Since I became an ex-pat in 1973, I've revisited on many occasions. I am in fact a season ticket holder at Sheffield Wednesday, but I rarely venture into the city centre, as the sight today saddens me, in comparison to what I remember as Sheffields golden era, the late '60's and early '70's.

I feel Sheffield has lost it's identity and I would love to see it reclaimed.

I would love the City Council to order all of the buses operating around the city, to be painted cream with blue bands, whatever company logo they might carry. I would love to see our twin towers at Tinsley, become listed buildings and protected. I would love to see Meadowhall demolished and the city centre regenerated. (This will never truely happen, while Meadowhall stands).

I believe the Goodwin fountain went. Put it back!

Dig out the hole in the road again and make it comparable to what exists in Toronto, Canada and is well lit, welcoming and not vandalised or urine polluted.

What would you do, or want to see happen to give Sheffield it's identity back, if in fact you agree with me when I say it has losts its identity?

The thing I miss most when I visit is the Sheffield accent. Seems to me, every other person talks as if they just left London.

That's a really good point. I was once working in Hull, when I came across someone with a Wincobank accent. The accent was so distinct, I recognised it immediately. It turned out the guy was a neighbour of one of my old Sheffield schoolmates.

I agree that the Sheffield accent is imediately recognisable, even if when hearing it on TV it makes me cringe.
The destruction of the Goodwin fountain was indeed vandalism on the part of the council, and using the excuse of vandalism to close the hole in the road was very lame, it could have been an outstandind asset to Sheffield if policed properly and maintained.
I don.t agree about the cooling towers, they are ugly left overs from the not so pleasant past and should be shifted pronto!
Meadowhall fills a need in Sheffield to provide safe clean shopping under one roof, just a pity it did not take place in the centre.
The biggest let down for visitors to Sheffield now is the apalling state of the roads which makes you feel as though you are in a third world country.
Yes, I think the 60s and 70s were Sheffield,s hey-day.

I think you're being a little harsh and probably a little sentimental!

Sheffield has been through some very tough times from the late 1970s, throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. Finally, and possibly because of, as opposed to inspite of Meadowhall the city centre is getting its act together again.

I miss the pretty Goodwin Fountain with its lights and water jets, when it worked all lit up and surrounded by flowers. What I don't miss is the same fountain hardly working, or switched off, with floating Coke cans and take-away boxes floating on top of dirty water, surrounded by grey, temporary railings.

Likewise, I reflect on the Hole In The Road and think of it when it was clean, welcoming and well-lit, not the cesspit it became full of drunks and druggies. Fortunately, whilst these have gone they have been replaced to the benefit of the city.

There are two new fountains in Barker's Pool - they're wonderful, interesting in design and I imagine they look wonderful at night. The fountain in the Peace Gardens has been a success from day one. IMO, Fargate needs some other work of art where the fountain once stood.

I like the idea of a uniform colour for our buses, and yes, it would have to be blue and cream, but it is unlikely to happen.

I find myself visiting our city centre more than I probably ever have. I feel safe there, it's relatively clean and it feels nice. There are some good pubs and I only hope when the new Retail Quarter is built we will see some quality businesses (retail premises) moving in - something Sheffield lacks.

Finally: do something with the Moor, even if that does mean closing it off!

Harsh? Sentimental, I'll agree with. :)

Wasn't there once a plan floating around the council chambers to put a roof over the Moor?

Maybe it's time I spent a day in the city centre again. On the positive side, I think the new Winter Garden looks marvellous from the photographs I've seen of them.

Yes, the blue and cream colour of the old Sheffield corporation buses was one of the smartest in the UK, but of coarse it will never return unless some future government brings back a uniformed transport policy.
Still, I can always look at the model collection in my china cabinet and reminice.

The Council could use their powers to insist that public transport on the streets of Sheffield sports a certain colour scheme. Didn't Leeds city Council do the same with their taxis, which I believe were all black and white!

It may seem a small point, but cream and blue buses meant you could only be in one city.

There are lots of positives about Sheffield and I'll always feel a part of the city, but it pains me to see how it has suffered neglect over the last twenty years or so.

Other positives include in my humble opinion, The Crucible Theatre and of course Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday, even if it is a little overdone with crinkly tin plate nowadays.

I suppose in the 60s and 70s they were corporation buses, therefore the council decided what colour they should be.

Now it's all privatised, I would not think that the council has the power to insist that private companies paint their fleet blue and cream.

But I would like to see blue and cream return, with the Sheffield crest as well.

Stevo,
Identities shift and change over time. It is not a question of 'giving back' Sheffield's identity, but rather that your perception of Sheffield is based in the past. This is not in any way meant as a criticism. No doubt in twenty years time, when the landscape, cultural references and accents [as you indicate, there are variants within Sheffield] have shifted again, there will be younger people posting as you have done, wishing that the Sheffield of 2005 they fondly recall was back.

You suggest re-opening the 'hole in the road'. I think, with respect, that you would be in a minority there. My impression has always been that the 'polo mint' was viewed as a vulgar product of 1960s radical architecture. It was never that popular in the first place, if my impressions are correct.

The idea of a distinct colour scheme for Sheffield buses is a good one, although I note that you are in favour of blue. Could this possibly reflect your alliegance to little Sheffy Wendy? Maybe the Hillsborough Stadium [now a theatre of humiliation ] could be bulldozed and a nice, new conference centre put in its place?

Regarding the 'twin towers' of Tinsley; people seem divided as to their historical significance and aesthetic merits. Personally, I cannot imagine the landscape of the Don Valley without them. Does that make them worth preserving? Are they of 'value' to the majority, or is it that they are simply old? On balance, I think they should be listed as reminders of Sheffield's industrial heritage. There is precious little of that left in any case.

I wonder if my suggestion of a huge statue of Bobby Knutt at Parson's Cross, one of Marti Caine at Firth Park, and one of Roger Moffatt at Fullwood would meet with enthusiasm? They are just ideas made in good faith.

I wouldn't disagree with any of your comments Timo and I know you make them from your heart and not as criticism. I did make this post with my head firmly stuck back in the past and yes, I agree time moves on and changes are made.

I think my 'problem' with Sheffield of today, is that I was brought up in a fast moving, modern thinking Sheffield back in the '60 and '70's. A Sheffield that was proud and alive.

I look at Sheffield today and I see small signs of a revival, but on reflection Sheffield over the past twenty odd years makes me quite sad. For all of her good motives and the progress made, Sheffield took a right old spanking from Maggie Thatcher and it's taking a long time to recover.

So, if Sheffield does revive itself and once again becomes the proud city I once knew, then please just give me my cream and blue buses back, if only to remind me of those good old days when Sheffield really was a city on the move! I make no criticism of the Sheffield people. I've always loved 'em and I'll always be a Sheffielder.

:)

Stevo,
I'm not entirely sure that Mrs Thatcher, or conservative neo-liberal, free marketeer economics are all to blame for Sheffield's 'right old spanking'. The policies of the left wing councils over the years have taken their toll too. Ludicrous ideas such as sky high rates/dirt cheap bus fares, thinly-veiled anti-car policies, the perfectly ridiculous Student Games which nearly bankrupted the city, and the free rein of 60s radical architects are also variables to be taken into consideration when assessing the relative loss of identity and decline. Sheffield never seems to 'get it right', as the short-lived centre for pop music showed. In truth, there has never been much civic pride here, as is the case with Leeds and Manchester, and there are very few examples if any of great architecture, merely a few old buildings. The city revolved around steel, was largely and perhaps still is, predominantly working class in terms of culture, and has failed to 're-invent' itself [forgive the reification] unlike Leeds.

Like yourself [we grew up within about a hundred yards of each other], I love the people with their unique character and accents, and I have good friends and family in the city. However, both you and I are now ex-pats and for us the city is a cherished idea in the main. We post on the forum perhaps to keep in touch with our 'roots', of which we are proud, but we are no longer truly part of Sheffield. In my case, the landscape of my dreams is often Woolley Woods, which thankfully is preserved intact. However, I often find myself wandering around old Sheffield haunts in my mind only to find out later, when visiting the city, that they are no more or changed beyond all recognition. Sadly, Stevo, for you and I Sheffield is the 'blue, remembered hills' of Houseman's poem, where we may never truly walk again.

Believe me, aside from my daft jokes about Hillsborough, I feel exactly the same way as you do. Sheffield will always be a part of you and I.

Stevo

You cannot turn the clock back, Sheffield has evolved and changed over the years and everytime I re-visit I notice the changes.

Many of these changes I fear are for the worse but there are so many influences from emigrants, students, new industries and the like.

Nothing will ever bring back the old Sheffield that we knew and loved.

All anyone can do is embrace the good new buildings, the different people and move on.

Everywhere you go in whatever country you find things are changing rapidly and we are surely rapidly becoming a global village.

I think Marshall McCluan hit the nail on the head.

Happy Days!

Originally posted by PopT
Stevo

All anyone can do is embrace the good new buildings, the different people and move on.!

Hmmmm....sound idea on paper.....my question is though, WHAT good new buildings??? Has anyone seen any in the last 15 years? All of them are architectural jokes....some loony Councillor has let a team of first year architecture students loose here for some pretty abysmal 'project' work which no doubt got graded D minus.

Come back Town Hall Eggbox....we really loved you and NEVER appreciated you while you were here.....

Originally posted by goldenfleece
Come back Town Hall Eggbox....we really loved you and NEVER appreciated you while you were here.....

Goldenfleece, go lie down in a dark room for an hour and come out when normal service is resumed.

You do ofcause, have a valid point. Some of the excuses for buildings which have sprung up in Sheffield recently, are non-descript, utterly lacking in any imagination and I imagine they'll look like, in ten years' time, the old Broomhall Flats (concrete jungle).

As I have pointed out on numerous occasions, what should have been the centre-piece, Number 1 St. Paul's is everything I've said above plus ugly. As it has been going up, I've had the impression that it looks like the last bad egg from the planning board of 1960s, early 1970s Urban Planning and was in the process of being demolished to make way for something modern, exciting and truly befitting of its address. Sadly, it has continued its ascension instead of its deserved demolition.

However, I must add swiftly, how pleased am I to see that the old listed frontage of the buildings on Fargate - the former YMCA I believe - is being kept (as ofcause it has to be) whilst new, larger business premises are being created behind.

Looking forward to more Phones4U, Carphone Warehouse et al coming to Fargate in due course.....

Is there room for another in that darkened room?!!!