does any body remenber Davys bakery and restraunt on the Haymarket.I remember the silver service and the 50s atmosphere
.We went as treat from Church.

Paulr,
I might do... Sorry, I left Sheff years ago and never was too good with street names - where's the Haymarket? I do remermber a very "palm court" style place I think where WH Smith now is (if still there?) between the Fountain outside the town hall and the street with the Star Building on it (Ooops - now I remember - isn't that called Fargate??). Anyway on that road, which is now a pedesrian precinct, there was definately a smart cafe with wicker chairs and serving ladies with white hats. My mum took me there in the late 50s. I think it was called Davys. It was almost opposite a music shop and I used to lust after the guitars in the window.

Striver

Spot on Striver

Davys was on the right hand side of Fargate. walking towards the Town Hall. (see link below)
My lasting memory is the smell of roasting coffee as you walked up Fargate, trying to avoid the traffic. If I remember correctly there was another classy restaurant on the opposite side or am I thinking of Tuckwoods higher up.

When I worked in town in the 1970's, I used to get my sandwiches from Davys on the corner of Haymarket and Castle Street. The building is still there, now the Quicksilver amusement arcade.

Incidently Athur Davys very large factory was on Paternoster Row opposite where the Showroom Cinema is now. They were renowned for their meat pies and had shops all over Sheffield. I think the factory closed in the late 1970's.

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/hpac.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.id=5059

Thanks for that photo pietro - it really took me back. I could almost feel again the anticipation of making the Airfix Spitfire stored under my light green wicker seat whilst my mother sipped her coffee.

Striver

Can certainly remember both those Davy's shops - and there were others around Sheffield too. The Fargate one seemed to be the main one - sold food on the ground floor - bread, bacon and sausages, all sorts of cheese, oatcakes and pikelets - really nice quality stuff - such a shame it closed - it'd do very well today if it was still there. There was a little cafe at the back of the ground floor up a few steps on a sort of platform - had wicker chairs and glass topped tables and they did teas and coffees and cakes, etc - the restaurant upstairs served full cooked meals. In the 60s it became self service instead of waitress service but was still very good - can remember them selling their own sausage, pork and tomato - if you had pork sausage you could have apple sauce with it and if you had tomato sausage you could have tomato sauce, but never the other way round for some reason! Used to love going there - I can remember going in on the last day before the shop closed completely and I was so upset I cried! Part of my childhood gone, I suppose. The Haymarket shop was nice too but it just had a waitress service restaurant upstairs - no wicker chairs.

i used to work at davys at haymarket and my boyfriend ,who became my hubby ,worked at davys on paternoster row.

Yes, Davy's was a very high class store, I worked with an ex Davy's man when I first left school in 1958, he (and me) had gone to work at another very high class deli on Glossop Rd called Sharmans, they also roasted there own coffee, fantastic memories.

I remeber Davy's. My memory is of watching the spit-roast chickens cooking throught he window. It used to make me drool!

They had wonderfull custard pies

I had my first Saturday job at Davy's in Haymarket (the one on the corner, diagonally opposite Castle Market) - summer of 1970 - I used to work the cooked meats slicer. My friends Keith and Stephen worked there as well. They were 'behind the scenes' getting the chickens ready for the roasting machine that was in the window. Those two had an evil sense of humour......the chicken fat that came out of the roasting machine used to smell bloody awful - it was their job to check and empty it - they used to time this eveil brew through the shop just when it was at it's busiest ( after lunch) whistling innocently...Mr Shemeld (shop manager and great boss) wondered why the shop would empty so quickly.

Another little trick was to distract me when I was cutting ham or something on the machine - once my back was turned one of them would turn the thickness dial to its widest setting... I then had to explain to Mr Shemeld why we had half inch thick slices of prime ham.

I remember going in both of the davy's restaurants as a kid, with my mother and her brother.

Happy memories...

The one on Haymarket was still going in the 1980's, after the one on fargate had long- gone.

There was another restaurant, at the top of fargate, approximately where dixons is now, which was called something like "the Golden Egg". (I remember the golden spoon shaped illuminated sign)

My ex mother-in-law worked at Davy's main factory on Paternoster Row, years ago, before she had her family.

(Minor edit to add... wasn't the Davys on Fargate situated roughly where New Look/ W H Smith is nowadays?)

PT

Yes
The Daveys on Fargate was about where Smiths is now.
I'm sure they had their coffee grinder/roaster. in the front window hence the beautiful smell
hazel

The wife has just reminded me that our wedding cake was made by Davy's almost 40 years ago next July I hope I don't forget this anniversary..("anniversary" I had to get out the dictionary to spell that)

Next time you pass WH Smith's on Fargate just look up at the building - there's still carvings of a pigs head, a sheeps head and a cows head.

All relics of the old Davy's.

Originally posted by PAULR
does any body remenber Davys bakery and restraunt on the Haymarket.I remember the silver service and the 50s atmosphere
.We went as treat from Church.

I remeber the Days Cafe when my Grandparents used to take me there as a child for a cup of tea and toasted teacake Ummm delicious. Very posh place in its day with the ladys serving in their black and white uniforms. I recall the green basket chairs they had in there.

My mum who died last year at 89, was a silver service waitress at Davy's in fargate, the work was very hard back then, having to serve portions off a silver platter, without dropping it all over the customers,they worked very long hours and her feet used to kill her, but she'd always come home to wash her frilly cap and apron ready for the next day, she always used to say that I was brought up on her "tips", so she had to bite her tongue many a time, as thats what we lived on, she then went on to be the Head waitress at Whirlow park, and was in charge of all the "posh" weddings.The thing I remember though about Davy's, was in the window there was wonderful birthday cakes shaped like baskets of fruit, crinoline ladies, and animals for the children, needless to say I didn't get one, her Tips didn't run to those luxceries.

Whilst doing a family history for my son at school this week, my mum told me about our connection to Davy's. My great, great grandfather, Samuel Llyewellyn Nicholls co-owned the buisness with Arthur Davy. My Grandfather (my mums dad) was sat in the restaurant on Fargate at the age of 16, doodling on a napkin. He drew a logo for the shop and they were so impressed that they used it as the company logo on all their crockery etc. He then went onto be the chief architect for Sheffield City Council!!

The chain was bought out by Hagenbachs (sp) and finally by Greggs.

Originally posted by pauline
i used to work at davys at haymarket and my boyfriend ,who became my hubby ,worked at davys on paternoster row. Hi--I used to work at Paternoster row in the maintenence dept. about 1968 to 1973/4. Does any names come to mind?

My mum was a silver service waitress at Davy's Fargate, it was very hard work and wages were low, waitresses relied on their tips then, in fact I was brought up on her tips, she'd come home each evening and wash her cap and apron for the next day, she worked upstairs, but I do remember the whicker chairs and tables with glass tops downstairs, and the smell of ground coffee was wonderful.
Does anyone remember before coffee became popular, we could buy sachets of Nescafe for 2d from corner shops?

I once told a workmate in the steelworks that I was related to the Davy family.

He told me that if it hadn't been for the boss he wouldn't be working in the steeworks.

It appears he worked in a basement office in the Wicker for Davy's.

It was like working in a dungeon, badly lit by a small 15 watt bulb and the light from a very small window which was at pavement level

His eyes started to trouble him, giving him blinding headaches.

Finally he was forced to pay to see a doctor.

The doctor asked about his working conditions and he told the doctor about the lack of light in the basement office.

The following week he rang up for an appointment to see Mr Davy.

He put on his best suit and went to see the boss where he
explained to him that the only light was the small window and a 15 watt bulb and these conditions were causing him severe eye problems.

He asked if he could have a larger bulb so he could see better to write in his ladgers.

The boss replied that he was wasting his time and did he know there were plenty of people to replace him if he couldn't manage.

This resulted in him having to give his job up and it was two years before he got another job which was in the steel works.

Until I wrote this I have never told anyone else about my family connections as I was so disgusted.

A friend of mine recently visited her family in Shanghai in China.

One of the family works at a new European/Chinese modern industrial estate just outside Shanghai.

She did manage to get a tour of one of the factories that employs a large workfrce which operate the latest Hi Tech machinery produce top quality products.

She noticed that not one Chinese person was wearing spectacles which was odd.

She asked about this and the reply was that they do not employ flawed people and if by chance anyone becomes flawed during their employment they are released and replaced by another person ass there are hundreds of people waiting to be trained up to replace any flawed workers.

A sad case of Deja Vu or what?

I can just about recollect going into Davy's on Haymarket. That was a long, long time ago. I guess I was impressed because I seem to remember off white and blue tiling on the walls, the food smells, cheese and coffee and stuff. That was before World War 2.
My Dad first worked there after leaving school, that must've been 1923-24. He worked as a van lad. I remember him telling me that his first job every morning, before he went to help loading the van, was to clean the Black Pudding and Polony, especially on Monday.
He had to get a bottle of Olive Oil, and a brush, and carefully clean of the accumulation of mould which had gathered on the links over the weekend. Well, after all, there wasn't much in the preservative line in those days.
He also said about going somewhere near Grindleford to deliver a quarter pound of cheese. Do me a favor, good old days?

PAULR back in the 60's my then boyfiend and I used to get a roast chicken on a sat night and some crusty bread and a botle of champagne (when we could afford it!) and send my mum to her sisters, happy memories

Whilst doing a family history for my son at school this week, my mum told me about our connection to Davy's. My great, great grandfather, Samuel Llyewellyn Nicholls co-owned the buisness with Arthur Davy. My Grandfather (my mums dad) was sat in the restaurant on Fargate at the age of 16, doodling on a napkin. He drew a logo for the shop and they were so impressed that they used it as the company logo on all their crockery etc. He then went onto be the chief architect for Sheffield City Council!!

The chain was bought out by Hagenbachs (sp) and finally by Greggs.

My father was the electrician and maintainance engineer for many years and I had some of the passed down toys of either John Davy or John Davy's son, (I can't remember which) and the neighberhood kids thought we were rich as I had a real Canadian sledge, red indian outfit and a 4 spliced cricket bat.
When dad was maintaining the lifts on Sundays I went with him and from the roof above Fargate found out for the first time that the trams had their numbers painted on the roof.
Dad was firewatching on the roof during the blitz and saw the bombs coming up the Moor and up High street and thought he would be next. Luckily he only had a couple of incendiaries to deal with.