a Fruiterer in 1925

the 1911, 1919 and 1925 records show 15 Ellesmere Road; yard, Sorby Street

Thomas Grocock :

Grocer & Beer retailer, 5 Penistone Road, Owlerton (1893)

Grocer, 148 Burgoyne Road (1911, 1919, 1925)

So, grocers, fruiterer, furniture removers, coal dealers - all pointing to some big, heavy truck.

Thomas Grocock in 1937, no idea, could be the son of any of the above.

[RichardB]

Been here once or twice before!

As usual, I've no idea whats been done and what hasn't, Hey ho !