Who remembers the best toy shop in the world Redgates? I bought all my Subbuteo teams at Redgates (now Sunwin House) :D

It was nice having friends with kids so I could use them as an excuse to pop into Redgates. Unfortunately, Hamlyns opened a branch opposite the Peace Gardens which brought competition so Redgates closed followed shortly by Hamlyns.

Moved this into History Forum Jon, yes I remember Redgates and I used to get my Subbuteo teams from there too.....Subbuteo brings back memories, I had many a brawl with my brother over that game when we were kids, he was the clumsy buggar who always broke the players :wink:
BTW - wasn't Redgates originally on the Moor before moving round the corner ?

It always struck me as curious that Redgates had that passageway that led into.... Lonsdale Universal... was it.... the stationary shop... fading memory here. Anyone else remember that?

graham_mca

I remember Redgates but don't remember buying much there - Coles' Lego was cheaper and I wasn't interested in much else as a kid :) You can all blame me for it closing down... :oops:

I remember my brother and I going into Redgates every week to pay a few pennies into our Christmas Club. Through the weeks we would wander around the shop looking and dreaming about what we would eventually be able to afford to get with our meagre savings.When it came time to redeem our cards we were SO excited. The atmosphere of the shop was wonderful too, all decked out in trimmings, tinsel and christmas trees and of course there was the mandatory Grotto and Santa.
Of course, this was before the age of computer games and the like. We were more than happy if we could get a new Teddy for our younger sister in those days. This sounds like a whinge but it isn't. I feel sad for kids today cos' they will never have the wonderful memories of childhood that I have. Redgates.... yes... very fond memories !
:D :D

When i was a child there were no toy shops around, i think everybody went to Redgates in those days.

"Redgates" What a fantastic place, many child hood memories stem from there, my favourite bit was the dolls house in the glass case downstaris. :P

My memory of Redgates.............. December 1970 - Christmas shopping with my family (aged 6), lift doors opened and out came Father Christmas. W..o..w - and yes, we did get what we showed him - talkie dolls!

As a kid Redgates was my favourite place. Got all my toys from there. Mainly downstairs if I remember right. I was gutted when it closed.

I remember Redgates as a child of about 10 year old about 1957 used to go in town on my own on Saturday and head for Redgates from Division Street, not much in the way of buildings around in those days as a lot was bombed.

I would head for the basement and stand watching the Disabled chap operate the Hornby Train set in the middle of the basement I could stand there for hours.

Anyone remember it.

A bit different today, the last time I went into the shop was about 20 years ago.

Regards John.m

Redgates, Hamleys and Beatties - why did all the good toy shops go? :cry:

Redgates, wow!

In through the door, and what's the first thing you saw?

A glass case displaying Brittain's farm animals. That alone was worth the visit for a scruffy six year old with a model farmyard at home.

:clap:

I bought loads of toy soldiers from there! Redgates was amazing!!!

I used to buy all my scalextric cars from Redgates, all of which I still have today. I remember they had a model train layout suspended from the ceiling.

I can remember being in Redgates waiting for Darth Vader to make an appearance. I was mesmerised by him when he did, he looked HUGE!!:P

not wanting to show my age,but they also had a shop in fizalan square,i got my first pram from there,coach built too:D ,also i saved my pocket money for a doll she cost me 27 shillings and sixpence,lond blond hair and i cut it all off 3 months later:)

My Mom used to work in Redgates during the late sixties (long before I was born!) She once told me that when she was working downstairs there on a Saturday afternoon, Woolworths phoned to warn them that they had just thrown a gang of teenagers out for shoplifting. No sooner had Redgates taken the call that the same kids appeared and let off stink bombs in the basement of Redgates that they'd just pinched from Woolies! Apparrently the shop emptied very quickly...

Don't you think that redgates brought the magic to christmas, i can remember been taken their as a child around christmas to see father christmas, the lights and all the toys displayed in the shop windows, it was every childs dream! now all you have is an over inflated priced Murderhell with queue after queue of spoilt screaming kids. And at 33 i was refused entry to see santa!! ha ha ha, had a wonderfull christmas with my 3 kids this year but the magic just dosn't seem to be there anymore, theres too much competition with who gets what and how much it cost! quite sad really!!!!!

As quoted by pauline not wanting to show my age,but they also had a shop in fizalan square,i got my first pram from there,coach built too ,also i saved my pocket money for a doll she cost me 27 shillings and sixpence,lond blond hair and i cut it all off 3 months later
Today I suddenly remembered the name of the shop in Fitzalan Suare, Wilson Gumperts. If I remember correctly it was something to do with Redgates. It was a tiny shop (now an insurance office). The ground floor was the girly stuff but down in the basement it was everything that Redgates was but in minature. Train sets, toy guns, model planes, every bit of space was crammed with everything a boy could wish for.

I loved Redgates. My favourite thing was the Action Man wall. It seemed to be high up and was built to look like a mountainside. I remember being particularly impressed with the bearded Action Man! :D

As for Christmas - I never saw 'Santa' there, but at Castle House with the cool Reindeer ride (one year it was Spacemen as I recall...weird) and then getting a gift from Santa.

Originally posted by johnjo
I can remember being in Redgates waiting for Darth Vader to make an appearance. I was mesmerised by him when he did, he looked HUGE!!:P

You to?!!

Was that you who got big Ds signature scrawled on your forehead. Unless he made a regular visits I was there too!

:-)

Redgates was the bees knees. It was the Mecha of Mechano, The Sanctuary of Starwars Figures the Boudoir of Barbie..err.. ahem.

On another note, if what I was told was true it was driven out of business by Hamleys which itself closed down while the corpse that was Redgates was still warm. Business ethics..I think not.

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 ?

It's playing tricks on you Greybeard.......it was just off the moor and eyre street....we went passed it yesterday and my missis who used to work there still looks at it and shakes her head in disbelief.....and like a female Victor Meldrew utters " I can't believe what they've done to Redgates"

As quoted by Owdlad. it was just off the moor and eyre street....

It may have been just off the Moor in your day Owdlad but the original and best Redgates (in my opinion) was on the Moor. (Is it some sort of sports shop now?).Three floors of childhood dreams.
Oh, for just five minutes again in that shop and a big pile of money.

Pietro

I'm thinking of when most of the Moor was bomb sites, and Atkinsons was in an old cinema on the oppsite side of the Moor to where it is now...probably 1948-52.

I think Redgates original shop, which burnt out during the war, was at Moorhead...very close to where Sunwin House is now but on the corner facing the Moor and up Pinstone St...where MacDonalds is now.

I feel sure I remember their shop on Ecclesall Road. When did they move into the new shop on Furnival Gate and from where ?

That sports shop you have in mind (was Suggs for a long time) is on the corner of Charles and Pinstone Streets.

Originally posted by johnjo
I can remember being in Redgates waiting for Darth Vader to make an appearance. I was mesmerised by him when he did, he looked HUGE!!:P

I once saw Hordak off the old He Man/She Ra cartoons in Redgates, but I cried when I saw him :lol: I thinK I was only 7 at the time, circa 1983.

Greybeard

I've been talking with someone older and much wiser than myself today. Like you they can vaguely remember another earlier Redgates in the last block of shops on The Moor before you got to Ecclesall Road.
The Redgates that I remember was on The Moor 2 doors up from Woolworths (it is now "Sports Soccer" clothes shop). This is the sports shop I mentioned in my earlier thread, not Suggs which was further up The Moor (Pinstone Street), another Sheffield firm now sadly gone.They moved from here, I think sometime in the early 70's and their shop was taken over by Lonsdale Stationary, no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Incidently you mentioned the blitz, have you seen this:

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/hpac.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.id=6817

There are many more for like this, for The Moor, if you search.

I remember Redgates being exactly where Sunwin House is now. In fact if some of you walk into Sunwin House the memories of the layout (if you can imagine stairs where the escalators are now) will come flooding back.

I used to see Redgates as I walked all the way down Union Street, at the end, and it seemed to take ages to get there.:thumbsup:

Pietro

So it would seem Redgates had four different locations...??

Moorhead - which was destroyed in the war
Moorfoot - close to the bottom of Ecclesall Road
Moorhead - corner of Furnival Gate and The Moor
Furnival Gate - now Sunwin House

I was away from Sheffield from 1957 to 1976 apart from an occasional visit so missed most of the re-development of The Moor.

There is a photo of the remains of Redgates in the 'Shefffield at War' book published by the Star....very similar to the one in the link you posted.

What year did redgates close?

I think I may have a very vague memory of it from when I was very small, but I could just be imagining it :(

Twos t toys r us of its day. t only place in town f me

Remember that fantastic feeling of having your birthday money in your pocket and your Mom and Dad taking you in Redgates to blow it all? heaven.

Browsing the games downstairs or taking my pick from the latest Airfix stuff.. bliss.
Upstairs was boring though wasn't it? It was just prams and baby stuff as I remember.

i remember my sister working at redgates and getting my dad some discount on a chopper bike. i think it was 35 pound which was nearly a weeks wages for my dad, seems a life time ago.

I remember being extremely dissapointed on two occasions I visited Redgates in the 1960s. I had saved up for:

1) A "superball" which could be bounced over houses (so the packaging said...).

2) The Corgi James Bond car with working ejector seat.

They had sold out. Waaaaaaagh!

After many forays to various establishments I eventaually got the James Bond car - but soon lost James (shame - t'would be worth an few bob now..).

The superball broke eventually also. Sigh...

But Redgates was heaven for a 9 year old.

Striver

Superballs were good for one bounce LOL you'd get it out and give it a good old fling at the floor and it would disappear down the estate never to be seen again.

What about those furry worms that you pulled around 'invisibly' with a piece of fishing/garroting line? What were they called Weevils or something? They used to have a video playing in Redgates of this revolutionary new 'pet'. I saved up and got one and pulled the little b*st*rd in half first time I used it LOL

i remember it! redgates was like a lesbian with fancy hair. blonde one like. with average breasts but a great line in toys.

I used to buy all my Matchbox cars from Redgates...they had all the latest and best range probably in South Yorkshire...shame it had to shut down

Originally posted by asdasdasd
i remember it! redgates was like a lesbian with fancy hair. blonde one like. with average breasts but a great line in toys.

Would you care to elaborate on that? Or are you just talking sh*te for the sake of it?

The junior football league - sponsored before the professional leagues - and in its time the biggest junior league in the world - or is it still??

God - this has stirred some memories.

Two floors - ground level and basement. The gorund floor sold Prams and Bikes but I remember them having a huge railway set which could be rigged in the garden and rode on - cost hundreds even back in the 60's - but we lads all dreamt about it.

Downstairs - a kid's heaven - with 2/6 pocket money Saturday Mornings were spent as long as Mum could stand it - if Dad took mewe stayed a lot longer 'cus he got tied up with the Models etc.
There used to be a ride on helicopter which for 6d - took you up to the ceiling (or so it seemed) - I also remeber the Airfix Models which had been built and hung from the ceiling - the detail was incredible - I once saw the guy who made them - he was in a wheelchair and was painting a model.

They also had a sister branch in Fitzalan Square called Wison Gumpits or something - but they mainly sold Prams and Bikes I think

Originally posted by Wavey

What about those furry worms that you pulled around 'invisibly' with a piece of fishing/garroting line? What were they called Weevils or something? They used to have a video playing in Redgates of this revolutionary new 'pet'. I saved up and got one and pulled the little b*st*rd in half first time I used it LOL

I remember those - they were called 'Squirmels'. I remember seeing TV adverts for them. They looked great and I really wanted one. They turned out to be rubbish though.

Redgates was always the best place to buy fireworks.

Has everything I knew and loved in my dirty old city gone? Redgates!! There was no place like it for kids. Don't tell me Suggs has gone too, or Albert Butterworth's bike shop in Abbeydale. Or the mucky duck or the Nelson. I know all the Picture Palaces are gone, and probably the City Hall or Mecca dances. Maybe I should never have left. Ir was great fun in the 50s and 60s.

As quoted by Buck Don't tell me Suggs has gone too, or Albert Butterworth's bike shop in Abbeydale. Or the mucky duck or the Nelson. I know all the Picture Palaces are gone, and probably the City Hall or Mecca dances

Buck, check your P.M box.

Used To Love Redgates.Got Loads Of Action Man Stuff From There When I Was A Kid.My Parents Would Always Give Us A Tenner To Spend On Whatever We Wanted On Our Birthdays.
I Can Always Remember Dragging My Dad Down There When It Was Coming Upto My Birthday.
I Now Go Drinking In The Nelson And The Ammount Of Times People Mention Redgates While Drinking In There Just Shows How Much It Meant To The Kids Of The 70's.
Can Anyone Remember What The Toy Shop On Hillsborough Was Called? It Wasn't A Smaller Branch Of Redgates Was It?Before,It Was A Sports Shop Called Burgin's.I Can Remember Buying Many A Star Wars Figure From There As Well.

Redgates (Sunwin House location) was an annual pilgrimage in the lead-up to Christmas when my kids were young. We lived near Derby then, and my two children loved this store. It was simply brilliant. There was always something that the kids found that they wanted for Christmas, (and whilst they were distracted, would be purchased and stowed away in the car boot, only to magically re-appear under the Christmas tree).

One year, though I forget which now, we returned to Sheffield, only to find this children's mecca had closed. We were all devastated. No overhead railway track, no toys, no games, no nothing. Redgates had vanished without trace. Christmas shopping for the kids was never the same wonderful experience again.

I always wanted a Subbuteo CRICKET set, but my dad refused to buy me one, saying that the football sets were better value....
Never did find out whether it was true, or whether they were just more expensive than the soccer games!
Still fancy one now (especially the Test match edition!) if anybody's got one tucked away in the attic?!
Will pay obviously, or a donation to your favourite charity perhaps???

Mum and Dad would drag my brothers and me around town every Saturday during the early 70's. We were always bored senseless by this! The only thing that made it bearable was the chance to have a look around Redgates. We never spent any money, however. Kevin Taylor.

Redgates to me was the home of childhood dreams, walking round just looking at all the toys etc, filled me with joy what a shop, even better at christmas........:D

There are a number of threads on this forum that deal with past memories and without any doubt the Number One topic is this almost mythical store.

I have commented myself about Redgates when it was on the Moor - by the time it got to Sunwin House I was probably a tad too old to get excited about it - I remember going into Sunwin House a few times and for some reason thinking it was not a patch on the old store but that may have been the old 'averse to change' thingy we all do from time to time

But the fact remains that of all the memories we have had when we were kids this has won hands down - so if it was so popular - why did it close?

I had moved away from Sheff by the time this had happened - does anyone have info about its demise? Was it cause Beatties had opened up by then on Pinstone Street and the 'serious' model makers took their business elsewhere? -

I would be interested to know - when I try and tell my daughters about Redgates they look at me strange that Dad could get so moved by a shop that he remembers it so well

I used to live at Heeley and go to school at Owler lane during the sixties and that entailed two buses, so me and a couple of mates used to dive into Redgates for half an hour on the way home. It was always straight downstairs for us, upstairs had prams and stuff, we wanted the train set in the glass case.
I remember when the Yo Yo craze appeared and Redgates got an expert in to do all the moves ( walking the dog, round the world etc ), clever bugger , I could never do them but then I couldn't afford the top of the range super smooth whizz bang Yo Yo that he had. I could only afford the cheap nasty tin one.
Happy Days

Originally posted by Greybeard
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 ?
No you're dead right , it was opposite the S&E. My Gran lived on Clarence Street, and we used to go to see her on a Saturday, get off the bus at Moorhead and walk down, last stop for me was Redgates, then round the corner to Gran's. You and me must be the same generation Greybeard, these youngsters can't go back before the sixties!

Originally posted by algy
No you're dead right , it was opposite the S&E. My Gran lived on Clarence Street, and we used to go to see her on a Saturday, get off the bus at Moorhead and walk down, last stop for me was Redgates, then round the corner to Gran's. You and me must be the same generation Greybeard, these youngsters can't go back before the sixties!


So when did it move from the bottom of the Moor - up to the top?

I have fond memories of this store when I was a kid and that was in the late 50's and I certainly don't remember it being down at the bottom of the Moor

I just been talking to my old Mum she is in her seventies but her memory is as sharp as anything.

She worked at the bottom of the Moor from 1949 to 1953 - when I was born.

She has said that at no time can she remember Redgates being down at the bottom of the Moor - as far as she knows it was always in its place at the top - she says she knows that cus she went shopping for a pram for me in '53 and she remembers going in too look round - the prams and bikes were on the ground floor and the toys etc downstairs.

She started taking me in when I was very young - there was a ride downstairs which was a helicopter - I can just remember that so that must have been around 1956/7/8

Is there anyway of finding out the reality here? - the only thing I can find on the web about Redgates is about the owner after the war

It is an adobe document so I cannot copy from it but it mentions that he took over Redgates in 1938 - (it was a family business then) and was responsible for the 'new and grander premises' which were built on the original site which was destroyed during the Sheffield Blitz - the new shop opening in 1954 - trouble is it don't say where - but would they build a place in '54 and move just a few years later?

Wasn't it firstly on the Moor, where General Stationers used to be? (I don't know what the present business is there, today, but it's opposite Debenham's.)

Then did it not relocate round the corner to Furnival Gate? I went to the Furnival Gate Redgates on many an occasion. It really was dreamland. I think the Dinky and Matchbox toy cars were at the rear on the ground floor, prams and cots and the like upstairs and I can't recall quite what downstairs, board games perhaps?

And as others have said, at Christmas it was the most exciting place to drag your parents to and cry 'but please Mum', 'oh go on Dad'.

Great place indeed!

Where have the years gone i can remember my grandmother having a friut and veg stall at the bottom of Dixons lane and when she had finished for the day she would take me to Redgates. This was back in the early 60's the Golden years.

I used to dream as a child that I would get locked by accident inside Redgates at closing time like being in heaven.I used to by all my model planes their.Toy shop with soul.Not to be found anymore.

The stationers that seems to appear in a few of these posts (i.e. opposite Debenhams, which I think was called Pauldens then) was called Quadrant Stationers at some time.....
Still no offers of a Subbuteo Cricket set, then!
Knew I should have got one from Redgates when I could!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by docmel
[B]
She has said that at no time can she remember Redgates being down at the bottom of the Moor -


It wasn't actually on the Moor, it was round the corner on Ecclesall Road.The road layout then was very different to now, Ecclesall Rd ran where the front of the Waitrose building is now, and met the Moor, Cemetery Rd, London Rd and St Mary's at a roundabout. Redgates was actually on Ecclesall Rd a few yards from the junction. It must have moved onto the Moor in the mid 50's. Before that there was still a lot of bomb damage on the Moor, and I think Redgates moved as it was rebuilt.

The only shop for me as a kid.
In the 50s and early 60s, if I was in the town with my mom then she'd either have to give Redgates a wide berth or she'd be dragged round.
Sort of shop that leaves the right impression on a kid.

Happy happy days.

Originally posted by algy
No you're dead right , it was opposite the S&E. My Gran lived on Clarence Street, and we used to go to see her on a Saturday, get off the bus at Moorhead and walk down, last stop for me was Redgates, then round the corner to Gran's. You and me must be the same generation Greybeard, these youngsters can't go back before the sixties!

Thanks for the back-up Algy, - I was beginning to doubt my memory, - as you do after a certain age :D

It would be around 1945/6 that I first entered Redgates and I distincly remember where it was, but I'll check with a directory of the period next time I'm in the library. The move to Sunwin House must have happened whilst I was living away from Sheffield [1957-1976].

The original shop I believe was at Moorhead and got bombed out during the blitz.

redgates toy shop one of the true toy shops this city as ever seen, I use to go in there with my dad I was aged about 8 years old then and go and look at the model railways thats was the start of my passion for the railways. one christmas I went in there with my grandad & grandma and 2 of my uncles was in there shopping nobody said anything to me but they were laiden down with presents any way going round the shop, my grandad looked at the trains sets and he just smiled at my grandma he must have been very quick because when we came out he had got one of the biggest presents under is arm I had ever seen and as it was just one week to go before christmas day everything had gone to santa and it would be back on christmas morning, on that day I had the biggest shock of my life when I woke up we use to live in a 2 bedroom house down the cliffe then with a attic bedroom, my grandad and my dad and my uncles all took me upstairs to the attic and there in front of me was the biggest train layout I had seen in all my life that was my christmas present from all my family and there was bags all with redgates on them full of loco's rolling stock stations everything I could have wished for, I use to go to redgates every saturday after that and buy things for my layout, now I have progressed on the bigger loco's and if I had the money I would buy a steam loco and name it redgates.

I used to go to Redgates on saturday mornings with my mate's to look at the new players for Subbutteo & there was a West Ham shirt in there too & I would have loved to have got it as they were my 2nd team back then,it was a great toy shop,they don't make them like that no more.

Bigkev mentions railways and I think I'm right in thinking that on the ground floor there was a miniature railway running round the shop, on a track either suspended from the ceiling or an a ledge attached to the wall? Same size as yer average Hornby. I think it went through a couple of tunnels also.

(I just hope I'm not getting too confused with Uncle Sam's Chuck Waggon which I believe still has such a railway.)

My elder brother had all the Subbuteos going, football (with the floodlights), the rugby one and, best of all, the cricket set. I wonder if he's still got them; I'll have to ask.

I think Redgates suffered somewhat after Hamley's came to the Moor. The sad thing being that neither shop lasted much longer, so we went from two decent toy shops to none. Redgates however, was like an old friend, Hamley's, a bit of a trespasser and we, the Sheffield public, lost out again!

I've got such fond memories of my uncle taking me there to choose a toy, when he came back to sheffield from birmingham.

I also spent some of my first weeks wages in redgates, on a talking doll for my youngest sister, 25-odd years ago. it was £20 , then, which was a small fortune.

PT

Originally posted by Greybeard
Thanks for the back-up Algy, - I was beginning to doubt my memory, - as you do after a certain age :D

It would be around 1945/6 that I first entered Redgates and I distincly remember where it was, but I'll check with a directory of the period next time I'm in the library. The move to Sunwin House must have happened whilst I was living away from Sheffield [1957-1976].

The original shop I believe was at Moorhead and got bombed out during the blitz.
That fits with my memories too, I had a vague recollection that the one opposite S&E was somehow temporary. My recollection goes back to the late 40's/early 50's.

I used to love Redgates! I feel quite sad now that I'm not little and it isn't there and I can't go and buy Sindy dolls and tea sets.

Originally posted by Jon
Who remembers the best toy shop in the world Redgates? I bought all my Subbuteo teams at Redgates (now Sunwin House) :D
Yes best toy shop ever including Hamleys of London::D

Ah Redgates, now theres a blast from the past. I remember going there all the time just to look at all the toys and play with any that were out..... well, that's what they were there for......to play with!

I can't exactly remember if it had changed to Zodiac Redgates when they got the Ferrari or Lamboghini in just on the right as you went through the doors!

I was told as a small child that If I saved all my pocket then when I was old enough to drive I could buy it!

Still struggle to save my pocket money and even if I could Redgates is no longer and my childhood dream car is long gone!

Now I'm reasonbly grown up, or at least in the eyes of society the size of car I would need to buy, if it be along the same lines would take a hell of a lot of saving to buy! :(

I remember Redgates, t'was the first place (and may I say, the LAST) place that i ever shoplifted in. I was only about 11 or 12 (1980/81), me and a friend, Richard who lived next door to us on Broomhall Flats, went in nicked a Paul Daniels Magic Trick each, cost about 49p, we did get caught, the police came to speak to us, and our parents called. Richards mum came to collect him, and rather than go home with her, I opted to wait for my mum, who gave me the biggest clout -EVER. Discipline-never did me any harm. I never ever did shoplift again, we both learnt our lesson.

WOW, reading your message has put a huge grin on my face and a tear in my eye. I loved my parents taking me in there in the early 80's. A magical place. Thanks...

Redgates was amazing when i was a kid. I remeber me dad buying my fist bike from there, it was a raleigh burner with mag wheels!!! :D Fantastic memories of that place, i was soooo gutted when i closed down. :sad:

I remember Redgates being in Fitzallan sq and im not too old 49 lol i worked in the classic cinema and the news agents there but i was older.

Originally posted by janjan21
I remember Redgates being in Fitzallan sq and im not too old 49 lol i worked in the classic cinema and the news agents there but i was older.
I don't recall Redgates ever being in Fitzalan Square, but there was a similar toyshop there called Wilson Gumpert's, on the opposite side of the square from the Classic.

I remember Redgates at the Sunwin House site years ago. Is my mind playing tricks or did they have a HUGE (to my eyes then) meccano robot in the doorway as you walked in? I think they also used to have the Subbuteo tournaments there or something like that. Remember the suspended train too, Beatties must have ripped that idea off for their shop, where Maplins is now.

my mate has just reminded me......remember the huge Ferrari toy/working car in there too! God I soooooo wanted one of those!!! Loads of money though!!!

My sister took me when I was a nipper, I couldn't believe my eyes :wow: at all the toys!

I got my first Action Man inflatable dinghy from there :roll: memories

Used to go in there as a kid in the 80's and always loved it. So much stuff I could never have :) Beatties was the same and I think they both had overhead model railways.

Wow, redgates :clap:

What a fab store, I got some silly putty in there, I loved that stuff !!!

Wohoo, and Muscle Men, 10 skin coloured men in pot, bit odd but I liked them....

Oh my God...Redgates, what memories. I remember Redgates on the moor, but later it moved around the corner. I got all my Dinky cars there, all my subbuteo teams and the original chopper bike in Orange. I rember the bike been displayed in the window, WOW what a bike, managed to talk my dad into buying me one for christmas. Redgates was a true toy shop not like toys r us. Train sets on display, santa's grotto and who remembers them having a subbuteo competition over several weeks, yep, fantastic memories.....But who remembers Kenyons in Firth park located on Bellhouse Rd, a small shop but he had every dinky and corgi model in his window + train sets fully set up in his back room. That shop cost my mum and dad a fortune.

redgates was ace.........the biggest, best, and most eye opping toy shop ever...loved it, bloody massive

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.

Originally posted by Applegrim
When my sons were small, I actually worked at Redgates

Applegrim - Which Redgates? The original on the Moor or the one round the corner where they moved to?

Reason for my asking is that I have very fond memories of the 'old' Redgates especially the superb model kits that had been made up and hung from the ceiling.

I seem to recall they were made up by a guy in a wheelchair but whenever I talk about this to my mates during our reminising times they all say I must have been dreaming.

What sticks in my mind is that on one visit I am sure (dream?) that he was building a kit at a counter and quite a few kids/dads were getting tips from him. He was painting a model plane and was actually painstaikingly putting in the exhaust smoke stain down the side of the plane - or was that adream as well?

Hi docmel, just to answer your question on that old chap in the wheelchair know you are not dreaming he did work in redgates and yes he was the one who built all the models, why do I know because he was a very good friend of my dads as my dad was an ambulance driver he use to take him to the hospital on the days he had to go, thats why I know that he worked there and did all the models did you ever see that one of the ark royal aircraft carrier he built. he told my dad that it took him nearly a year to complete it and it wasnt made in plastic it was made in wood. so you wasnt dreaming after all.

bigkev

Thanks mate - its just that its nearly 50 years ago and thats a long time for memory like that - I cant recall his face or anything - just that fact that he was in a wheelchair which did make it a god contender for a weird dream

Docmel, like you I also remember the "old " Redgates, unfortunaltly I worked at the one round the corner, and we did sell all the lego, duplo etc., as well as the subbuteo, they were good times and every childs dream,mine still remember going to see Darth Vader, but thats another story!

The basement of the Redgates (Sunwin) store had a basement that led to the Moor. It was a stationers within my memory, but my partner says that originally it was part of Redgates, but he cant remember what they stocked in that part. I remember going through the passageway to the stationers and there being prams in glass display cases lining the walls.

I also remember taking my kids there and them having their photos taken. I used to get most of their toys from their in their early years. When Hamleys came I never used it, I felt we should support Redgates.

All my star wars figures , which i still ahve in a box in the loft , started their life at redgates


I was so sad when it closed .....and i was about 18

Originally posted by johnjo
I can remember being in Redgates waiting for Darth Vader to make an appearance. I was mesmerised by him when he did, he looked HUGE!!:P

I remember that too. He came out of the lift and frightened me to death ( I was only little at the time!!) My brother loved it though.

Hi Jon — Yes, I remember the ORIGINAL Redgates before the war. My father took me to buy a hand-cranked Pathescope Ace projector and three 9.5 millimetre, one-reel films. We had to go into the basement to look at projectors, and although I cannot remember the price of mine, I do remember than an elecrically driven one, with sound, was a fiver. A salesman was demonstrating it to a prospective customer. The place was an Aladdin’s Cave of toys! Wages then were about thirty shillings, so an electric projector would have cost my dad more than three weeks wages! However, as the war progressed he got more money, and one Christmas he got me a No. 10 Meccano Set in a wooden box; the best available. It cost 255 shillings, and today it would be worth a small fortune. Happy days!

I used to go to Redgates on saturday mornings with my mate's to look at the new players for Subbutteo & there was a West Ham shirt in there too & I would have loved to have got it as they were my 2nd team back then,it was a great toy shop,they don't make them like that no more.

Used to go there once to try and get subbuteo stuff during the late 1980's - just moved to the area a few months before it closed. I was into subbuteo a lot at the time. I vaguely remember putting six goals past Carl Young (one of the UK's top players at the time) though if he was really trying I would have been slaughtered.

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.

Redgates the best toy shop ever!

-I remember Redgates when it use to be at the bottom of Ecclesall Road.
I got my first three wheel bike from there, my uncle had won some money at the dogs and this was my treat. That must have been about 1947-48 then it moved to Fitzalan Sqare. I tooked my kids to Redgates for their toys and my grandchildren as well. Unfortunatley it did not stop open long enough for me to indulge my great grandaughter. Redgates was a big part of Sheffield kid's lives.

Redgates absolutely rocked! We lived in Wath in the late 70s so it was a proper treat to come to Sheffield and go to Redgates. I can remember at the height of the first Star Wars movie, Darth Vader was there and our kid was absolutely gobsmacked at this huge bloke in the black gear and mask, making all the breathing noises and everything :o

I remember Redgates as a child of about 10 year old about 1957 used to go in town on my own on Saturday and head for Redgates from Division Street, not much in the way of buildings around in those days as a lot was bombed.

I would head for the basement and stand watching the Disabled chap operate the Hornby Train set in the middle of the basement I could stand there for hours.

Anyone remember it.

A bit different today, the last time I went into the shop was about 20 years ago.

Regards John.m Dont you remember the other toy shop in fiztallan square it was called wilson and gumpets next door to marples ....I remember it cos our bus stop was right out side and i used to beg my mom to take me in every saturday when she had finished her shopping .... wasnt half a big as Redgates but to a small child of the fifties just as magical ....Anne

does anyone remember wilson and gumpets in fitzallan square as well a small toy shop but just as magical anne

Redgates absolutely rocked! We lived in Wath in the late 70s so it was a proper treat to come to Sheffield and go to Redgates. I can remember at the height of the first Star Wars movie, Darth Vader was there and our kid was absolutely gobsmacked at this huge bloke in the black gear and mask, making all the breathing noises and everything :o
When I went back to the top of the moor for the first time in years, a short time ago, I was rea;lly dissapointed to see no Redgates. Nearly all my Xmas presents either came from their or? Was it called Stoppards in Carbrook? Near the bottom of Broughton Lane.
They had a club where you could put a small amount of money away each week and how ever hard up my mum and dad were I always got a good Xmas present, bless them (Has tears in eyes)

Im 22 now and can vaguelly remember going in there when I was little! I used to love going there at weekends when my mum and dad went shopping in town and then we'd go to McDonalds afterwards!
I can also remember going into some sort of climbing frame with a tent on top of it and screaming the place down coz I couldnt find my mm and dad when I got to the bottom of the slide!

does anyone remember kenyons in firth park, only a small toy shop, but it was crammed to the roof with toys...corgi and dinky models, subbuteo, and he had loads of train sets set up in the back of the shop, fond memories

does anyone remember kenyons in firth park, only a small toy shop, but it was crammed to the roof with toys...corgi and dinky models, subbuteo, and he had loads of train sets set up in the back of the shop, fond memories

Think I very vaguely do but I'm not sure whether it was before we moved there in 84 :huh:

new to all of this! does anyone remember the glass lift in redgates ? you could see all round the shop as you went up ,hope im not imagining this!

Wow!! Redgates!! This was an amazing place and provides me with one of my earliest memories...

I'm 29, so only remember the Sunwin House store. Before they redecorated (and added the glass elevator with the space man) the girly things used to be upstairs and the lift was a huge and imposing steel monster!

I was a little madam then and used to get so excited. My auntie and uncle and cousins were visiting and my Mom had my little brother in a pram and no one was moving quick enough so I went stomping in to the lift, but the doors shut and I was on my own! My Mom says all she could hear was me wailing;

"MOMMMMMMIIIIIIIEEEEEE............"

as I got further and further away!!

I remember the doors opened in the store room and I wandered for what felt like hours surrounded by the highest piles of boxes I had ever seen in my life!

Suffice to say after I was found by a lovely store assistant and a snotty and snivelling me was reunited with my family I remained holding on to my brothers pram as if I was stuck to it... Until I saw the Barbie and Sindy houses! :D

When i was a child there were no toy shops around, i think everybody went to Redgates in those days.

Well I was born in '42 and as a lad I remember two fantastic toy shops other than Redgates. One was almost at the junction at the top of Glossop Road in Broomhill and the other was on Crookes and I think at the bottom of Mulehouse Road. However if I couldn't get the meccano I wanted, Redgates usual had it.

I played Truant in there for well over a year. I loved the place.

I played Truant in there for well over a year. I loved the place.

;) ;) ;) didn't your parents notice you'd been gone that long? ;) ;) ;)

lol

PT

;) ;) ;) didn't your parents notice you'd been gone that long? ;) ;) ;)

lol

PT
They were glad to see the back of me!

Redgates - I always remebered it at moorhead. I used to live near the bottom of the moor as a lad. We were bombed out of our house and were put in this back to back house in Hodgeson st by the council.There was a little lane called Button Lane ran almost parallel with the Moor and came out at Moorhead where the trams stopped.I beleive it's called Arundel gate now ( have not lived in Sheffield for many years) Down at the bottom of the Moor was a cheap gents outfitters called Bunnies. Where they build Debenhams used to be a huge bomb crater full of water & I remember part of a plane wreck lying on flattened land down Button Lane - one of the few shops down there was a saw doctor - he used to mend and sharpen any type of saw.It's a long time ago.

i use to go to Redgates every saturday if id been a good girl all week for a new toy lol i loved it!:hihi:

I remember Redgates, I used to be mesmerised by the stuff in the window. There used to be a blind man selling matches outside at the end of the alleyway onto the Moor. I used to wonder how he made a living selling matches,
I was about 25 before I realised that you were supposed to give him more than the real price of a box of matches ! Now I am professionally qualified with an MBA as well.

IT PAYS TO BE A WINNER

My wife has corrected me on this, I got it mixed up with Suggs the sport shop.

Does anyone remember Coopers toys at the bottom of Doncaster Gate in Rotherham. Up some stairs and down some other stairs, it was like a labyrinth in there :D

Does anyone remember Coopers toys at the bottom of Doncaster Gate in Rotherham. Up some stairs and down some other stairs, it was like a labyrinth in there :D

A friend of mine her mother worked at one time in the personell dept at Redgates. Her name was Mrs Green.

Wow redgates was ace Redgates then walk upto Beaties now maplin oh the childhood memories

Have to thank Redgates for supplying my parents with all my starwars toys :-) Had them all valued last year and my big Boxed Talourian Shuttle still has the Redgates price tag on it of £9.99 from there closing down sale and still have alot of my old toys stored in Redgates bags - memories :-)

I used to love Beatties.

I remember Redgates the Toy Shop as a kid and thought it was absolutley fantastic:thumbsup:

Redgates was situated on Furnival Gate in City Centre - Were sunwin house CO-OP is now.

Toys R Us is quite good now but I think Redgates was something Really Special, or is it just that I miss being a kid and them magical years?

Anytime I was taken to town I used to be in heaven just being in this shop!

I would be very interested to know what you Forumers thought of Redgates?

Will there ever be a Toy Shop like this again?

Do you know of anywere like Redgates?

What memories do you have of Redgates?

Which specific Toys do you remember getting from Redgates?

Please discuss - Redgates RIP

yeah.......got all my subbuteo from there........they had everything!

Redgates was fabulous, i loved going there

they had a 'display' toy out, complete with batteries of every item of stock they carried .... toys r us just display everything in boxes ... cant play with them first.

Yeah, got stuck in the lift in there once with my Nan. I used to buy all my sindy stuff in there.
Toys R Us isn't the same. its not as exciting or real. I think Redgates had an air of anticipation about it. Toys r Us just doesn't have the same joy about it.

Red gates was great
red gates was fab
if mum said no run n ask dad
if I was good I`d get a small treat
but if I`d been bad wait till next week

we never had much money when I was a kid but my mum used to take me up to redgates just before xmas, it was the high light of my year. will there ever be anything like it again, I don't think so!

Oh Redgates ! Brilliant! Used to go in there on a Saturday morning with my mum and always ended up in the doll dept. I was doll mad and it was like being in paradise! My favorites were the Sasha dolls (they looked like real kids with lovely dark skin) and I've spent hours looking at them. Never got one though cause they were quite expensive and we just didn't have the money in those days. (they are now available on ebay and keep thinking I should get one for my little girl). Another memory I have of Redgates was going in with my mate and getting stuck in the lift. We ended up at the top floor in the stock room and couldn't get back down! We must have only been there for about 10 minutes but it seemed to go on for hours!

2 people so far who have been stuck in lift at Redgates! Did this happen regular?

2 people so far who have been stuck in lift at Redgates! Did this happen regular?
I was just thinking the same - But, I think it's just something that happens to me! Got stuck in Primark's lift a few weeks ago!

I was just thinking the same - But, I think it's just something that happens to me! Got stuck in Primark's lift a few weeks ago!

I used to live on the old Hyde Park Flats (before they were refurbished) as a young kid and I remember stuck in lift a few times on them flats but never anywere else.

Yep, got my first skateboard from Redgates - red with a picture of a surfer on it and blue wheels - felt every bump of gravel on the road, useless it was.

I crashed it into a tree on the day of the Hillsborough disaster if memory serves me.

Long established thread on remembering Redgates toy shop can be found here.....

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

I remember Redgates, wasn't the lift in the shape of a rocket?

Long established thread on remembering Redgates toy shop can be found here.....

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

I did a search but didn't find anything, anyway thanks a lot for the link I'm sure its going to be really enjoyable looking at it. :thumbsup:

I remember the fabulous Santas Grottos there every year

I loved Redgates, and later Hamleys on the Moor... Bought most of my old Star Wars figures from there, and met some scary bloke dressed as Hordak from the old He Man and She Ra cartoons there when I went in one Saturday with my Nan some time in, 1984 iirc... I was only about 7 or 8 at the time anyway.

REDGATES!!!
my girls world and chemistry set
luved it nothing like it now days
it was a magical place xxxx

I loved it :D 3 floors of toys!!!

Wasn't Redgates originally on the Moor? About where Sports Soccer is now? But I do remember my husband picking up a HUGE bag of marbles to tell what they were all called - and the bag split. There were marbles everywhere!!!!! We left - quickly.

Wasn't Redgates originally on the Moor? About where Sports Soccer is now? But I do remember my husband picking up a HUGE bag of marbles to tell what they were all called - and the bag split. There were marbles everywhere!!!!! We left - quickly.

Yeah its terrible when you lose your marbles - rare things too :hihi:

I think as a kid you have rose tinted gigs on - yeah redgates was brilliant but so were Big Traks.

Big Trak - amazing, in its time. We still have one up high in a cupboard somewhere - waiting for it to become an antique, himself seems to think it will finance our retirment.

redgates was around corner from sportsoccer where sunwin house was (now closed down, too!) although some older members on here might remember the store, many, many years ago on that strip of shops where sportsoccer is.

Oh, God yes. Remember Regates.My boys thought it was heaven.They were MAD on Airfix models & soldiers. I gave a big tin of the soldiers away,then my son who lives in America said E Bay were selling all Airfix stuff for really high prices(second hand) He had to buy some soldiers back, and keeps them on his office desk to this day.

Being a mere 33 I don't.

I do recall Big Traks with the dumper option ..... wow that was cool.

Kids today are spoilt. No waiting 30 mins for Hungry Horrice Goes Skiing to load on your spectrum only for the coloured lines to stop flashing. Press stop, rewind and start again. Those times were so stressful.

Also remember my lads going mad over "Action Man" .They had all the outfits,and the rubber diving outfit was so hard to put on.They had to put talc on the Action Man first. Their American cousin came over and he had the American version called "G.I.Joe.

i remember getting my first tiny tears from redgates,i just loved that shop....ahhhhhh

Ground floor - just inside on the left was where all the Hornby train sets were - I always inspired to the latest system X multiple train control system but never got it.........:hihi:

Being a mere 33 I don't.

I do recall Big Traks with the dumper option ..... wow that was cool.

Kids today are spoilt. No waiting 30 mins for Hungry Horrice Goes Skiing to load on your spectrum only for the coloured lines to stop flashing. Press stop, rewind and start again. Those times were so stressful.

im a year younger than you i and i remember redgates, its was great, hamleys killed it, then shut down.

Kids with the 'dumper bit' of big track were the lucky ones!!! i never had that, but had the big trak, hours of fun!!

redgates was ace

ash

I remember the huge (seemed huge at the time) LEGO department, with the lego you could play with first, and the hundreds of little boxes of roof tiles, or windows or wheels.

Twas heaven on Earth.

Being a mere 33 I don't.

I do recall Big Traks with the dumper option ..... wow that was cool.

Kids today are spoilt. No waiting 30 mins for Hungry Horrice Goes Skiing to load on your spectrum only for the coloured lines to stop flashing. Press stop, rewind and start again. Those times were so stressful.

I'm 33, I remeber Redgates very well. The rocket lift came later, when it became Hamley's

Yes I remember when Redgates was on the moor,and also Wilson Gumperts which belonged to them in Fitzalan Square.
Used to get all my dolls house furniture from there.
They always had a lovely display in the window

I'm 33, I remeber Redgates very well. The rocket lift came later, when it became Hamley's

Im 30 and i also remember redgates very well, this place had everything a child could possible want and more!:) :)


I remember getting all my Manta Force Transformers and Star wars gear from there, I doubt Meadowhall toy shops or Toys r us would even get a lookin for toys now if Redgates was still open:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I remember the huge (seemed huge at the time) LEGO department, with the lego you could play with first, and the hundreds of little boxes of roof tiles, or windows or wheels.

Twas heaven on Earth.
The lego dept was my favourite. The "old" Redgates used to have a (what seemed but probably wasn't) huge staircase near the main entrance which took you down to the Lego which was right at the bottom of the stairs. The stairs later made way for possibly an escalator when they installed the rocket lift.

Sometime after it closed, my dad had a job there whilst it was being refurbished for Sunwin House and I went in with him - it was all emty and eerie, I remember thinking how big it was and how sad it wasn't Redgates anymore!

Redgates WAS THE toy shop for a generation or 2 - Toys R Us cannot even come remotely close!

PS: Hamleys was on The Moor where Mk One is. I blame Hamleys for the demise of Redgates (altho there probably is no link!)

Well i was lucky enough that my mum worked in redgates, i thought it was fantastic, i used to get a new barbie every week. And i remember the glass lift being in the shape of a rocket, the santa's grotto's were brilliant me and my brothers used to get in for free with my mum working there, i remember one year it had a snow white theme with all the dwarfs in christmas scenes...... Happy memories :bigsmile: :thumbsup:

There's nothing quite like it now is there... i was in toys r us the other week, thought it was quite untidy looking (bit trampy to be honest), not magical at all like redgates... :(