I read recently, on the Burngreave Messenger website, a piece about wooden housing that had been erected on Petre Street for the use of munitions workers during the 1st world war. I remember, when I was a kid, my Uncle telling me about the times he played piano with a band at the Petre Street 'Huts'. This would be in the late 20's early 30's. Anybody still around who has heard the term 'Petre Street Huts'. Perhaps from a relative.

My grandmother lived in the petre street huts. The one her and her family lived in had 32 rooms.I was very impressed at the size of this, but she said it was infested with bugs. She and her sisters used to run a candle up the cracks in the wall at night to try and get rid of the bugs

They also had a fixed bath. A table top was put on top when it wasn't in use.She obviously enjoyed her time in the huts has she never seemed disapointed about them.

If you look on the Radio Sheffield website and look through the old photo's they have on it. Never heard of it till I saw that.

Some years ago I saw a book which was written about the huts complete with photographs.

I believe they were evetually burn't as they were deemed unfit for habitation due to infestations.

I do not remember the name of the book but I can assure you there is one out there.

Maybe someone will come up with the name or the whereabouts of a copy.

Happy Days

So there must've been some sort of social center, a hall maybe, where dances were held. My Uncle was fond of relating the story of when he was playing a dance there one time, this guy ambled over to the piano and said 'Play a Foxtrot'. As the band were in the middle of a Tango or something at the time, my Uncle started to tell him what to do, until he noticed the razor in his top pocket!

From what my grandmother used to tell us there was a gang around there called the silk scalf gang. Grandma said she knew some of them so we nicknamed her the gangsters moll. She was all of 4 feet 11 and rather plump not the type of person you would imagine being in a gang at all lol