Hiya, new person here. New, and with an agenda.
I have been working in the Norfolk Park and Arbourthorne area for some years now, mostly as a community worker for the Sheffield Wildlife Trust. This year we have decided to look at things from a slightly different perspective...my new project is called 'Sense of Place' and is loosely based on Common Ground's principles (www.commonground.org.uk if you've never heard of it - great ideas). The idea is (very) basically, to take the history of the area, it's cultures, it's nature, it's current residents, past residents, new residents, and come up with some landscape improvements/ artwork/ multimedia that help residents both old and new to get a better grasp of their ...well, their sense of the place in which they live.
Oh dear, that wasn't too clear...
Maybe I should start with 'has anyone got any local history knowledge for my two areas?' I'm not picky, ten years ago, ten thousand years ago.
TIA for any info.

Hi
When I was a kid there was a place at the top of Myrtle Rd called the Piggeries, never really sure waht this was but I had this vision of a load of pigs living there, maybe of interest?

hmm...cool. Was it a building or an open space? Do you recall?

Open space, near the Ball Inn Pub. This was in the 60/70's

Nearest road? I'm trying ti pinpoint exactly where you mean. :)

The entrance was off Mrytle rd


This link shows an arial view of where it was( The green bit of land)
link here (http://www.multimap.co.uk/map/photo.cgi?client=public&x=436163&y=384953&scale=50 00&width=500&height=310)

This shows the map view

link here (http://www.multimap.co.uk/map/browse.cgi?X=437000&Y=385000&width=500&height=300& client=public&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&add r1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&scale=10000&advanced=&multim ap.x=6&multimap.y=112)

tidied up long links - gb

Thanks.
We've had our attention drawn to this site a fair amount recently. Seems it may be sold to developers.
I heard tell it was bought by schools (literally each school handing over real money) in this area yonks ago, but that the schools bit of the council ain't interested in trying to keep it up. Lower Arbourthorne& Hallyburton Forum were trying to figure out if legally it still belonged to the schools themselves rather than the council, in which case it would be up to the schools to decide what should happen to it. All hearsay, of course.
I've never heard it called the piggeries, but 'im indoors is an elderly person's support worker for the area, so I think I'll do some digging.
Maybe it was just a rude term for the schoolkids who used to use it :!:

There's no school round there, this used to be a farm and a football pitch, it used to be Sheffield United's training ground, hence the name of the pub, the Ball Inn nearby

Yep, that's the place. I'd forgotten the football link.
It wasn't one school, but several in the adjoining area who supposedly clubbed together to purchase the land.
The farm could be interesting for further research...

Since you were so close, did you use Black Bank at all? The area next to the Earl Marshall...that's one of our four main sites.
Also the lower part of Arbourthorne Rec., St Aidans Rec and the Jervis Lum corridor.

it did used to be called the piggeries, my mom was born at the top of myrtle road in the 1940's (sorry mum!!) and it used to be a farm with you've guessed it - pigs!! it was as someone else said - sheffield uniteds training ground and has just been derelict land since then- i have a few photographs of my mom as a child in her front garden with the ball inn pub behind her and it looks exactly the same now as it did then.

Originally posted by mikey
Hi
When I was a kid there was a place at the top of Myrtle Rd called the Piggeries, never really sure waht this was but I had this vision of a load of pigs living there, maybe of interest? it did have pigs just 3 the first house

I know myrtle springs had a piggery there owned by the woodheads in the 60's and also the castle shaped building which is sadly now long gone, also at the top of arbourthorne rd there used to be the hurlfield girls school which was demolished due to subsidence.....now about 100 houses are built on the site also all the houses on myrtle springs are built on land which used to be allotments.

My uncle Ernest lived on Myrtle road, I think! This was in the late '40,s/early '50's. I remember going up East Bank road on the bus. There was a working men's club on the left side of the road. The street my uncle lived on was on the right side, very close to the club. I remember one Saturday going to play football on a pitch on the same road, would it have been Myrtle road? Incidentally, one of the kids on our team was George Quixall, he was picked up at half time by his father, and was taken to Manchester, his brother Albert was playing his first game for Man U, he had been bought by the club after the Munich air crash. Anybody remember that? I was also in the same class at Meynell Road school with Brian Dooley, his cousin Derek played for Sheffield Wednesday, and had his leg amputated after a collision with another player in a match at Hillsborough. I had forgotten all this, thanks for the memories.

Hi

Was just reading all the chat about the field at the back of the Ball Inn Pub on Myrtle Road, and I was wondering if you would be interested to hear that it is rumoured that the land is being used to build houses on for imigrants. I know someone that lives pretty close to the field, and that is what they tell me.

Hi my husband used to go in norfolk park fishing befoe all the flats were built the pond was called cherry tree pond and was popular for crested newts . itwas situated just off park grange road and guildford rise. Below it was cherry tree wood which is still there it used to be full of bluebells and had the stream running from the pond the pond was filled in and cottages and orchards removed to build norfolk park flats about 1963

Also where st aidans drive leavrs st aidans road, used to be a orchard with big pear trees some cottages

The farm behind the Ball Inn was owned by the Lawsons,
My cousin was in the same class as Heather Lawson and we used go and play on the farm.
Her Brother-in-Law Peter had new ideas on pig rearing at that time I suppose hence the pigs.
Mrs Lawson used to work at Arbouthorne Central school looking after childen after school hours. Women still continuing to work after the war so children were kept in school until collected.
Further up Gleadless Rd was a farm owned by Mr Lawsons brother they must have specialised in cows because they used to deliver our milk at Intake.
The Workingman's Club on East bank Rd was called I think The Midhill.
hazel

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mikey
Hi
When I was a kid there was a place at the top of Myrtle Rd called the Piggeries, never really sure waht this was but I had this vision of a load of pigs living there, maybe of interest? [/QUO

Doesn't the guy off the Bill & Eastenders own the Ball Inn Pub cannot remember his name at the moment.

when i was a kid we spent many happy hours in BUCK WOODS,,the wood path was off berners rd there was a big field and then the woods, we spent many hrs building dens and paddling in the stream,there was also some allotments down there,one of them had a concrete hut and we used to make a fire and stew rhubarb on the stove,until one of the lads climbed on top of the roof and it caved in ,he had serious head injuries and was in a coma for a while,we were never allowed on the allotments after that:loopy:

Originally posted by roughy101
when i was a kid we spent many happy hours in BUCK WOODS,,the wood path was off berners rd there was a big field and then the woods, we spent many hrs building dens and paddling in the stream,there was also some allotments down there,one of them had a concrete hut and we used to make a fire and stew rhubarb on the stove,until one of the lads climbed on top of the roof and it caved in ,he had serious head injuries and was in a coma for a while,we were never allowed on the allotments after that:loopy: micheal donahoe was his name:thumbsup:

Originally posted by tosh13
Doesn't the guy off the Bill & Eastenders own the Ball Inn Pub cannot remember his name at the moment.

He did own it but it was said that he always had to be there or his stock or his takings were down if he wasnt.

ANYONE REMEMBER THE EIGHT FOOT AT THE BOTTOM OF ARBOURTHORNE ROAD BEFORE IT GOT FILLED IN AND JUST NEAR THE TOP OF THE EIGHT FOOT WAS WHAT WE CALLED THE BURNING TIP.I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU CAN REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEFORE THE FLAT AND HOUSES WERE BUILT AND YES I WENT FISHING IN THE POND AS WELL MAUZ DO YOU OR ANYONE REMEMBER THE LARGE BLOCK OF STONE AT ONE END OF THE POND.

I lived in the Norfolk Park area before the estate was built. Park Grange Road was a very small road and at the bottom end most of the land belonged to East Hill School. Lots of fruit and vegetable patches which the men who were working on the road dug up to take home. I remember the cleaners who were working at the school coming in one morning when they were putting up some of the Vic Hallam houses saying that on their way home at lunchtime, whole rows had been put up. My father was the caretaker at East Hill School. Before then the school was Maud Maxfield school for the deaf. This was bombed during the war but wasn't pulled down until the 1970's. It was a beautiful sand stone building. Granville college took the land to put greenhouses on for horticultural students.
Just next door on the right of the school (on Park Grange Road) was Queens's Towers. At that time it belonged to Holman Brothers (a Cornish Firm ) but then was sold privately and was changed into a gym/fitness type club. Hope some of this is useful.

Hi - I used to live on East Bank road in the 60's. The working mans club was called the Midhill working mans club is now the Earl Marshall pub.
The piggeries were on Myrtle road and there were horses in the fields above the Club , if you walked up East Bank Road the horses would come down to the fence to be stroked/fed.

it did have pigs just 3 the first house


ARE YOU SERIOUS ???? I USED TO LIVE ON ERSKINE CRES AND MY BACK GARDEN BACKED STRAIGHT ONTO IT THE GENNEL TO CUT THROUGH RAN STRAIGHT DOWN THE SIDE OF MY HOUSE WE COULD BE CLASSED AS THE 1ST HOUSE DEPENDING HOW YOU LOOK AT IT CHEEKY !!!! WE CUT THROUGH IT TO GET TO JENNYS SHOP ON MYRTLE RD IS THERE ANY1 WHO REMEMBERS HER???

do you honestly think that the shower of s**t now days will appreciate anything you do for them i have just given up on britain

my grandma and grandad lived at 24 edenhall rd, i think that was the name, my aunt and uncle lived at #42 same road, arbourthorne, there was a genell behind the bus station on the shop front, and that came out almost at grandmas house

When i went to school at Myrtle Springs 10 yrs ago we used to walk passed that area. The HUrlfield girls school got turned into a second school building for Myrtke springs. As for Buck woods never built fort's in there used to go on the tree swing's but that was about it. The funny thing about where the piggery was is that you could smell the pig crap as u walked by.

my grandma and grandad lived at 24 edenhall rd, i think that was the name, my aunt and uncle lived at #42 same road, arbourthorne, there was a genell behind the bus station on the shop front, and that came out almost at grandmas house

my sis in law lives at no 25 and the nieces and nephews live at 21&29 and 26

Hi - I used to live on East Bank road in the 60's. The working mans club was called the Midhill working mans club is now the Earl Marshall pub.
The piggeries were on Myrtle road and there were horses in the fields above the Club , if you walked up East Bank Road the horses would come down to the fence to be stroked/fed.

ahh thans for that me and my mum was racking our brains as to what that club was called when i was a kid in the 70s we went in there on a saturday night
i was about 7-8 and im nerly 40 now anyone any idea when it closed down ??

my grandma and grandad lived at 24 edenhall rd, i think that was the name, my aunt and uncle lived at #42 same road, arbourthorne, there was a genell behind the bus station on the shop front, and that came out almost at grandmas house

I live on Edenhall Road since 1982 may be i know them.

ANYONE REMEMBER THE EIGHT FOOT AT THE BOTTOM OF ARBOURTHORNE ROAD BEFORE IT GOT FILLED IN AND JUST NEAR THE TOP OF THE EIGHT FOOT WAS WHAT WE CALLED THE BURNING TIP.I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU CAN REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEFORE THE FLAT AND HOUSES WERE BUILT AND YES I WENT FISHING IN THE POND AS WELL MAUZ DO YOU OR ANYONE REMEMBER THE LARGE BLOCK OF STONE AT ONE END OF THE POND.

My father used to take me to the Park swimming baths in the 1950,s every Wednesday night and we used to walk from Berners Road.In summer we used to walk through Cherry wood and through Norfolk park.I remember the pond and a large stone jutting into the water.It was on the right hand side as you were walking towards the baths.In winter we used to walk from the top of the 40 foot junction with Spring Lane and thats where the ground was burning.You could see small holes of red hot fire which stood out in the gloom.Did anybody else go to the Balfours swimming club on Wednesdays? They taught me to swim.

Back in the 40s & 50s long before the Norfolk Park estate was built the land was all Farmer Downings farmland, through the middle of it ran the "Cherry Wood" or Jervis Lumb to give it it's proper name, all of us Arbourthorne kids would spent all of our time down there, it was a wonderland, we'd access it by scambling under the railings near the bottom of Arbourthorne Rd and running down to "The Duck Pond" and on into the wooded valley, or on into Norfolk Park. The afore mentioned 8ft went from the botton of Arbourthorne Rd up and over a hill, into a small valley and up again to meet the junction of Spring Lane & Eastern Avenue, where there was a gated entrance to the park, the rough path taking you down past "the burning tip" At the bottom of Arbourthorne Rd there was another tip, it had been a valley before the war , but had been used as a dumping ground for a lot of bomb damage material, the stream that runs underneath it having been culverted, that too was a favourite playground for us kids, the lower arbourthorne was a good and happy place to be then, what it's like now I can't imagine

My uncle Ernest lived on Myrtle road, I think! This was in the late '40,s/early '50's. I remember going up East Bank road on the bus. There was a working men's club on the left side of the road. The street my uncle lived on was on the right side, very close to the club. I remember one Saturday going to play football on a pitch on the same road, would it have been Myrtle road? Incidentally, one of the kids on our team was George Quixall, he was picked up at half time by his father, and was taken to Manchester, his brother Albert was playing his first game for Man U, he had been bought by the club after the Munich air crash. Anybody remember that? I was also in the same class at Meynell Road school with Brian Dooley, his cousin Derek played for Sheffield Wednesday, and had his leg amputated after a collision with another player in a match at Hillsborough. I had forgotten all this, thanks for the memories.

just to gently correct you, oldtimer, dooley played for Wednesday, certainly, but the accident he had which cost him his leg actually happened when the owls were playing an away match, at Preston North End. Dooley ended up in Preston hospital, with a shocking break, which would not heal. The problems with lack of healing was what necessitated the amputation.

ahh thans for that me and my mum was racking our brains as to what that club was called when i was a kid in the 70s we went in there on a saturday night
i was about 7-8 and im nerly 40 now anyone any idea when it closed down ??

Midhill WMC closed about 1983 and became the Earl Marshall pub owned by Wards Brewery.

I remember the Norfolk Park Estate being built, and as kids used to enter the park via a trail near to where Bluestone School is, and over the stream on a narrow footbridge/plank and into the park.

There is an avenue of mature trees where we would make rope swings, which led from East Bank Road, to Queens Tower (which could have been an old roadway up to Queens Tower ). We were all scared of the old lady who lived in the castle type house at the bottom (which i think belonged to QT) across East Bank Rd from Booths Transport (now the MOT place).

There were some old stone gate posts and wrought iron fencing remaining until recently accross from Jepsons on East Bank Road, and i can imagine in years gone by, this was quite a grand area with large houses and land. From memory i think horses were kept in this field, up until the estate was built.

A photo of 'the castle type house' on East Bank Road (http://www.sheffieldphotos.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=756) that you refer to in your post boston

A photo of 'the castle type house' on East Bank Road (http://www.sheffieldphotos.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=756) that you refer to in your post boston

Hi
Thats the one, an old lady lived in there, as kids we were all terrified of walking past. I always thought that the house would have been some kind of gate house to Queens Tower (as it is built in the same style), from East Bank Rd