My mum moved to Firshill estate a few years ago and my gran lived there from about 1974 or 75 (when the estate was built) till she died a few years ago. I was wondering what was there before as the road pattern was obviously changed greatly when the new flats and houses were built. Was it a slum clearance area (as Ellesmere and Carwood) or was the area used for other purposes.
Thanks for any tips.

I think it was all part of Roe Woods. I remember when I was young there were ponds at the top end of the woods towards Firshill School.

Where the Firshill estate was built in the early 1970,s used to be all allotments,I used to go up there on a Sunday morning to get a bunch of flowers to take to my mother,they also had an annual show on where the car park is now at the Sportsman where they had a marque to show the exhibits

Thanks for the info

Anyone here go to Firs Hill School?

No, I went to St Catherines next door

in 1941 during the war I lived at number 1 firshill road it was a row of back to back houses in an L shape with an anderson shelter in the centre of the gardens. next door lived mr and mrs gregory who were old then, and facing us over the gardens and shelter were mr and mrs rothery in another row of houses. In the left hand side of this row was mr and mrs nichols, her husband sustained injuries on monte casino , he was in the army, my father was a fireman in sheffield during the war. my mother used to sit under the cellar head when the bombs were dropping, she didnt like the anderson shelter.

Behind Firshill School used to be a riding stables, belonging to Mr Mcormick. It was 3 shillings for half and hour and 6 shillings for an hour. Used to save up all my spending money so I could go there. Could only go for half an hour unless someone treated me. It was a really special occasion when I could manage to go for an hour. Bus fare from the bottom of Addison Rd was something like 2d.

Then of course, just along the road was the famous MOJO CLUB.

My gran lived at No. 17 firshill Rd, she was Elsie Smith (White) and my grandad played for Sheffield wednesday. They had two children Jean and Michael (my dad). He was born in 1933 and grew up on the road. My gran was a teacher - not sure at which school though.

Anyone here go to Firs Hill School?


I went to Firs Hill school. Left in 1972. Remember Mr Cox as headteacher and Mrs Vaughan as deputy head

I went to firshill school left in the early eighties

This map shows the Workhouse at Firvale. You can see Barnsley Road with a few houses either side. Also Abbeyfield Road runs in a curve parallel to Barnsley Road, Shirecliffe Road is there and possibly Norwood Road. As for the estate it was probably part of Roe Wood as Mowith said or maybe Crabtree?

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i74/grahamkirkby/HerriesRoad.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i74/grahamkirkby/AroundSheffieldCentre.jpg

I moved to the Shirecliffe in 1955, there were 3 woods which were called Roe Woods, the 1st & 2nd were divided by Shirecliffe road, the 3rd wood went from I think it was Longley Avenue, down to what was the City General Hospital & over to Firshill.
The area was called 7 ponds,as there were 7 ponds & a lot of allotments in the area you mention, many people went there fishing & it was a great place to have fun,the Atlas & Norfolk football ground was over the back of the ponds etc & had a fair every year.
I was shocked in 1990 when I returned to that area after 20 years to visit family, & it was covered in houses.

Anyone here go to Firs Hill School?

Hi, I went to Firshill infants and juniors in the 1950/60s and remember Mrs Jackson and Miss Brown in the infants and Mr Sims,Mr Robinson and Mr Cox in the juniors. Mr Sims was my favourite teacher, he taught me so much and made us remember what we learned. We used to have Sports day on the Atlas and Norfolk ground. Does anyone remember the "plantation"?

Hi, I went to Firshill infants and juniors in the 1950/60s and remember Mrs Jackson and Miss Brown in the infants and Mr Sims,Mr Robinson and Mr Cox in the juniors. Mr Sims was my favourite teacher, he taught me so much and made us remember what we learned. We used to have Sports day on the Atlas and Norfolk ground. Does anyone remember the "plantation"?

I went to firshill infants in the seventies and miss brown was still there then if its the same teacher (she had realy long finger nails)
sportsday was still held on the atlas and norfolk ground but dont no where the plantion was

I left Firshill in 1946 and remember Mr. Sims, Miss Yates and Miss Humphreys who was the headmistress. I also remember the air raid drills and receiving a bar of chocolate during the drill.

was there air raid shelters on the school grounds?

Does anyone know why Orphanage road carries that name ?

Was there once an orphanage up there...perhaps in the big house known as Firs Hill ?

Skippy....I have an old map (1905) of the area and can count only six ponds in the allotments :) - where was the other one ?

There were a total of seven ponds greybeard, not sure if one was created after your map, i used to go up there most summer weekends and many nights fishing in the ponds

There were a total of seven ponds greybeard, not sure if one was created after your map, i used to go up there most summer weekends and many nights fishing in the ponds

Did they use to play cricket on the sportsground at the back of the allotments ?

Went to watch a cricket match somewhere up in Pitsmoor with my Dad when I was about nine or ten. His mate played for Laycock's or Tyzacks and I can remember getting off the tram near that funny little house (the toll house), walking up a lane by some allotments to the cricket ground.

Can remember too wishing we lived up there with all the woods etc. to play in; - a lot different to where we lived at Highfields. Must have been heaven for young boys :D

The plantation was the small wooded area at the front of the school which bordered Barnsley Road. It was separated from the school by railings, there was one missing which left a space and the girls constantly hung upside down by their knees in the gap.:D

I went to Firs Hill school. Left in 1972. Remember Mr Cox as headteacher and Mrs Vaughan as deputy head

I was at Firshill Infants & Jnrs, left in 1977. Mrs Vaughan was head & Mr Woodcock was deputy then. Any of you remember Mr Marshall? Could be a nasty bugger, but also funny at times.

I'd forgotten about the cricket pitch, greybeard.we used to watch the cricket occasionally.most time was either spent fishing or swinging from "tarzan ropes" in the wood further over towards the northern general entrance. once camped out with my school buddies in the area between the ponds and the woods,3 tents 8 lads, had a good time till the police came to collect one of the lads, he didn't have permission to stay out from his mom...we laughed about it all night

The plantation was the small wooded area at the front of the school which bordered Barnsley Road. It was separated from the school by railings, there was one missing which left a space and the girls constantly hung upside down by their knees in the gap.:D

Thanks for the info i no exactley were you mean now

I was told that in the woods there was the remains of some type of old fortress from the bronze age or somthing like that just wondered if anybody else knows anything about this or have i been told a myth

I was told that in the woods there was the remains of some type of old fortress from the bronze age or somthing like that just wondered if anybody else knows anything about this or have i been told a myth


Not seen anything in detail but Mary Walton mentions an iron age camp in Roe Wood.

Thanks greybeard im going to try and get hold of that book
been looking round on the net and found some info on this camp and looks like you had the answer all the time guess were it is under that cricket pitch :hihi:
http://www.heritagewoodsonline.co.uk/map/025/025.html
theres some mor history on the woods here if anybodys intrested

was there air raid shelters on the school grounds?

Yes, it was in the playground.

was there any bomb damage in the firshill area because i can remember two areas of waste ground one on passhouses road and the other on scott road they both have new blocks of flats on them now could never understad why these spaces were empty

[QUOTE=Greybeard;1900620]Did they use to play cricket on the sportsground at the back of the allotments ?

Greybeard, they played cricket as well as football on the Atlas & norfolk sports ground, it belonged to Firth Brown's, which was known as the Atlas works, or they rented it from the Duke of Norfolk, hence the name A & N.
There were 7 ponds alright as dadoronron said, I don't know where the missing one came from, I remember a pub was built on the footy ground, but that was after my time.
During my time on the Shirecliffe, they built masonettes in the woods [ Busk Meadow] behind a big old rambling house called Bishopholme, then some years later, more house's were built in the woods.
I'm not sure about nowadays, but when I was a kid, we could walk from Firshill to the sports fields, go across Shirecliffe Rd to where an old army barracks & gun emplacement was at the top of Cookswood Rd, then walk over empty land right down to where the Wednesday ground is at the bottom of Herries Rd, we called that area the meadows, I think they turned parts of that area into a tip at some time, the meadows were between the Shirecliffe & Parkwood Springs. That was in the good old days, when kids could go out in a morning and only go home at teatime without parents worrying.

I was at Firshill Infants & Jnrs, left in 1977. Mrs Vaughan was head & Mr Woodcock was deputy then. Any of you remember Mr Marshall? Could be a nasty bugger, but also funny at times.

Remember teachers like Mr Blades, Miss Hobson who married and was called Mrs Lingard, Mr Stubbs, Bogey Rodgers.

Remember teachers like Mr Blades, Miss Hobson who married and was called Mrs Lingard, Mr Stubbs, Bogey Rodgers.

It's been a while, but remember Mrs Lingard. Was in her form in my last year. And Old Man Rogers playing the piano & us singing along.......

It's been a while, but remember Mrs Lingard. Was in her form in my last year. And Old Man Rogers playing the piano & us singing along.......


Also I remember a Mrs Crossley, MrsSutton Mrs Wright and others though I do not remember if they were from infants or not. Mr Walker who did music

I went to Firshill school in the late 1940s early 50s use to live at 561 Pitsmoor Rd in them days.

I was brought up in pitsmoor in the 60's..used to go in to the woods loads of times to get frogs and stuff..was a great time.

Then they build the houses that are there now.!

My mum tried to move there but was told that the waiting time then was years.!

She and her 2 sisters,and brother eventually ended up moving there in the 90's.!

jt

I think it was all part of Roe Woods. I remember when I was young there were ponds at the top end of the woods towards Firshill School.

yes it was part of roe woods yes was seven ponds
:banana:

There were tiny miners cottages on Passhouses Road running off forming a little close. I think they were still there in the 60s.
I remember falling into the one of the seven ponds whilst my brother was fishing and ending up with a pocket full of tadpoles. He shouted at me that I was scaring the fish and I had to walk all the way home dripping wet by myself.
I went horse riding at Roe Woods. Was McCormick's house split into flats?

My great grandfather James Clarke, helped to set up the Atlas Sports club, he was a manager at Firth Browns (Vickars). His interests were football, cricket and fishing.
Also known as Jim Smith in the footy world, played for wednesday around 1890's at Olive grove.

In fact, my fathers family has lived in the burngreave/pitsmoor area since around 1700's.

Orphanage road was so called because it was an 'orphaned' road, or so I thought till I came across this snippet -
"A girls orphanage was originally built on the site of what is now Firs Hill School. It was opened in 1887 but then moved to another site in 1895." I am still to check the old map about this.....

Tony Woodcock became Head at Firshill sometime around 1980 and my mate John Thompson became Deputy Head

i was at firs hill until around '82.
head teacher was STEVE woodcock, not tony.
my mate is going out with his daughter now - small world.

One of my earliest memory's are of those allotments at the top of Roe Lane. My Grandad had one, you walked on what was only a track back then, which would take you to that continuation of Cookswood Road. I can only recall the one pond, to the right, at the bottom of the track. Stupid how the memory works, I cant remember the continuation of Cookswood Road, but I can remember details of my Grandad's allotment. All this was about 1938, time's gone before you know it.

in 1941 during the war I lived at number 1 firshill road it was a row of back to back houses in an L shape with an anderson shelter in the centre of the gardens. next door lived mr and mrs gregory who were old then, and facing us over the gardens and shelter were mr and mrs rothery in another row of houses. In the left hand side of this row was mr and mrs nichols, her husband sustained injuries on monte casino , he was in the army, my father was a fireman in sheffield during the war. my mother used to sit under the cellar head when the bombs were dropping, she didnt like the anderson shelter.

Hi taine.
I am curious regarding you saying that you lived at No1 Firshill Rd ,are you sure that was the right number as the first house on Firshill Rd is No17,i have asked a couple of old timers here and they have no recollection of a No 1

Dukes, I live at 559A Pitsmoor Rd now. i.e the small property between 559 and 561 pitsmoor. I have a query about 559a which you might be able to help me with..... Was there a garage or out building attached to the end of 559A (side closest to the main road) in the 1940's / 1950's? Also would you have any photos from your time there of the houses along that section of the road?

i was wondering if anyone knows the history of firshill school .i.e when it was built and was it a workhouse school at anytime.my grandad went there in 1910,i was there 77-78,my bro was there 77-82, and my daughter went to nursery there for a few months in 1985 before moving to present location