I found an old photo of my dad with a model speedboat on what used to be the boating pond at Firth Park, it,s now a volley ball site I think.
I have fond memories of this, does anyone else remember sailing boats there?
There used to be an annual boat regatta with guys with radio controlled boats attemping to burst floating balloons, a suitable pin being stuck on the prow of the boat.
One of my first boats as a kid wae a little tin one that worked with meths, it used to chug along with a "put put " sound, I progressed from that to an electric tug boat made by dad from wood on the "bread and butter " principal, it developed a leak, me and my mate still tried to sail it but it got stuck on some ice, (middle of winter) as it was slowly sinking we chucked stones in to break up the ice, the inevitable result was a direct hit on the boat which promptly sank.
We only recovered the hatch with the funnel attached, this was removable to gain access to the batteries.
Many happy days spent there in my youth, if we got thirsty there was the stainless steel drinking fountain.

I use to sail my model yacht on the boating pond every saturday afternoon when i was about 9 many many moons ago, thats before computers and gaming machines where invented oh happy times :)

This brings back memories! In the 50's my uncle built a yacht, with the mast in it was about 3 feet tall. I was only little so it seemed massive to me! We used to go with him to sail it at Firth Park. I remember about the same time seeing a man with a radio controlled ship there. It attracted quite a crowd, and I particularly remember the controls, they were built into a desk that he sat at! Unbelievable now, but in the days of valves etc. ?
In the early 60's me and my mates used to sail an R/C boat , and like you say malc, we stuck pins to the prow and tried to burst balloons we'd tied to stones as anchors and chucked as far in as we could. I remember the water was always murky, and I was surprised the first time I saw it empty to see how shallow it was.
Like you say Jon, happy times!:thumbsup:

Eh up Malc. Yeah I remember Firth Park boating lake. Last time I went there as a kid, I was happily sailing my boat when some bigger kids ( bullies) came along and sank it. Not been since. Also remember the pond being iced over and have seen youngsters sliding on the ice. Like you say, 'Happy Days'

I agree about the water always being murky, if we had known at the time how shallow it was we would have waded in and got our boat back!
Dad had a very early radio control boat called "the sea commander", I think it was built from a kit, it had a wind up clockwork acuator and was simply right rudder, centre, and left rudder. He used to curse like mad when a tram went past if the trolley sparked, as this caused the boat to alter course on its own, it sounds like something from an all our yesterdays sketch when I think of it now!
It was amazing just how many enthusiasts there were though, and nearly, if not all boats were built by them, I think it was probably impossible to buy one ready made in those days.

My Dad built a model of the "Yorkshire man"....a Retired tug boat...used to run pleasure trips out of Bridlington....
...the bid reason was ...it had been a rescue boat at Dunkirk.....so he liked to take us out on it...
....the model was about 2 feet long ...electric...no radio control.......had to wait for the wind to blow it in many times..
....a few memories there.

Originally posted by little malc
I found an old photo of my dad with a model speedboat on what used to be the boating pond at Firth Park, it,s now a volley ball site I think.
I have fond memories of this, does anyone else remember sailing boats there?
There used to be an annual boat regatta with guys with radio controlled boats attemping to burst floating balloons, a suitable pin being stuck on the prow of the boat.
One of my first boats as a kid wae a little tin one that worked with meths, it used to chug along with a "put put " sound, I progressed from that to an electric tug boat made by dad from wood on the "bread and butter " principal, it developed a leak, me and my mate still tried to sail it but it got stuck on some ice, (middle of winter) as it was slowly sinking we chucked stones in to break up the ice, the inevitable result was a direct hit on the boat which promptly sank.
We only recovered the hatch with the funnel attached, this was removable to gain access to the batteries.
Many happy days spent there in my youth, if we got thirsty there was the stainless steel drinking fountain.
it was a duck pondwhen i was a lad used fish in it till the park keeper came and chased us away he had a big black tash we used to call him tinwhiskers

I used to go fishing in Firth Park pond when i was about 9 years old in 1949 (complete with garden cane and bent pin)... and I once caught a small "Roach" instead of the usual "Stickleback"...I remember an island for the ducks to nest...later on the pond was drained and reconstructed with a "red brick wall" to replace the existing mud banks of the pond...the duck island was removed and all the pond was usefull for after that was sailing model boats...the "Star"once featured a photograph of several youngsters at the time caught fishing at the pond...the picture showed a lot of youngsters at the library end of the pond with a cobbled stone bank and iron railings...
This was in the 1940,s or 50's..can anyone come up with this photo ???.

Use to travel over from Upperthorpe to sail my yacht.

Originally posted by little malc
I found an old photo of my dad with a model speedboat on what used to be the boating pond at Firth Park, it,s now a volley ball site I think.
I have fond memories of this, does anyone else remember sailing boats there?
There used to be an annual boat regatta with guys with radio controlled boats attemping to burst floating balloons, a suitable pin being stuck on the prow of the boat.
One of my first boats as a kid wae a little tin one that worked with meths, it used to chug along with a "put put " sound, I progressed from that to an electric tug boat made by dad from wood on the "bread and butter " principal, it developed a leak, me and my mate still tried to sail it but it got stuck on some ice, (middle of winter) as it was slowly sinking we chucked stones in to break up the ice, the inevitable result was a direct hit on the boat which promptly sank.
We only recovered the hatch with the funnel attached, this was removable to gain access to the batteries.
Many happy days spent there in my youth, if we got thirsty there was the stainless steel drinking fountain.

Yes i remember the boating lake at Firth Park and the one at High Hazels Park in Darnall. Do you also remember the coloured lanterns that were around the traffic island at Firth Park. As a child i thought they were candles. Very pretty, they wouldn't last five minutes if they were there today.

I found an old photo of my dad with a model speedboat on what used to be the boating pond at Firth Park, it,s now a volley ball site I think.
I have fond memories of this, does anyone else remember sailing boats there?
There used to be an annual boat regatta with guys with radio controlled boats attemping to burst floating balloons, a suitable pin being stuck on the prow of the boat.
One of my first boats as a kid wae a little tin one that worked with meths, it used to chug along with a "put put " sound, I progressed from that to an electric tug boat made by dad from wood on the "bread and butter " principal, it developed a leak, me and my mate still tried to sail it but it got stuck on some ice, (middle of winter) as it was slowly sinking we chucked stones in to break up the ice, the inevitable result was a direct hit on the boat which promptly sank.
We only recovered the hatch with the funnel attached, this was removable to gain access to the batteries.
Many happy days spent there in my youth, if we got thirsty there was the stainless steel drinking fountain.
when i was a lad it was a duck pond

I found an old photo of my dad with a model speedboat on what used to be the boating pond at Firth Park, it,s now a volley ball site I think.
I have fond memories of this, does anyone else remember sailing boats there?
There used to be an annual boat regatta with guys with radio controlled boats attemping to burst floating balloons, a suitable pin being stuck on the prow of the boat.
One of my first boats as a kid wae a little tin one that worked with meths, it used to chug along with a "put put " sound, I progressed from that to an electric tug boat made by dad from wood on the "bread and butter " principal, it developed a leak, me and my mate still tried to sail it but it got stuck on some ice, (middle of winter) as it was slowly sinking we chucked stones in to break up the ice, the inevitable result was a direct hit on the boat which promptly sank.
We only recovered the hatch with the funnel attached, this was removable to gain access to the batteries.
Many happy days spent there in my youth, if we got thirsty there was the stainless steel drinking fountain.
would it be too much to ask you to post the pic up? a bit of local interest, like?!

Four of us used to travel from Ecclesfield probably on a Saturday morning to the boating lake. Two of us had Jetex boats which we obviously sailed on the lake and the other rwo ( me included ) had Jetex cars which we set up and ran on the relatively smooth paved surface around the pool. Happy days....... no problems jumping on buses and travelling several miles, lighting 'jet' engines and playing near water at the ages of between six to eight possibly!

I have fond memories of fishing for sticklebacks in Firth Park boating lake around 1960 with a piece of cotton and a bent pin stuck through a worm .

Also if you stuck your hand in the overflow , you could sometimes pull out a frog or a natterjack toad.

I remember the pond when I was a nipper. My grandmother used to take me there (about1951/52) There were fish in the pond in those days. Around the edge of the pond were small railings (about two feet high I think). A few years later I sailed small boats and yachts on it. Then when I was about twelve or thirteen I was larking around showing off to my sister and her friends when I slipped and fell in. I emerged a few seconds later covered in mud and slime and with green gunge running from my nose. Not a pretty sight, but it amused my sister and her mates and taught me a lesson in the long run.

I used to go fishing in Firth Park pond when i was about 9 years old in 1949 (complete with garden cane and bent pin)... and I once caught a small "Roach" instead of the usual "Stickleback"...I remember an island for the ducks to nest...later on the pond was drained and reconstructed with a "red brick wall" to replace the existing mud banks of the pond...the duck island was removed and all the pond was usefull for after that was sailing model boats...the "Star"once featured a photograph of several youngsters at the time caught fishing at the pond...the picture showed a lot of youngsters at the library end of the pond with a cobbled stone bank and iron railings...
This was in the 1940,s or 50's..can anyone come up with this photo ???.
try the sheffield archives

I used to sail my boats there as a kid of 7 or 8 in 1962/3 and fell in twice - second time showing a boy how I fell in the first time!!!

There's always one..

A picture of the pond before it had brick walls. There are many more photos of Firth Park on Picture Sheffield.com
http://www.picturesheffield.co.uk/cgi-bin/zoom.pl?picture=http://www.picturesheffield.com/jpgh/s11079.jpg

I used to go fishing in Firth Park pond when i was about 9 years old in 1949 (complete with garden cane and bent pin)... and I once caught a small "Roach" instead of the usual "Stickleback"...I remember an island for the ducks to nest...later on the pond was drained and reconstructed with a "red brick wall" to replace the existing mud banks of the pond...the duck island was removed and all the pond was usefull for after that was sailing model boats...the "Star"once featured a photograph of several youngsters at the time caught fishing at the pond...the picture showed a lot of youngsters at the library end of the pond with a cobbled stone bank and iron railings...
This was in the 1940,s or 50's..can anyone come up with this photo ???.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff130/awoollen/s11100.jpg
is this any helphttp://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff130/awoollen/s11091.jpg

I lived on Hinde House Lane from birth in 1944 up to 1968. Used Firth Park boating pond all the time. Even fell in it once when I was about 9 when it had ice on it and we were messing about on the ice and I fell thorugh a hole in it.
I remember that at one time it had a circular island in the middle which was really frustrating if your model boat got stuck on it ; you had to get a really long ball of string and pull it across the pond with a freind to release the boat.
I also remember that the area around the pond would be chock full of families in the summer if it was a hot sunny day. There was a water fountain at the top end which was well used.
Another use for the area was to use mud from the stream in the wood to make Touchburners - remember them !

oh i remember the duck pond. when i was little my dad used to take me there all the time as we lived just up the hill from there. then when i was a big girl, about 12yrs. i remember going there with my friend and her little brother, everytime we took him he fell in and had to go home on the bus to pitsmoor soaking wet. used to fish for taddys there. now i've got too many of the things in my little fish pond in my garden

I seem to remember my grandmother mentioning that some youngster drowned on the day it was officially opened, but I don't know whether or not that is true.

I lived on Earl Marshal Road 1966-1983 on and off and we would often go to the boating lake...sometimes on the walk up to see my nan in Firth Park. We were told a child drowned there which is why it got drained.....always seemed such a waste as lots of kids had fun there. Don't know if this was true or just a rumour?

I have lived around the Firth Park/Page Hall/Sheff Lane Top area nearly all my life. I never heard that a child was drowned in the old boating lake. It was my understanding that the lake was drained because it had a major leak and the council (at that time) could not afford to have the leak repaired as it would have been a massive job.