Does anyone know if there has ever been a train station at Heeley? My gandma seems to think there used to be one somewhere near where Pondsfords is now.

Where the car breakers is now I believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heeley_railway_station

The building that the car breakers use is what was the booking office etc. If you walk under the bridge you come to some railings on your left behind these are the briked up subways giving access to the platforms



http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s14710

Thanks!
It's a shame it's not still there.

Not enough people used it

the car brakers was never part of the station.the station entrywas in the part that is blocked up a bit further up just past the bridge.it was used alot by people in the area and was better than going into town.the buildings you are on about used to be the post office.but the building next to the post office i cant remember now for the life of me what used to be there.lol But both buildings did used to look alot cleaner and in a better state of repair.its a very BIG shame its not in use anymore.

Bus Man, MaggyIrene...

I'd (obviously mistakenly) assumed that the pic on the council site was looking out of the city and the station was the site that was Lavers since that was on land level(ish) with the rail line.

If you type "heeley railway station, sheffield" into Google Maps someone has put a marker close to the bridge which must be up in the air at bridge level. Is this right?

Was the station shown in the council map up in the air as well?

Where is the entrance that is blocked up?


I'm intrigued!!!!!

The station is clearly marked on A-Z maps of Sheffield which were on sale up to the early 90s. It's not marked as being open (obviously), but it's marked. If you've an old black and white A-Z, you'll be able to see it.

Here is the station on a map of 1965: http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/twigmore/Heeley.jpg

Thanks for that... I'm going to have to have a look now !!!!!!

When I was but a callow youth living at Heeley, about 1956 /58 a gang of us used to go what was laughingly called Hiking every Sunday....
Rucksacks and big boots, down to Heeley station , train to Hope walk across the fields to Castleton then up Cavedale or Winnats pass to eat our sandwiches and chase the girls...,.....
some Magic memories.......especially of Totley tunnel....

Also remember the Teen bar being where the car breakers now are....

TO CLARIFY

In order to get this right


The Car Breakers

The building which they now use was until around the 1980's ish heeley post office this was built for the Midland Railway and was the main station building for heeley railway station until it became the post office. The land that the car breakers use would have been part of the the station /yard / exit area

LAVERS SITE
This was until the mid 1960s sidings, may have been part of heeley goods yard, I was born in 1960 and clearly remember wagons with timber on them for lavers wood yard - as it was then and possobly greshams wood yard which was on the site of what is now heeley reatail park

HEELEY RETAIL PARK
Was the site of heeley carriage sidings where the carriages for midland station were washed kept and repaired . Whne the carriage sidings shut mid 1960s the site was used by grehams for a timber yard before been developed to its current use

TESCO ABBEYDALE ROAD/ GUYLEEs- Archer Road
Occupy the site of millhouses shed shut 1961 this was the shed which provided locos for passanger trains from midland station . On the way down the bank to midland they would pick up the carriages from the carriage sidings

Hope this helps

In the fifties we used to go up a little drive opposite the Heeley Palace and through a tunnel under the lines to the ticket office then up onto the platform..... The teen bar was opened around the mid fifties can't remember whether the post office was there then or after to be honest .....

hi i was born on wolseley road in the 50s and can remember the opening to heeley station and its opersite ponsfords.just before the bend .

In the fifties we used to go up a little drive opposite the Heeley Palace and through a tunnel under the lines to the ticket office then up onto the platform..... The teen bar was opened around the mid fifties can't remember whether the post office was there then or after to be honest .....


That's as I remember it too, but there was also a 'hole in the wall' subway entrance off London road opposite Ponsfords. The Post Office occupied the left hand side of the old station building and the Youth Club/Teen Bar was on the right.

See it here in maps.live.com -

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a303/escafeld01/HeeleyStation.jpg

and in Street View -

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a303/escafeld01/HeeleyStation2.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a303/escafeld01/HeeleyStation3.jpg

In 1876 the 'Flying Scotsman' train had an accident there.

Google, London road south, Sheffield.
Go to the bus stop outside the new Ponsfords,
Swing directly opposite and you will see the over grown entrance we used to get up to the station ...

The entrance to the subways oposite ponsfords:

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/TRAMMANN/COMPACT3461.jpg

Dont know if this will work, but if it has you should be looking at a picture of the station taken from a southbound train.
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu206/elenac01/HeeleyStation.jpg

It worked elenac....Smashin
I had forgotten the big chimney, was that Skeltons ?

Dont know if this will work, but if it has you should be looking at a picture of the station taken from a southbound train.
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu206/elenac01/HeeleyStation.jpg

Pedant mode on: If that's london Road on the left right and Hyde Park flats in the distance, presumable taken through the read window. And travelling beween the tracks too judging from where the lines are ;)

Very nice shot the shop on the corner on the right is presumably on the oposite corner to the Crown PH ?

The main rd with Ponsfords on is on the right of the pic as you are looking towards the city. I have quite a few pics taken by the same person. All are taken from a similar position which would tend to suggest he was a train guard either passenger or goods, that would axplain his position in relation to the track. I will post more if any of the locations crop up.

The main rd with Ponsfords on is on the right of the pic as you are looking towards the city. I have quite a few pics taken by the same person. All are taken from a similar position which would tend to suggest he was a train guard either passenger or goods, that would axplain his position in relation to the track. I will post more if any of the locations crop up.


I'm looking at the signals. I used to be a signaller and know we weren't exactly quick at putting the signals back. This makes me think it's a rearward facing view, the train being on the righthand tracks (signal off in distance), therefore heading Manchester way. The points also look like they're set for coming away from the buffers.
Could be wrong, in fact probably am.
Good photo by the way.

Just below the big chimney you can see the roof and front of the old Heeley Palace...

Hi swordfish1, I have to agree with you looking at the photo enlarged. Does appear as though the points are set for the sidings even though the main line signal is off. Very bizzare!! I have checked the signalling diagram for the box and as i thought there would be there is a sub signal at the exit of those sidings.

Dont know if this will work, but if it has you should be looking at a picture of the station taken from a southbound train.
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu206/elenac01/HeeleyStation.jpg

Excellent picture Elenec, more please.
It is looking north towards Sheffield town centre, with the 1st shop on the right being the motorbike shop on the corner of Thirlwell Road, then the bookies and butchers and is that hill in the background what was to become Sky Edge?

Heeley station entrance was just beyond the bridge going towards Meersbrook. My brother and I spent the night of the blitz under those railway arches after coming out of Heeley Picture Palace where we'd seen a Mickey Rooney film. Ponsfords window came out in a large bulge but didn't break just as we approached it and then an enormous bang, we ran faster than any olympic sprinter that night.

My great grandfather worked there circa 1920, he was a signalman/guard, my mother has a photo of him in his uniform, he looked like a field marshall. He was also the doorman at a roller skating rink, that I understand was where Ponsfords extention now stands, it was destroyed by fire. He wore a frock coat and top hat for that job, great grandad was a devil for dressing up.

My great grandfather worked there circa 1920, he was a signalman/guard, my mother has a photo of him in his uniform, he looked like a field marshall. He was also the doorman at a roller skating rink, that I understand was where Ponsfords extention now stands, it was destroyed by fire. He wore a frock coat and top hat for that job, great grandad was a devil for dressing up.

The "skates" was the Heeley palace (I think)

I remember it being a bingo hall. sometime round the 1960s.

I think it was a bingo hall til the 80's then it turned into a skate village for skateboarders and soon after was finished off by a fire rumoured to be caused by a lamp being left on under one of the ramps.
Mazda then built a new showroom on it and moved from Woodseats to there.
Then when Mazda disappeared, Ponsfords then bought the land and built on it.
My nan remembers Ponsfords when he used to trade from a house on, i think she said Valley Road(maybe Albert Road). Furniture downstairs, clothes upstairs, now they own most of that block on London Road.

TO CLARIFY

In order to get this right


The Car Breakers

The building which they now use was until around the 1980's ish heeley post office this was built for the Midland Railway and was the main station building for heeley railway station until it became the post office. The land that the car breakers use would have been part of the the station /yard / exit area

Hope this helps

Bas man, thanks for posting this info. I had seen a couple of pics of the buildings immediately adjacent to the line that diplayed "POST OFFICE" signage and was confused about how the PO ended up having an office there!

It amazes me that not enough people used the station (I guess this is why it closed.?)

Is it correct that Heeley was one of the few stations in the UK at the time that had the ticket office at a lower level than the platforms?

cheers

snapper

This is a smashing photo on meersbrook.co.uk site, clearly showing the post office & teen bar http://www.meersbrook.co.uk/postcards/zoom/former_heeley_post_office_london_road_sheffield_tr am.html

Bas man, thanks for posting this info. I had seen a couple of pics of the buildings immediately adjacent to the line that diplayed "POST OFFICE" signage and was confused about how the PO ended up having an office there!

It amazes me that not enough people used the station (I guess this is why it closed.?)

Is it correct that Heeley was one of the few stations in the UK at the time that had the ticket office at a lower level than the platforms?

cheers

snapper

Small, local train stations didn't close in the 1960's because they weren't used - they were closed because of Beeching... Such a massive shame, as they'd be as useful today as they were then...

I spent the night of the Blitz under Heeley railway arches. We used to catch the train to Grindleford from there in the 1940s. Ponsfords was next to the Cinema