my dad used to take me to buy he-man figures there. Cant really remember what it looked like inside very vague memories. Has anyone got any photos?

i took my 18mnth old daughter for her photograph taken at redgates.
we were there hours looking at all the toys .it was a great proper toy shop and its a shame it closed down .

i took my 18mnth old daughter for her photograph taken at redgates.
we were there hours looking at all the toys .it was a great proper toy shop and its a shame it closed down .

i loved redgates it was amazin!!! the bit i remember most was that it was the first place you could buy shoes for your tiny tears dolls he he :hihi:n outfits i used to think they was brill :confused:what a saddo i was used to save all my spending muny to dress a bloody doll xxxxxx

:) Can anyone remember the display case what they had which was above the stairs and it had all dolls in it like henry viii and his six wives I used to think they where brill but I never got one :( sad eh! I used to love going to redgates I remember when they had a shop in fitzallen square too oops showing my age once again.

When my sons were small, I actually worked at Redgates I never knew if it was a bad thing or a good thing as quite a lot of my wages were spent bringing them new toys, I worked on the subbuteo counter as well as the lego counter, and to watch tiny tots coming to spend their birthday money was amazing, it was like being in wonderland, do anyone remember those great big models of lego, well they were built by lego, not us, they were huge and all stuck together, they were for display in the window, and once when the display was being changed a manager asked me if I wanted to take it home for my children, well I couldn't wait to see their faces, but I had to try to get on the bus with it, I did manage it, and the lads always remember that castle.

i too used to work at redgates from feb -march 80 until 85 name was debbie walker now woodhead 1st worked on boys toy dept on ground floor then moved to dolls dept on 1st floor would love to hear from any staff members then and catch up, what a great and funtime we had eh?

glenowl - I think the one in Fitzallen Square was actually Wilson Gumpett (sp). But they also had wonderful fireworks - 5 pounds bought you a whole Guy Fawks night!

how many people remember going into redgates toy shop?

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1076&highlight=REDGATES

Me.
What a shop that was. It was the first place i went on pocket money day.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1076&highlight=REDGATES
Obviously lots of people do! :D

bring back redgates lol
actually no, it'd ruin the memories by being some crappy toys r us effort these days :-(

I used to work at redgates in the early 60's a wonderful place to work the family that owned it were the nunn's, i often wondered where they are now? Michael Nunn used to be my boss downstairs, he had a stunning looking wife and gorgeous children which i used to baby-sit sometimes, very happy memories of that place.

Buying presents for the kids at Redgates was part of Christmas - it was like entering Aladin's cave.

Ahh Redgates

I remember creating a scene in Redgates when my mum wouldn't buy me a sindy house, I cried and screamed until she eventually smacked my legs and said that I could not have anything now and promptly marched me out of the shop.

Im nearly 40 now and I never got a Sindy House

I also remember there father christmas was not as good as the Co-op because that one had the magical sleigh ride......

lol sounds familiar to me
i once got a slap in there on the back of my legs for showing off for a tiny tears play centre im nearly 40 and was about 6 or 7 i think but i still remember blubbering on the bus all they way home and rubbing my legs as though id been beaten up ha ha ha
then i got sent to bed with a slice of bread and jam:hihi:

love this forum cus it jogs memories from the past xxxxx

I got a bit bored reading all the posts on redgates, I was looking for a post about the red electric kiddy car in the window for years. It was for sale for £100.00, plenty of money in those days, about 1959 I imagine.
It was eventually reduced by a pound a week or a day I'm not sure. I don't know how much it sold for.
50 years later you would probably get two for £100.00 in Toys R Us

Reading about Redgates again here, got me thinking about this passageway/corridor/tunnel that connected the shop with Quadrant (Lonsdale?) Stationers. Now I can definately remember both shops but not this passageway. Whereabouts was it in Redgates shop?

Can anyone tell me the actual year that Redgates closed for good?

Also, are there any features/reminders still there in the old Redgates shop of the Redgates days? The last time I past was earlier this year and it was being re-developed into a temporary store for TKMaxx.

The peop;e who ran the store were terrific and Redgates were the first to sponsor The Junior Sunday League and played their part in its growth. They were never demanding and always made sure they were represented at finals and presentation nights etc,

Just seen some comment from Greybeard & others from 4 years ago regarding the location of Redgates....... my vague recollections, are that there was, indeed, a Redgates at the bottom of Ecclesall Road, near to the corner with the Moor, where there was a Yorkshire Penny Bank before the Luftwaffe did some re-arrangement. I've also a recollection of buying birthday or Christmas presents from a shop at Moorhead, above Woolworths ( A Hornby speedboat for the pond in Millhouses Park & a Frog flying model aircraft in a box which had a device for winding up the rubber motor). Both of those must have been bought before the war, so it seems Redgates changed locations in the lateThirties. Not sure if the Ecclesall Road shop disappeared in the Blitz...... I seem to recall Franklins, the bedding outlet, was there in the same block more recently.

Reading about Redgates again here, got me thinking about this passageway/corridor/tunnel that connected the shop with Quadrant (Lonsdale?) Stationers. Now I can definately remember both shops but not this passageway. Whereabouts was it in Redgates shop?

Can anyone tell me the actual year that Redgates closed for good?

Also, are there any features/reminders still there in the old Redgates shop of the Redgates days? The last time I past was earlier this year and it was being re-developed into a temporary store for TKMaxx.

Do you mean where was it in the 'new' Redgates?

In the back wall of the basement (the wall oposite the main entrance doors). All the large Galt toys were displayed there. The passage had a dog-leg to the right (from Redgates), and the scalextrix/model train repair department was down there too.

i used to buy all my toy soldiers from redgates in the early eighties

Any one remember Joels model shop on church st
super kits and model planes hanging from the ceiling.
kids paradise!

I used to save all my pocket money, well nearly all, and go to the basement in redgates to buy different bits for my meccanno set. It was like an alladins cave then. I remember that they also sold a model garden, with trees and lawnmowers and things that you could put into the garden, but I can't remember its name. Also they had all the bits and pieces for the Bayco house building sets. Anyone remember them?

Yes - I've still got my Bayko set! See for example http://www.melright.com/bayko/

I remember them ( just) the ones with the steel rods and the slot in bricks not a patch on lego:thumbsup:

Ah - but a Bayko house http://baykoshop.com/db5/00437/baykoshop.com/_uimages/baykoshopmodels012_edited.jpg

looks a bit more like a proper 'ouse than a Lego one http://www.tvgasm.com/shows/lego.jpg :thumbsup:

belvidere - I think Michael and Pat Nunn are still going strong at Dore; at least they were when I last saw them, maybe 2-3 years ago.

See your point but the lego one has a bigger front garden:hihi::thumbsup:

The "real" Redgates was at the top of the Moor for many years. I well remember the disabled chap who looked after the model railway, he did repairs as well. What about the Helicopter? it used to be sixpence a go and was brilliant, until the rotors stopped working but the thing still went up and down, a great disillusionment!! We still went in the late '60's but Revel scale models were the thing then, and scalextric. Oh, too much more to remember, Got daughters pushchair from there also, about 10 years after the scalextric visits and nearly thirty years since then! ( And I'm still only a lad!)

My hubby never lets a christmas go by without reminding me how good Redgates was and there has been nothing as good to replace it lol
I think he enjoyed going in the shop more than the kids when they were little.

anyone got any pictures of when mr darth visited redgates sometime in 1980 i think it was??? or any pictures of inside redgates??? would love to see the old place again,had a look on net but can't seem to find any,thanks :help:

I remember buying a pram and a cot for my first baby in 1971 and then having his photo taken there in the baby dept

The thing I remember about Redgates was the lego models which were displayed at the bottom of the stairs in the Furnival Gate store. I also remember the Site at Moorfoot just above Woolworths before the buisness moved to the larger premises on Furnival Gate.

Redgates on the Moor, that was when the Moor was an upmarket shopping street, not the sad decaying place it is today. The one on Furnival Gate never seemed to have the same ambience of the Moor one. Was Redgates bought out or did it simple cease trading?

the best toy shop ever,
when i was a teenager the bloke from next door was father christmas!!!
i bought soldiers and models from there and magic tricks
happy days

What memories this thread has brought back to me especially at this time of year when a child could get excited beyond belief at the prospect of just looking around the store. I remember many wonderful visits with my big brother who always headed for the subuteo (spelt wrong I know). The doll section and accessories kept me amused for hours, oh where did the years go? It has put me in good mood for the rest of the day thinking of this. Thankyou and such an old thread too.

When my kids were young, going to Redgates was like going to another land, a magic land full of toys. My son loved to play with a Brio wooden trainset, it took my ages to get him off. Tears and tantrums. Lovely memories of Redgates.

I thought Redgates was at the bottom of Ecclesall Road when I was a lad....opposite the S & E Dept store.

Or is my memory playing tricks on me ?

Your memory is spot on Greybeard. Redgates was at the bottom of Ecclesall Road opposte the Co-op. At that time, The Moor became the continuation of London Road where Ecclesall Road and Cemetry Road joined it, to become quite a complicated junction. I seem to think it was controlled by traffic lights.
Redgates was just up Ecclesall Road from this junction. Opposite the junction of Ecclesall Road with The Moor was the then derelict Brunswick Chapel, a large stone built building with a huge four pillared portico.
Further up London Road towards Highfields were two more toy shops, Gent's and Merril's

I can always remember Redgates in the Moor in the 50's and 60's but does anyone remember a toy shop at the bottom of London Road somewhere near the first bend. To me it was every bit as good as Redgates but that was because I was 4 or 5 years old at the time. I remember my Mum and Dad bought me a superb metal car which had an accelerator and a gear lever sticking out of the windows. Wish I'd still got it.
Hi Gordonb. The shop you remember was called Gents. It was just about opposite the Albion pub. A bit further up London Road towards Highfields there was another toy shop, a bit smaller than Gents, this was called Merril's.

I think that Redgates is one of a number of Sheffield retail businesses whose history, if it were published, would make interesting reading (or maybe it’s been done?) The same would apply to Cockaynes or Walsh’s, also Roberts Brothers, Pawson & Brailsford etc. As "begirl" correctly wrote in post #181 on this thread, Redgates began in Fargate, selling furs and prams. The 1925 Kelly’s Directory includes this entry:

THE REDGATE CO. (SHEFFIELD) LTD., furriers, blouse & coat specialists & perambulator manufacturers; children's chairs, cots & every nursery requisite, also invalid furniture, 19 Fargate.

The 1901 census return gives, at 16 Abbeydale Road South, Edwin Redgate, 62, "shop manager" and his wife Mary J. Redgate, 49, "fur dealer".

HI, A brother of mine now lives in Mr redgates house at door

sigh ............. times they are a changing, Toys R Us just doesn't cut is somehow :(

Last week I went in the empty Redgates (Sunwin House) to carry out a fire inspection (& am going back this friday to carry out some remedial works).

Although the Co-op did a good job of ripping out the old decor (followed by odds & ends when TK Maxx used it until 11/08 as a temporary store) there is still some original Redgates stuff to be found.

On at least one floor (basement IIRC) if you remove the wooden wall panels installed by the Co-op to fit racking to there is the original painted Redgates walls with all sorts of painted images of children's stuff like bears, rainbows, etc and in one back of house service corridor is some old partitioning with Children's wall paper on.

Also the Co-op didn't bother to repaint the lift doors on the staff floor (4th) and they are still in the original sky blue with the Redgates logo on.

On a specialist front one of the 4th floor lift motor rooms has a shelf full of 50 spare charges for Nu Swift fire extinguishers used by Redgates maintenance department.

The link corridor to the premises on the corner of the Moor is still present at the third floor, but has been sealed over with a stud wall and plaster.

I may take some pictures of the Redgates stuff as the place will eventually be demolished once the credit crunch is over & the Moor Redevelopment restarts.

I've also been around the almost vacant Rockingham House (former Hamleys, Mark One etc) & large parts of that are unchanged from the original Department Store that used to occupy the whole block originally (name escapes me)

Buckeroo - thank you for that post - you brought tears! I treasure my memories of that store and lovely things that my aunt bought for me and the little items I bought with my pocket money. So sad. Re other posts - toys r us DOESN'T cut it!!

aaaaahhhh Redgates, good old days.Highlight of any trip into town as a youngster that along with the fishtank in the Hole in Road.
Anyone know what year it was when Redgates closed?

Redgates i loved it i used to buy all my Pippa and Sindy dolls from there and yes i was always took to the hole in the road to the fish tank but i was never interested in the fish i only wanted to get home to play with my new toys.

Nice to see this thread again.

One thing about Redgates as a memory is that it had its own smell and it was one which made you feel even more excited as you walked through the doors (over the big red gate sign in the floor tiles). A smell of plastic, varnish, paints, paper and along with the bright lights an air of fun filled your belly with anticipated excitement!

I loved Dinky and Corgi replica cars and these seemed to be piled above each other (IIRC) on ground level. There were Subuteo sets, Hornby Railway sets, Scalextric, Lego, Meccano and things like PlayMobile. (Forgive any misspellings with these trade names!!)

It was a land of dreams and dreaming. Any trip to town was worthwhile if you knew you were going to Redgates. Birthdays were all about being taken there and given the opportunity to spend your money.

Man, I'm back in 1977 already....,

Redgates, mmmmmmmmm!:love:

Mersey Tunnel fire truck I'd keep by my bed because it was my favourite like THIS ONE (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/2502494570_14feb2ab28.jpg?v=0).

Dinky lorry with opening rear doors I'd drive my pet woodlouse around in like THIS ONE (http://www.mamut.net/svenskavauxhallregis/mod051.jpg)

Britain's farm animals by the bucket full.

:D

Fantastic Thread, brings back many happy memories thank you all.

I thought Redgates was at the bottom of Ecclesall Road when I was a lad....opposite the S & E Dept store.

Or is my memory playing tricks on me ?


hiya you are quiite right it was where you say it was around 1942 i had a three wheeler bike it was black with a red gate on the front fork just under the handlebars,i dont know if i had had it bought for me or had it given me.on the corner of clarence street and ecclesall road was a piece of waste ground where a fruit and veg stall used to stand there were two brothers i think one was called harry hill, he was the brother of my godmother margaret hill later they stood on london rd on waste land next to the disc jockey cafe,

Oh every saturday in the 80s in we went, i loved Barbie dolls but you couldn't beat the sight of all those Star Wars figures on the ground floor. Kids these days have missed out on a true Sheffield gem...it was a privilege to have such a store and has so many fantastic memories.

I loved taking my children to Redgates, this was late 60`s early 70`s . Christmas was magical in Redgates and my youngest used to love the model trains that ran around the store .Lovely happy memories of a lovely happy store !

Last week I went in the empty Redgates (Sunwin House) to carry out a fire inspection (& am going back this friday to carry out some remedial works).

Although the Co-op did a good job of ripping out the old decor (followed by odds & ends when TK Maxx used it until 11/08 as a temporary store) there is still some original Redgates stuff to be found.

On at least one floor (basement IIRC) if you remove the wooden wall panels installed by the Co-op to fit racking to there is the original painted Redgates walls with all sorts of painted images of children's stuff like bears, rainbows, etc and in one back of house service corridor is some old partitioning with Children's wall paper on.

Also the Co-op didn't bother to repaint the lift doors on the staff floor (4th) and they are still in the original sky blue with the Redgates logo on.

On a specialist front one of the 4th floor lift motor rooms has a shelf full of 50 spare charges for Nu Swift fire extinguishers used by Redgates maintenance department.

The link corridor to the premises on the corner of the Moor is still present at the third floor, but has been sealed over with a stud wall and plaster.

I may take some pictures of the Redgates stuff as the place will eventually be demolished once the credit crunch is over & the Moor Redevelopment restarts.

I've also been around the almost vacant Rockingham House (former Hamleys, Mark One etc) & large parts of that are unchanged from the original Department Store that used to occupy the whole block originally (name escapes me)

awww would you id sooo love to see that xxx

Was it Robert Bros?

Redgates, what a shop that was. I remember sneaking to town after school with my mate from school when the busfares were only 2p, think i was about 9 at the time. We spent hours in redgates, it was fantastic. I would have loved to take my kids there, now all we have is toys 'R' us, but it doesnt have the same feel and atmosphere as redgates used to. I remember going in there with £50 for my birthday and I managed to buy loads....but my favourite was my coca cola pencil and rubber that smelt like coca cola. I remember trying to lick the pencil to see if it tasted of cola but it never did.

As promised - photos from inside Redgate's 22/5/09

From the 4th floor (Staff/Admin) the original lift doors with logo:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/contactacb/DSCF2883.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/contactacb/DSCF2884.jpg

Next from the third floor (sales & storage) some Care Bear wallpaper

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/contactacb/DSCF2886.jpg

The old 3rd floor link to No 9 The Moor (also links at 4th floor and ground level, all boarded over - the 4th & 3rd seem to link to one of 9 The Moor's rear fire stairs which in turn goes back into Redgates at Ground level to a final exit):

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/contactacb/DSCF2887.jpg

Basement (Sales) Old yellow & blue painted wall on which you can just make out a painted flying saucer top left.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/contactacb/DSCF2889.jpg

4th floor goods Lift Motor Room. Redgate's Maintenance Department stock of fire extinguisher charges from 1972 & 1975 in dates postage cartons with the Store name & address on - the only non structural Redgates memorabilia I could find in the whole place

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/contactacb/DSCF2885.jpg

I have all the charges/boxes as their safe disposal was one of the reasons for being there. If anyone want's one for historical purposes they are welcome to one - I've already put aside the one's for the company museum of old fire stuff

Thanks so much for the photos, isnt it sad to see this once prestigious store in this state now . I`d love one of the boxes but think posting to Cornwall might be a bit tricky !!

aww thanks for that x verry interesting xxx:thumbsup:

I remember the two Redgates entrances and it reminded me of Woolworths having the front window display that you cold walk right round . In winter you could stand out of the rain and cold as you waited for your bus on the moor. and consequently it always smelled of stale cigarette smoke!!

It has been fascinating reading through all the postings on the Redgates thread. Like most youngsters brought up in Sheffield, this was our second home. Most Saturday's we'd be down there spending our pocket money.
I'm pretty sure that they used to boast that it was the biggest toy shop in Europe towards the end (I only knew the large store), and having been to Hamleys in London a few times, I could believe it.
There were (I think) two levels below the ground floor. The first had kits and Britain's soldiers and animals and stuff in the sixties, then there was a stairwell down to a small area which had nursery toys and the passageway through which so many posts refer to.
There were at least a first and second floor too, maybe a third. For a long time the Corgi Toys display used to be on the top floor, with an eye catching glass fronted cabinet with shelves which revolved continually.
I certainly bought lots of Britain's toy soldiers here in the sixties, mostly American Civil War range. My younger brothers went for their Trojan Warriors figures.
As well as Airfix range (not forgotting those value for money HO/OO soldier boxes), Redgates sold kits by Frog and Revell. Later I got a lot of my Scalextric track and cars here.
If ever I did well at school and got a few bob off a relative, this would go towards something special - such as the Britain's Stage Coach, an amazing toy with horses, passengers and even luggage. It went with their Swoppets range of Cowboys and Indians, famous for being so detailed the Cowboys even had removable revolvers in holsters. The walk up the ramp from the subway which crossed the Moor in the 70s and reached pavement level almost opposite the Redgates door always increased the sense of anticipation.
Hamleys did open on The Moor and hit Redgates quite hard. Beatties was a more specialist sort of store, with scale railway models and the like, aimed at grown-ups, and so not such a direct competitor (mind you my younger brother did get Betties to allow him to do a Star Wars exhibition when the third movie came out. His collection of toys looked brilliant on display in the shop window. Sadly he'd forgotten about the effect of sunlight on print, and most of the boxes suffered serious fading before he realised what was happening!).
There was also Hobbies store on St. Paul's Parade, which stocked balsa wood planes and more sophisticated models. I remember getting a kit of the R101 Airship here (Hobbies moved down to Shalesmoor for some years before closing relatively recently).
If the guy doing the Fire Survey at Sunwin house could get me in to do some hi res pics that would be great... or how about organising a trip? There is (believe it or not) a wallpaper collection being built up in Manchester (at the Whitworth), and I'm sure they would love the Care Bears stuff he showed.
It was also in Redgates that I lusted after the huge Johnny Seven One Man Army assault gun - too costly for my parents sad to say (though I have rectified this since - albeit at rather more than it would have cost them originally).
It's quite sad that a shop of this importance socially should be ignored by the berks who were in charge of the Museum revamp - imagine what a few cabinets of Redgate's goodies would do for visitor figures...
OK, I'll shut up and get back to work.

I've posted the pics I took - I did think about taking some general views, but the main look & decor of most of the store has been too distorted by the Co-Op and TK Maxx to be of much value.

I have floor plans as well as having been in and the premises layout is as follows:

Basement: Front- Escalators & lift lobby & two stairs to small sales floor
Centre - Downward ramp (may have given impression of going to a sub basement to people)
Rear - Goods Lift, 2 stairs, Stock holding area, but looks as if it used to also be a sales floor

Ground: Front- Entrance, Escalators & lift lobby & two stairs with small sales floor
Middle - Service road
Rear - Goods Lift, staff lift, 2 stairs, Loading bay and ? old link to the Moor

1st: Main sales floor throughout - 4 stairs, Escalators, two passenger lifts, staff lift, goods lift

2nd: Main sales floor throughout - 4 stairs, Escalators, two passenger lifts, staff lift, goods lift. Rear sales area slightly lower and down small flights of stairs/ramps

3rd: Front- Sales floor, customer services, cafe/restaurant, Escalators & lift lobby & two stairs.
Middle- 1 stair, staff lift, passageway, open void
Rear- goods lift, storage area. Sealed route to the Moor

4th: Small staff floor - offices, canteen, motor rooms, 2 passenger lifts, stores, 1 stair, plus short sealed stair link to the Moor.

Roof:Boilers, passenger Lift motor

Over 30 years ago I had my photo taken by The Sheffield Star, I was looking around a Double Decker Bus that contained fantastic models built by a company called "Fischertechnik" (Sort of a cross between Lego and Meccano). The only models I remember were a Ferris Wheel and a "Massive" Tower Crane. I was wearing a pair of two tone jeans (Light Blue front panels and Dark Blue rear anels), wasn't fashion brilliant in those days?