Anyone remember Croft house youth club, near west bar

Hi Coyleys

How far are you going back.? There was a Croft School by the side of St Vincents in Solly St which was bombed during the war.
All I remember of it is a crazy half building with the floors hanging down when I passed it on the way to school
hazel

I remember the youth club. Several of us used to go there after a session in The Grapes on a Saturday afternoon and play cards back in the 70's.

It would be about 1967 ish , we had the top floor to ourselfs, as i was in a band ( drummer ) there was bob lister , dave graton ,melvin dell & myself ,it could have been an old school or chapel ,really spooky, we never really got anyware because the drummer was rubbish, we were called San Diego Sunset, we should have been called the Deafaids

I used to go to Croft House in the 60s. It was called Croft House Settlement. It had a coffee bar, a telly room, boxing section, a sort of theatre with stage. There was weightlifting equipment, games were played- like table tennis and 5 a side football. It was an enormous old rambling building like an old warehouse.

I used to play 4 a side football there when they played leagues and cups matches upstairs, Shame they never moved the piano while we was playing thou :hihi:

A bunch of us would play for the school football team on saturday mornings at Beauchief, then go down to Croft House and play 5-a-side all afternoon.
I also played on a proper snooker table there for the first time, and drank sasparilla till it came out of my ears.
This would be '68/69.
There was always some guys doing boxing training, and I jealously wanted to try it but never did.

I used to do some boxing at croft house in 1976 and remember the trainer who was a complete nutter.
He was only a small guy who wore sunglasses who wanted to make me a fly weight even before I got in the ring.
When I did get in the ring which was as soon as I got changed he put me in with a six footer as I was only 5'3".
I remember punching my apponent and apologising for hitting him even though I was getting a pummeling and everyone laughed.
Bah, how humiliating.
Maybe boxing was'nt for me.

Croft House Settlrement is still in full operation as a community centre (continuously since 1902). We now have 18 regular weekly user groups offering sports, arts and education activities. There are also spaces for hire at very reasonable rates for a city centre venue. Anyone interrested in finding out more, call 0114 249 1460

RCS

Ah RCS you left a note about running water in the loos :-)
I have recently visited Croft House for the first time to under take a training course and am fascinated by it.
Its stuck in a 70's time warp decor wise but I kind of like it. Also theres loads of pictures of a 'Concord Bugle Corp?' Plus and this is what I am really interested in, someone told me it was haunted and had to be exorcised?
Any further info and stories would be great! :)

Originally posted by Maddy
Ah RCS you left a note about running water in the loos :-)
I have recently visited Croft House for the first time to under take a training course and am fascinated by it.
Its stuck in a 70's time warp decor wise but I kind of like it. Also theres loads of pictures of a 'Concord Bugle Corp?' Plus and this is what I am really interested in, someone told me it was haunted and had to be exorcised?
Any further info and stories would be great! :)
Well as i said earlier we were in a band and we used croft house to practice, and used the attic, big room full of junk, so we cleared every thing to one side except an old organ that was to heavy to move, it never worked anyway, and yes it was really spooky, but we never actually saw anything, the only strange thing was it had a 2 way light switch on the stairs and the bottom one never worked, one of the band tom was a sparky and repaired it about a dozen times, but the next time we got there it had broke again, so we would take turns to be the first in and last out and when you turned the top switch off and run like mad down the stairs the organ would all ways make a moan,tom striped the organ down a couple of times and never found anything, and also evertime we got there things had been moved about, though the head of the committee told us there were only 2 keys we had one he had the other, thats about the only strange things that happened.
Sorry to disappoint

i used to box for croft house late sixties early seventies (not very successfully). the first trainer was henry hall the ex champion but the best was bob binney, a real gentleman. i remember steve stocks who later turned pro and my old mate grantley francis, a light heavy. i wonder what happened to them all ?
i remember the upstairs room which was supposed to be haunted. we always talked about staying the night there but somehow never got round to it.
the milk in the coffe bar was always ice cold and played hell with my sinuses. grant always used to play desmond deckers isrealites on the juke box and dance along. apparently they had been pals in jamaica.
glad to know that croft house is still going strong and will visit when i am next in sheffield, i've not lived there since 192 but still have family locally.
chris sykes

HI DERFICE,
BEEN TO CROFT HOUSE SINCE 1980,REMEMBER BOB AND HIS BRO LIONEL VERY WELL,BOB BEEN LEFT ABOUT 10 YRS..BOXING IS NO LONGER THERE ONLY WEIGHT TRAINING,MON, WED AND FRI,6.30PM-8.30PM.DAVE RUNS IT,GLASSES,BIG BAGGY SHORTS,OLD SCHOOL PLIMSOLES,BEEN THERE 30 ODD YRS. NOT CHANGED INSIDE 1 BIT.:thumbsup:

I used to go to karate at Croft House in the 70's - me and a few mates.

Karate was run by a hard nut, who would test our balance by sweeping away our feet and parking us on our backsides. As I recall, there were no belts or exams - he just taught you how to lay somebody out.

After we'd finished we would go into another room where there were pinball machines and a coffee bar - we'd have pint glasses of milk - so would the instructor - funnily enough nobody ever gave us any trouble.

there always seemed to 'Devilgate Drive' by Suzy Quatro - belting out.

Then we'd go and catch the bus home from Campo Lane across froim the Golden Ball.

Happy days.

I went to Croft House Youth Club throughout the 50s to the early 60's. The guy that ran it was called Bosun (nickname). We used to go in at weekends decorating the place; great fun. The music was good and I learned how to Rock & Roll there. There was table tennis and snooker. The boxing club was very strong and well known throughtout the region. In my later attendance I played football for Croft House in the Under 18's. A great place that did a lot of good in the area when there wasn't a lot around for teenagers

i used to box for croft house late sixties early seventies (not very successfully). the first trainer was henry hall the ex champion but the best was bob binney, a real gentleman. i remember steve stocks who later turned pro and my old mate grantley francis, a light heavy. i wonder what happened to them all ?
i remember the upstairs room which was supposed to be haunted. we always talked about staying the night there but somehow never got round to it.
the milk in the coffe bar was always ice cold and played hell with my sinuses. grant always used to play desmond deckers isrealites on the juke box and dance along. apparently they had been pals in jamaica.
glad to know that croft house is still going strong and will visit when i am next in sheffield, i've not lived there since 192 but still have family locally.
chris sykes

Hi Chris,
do you have an elder brother called Michael( ex R.N.) and is your father called Ralph ?

I used to go there in the 50's also. Did a little boxing but my mate did realy well went on to the Yorkshire Championships

You probably knew Mick Cowan. A Big tough lad. We non boxing rabbits used to watch him train. He was a really friendly bloke.

I did karate for a while in the early 70s. Didn't like the short bloke who ran it and he didn't like me. I learned some useful moves though. I was showing my boy a couple only last week. Okochi Gari?

You probably knew Mick Cowan. A Big tough lad. We non boxing rabbits used to watch him train. He was a really friendly bloke.

I knew a Mick Cowan from St Vincents round the corner. Top bloke.

I was at Croft house in the Late 80's early 90's, me and a group of my friends used to go every week. We were often greeted at the door by Old Tough Guys Lionel and Bob, "here come the **** bags"on paying our 15 or 20p entry fee! nice to see you too Bob you miserable b**tard.
We would always mess about teasing Bob he would say the same old thing week in week out, demonstrating he was once a real hard nut, still his suit "You punch like this...and punch like that!"
Once my mate said Lionel can you punch walls? eager to demonstrate and against health and safety rules Lino (as we called him) threw a right jab to find his target point followed by a right cross at this point poor Lino fist was momentarily stuck in the wall "there you go ..see!.. Don't tell Bob!"
Lots of memories of going there, I remember a trainer called Steve who used to spar with Bomber Graham years ago, I wonder if anyone knows him??

HI DERFICE,
BEEN TO CROFT HOUSE SINCE 1980,REMEMBER BOB AND HIS BRO LIONEL VERY WELL,BOB BEEN LEFT ABOUT 10 YRS..BOXING IS NO LONGER THERE ONLY WEIGHT TRAINING,MON, WED AND FRI,6.30PM-8.30PM.DAVE RUNS IT,GLASSES,BIG BAGGY SHORTS,OLD SCHOOL PLIMSOLES,BEEN THERE 30 ODD YRS. NOT CHANGED INSIDE 1 BIT.:thumbsup:
And Albert Biney war hero and my mate. R.I.P.

I was at the boxing club there late 60s early 70s Walt Knight{R.I.P} was the trainer then he was a right hard case and a hard task master loved the training I was as fit as a butchers dog then,had some good times there my promising boxing carrier was cut short by having a problem with my nose

In the mid 1950's, when I was a member of the newly formed Eclipse Jazzband, we used the upstairs room for our band practices. I never could figure out what the place was all about.

Mike

My brother used to go to Croft House in the fifties/ sixties .He is Graham Squirrell. I think he met his wife there, she was Pat Hayley, and they are still together. I am too young to remember "Bosun" but I have a black and white photo with him on. Looks like Captain Birdseye if I've got it right.