Just been looking at the photos on mainlymono.com,yes SOME of Sheffield was grubby,dirty and run down in the 70s.
now tell me i am looking at Sheffield through rose coloured specs.
I was born in 1965 and have lived in Sheffield all my life up to now,but i think it was a better place than it is now,it's lost all its caractor and identity it was a working class city with a thriving night life like the fiesta,top rank and other entertainment venues which were full nearly every night of the week,because as a working class city most people were working.
The night life in Sheffield catered for everyone,places like the Fiesta. not just for the students which are taking over the city.
The council tell us they are making improvements to the city,but have you seen all the empty and boarded up shops in the city center! meadowhell had something to do with that,but its not all to blame,have you seen the big silver balls at the back of the peace gdns,whats all that about?
Do we need an arty farty city ?
No im not a Stereo typicall Yorkshire man who still want cloth caps and whipits,but the goverment over the years have ruined the city and the country. in the 60s and 70s when you left school it was almost certain you was going to get a reasonable job,yes it may have been in the steel works etc. although a lot of other jobs were avalable it brought in a good wage,most people i knew in those days had more money to spend.
sheffield had its fair share of trouble but it wasnt as bad as it is now,drunken louts only out of short pants hanging about on street corners,terrerising the neighboughhood.
this country has gone to the dogs.
YES Sheffield was basic and a little working class but i know most if not all the people i talk to over thirty was happier in thoes days.
yes somethings in the world have improved like technology (thank god for the PC) ,rechearch in to medicens,but where is the money to pay for it all,not in the nhs.What you never had you never miss.
This is only a small part of my rant if you want to comment please do so i love a good debate,ill post more as time goes on.

Bad things ahout Sheffield's past? Open sewers a hundred or two years ago, cholera outbreaks and a life expectancy in your mid-thirties.

Good things? Even a couple of decades ago, the city was less hectic and noisy than at present. There were far less cars on the roads than there are now.

The people seemed friendlier, too. I'm not saying the people aren't still friendly now, but the genuine ey-up Yorkshire folk generation seem to be dying off faster than they're being replaced.

And you didn't have teenagers killing strangers in the streets!

Yes, Andy, I believe Sheffield has lost all of its character. It is too spread out now,with some shops near the old market, some on High St, then the rest down The Moor. The first structure of character to go, was The Hole In The Road. One could sit down there,on a circular seat, and watch the fish swimming round in a nice large tank. On a hot day you got a collection of housewifes with toddlers in prams, tramps , and old age pensioners just having a rest from shopping. Now where can one have a nice sit down in town these days ? :suspect:

Ah well Andy, I do agree with what you've said.Sheffield has lost it's character, but I suppose you could say that of all the major cities now, I think if you were to ask people in Manchester or London(Those who were born and brought up there)I think you'd find that their cities had changed too.
As for the yobs on street corners and that sort of stuff, that's when I decided to get out of the city and now live in remote Scotland, but I'm still a Sheffielder.If only we could go back to the good times eh?!!

I agree with your sentiments, Andy the DJ.

I feel that somewhere in the past few years most people here have lost their Sheffield identities.

Of course this has happened to most of our cities which is sad.

The media, supermarkets, politicians and economic pressures have all brought about a big change in people's attitudes, way of life and even loss of local identity in a bid to make us psuedo- European Americans.

Most of our youngsters are brought up to worship celebrities, money, suited jobs, forgetting respect for themselves and others.

the way things are going it wouldn't surprise me if we return to another feudal age where the strong rule and the weak are downtrodden.

Even the Labour party has forsaken its Socialist identity.

The only thing our kids will inherit from the past will only be found in museums and the media in whatever way someone wants to portray it.

We all know the reflections of past days are not a true reflection, a time when attitudes, respect, law and order were not perfect but a damn sight better than today.

As an older man I can remember some of the best things in this city which sadly have disappeared, I know things have to move on but I feel that many things could have been retained in the rush to modernisation.

Does anyone else agree with my point of view, love to hear your comments.

Well I for one, didn't like the Hole In The Road at all, it was drab and cold looking, a couple of guitar plunkers collecting money, the only thing it was good for was getting to the other side of the street ,then you got pushed around on the steps with damn people in a big hurry going no place .

I thought t' 'ole int' road was the beginning of Sheffield's demise. The Moor, High St. and Fargate used to be thriving, bustling places in the sixties and Chapel Walk was like Sheffield's Carnaby Street. The last time I went down the Moor it looked like Soweto.

I wonder if downtowns as we used to know them are disappearing everywhere. In America, the suburban mall has made the city centre largely unnecessary and sometimes downright dangerous. Malls offer unlimited and easy parking, and concentrate the variety of stores and restaurants to satisfy most needs without having to travel far. I'm sure its coming your way if it hasn't already. In Connecticut, the main cities of Harford, Bridgeport, and NewHaven empty when the rush hour is over, and are not too safe to enter at night.

I'm fairly philosophical when it comes to yearning for 'the good old days'. Yes I remember the Sheffield of old with great fondness, and the memories come flooding back when I think of the old buildings, shops, pubs etc that are no longer there. It's easy to think that those times were 'better' than now. Then I think of my old grandparents who passed on in 1960. My granny in particular would tell me continually that the early 1900's were fantastic times and Sheffields "never been the same since". My mother also used to wish it was the 20 's again. In 30 years time some old codger like me will be telling his grandson of the great times he had in Sheffield and "why do we have to do all our shopping on the internet? whatever happened to Meadowhall ? "

Having left Sheffield in 1975 and moved to Manchester (I told the Mancunians I was on missionary work) I have watched the demise of Sheffield, it's failing steelworks and it's attempt to modernise (badly). Unfortunately when a city lives off one main source like steel, it's ineviatable that when that goes the city will fall on very hard times, Manchester did the same when cotton went.
Luckily Manchester was able to re-invent it self, although it took many years, it has kept it's city centre which is thriving, only 1000 people lived in the city centre 10 years ago, there are now over 10,000. Manchester is admittedly a much bigger city with an international airport and many motorway links.
Mancheste does have it's problems and is not the safest city to live in.
Sheffield has tried to live on it's past, forgetting that many of it's citizens have lost their well paid jobs, many turning to low paid jobs. This has an effect on the city as a whole. Meadowhell is ok for the out of town visitors to spend their money in, but the locals have lost their city centre, where once upon a time you could buy everything for the cheapest to the most expensive.
Meadowhell now has the Trafford Centre for competition and there isn't much of a competition, TC is much bigger and attracts people from everywhere.
I now live in Northern Ireland where life is almost how I remember it in the 1950/60's, people have time for each other, despite what you hear on the news, they also like and do shop locally, eating very local produce. I haven't locked my car outside my house since I got here 4 years ago, often leaving the back door open too.
The big supermarkets have started to invade here too, but the locals are beginning to get wise and are now trying to stop their march on the outer town sites.
I had a lovely childhood in the 1950's I was able to go miles from home in a large crowd of kids who where looked out for by most adults.
Today the kids aren't even allowed out to play on the streets, one reason being us adults, we don't want them touching our precious cars, or having their ball go in our gardens, their parents are frightened to let them out in case they are abducted or killed.
When finally they emerge as teenagers, they have no sense of risk taking, no respect for themselves or others. Jobs are not as forth coming as in the 50's and 60's, the kids have had little or no training in anything, they have never had to work or earn money and have little interest in doing so. (not all admittedly)
We now have a generation of parents who have had no education in cooking, managing a house or work ethic who have given their little darlings everything except boundaries.
I could rant on this subject for hours, but wont.
Marion

Having left Sheffield in 1975 and moved to Manchester (I told the Mancunians I was on missionary work) I have watched the demise of Sheffield, it's failing steelworks and it's attempt to modernise (badly). Unfortunately when a city lives off one main source like steel, it's ineviatable that when that goes the city will fall on very hard times, Manchester did the same when cotton went.
Luckily Manchester was able to re-invent it self, although it took many years, it has kept it's city centre which is thriving, only 1000 people lived in the city centre 10 years ago, there are now over 10,000. Manchester is admittedly a much bigger city with an international airport and many motorway links.
Mancheste does have it's problems and is not the safest city to live in.
Sheffield has tried to live on it's past, forgetting that many of it's citizens have lost their well paid jobs, many turning to low paid jobs. This has an effect on the city as a whole. Meadowhell is ok for the out of town visitors to spend their money in, but the locals have lost their city centre, where once upon a time you could buy everything for the cheapest to the most expensive.
Meadowhell now has the Trafford Centre for competition and there isn't much of a competition, TC is much bigger and attracts people from everywhere.
I now live in Northern Ireland where life is almost how I remember it in the 1950/60's, people have time for each other, despite what you hear on the news, they also like and do shop locally, eating very local produce. I haven't locked my car outside my house since I got here 4 years ago, often leaving the back door open too.
The big supermarkets have started to invade here too, but the locals are beginning to get wise and are now trying to stop their march on the outer town sites.
I had a lovely childhood in the 1950's I was able to go miles from home in a large crowd of kids who where looked out for by most adults.
Today the kids aren't even allowed out to play on the streets, one reason being us adults, we don't want them touching our precious cars, or having their ball go in our gardens, their parents are frightened to let them out in case they are abducted or killed.
When finally they emerge as teenagers, they have no sense of risk taking, no respect for themselves or others. Jobs are not as forth coming as in the 50's and 60's, the kids have had little or no training in anything, they have never had to work or earn money and have little interest in doing so. (not all admittedly)
We now have a generation of parents who have had no education in cooking, managing a house or work ethic who have given their little darlings everything except boundaries.
I could rant on this subject for hours, but wont.
MarionI notice on my fequent visits to the Irish Republic that the city of Limerick remains much the same city I've known almost forever, with a thriving active downtown. Dunne's have built a massive mall type department store in the outskirts with good free parking, and its busy, but the downtown hasn't lost business.

I notice on my fequent visits to the Irish Republic that the city of Limerick remains much the same city I've known almost forever, with a thriving active downtown. Dunne's have built a massive mall type department store in the outskirts with good free parking, and its busy, but the downtown hasn't lost business.

Buck i'm surprised you don't visit Sheffield while in Ireland, your so close.:)

Buck i'm surprised you don't visit Sheffield while in Ireland, your so close.:)I keep meaning to but run out of money. It's got to be the Guinness. I don't have any relatives left in Sheffield. They all escaped, went to Cornwall or Inverness.

In the early 60's I lived out of town in Crosspool, then Fulwood. If stuck for something to do on a Saturday night, me and a few mates would often get on a 51, 54 or 55 bus, go into the city centre and do a pub crawl starting off in the Museum. All the pubs were different - I remember one night seeing Tony Kay in the Albert? near the City Hall. There was a right dive in Fitzalan Square- was it the Elephant or something? Anyway, we never met any trouble but I suspect that now, such a pub crawl would not appeal to the younger generation. Nearest to me is Chester which is great in the day but I wouldn't go pub crawling after dark.

Sheffield wasn't better in days gone by - it was different to how it is today.

I was born in 1969 and can remember The Moor in its pre-pedestrianised days. It had quality shops and rivelled Leeds' Headrow. You could also walk down to Moorfoot and thence onto Ecclesall Road (and into the huge Brightside & Carbrook Co-op that used to be at the bottom of Ecclesall Road). With Ecclesall Road containing quality shops also, if you wanted you could walk from High Street to Hunter's Bar and be spoilt for choice.

I always felt pedestrianising The Moor (and then filling it with clutter like the silly band stand) and the building of the Manpower building was the beginning of the end of Sheffield city centre as a quality shopping environment. (There was supposed to be a pedestrian walkway between the Manpower building and Ecclesall Road; it was never completed.)

Then the council got it totally wrong by dualling Arundel Gate and the other side, down to Moore Street. Although more car friendly in those days, these routes severed the city centre despite bus travel being incredibly cheap. But still, up to the early 1980s, the city centre was clean and welcoming but it went badly downhill around 1982/3 and throughout the eighties and early nineties.

But I honestly feel that Sheffield city centre is truly on its uppers and I have never visited the city centre as often as I do now. My young girls love the Peace Gardens, the Winter Garden and those shiny metal balls (as do I). Just last Sunday night we returned from York by train and it was a pleasure to walk from the station up Howard Hill and to Barker's Pool. All lit up and with cascading water it looked fantastic. (Howard Hill was never such a thing only a few years back.)

In the 1980s, fountains were always filled with rubbish. Goodwin Fountain rarely worked, as did the one under the Eggbox and the one outside the railway station (the roundabout outside Kenning's). Now our fountains work and are lit up - Peace Gardens, railway forecourt, Howard Hill and Barker's Pool.

There is also life in the city centre on Sundays (which is when we often visit. Get parked on a single-yellow and enjoy the fresh air). Ten years ago it resembled a ghost town. It's also - on foot - more accessible than it has been since the late 1970s. Arundel Gate is now a normal two way street with level pedestrian crossings; Moore Street likewise. Thus, the railway station and Workstation areas have been brought back into the city centre. When Exchange Street is downgraded, access to the canal basin will also be improved - another fine facility on our doorstep. And when (if ever) the inner ring road is finished, Shalesmoor and its fine traditional pubs with the riverside will also be accessible and feel part of the city.

True, there's more to do but I feel optimistic about our city centre. The Moor wants covering up until it is totally revamped. And life should be made easier for motorists, they should not be deterred from coming into the city (one hour parking bays?!) but there's no chance of that with this council.

So to sum up, I feel really positive about the city centre. It was great in the 1970s when you could stroll (or drive) down The Moor (esp. at Christmas when we had real Christmas lights) but it became an absolute toilet in the 1980s. Things are looking up....,

What a marvellous post Ousetunes ! Nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks that Sheffield is on the up !

I'm fairly philosophical when it comes to yearning for 'the good old days'. Yes I remember the Sheffield of old with great fondness, and the memories come flooding back when I think of the old buildings, shops, pubs etc that are no longer there. It's easy to think that those times were 'better' than now. Then I think of my old grandparents who passed on in 1960. My granny in particular would tell me continually that the early 1900's were fantastic times and Sheffields "never been the same since". My mother also used to wish it was the 20 's again. In 30 years time some old codger like me will be telling his grandson of the great times he had in Sheffield and "why do we have to do all our shopping on the internet? whatever happened to Meadowhall ? "

I agree with most of your comments my granparents went on about the good old days,but what will my kids say to my grandkids about the present times.
I see the youngsters today and im damn sure we were happier when we were kids,its getting a tough world and i dont like it very much.
The 60s and 70s were not as bad as in Aidensfield or in the sweeney.:sad:

There was some great shops in Sheffield in the 70s,as a dj i have always been in to collecting records from a very early age i remember Canns on chaple walk and violet mays on the corner of matilda street,Roulet records on the galery, spent most Saturday mornings there. Also going to the Golden Dragon resturant,must have been one of the first chinees rests. of its kind in Sheffield.
Things were realy local on those days,i got to know most of the radio Hallam djs,they used to hang about in Sheffield city ctr. and sheffield pubs before the days when hallam was run by student types with no persionality (see threads on Radio Hallam).
radio Sheffield also had a studio on Norfolk st. i used to go and be on a prog. called "Down town saturday. MAGICAL TIMES!
do you remember the copper kettle cafe on Norfolk st,or the golden egg where joe Cockers mother worked?.

A little kid, shot in the head, about 11years old, in Burngreave. Looked like Fox St/Rock St to me, that says it all.