It has been mentioned in another thread about the terrible gale that devastated Sheffield in the 60s, it sprang up in the mid afternoon, and carried on into the following day, an imense amount of damage was done, with the city centre looking like the night of the blitz. Does anyone have any memories of this, I was working at a shop on Glossop rd at the time called Sharmans, a slate from a property across the road smashed the main window and glass was scattered all over the shop, luckily, no one was hurt. Amazingly, the path of the gale seemed to hit Sheffield only, and hardly any surrounding town was touched.

Yes we were living half way up gleadless road on the gleadless valley estate, all the housing had flat roofs and it lifted ours a little, but higher up on sands close they had their roof lifted off completely and it flipped onto the grass at the front of the houses.
I was only 6 at the time and never really realised what was happening other than the wind was howling and we all slept at the front of the house as the wind was blasting the back.

This is how I remember it ..I was 21 years old, and I had been out for a drink with the lads the night before, I was fast asleep in the bedroom I shared with my Brother Eric, when I was awoken by my Dad who opened the bedroom door and shouted "Gerrup yo'r two, thus elluva gale blowing art theea, thus slates off an all sorts of stuff"..I could hear the wind shaking the window frame very violently. My brother jumped out of bed got dressed and went off to investigate, (leaving the bedroom door wide open. Because I was a bit under the weather due to the 5 pints of Tennants that i'd drunk at the Warncliffe the night before, I decided to stay where I was in my nice warm bed.
I looked at the luminous alarm clock at the side of my bed ,it was 10 mins to six I didn't have to get up until six thirty, I worked at Brightside Foundry at Ecclesfield in those days...Anyway i'd just dozed off back to sleep when my brother, for some reason he decided to open the front door to see what was happening out side. as he opened the door the pressure in the house dropped and because he'd left the bedroom door open...there was a loud bang that shook the house and I was suddenly woken up again with the window frame and broken glass strewed across my bed and the curtains were flapping away violently horizontaly over me. I reluctantly decided it was time to get up.

(More to follow in the next episode "the damage and repair")

I was only 3 at the time and our chimney collapsed and left a nice view of the stars according to my late mum.
We lived in Woodseats at the time over looking Millhouses park and Woodseats was one of the worse areas hit in Sheffield.

I heard that the pennines on the west and the flatter land to the east caused an unusual vacume and the gales just hit Sheffield.

can anyone take up on that.
Did anyone live in Rotherham or Chesterfield get the gales.

It did'nt help to have 1963 as the worse winter on record to follow it when 12 foot of snow fell causing chaos not long after the gales.

I remember one lad I worked with coming late to work during the gales. He came by bus down Prince Of Wales Road.

His excuse for being late was that the bus had to stop to allow somebody's sheet metal garage to cross the road.

Happy Days!

I remember it well. We lived on Granby road, which runs across the top of 3 roads all going up a hill. To the front of the house was a row of garages perched precariously on top of the bank, which was in other words nothing short of a cliff edge. To the rear of the house we just looked over the garden wall to see the houses and gardens descending below us down onto Firth Park road, and we looked directly across to Wincobank. Looking out at the front we could see straight across to Firvale Hospital (where I was born). Anyway, the garage which used to be opposite our house, disappeared on that windy day, took flight somewhere never to be seen again. It was good for a day off school anyway. Didnt the windows rattle in those days, with the curtains billowing out into the room. Getting dressed under the covers. Kids today with their central heating, they dont know they're born. I'm starting to sound like mi mom now.

Originally posted by PopT
I remember one lad I worked with coming late to work during the gales. He came by bus down Prince Of Wales Road.

His excuse for being late was that the bus had to stop to allow somebody's sheet metal garage to cross the road.

Happy Days!

I saw that garage, it was complete, just skating down the road.

I was six at the time and remeber going to school the next morning and witnessing the unbelievable devastation. Roofs torn off houses, trees ripped up etc etc.

I lived at Hackenthope at the time.

In the weeks after the gale, the blown-over trees became great things to play on.

When I was in the first year at secondary school ( 1978 ) we did a big project on this topic in geography - but it was referred to as 'The Sheffield Hurricane' which made it sound absolutely brilliant to an 11 year old.

Another time when disaster loomed for Sheffield.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Transcriptions/WRY/SheffieldHurricane1873.html

Originally posted by Timbuck
This is how I remember it ..I was 21 years old, and I had been out for a drink with the lads the night before, I was fast asleep in the bedroom I shared with my Brother Eric, when I was awoken by my Dad who opened the bedroom door and shouted "Gerrup yo'r two, thus elluva gale blowing art theea, thus slates off an all sorts of stuff"..I could hear the wind shaking the window frame very violently. My brother jumped out of bed got dressed and went off to investigate, (leaving the bedroom door wide open. Because I was a bit under the weather due to the 5 pints of Tennants that i'd drunk at the Warncliffe the night before, I decided to stay where I was in my nice warm bed.
I looked at the luminous alarm clock at the side of my bed ,it was 10 mins to six I didn't have to get up until six thirty, I worked at Brightside Foundry at Ecclesfield in those days...Anyway i'd just dozed off back to sleep when my brother, for some reason he decided to open the front door to see what was happening out side. as he opened the door the pressure in the house dropped and because he'd left the bedroom door open...there was a loud bang that shook the house and I was suddenly woken up again with the window frame and broken glass strewed across my bed and the curtains were flapping away violently horizontaly over me. I reluctantly decided it was time to get up.

(More to follow in the next episode "the damage and repair") With my bedroom window missing and a howling gale blowing through the house I some how managed to get dressed and went downstairs. My Father and Brother were outside the house inspecting the asbestos garage which had moved about two feet, and was stopped from blowing away by the car inside, the side of the garage looked like a porcupine with dozens of broken roof slates sticking out of it, the nearby houses had all lost parts of their roofs. The wind had now dropped a lot but was still gusting very strongly . It was agreed that I patched up the damage while my Dad and Brother went to work.
To get some material to board up the window I set off to Firth Park to "Richardson's" the nearest DIY shop,
On my way I passed "Hoskins chip shop" where the front of the shop was caved in with glass
everywhere...Further down Bellhouse Rd more roof damage..when I got to the bottom of Windmill Lane the Fire Brigade was sorting out a house where the whole gable end had fallen inwards, I later found out that some children had been Killed in bed in that incident.
I carried on down to Firth Park and I noticed that the sky was clear blue and high up in the air you could see items of building materials spinning around like straw in the wind, The radio had put out a warning to watch out for falling debri. When I got to Richardson's DIY shop, the owner was doing a roaring trade and had almost sold out of Boards nails and timber lats, but I was lucky enough to get some gear for my window repair.
A man who I knew, told me that the Vicar and his wife at St Hildas Church, had been killed on the settee in the lounge of the Vicarage, due to the chimney stack falling through the roof and bedroom floor and into the lounge.
When I got back home the Granada TV news was on, and I remember Bill Grundy (of Sex Pistols fame) standing on a hill overlooking Sheffield and saying that a Gale of 120 mph had hit Sheffield at 6 oclock that morning and it had now dropped down to a mere 80mph . I've seen a few storms since then but nothing like that one.

It was reported that one in three house were damaged.
I was working on some new houses at Foxhill at the time and I remember it ripped the roof of some of the houses under constuction

We lived on Meadow Street at the time, I was six years old and slept in the attic.
I remember my dad waking me up and taking me down the two flights of stairs and plonking me on the settee, I was half asleep and bewildered at what all the hullabaloo was, I remember the shutters were rattling and a crash came from up the stairs, my dad went to investigate and came back saying "Bloody chimneys come through seelin'". the next morning we went outside to a scene of carnage, lots of broken slates and chimneypots.
Even to this day high winds still bother me.

Look here. www.chrishobbs.com/sheffieldgale1962.htm

Hold on a minute,
feb 1962...... hmm i was born in nov 1962.... hmm wonder what mum and dad were doing on this cold febuary night i'll have to ask em.

I remember a woman who complained about suffering from 'wind',after visiting the doctors she was told she was pregnant.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

I've read all these contributions with real interest as I was 12 and living in Crosspool at the time. Enjoyed them a lot.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the one thing that sticks in my mind so vividly. And that was seeing all the people with bandaged heads the next day. It was like half the population, especially kids, were bandaged. And this was before all the immigration, so I know they really were bandages. This flying slate thing must have hurt a lot of people.

I remember the photographs in the Sheffield Star of the roofs blowing off the prefabs at Gleadless.
I think most people were late in for work on that occasion.
I was 20 at the time and worked on Newhall Road.

I also remember the bus strike when we were picked up by the works lorry(nothing to do with the gale).

I remember the bus strikes, I worked at Tempered Springs when that was on,and we had to catch the works lorry to work,and we were late clocking in and the tight sods quartered us for it,although we had sat on the back of a freezing cold lorry for nearly an hour.........happy days.

owdlad!

my late mother and my uncle pat worked at tempered springs around that time.

I can't believe that you got quartered under those circumstances!

that was so unreasonable of the bosses!

PT

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
I was six at the time and remeber going to school the next morning and witnessing the unbelievable devastation. Roofs torn off houses, trees ripped up etc etc.

In the weeks after the gale, the blown-over trees became great things to play on.

I lived at Hackenthope at the time. I was about seven years old I think. I slept through the whole thing, I couldnt beleive it when I looked through the window next morning. I saw our next door neigbours glass greenhouse slowly float up into the air glide over our fence, turn upside down and crash into our garden. Glass everywhere. There were TV ariels all over the road and slates flying everywhere.

The pre-fabs on the aptly named Windy House Lane on the Manor were totaly flattened and never re-built. What happened to all the people who lived in them I wonder?

Originally posted by herbiegrass
We lived on Meadow Street at the time, I was six years old and slept in the attic.
I remember my dad waking me up and taking me down the two flights of stairs and plonking me on the settee, I was half asleep and bewildered at what all the hullabaloo was, I remember the shutters were rattling and a crash came from up the stairs, my dad went to investigate and came back saying "Bloody chimneys come through seelin'". the next morning we went outside to a scene of carnage, lots of broken slates and chimneypots.
Even to this day high winds still bother me.

my mum lived on alfred road,then moved to meadow street,she tells a story about her friend bein crushed as their chimney fell in,he was in the attic and it fell on him and took him to the cellar,she still gets nervous too when its windy

Playman, just read your memories of the gales in 62'. You mentioned how the flat roofed houses on Sands Close had their roofs blown off. I was there when that happened and still in the same house today. We spent the day with neighbours and all my young brother was bothered about was his money box. Naturally.
The roof has been repaired 3 times in all. Had very bad damage again in 89'. I would hate to leave, we just love the views and all the greenery.

I lived in the prefabs at the top of Shirecliffe Rd at the time. All our family were in the lounge cos we couldn't sleep. Then the woman and son from the prefab behind ours came to our place because their windows had blown in and her husband was disabled and couldn't get out of bed. Dad went round to help him. About 5 minutes later our lounge windows went and the whole building started to shake.We were sheltering in the hallway when the roof started lifiting and so mum took the decision that we'd best get out. As we left, the roof on the house behind us came off and as it passed it took off part of our roof. We were joined by Dad and the guy from behind, dad pushing him in a wheelchair. We ran along until we got to the first proper house, banged on their door till they let us in, and stayed there till the afternoon. The prefab behind us had collapsed like a house of cards, it was so sad helping them to sort out what they could salvage. We lived with relatives while our roof was repaired and had iron ropes put over the top to protect it from future winds. Within a year we'd been rehoused. I reckon my dad could well have been a hero that night.
That was the only day I'd missed at school for years and it cost me my "Gloops" badge.

I,ve said this before elsewhere, but I lived on Skyedge at that time. in a then state of the art prefabricated house.

I was living in Darnall at the time - don't recall any serious damage around us (perhaps just roof tiles off here and there) but I do remember well that the day before (must have been late afternoon as it hadn't got dark) the sky was a really strange colour - pink/purple, I think - hard to describe it more clearly after all this time but I know that we looked out of the window and commented on it because it was very unusual. Does anyone else remember this?

Can't remember whether we were kept awake by the gale or not but I know we didn't realise until the next morning just how much damage had been done in other parts of the city.

Re. the colour of the sky. My uncle had served in the navy for years, and apparently he'd seen the sky the same colour while at sea. He said that it always meant gale force winds, so he'd told his neighbours what was coming. Can anyone remember if the weather forecasters had predicted it?

I was seven at the time - living in an off-license on St Phillips Road. Opposite was the White Heart Pub - I remember my dad waking me and taking me downstairs - he looked aout the window at the pub and told us that it had lost it's roof.

Little did we know that our shop had suffered the same fate - half the roof gone - if I remeber correctly the Fire Service came and slung a huge canvas sheet over the roof until we could get the builders in.

My Mum was expecting my baby sister at any time - we all thought that is it was a girl she would have been called gail.

The Parson Cross Heritage Society working with Weston Park Weather Station are looking for personal accounts of adverse weather conditions in the Sheffield area. If anyone would agree to having their own memories of adverse weather conditions included in this study (later to be displayed online) please PM me.

Thanks

We lived in Burncross. Lots of damage to houses on the Bevan Way estate. Chimneys down, slates off, gable ends fallen down, etc.

Seem to remember most of it happening during the night.

Originally posted by pitsmoorlad
Re. the colour of the sky. My uncle had served in the navy for years, and apparently he'd seen the sky the same colour while at sea. He said that it always meant gale force winds, so he'd told his neighbours what was coming. Can anyone remember if the weather forecasters had predicted it? It was not expected as some freak turbliance unable to get over the penines caused a vacuum which struck only Sheffield.
Rotherham and Chesterfield escaped lightly.

I was only a year old at the time of the gales. However, I remember my father showing me several [very large] trees that had been completely uprooted by the severe weather in Wooley Woods, just on the edge of Concord Park when I was about seven.

There is a huge tree which as been up rooted in Wormhill in Derbyshire which i was told was up rooted in the 62 gale, but history says it was only in Sheffield so one is contridicting the other.

Looking back in history there was a simular wind storm on Jan 21 1802
It was reported a lead roof weighing 2000 lbs was ripped off

The local paper - either The Star or that other one - published a 'Hurricane Special' edition. I suppose it would be a collector's item today but could be in a local library somewhere. Can't vouch for this story but it was said that the Ole Bill who worked Town Hall Square had his helmet blown off and it finished up on the head of Vulcan atop the Town Hall. The said Bill then perambulated to West Bar, acquired himself another helmet and perambulated back to the Town Hall where he discovered another gust of wind had blown his original one from Vulcan to a shop doorway. Having retrieved the original helmet he placed this back on his head and continued his duty with the other tucked underneath his arm - or so it was said at the time !! ANTHONY

my pal les lived in a prefab house on the arbouthorne. i can remember him telling me the next day that he laid in bed and watched the roof disappear. didn't seem to worry him too much though.

Originally posted by derfice
my pal les lived in a prefab house on the arbouthorne. i can remember him telling me the next day that he laid in bed and watched the roof disappear. didn't seem to worry him too much though.

Was at Hurlfield School and they closed it the day after because lots of people from the Arbourthorne prefabs were sheltered in the school overnight.

I can remember it well we lived on lowedges then on toppham road and out of our kitchen window we saw the wind lift a wooden fence off then someones front lawn and drop it on the roof of one of the houses over the road. we also saw a three wheeler car just get lifted as it was just a toy and dropped at the back of our masonette, them winds was really strong in fact just up from the shops on lowedges it blew one side of a house in, then what happened we had to contend with the floods in the 60's I can remember going down to my grandma's who lived down the cliffe and going for a walk with my dad what use to be the weir walk just off carbrook street it took you down to brightside the water level was that high that they had put up steel sheets down the weir walk it was about 3 inches from the top of the brightside bridge next to the bridge inn infact the weir head where the water fall was you couldnt see it as there was that much water going over it and up sheffield on ladys bridge there was that much wood piled high the water was licking the top of the bridge if I can remember rightly what is now the garage just across from the old sheaf market where the houses use to be all that was flooded.

To Pitsmoorlad. My uncle Aunt and cousin were the people your dad rescued at Shirecliffe on that night, That has brought back alot of memories to me. I was living in Sheffield at Cromford Street at the time and we had to be brought downstairs from our attic and sleep in the front room as all the chimney pots were falling through the rooftops. Maureen.

I remember the 1962 gales, the chimney on the house across the road was blown off and went through the roof luckily no one was in bed at the time. I can rmeber not having to go to school that day. When I was little I used to spend a lot of my time in Sharmans sat at the counter. That would have been around 1957/1958 chatting away to the customers. I lived on Victoria street before moving to Hodgson Street then to the Gleadless Valley in 1963.: :lol:

Originally posted by Timbuck
With my bedroom window missing and a howling gale blowing through the house I some how managed to get dressed and went downstairs. My Father and Brother were outside the house inspecting the asbestos garage which had moved about two feet, and was stopped from blowing away by the car inside, the side of the garage looked like a porcupine with dozens of broken roof slates sticking out of it, the nearby houses had all lost parts of their roofs. The wind had now dropped a lot but was still gusting very strongly . It was agreed that I patched up the damage while my Dad and Brother went to work.
To get some material to board up the window I set off to Firth Park to "Richardson's" the nearest DIY shop,
On my way I passed "Hoskins chip shop" where the front of the shop was caved in with glass
everywhere...Further down Bellhouse Rd more roof damage..when I got to the bottom of Windmill Lane the Fire Brigade was sorting out a house where the whole gable end had fallen inwards, I later found out that some children had been Killed in bed in that incident.
I carried on down to Firth Park and I noticed that the sky was clear blue and high up in the air you could see items of building materials spinning around like straw in the wind, The radio had put out a warning to watch out for falling debri. When I got to Richardson's DIY shop, the owner was doing a roaring trade and had almost sold out of Boards nails and timber lats, but I was lucky enough to get some gear for my window repair.
A man who I knew, told me that the Vicar and his wife at St Hildas Church, had been killed on the settee in the lounge of the Vicarage, due to the chimney stack falling through the roof and bedroom floor and into the lounge.
When I got back home the Granada TV news was on, and I remember Bill Grundy (of Sex Pistols fame) standing on a hill overlooking Sheffield and saying that a Gale of 120 mph had hit Sheffield at 6 oclock that morning and it had now dropped down to a mere 80mph . I've seen a few storms since then but nothing like that one.

Not St Hilda's but the Methodist Church at Firth Park. His child/ren were killed.

Mr Thompson was the Vicar at St Hilda's in the Vicarage next door - we are Windmill Lane residents and have been for over 45 years - I remember this so well.

The prefabs on Honeysuckle Road were also damaged.

sure it's bin said b4 but the prefabs on skyedge were rippid apart. my dad helped out.

My mom saved the newspapers from the 1962 gale, i still have them, but put them somplace clever of course, wouldn't know where to start looking for them now .

I slept through it all, all I saw was the aftermath when I went to work the next day, I was seventeen at the time.

I could sleep for England then.

I lived at Intake at the time in a brand new semi which luckily escaped any damge.
I was just 2 mths pregnant with my first child and the fear of windy weather lasted for years.
I remember sruggling up the road to see that my parents were ok and going into town to work.
Can anyone remember what mth it was as my Dad died on the 4th of April of that yr so ? march.
hazel

Hazel,

It was February.....I was 10 and my grandad died that night.

Thanks Royal,
I knew it had to be near the time my Dad died by
my son's date of birth.
Must have been a traumatic time for your family too

hazel

I was 8 at the time of the gales and lived with my mother and brothers and sisters next to a laundry on Weston Street. The gales blew the bathroom wall down and we had to shelter in the Vestry Hall at Burngreave. There was a lot more families in the same predicament, eventually we were rehoused on Shiregreen.

i was born in may 62, so my poor mother must have had a hard time getting around,cant ask her though because she died in 1981.

I remember that day well.....
....the vicarage death just a street over.........a lot of damage......we met ( i was with a couple of friends) an Australian .....we walked around taking pictures.....a really freak wind.....I still have the negatives.

Originally posted by Plain Talker
owdlad!
I can't believe that you got quartered under those circumstances!
PT

He got "Hung and drawn" first. :hihi:

No ones mentioned all the pre-fabs that blew down on Sky Edge!!

Originally posted by gopher
No ones mentioned all the pre-fabs that blew down on Sky Edge!!

I remember the ones at the Manor Top on Windy House Lane.
Didn't know the Sky Edge ones blew down. Mind you my bus didn't go past Sky Edge. Where were all the people rehoused?

If I remember rightly, it also damaged the floodlight pylon on the corner of John Street/Shoreham Street. It didn't actually knock it down, it got hold of the top and bent it over, so that it was (almost) touching the ground. Takes a REAL force to do that to a structure that is designed to take heavy winds.

I was twelve at the time, looking out of the classroom window at Tapton school the afternoon before the gale, I noticed that the sky was a unusual pink colour. On the night of the gale I was sleeping in the attic bedroom, I soon legged it downstairs when I thought the bedroom window was going to blow in on my bed.

Gopher, I lived on sky edge when it all went off..

I remember walking to work ,treading on the broken slates that were covering the road. Near the Owlerton dog track. they were flying all over the place.:o

It was a real mess. I worked for SCPWD and we spent that day and weeks after tying down roofs and repairing roofs on the Arbourthorne estate, repairing broken water pipes and re-glazing windows.

they put steel strips on the roofs of our Skyedge prefab to stop em blowin of in future..

An aunt and uncle of mine were in bed in their prefab on Errington Road and my aunt said, "it's a clear sky tonight Harry". "How do you know?", he said. "The roof's just blown off!", came the reply.:o

There were some prefabs on East Bank Road above the Midhill Club on the same side before you get to Daresbury Road, and afterwards the only thing left were the concrete bases.

Sweetdexter, the houses you were building didn't happen to be just off Foxhill Road in a little close (Camborne Close) did they.
If they were one of them was my house, a roof came flying through the air from the maisonettes at the back and sliced into our roof and the neigbours, we were to married on the 24 Feb so it was a blow. The roof collapsed onto our bed and if we had been there we would have been killed.
The builders were still on site finishing the other houses and they had to rebuild our roofs and back walls.
I remember it well
Terry

Originally posted by poppins
My mom saved the newspapers from the 1962 gale, i still have them, but put them somplace clever of course, wouldn't know where to start looking for them now . I believed you lived in Longley at the time, how much damage was there in that area.

Terryp, it was the maisonettes I was working on.
I looked at a map and it was in the vicinity of where you lived that I was working

I remember my mum trying to pull me up Walling Rd Brightside to our front door. I had to hang on to the door handle while she went in the back way and let me in I was 6yrs old

Originally posted by Trekker
sure it's bin said b4 but the prefabs on skyedge were rippid apart. my dad helped out.


i can remember going up and looking at the damage i was about 8 years old i lived on the wybourn ( still do) stuff everywhere

Originally posted by Cycleracer
I believed you lived in Longley at the time, how much damage was there in that area.
I lived in Longley at the time, and I remember a lot of roofs with missing tiles, but no major damage. Our roof had all the ridge tiles stripped off. I went to Firth Park School, and used to walk through Longley Park and over the playing fields to school. I remember walking across the higher flat area towards the playing fields and leaning at something like 45 degrees into the wind to keep moving. Various parts of the school weren't in use that day because of dangerous chimney pots that had to be made safe.

Never heard a thing, slept through it, BUT, the next morning Iwas delivering papers on my round, around Wood Street, and remember the damage was incredible.

There were some prefabs on East Bank Road above the Midhill Club on the same side before you get to Daresbury Road, and afterwards the only thing left were the concrete bases.

MY great-grandfather lived in one of those, on East Bank Road, and, yes, there was mass-flattening all the way across from Skye Edge and Arbourthorne.

What I find odd is that the prefabs around the Burncross area, and at Stannington (Stannington's are really, really exposed, right up on that hillside, overlooking the moors) and the ones off Hollinsend seemed to escape unscathed (my aunt lived in one of the prefabs off hollinsend road , hollybank something or other...)

wonder why....

PT

That would be Hollybank Rd, and they were probably saved by the bank where Woodhouse Rd runs.

Can still remember the noise the slates made as they slid down the roof and then smashed on the ground. My sister slept in the attic and she refused to get out of bed and come down stairs. She walked to school the next morning through Endcliffe Park until she had to turn round and come home cos there was a huge tree blocking the path. I didn't need any persuasion to have a day off school.

I can still see the school yard with all the debris strewn all over the school yard. windows blown out slates off big holes in the roofs we then had to have tarpaolin over the roof for ages no wonder I still don't like the wind.

In 1962, my wife & I were working at Chesterfield Hospital. We experienced strong winds that night; the lift shaft roof was lifted off, and "skated" along the main roof ridge, unroofing the Children's ward (Nightingale). I can't remember whether we were in Medical Staff Quarters, or whether we'd moved out to our cottage by then.

i can remember going up and looking at the damage i was about 8 years old i lived on the wybourn ( still do) stuff everywhere
me too i lived in a prefab on skyedge ave , i remember holding the ladder whilst my dad tried to nail the roof down, you could actually see the roof lift from inside.........................ron

the prefabs on sky edge had pebbles set into the outer walls, other than picture sheffield.com, can anyone suggest where I'll find a picture of one?

There were quite a few housing developments in sheffield with the pebbled walls. I think they wer built by Vic Hallam. Lowedges, Scowerdon maybe? Im cant remember exactly. Anyone remember the flats at Hollinsend / Gleadless they had the bottoms of glass bottles stuck in the cement.

Just a story about someone I knew. The night of the gales the couple were lying in bed and the chimney came down. It crashed through the ceiling and landed on the bed and the lady was killed.

Just a story about someone I knew. The night of the gales the couple were lying in bed and the chimney came down. It crashed through the ceiling and landed on the bed and the lady was killed.
I lived on Ravensworth road at the time and dad came home from work saying "for gods sake dont go out, its like the blitz out there, slates are raining down"
The next morning it had eased but on my way to school, picking my way through the slates on Carltonville Road, when I got to the end, my school Carbrook was just up on the left. Across the road the whole gable end of a house had been blown off, the chimney took the full force of the wind and the gable with it. Amazingly I dont think anyone was hurt but it must have been terrifying lying in bed and then suddenly the wall dissapears!

I lived on Ravensworth road at the time and dad came home from work saying "for gods sake dont go out, its like the blitz out there, slates are raining down"
The next morning it had eased but on my way to school, picking my way through the slates on Carltonville Road, when I got to the end, my school Carbrook was just up on the left. Across the road the whole gable end of a house had been blown off, the chimney took the full force of the wind and the gable with it. Amazingly I dont think anyone was hurt but it must have been terrifying lying in bed and then suddenly the wall dissapears!

I have told in a previous posting about the horror of the slates scattered round the Carltonville Road area.

My uncle, insisted on wearing his crash helmet to go just across the yard to the loo. He was laughed at by the family, but they laughed on the other side of their faces when he came in, seconds later, white-as-a-sheet... A slate had embedded itself in his crash helmet. scary, scary stuff!

PT

:confused: I was at Newfield Secondry School at the time of the Sheffield Gales, it totally tore of the school roof.
I can remember seeing a peice of guttering flying through the air and it embedded in the embankment out side the main doors.

We were kept at school until 12.30pm and we thought we would hae had the day off, what a disapointment. The school was ony closed a day or so, good workmen those days, to the dissapointment of us. :rant: :confused:

I was living in Manners Street, Neepsend behind Stones brewery when the gale hit. What sticks in my mind was my dad donning a world war 2 helmet to go to the outside lavvie, our chimney depositing itself on my sisters bed minutes after she had gone to get in to bed with my parents and being evacuated to a church on burngreave (can't remenber the name but its on the main road to Spittal hill) for a few nights.

Was that the same year there was bad snow falls

I was living in Manners Street, Neepsend behind Stones brewery when the gale hit. What sticks in my mind was my dad donning a world war 2 helmet to go to the outside lavvie, our chimney depositing itself on my sisters bed minutes after she had gone to get in to bed with my parents and being evacuated to a church on burngreave (can't remenber the name but its on the main road to Spittal hill) for a few nights.
We were about to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary in Feb 1962.The sound of slates sliding down the rooftop and crashing into the conservatory below jolted us awake.Our house was on a hill on Lowburn Road, and when we looked out of the window we could see the extensive damage to the rooftops of the houses below. We had been trying to start a family for 2 years. Maybe the shock of that night changed something in me,because 10 months later I had my 1st child! A girl.

We were about to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary in Feb 1962.The sound of slates sliding down the rooftop and crashing into the conservatory below jolted us awake.Our house was on a hill on Lowburn Road, and when we looked out of the window we could see the extensive damage to the rooftops of the houses below. We had been trying to start a family for 2 years. Maybe the shock of that night jolted something in me,because 10 months later I had my 1st child! A girl.


Did you call her Gail
(Gale.... gettit... Please yourself)

Did you call her Gail
(Gale.... gettit... Please yourself):P Never crossed my mind! :hihi: I do know someone who after having several kids she called her last child Norma,because ,she said she was having NO MORE.:D

I remember the night before, sat on our front wall with the other kids in our road and talking about how weird the sky looked. Next day all hell broke loose. Next door's chimney went through the roof, demolishing their girls bedroom, luckily she was out at work. My dad was out trying to lash down the telegraph pole at the top of our drive, before that came down through our front window. The rest of the day he was out with the ladders helping folk fix their roofs. We kids had a great time, flying umbrellas on clothes line - best kites ever. Next day dad took us out in the car to see the wreckage of pre-fabs - up parkwood springs I think. I still have a copy of the chart from the anemometer at Weston Park - ink all over the place - wind speed over 100 mph.

I was about 4 years old and lived at Heeley, the wind broke my bedroom window, there was glass everywhere.

I was 7 at the time and lived in the tower blocks on Andover street in Pitsmoor. Can just about remember how the flats were swaying,was told later that if you stood outside you could actualy see them moving.

No ones mentioned all the pre-fabs that blew down on Sky Edge!!
I may have already posted this, cant remember, but I lived on Ravensworth Road at the time, Dad came home from work saying he had nearly been hit by numerous falling slates that were flying like frisbies (except of course that they didnt exist at the time) he and his workmates were watching out for each other and kept dodging into entries when the 'blitz' was at its worst.
The next morning when I went to school (Carbrook), at the end of Carltonville Road where it met Attercliffe Common the whole side of a house was blown down. Apparently the chimney on the gable end took the full force of the wind and took the whole gable end with it.
Anybody else remember this?

Was that the same year there was bad snow falls


I feel pretty sure it was. What a winter. I remember it well.

I feel pretty sure it was. What a winter. I remember it well.
Our 1st child was born on Dec 8th 1962.The Ist few weeks of her life was the bad winter and deep snowdrifts.There was a shortage of fuel and deliveries, due to the adverse conditions,but because we had a tiny baby we were given priority by the local authority to receive an adequate supply of coke to heat our home.

I was living in Manners Street, Neepsend behind Stones brewery when the gale hit. What sticks in my mind was my dad donning a world war 2 helmet to go to the outside lavvie, our chimney depositing itself on my sisters bed minutes after she had gone to get in to bed with my parents and being evacuated to a church on burngreave (can't remenber the name but its on the main road to Spittal hill) for a few nights.

Now then...I must know you.
I lived at 26 manners St. at the time of the Gale,and was evacuated to the church (I remember being on Panorama) AND went to Woodside Primary. I'm in Australia now.PM me

It has been mentioned in another thread about the terrible gale that devastated Sheffield in the 60s, it sprang up in the mid afternoon, and carried on into the following day, an imense amount of damage was done, with the city centre looking like the night of the blitz. Does anyone have any memories of this, I was working at a shop on Glossop rd at the time called Sharmans, a slate from a property across the road smashed the main window and glass was scattered all over the shop, luckily, no one was hurt. Amazingly, the path of the gale seemed to hit Sheffield only, and hardly any surrounding town was touched.
I was up Eastbank Road the following day and there were trees and debris all over the place. I woman approached me and my friend in a real panic and asked if we had seen a bin lid with no 18 painted on it - honest !

It was before I was born but I have a pic of my dad standing by his car, the chimney had blown off and smashed through the car roof, it was on Gertrude Street, S6.

i remember the sheffield gale my mother kept me off of school that day .ican remember my older brother having to go and rescue his vespa scooter from two gardens away .i.the next day we visited my aunt who lived on the arbourthorne the prefabs near the arbourthorne hotel were completley flattened the gale also blew off our chimney pot

the flying garage as mentioned in an earlier thread was right my aunt lived in prince of wales road and i can remember her telling me about a garage that had took flight from a couple of gardens away at schoolwehad to do an essay on the sheffield gales and i can remember telling this tale i was ten at the time

[QUOTE=ozlad]Now then...I must know you.
I lived at 26 manners St. at the time of the Gale,and was evacuated to the church (I remember being on Panorama) AND went to Woodside Primary. I'm in Australia now.PM me[/QUOTE

I'm new to this whats a PM

I'm new to this whats a PM

Hi SIXSIGMA

If you look at the left hand side of the messages you will see a title bar "Forum Content" with "Private Messages" below. Just click on it and you will then see several choice one of which is "Send A New message".

You can also just click on the user name and choose from the list displayed.

Hi SIXSIGMA

If you look at the left hand side of the messages you will see a title bar "Forum Content" with "Private Messages" below. Just click on it and you will then see several choice one of which is "Send A New message".

You can also just click on the user name and choose from the list displayed.

Thanks for that.

Yes, I certainly remember the Sheffield Gales of 62. we sat on the stairs,as the roof felt as though it was coming off.

I lived in the prefabs at the top of Shirecliffe Rd at the time. All our family were in the lounge cos we couldn't sleep. Then the woman and son from the prefab behind ours came to our place because their windows had blown in and her husband was disabled and couldn't get out of bed. Dad went round to help him. About 5 minutes later our lounge windows went and the whole building started to shake.We were sheltering in the hallway when the roof started lifiting and so mum took the decision that we'd best get out. As we left, the roof on the house behind us came off and as it passed it took off part of our roof. We were joined by Dad and the guy from behind, dad pushing him in a wheelchair. We ran along until we got to the first proper house, banged on their door till they let us in, and stayed there till the afternoon. The prefab behind us had collapsed like a house of cards, it was so sad helping them to sort out what they could salvage. We lived with relatives while our roof was repaired and had iron ropes put over the top to protect it from future winds. Within a year we'd been rehoused. I reckon my dad could well have been a hero that night.
That was the only day I'd missed at school for years and it cost me my "Gloops" badge.

I WAS THE SON NEXT DOOR, I LIVED AT 5 STANDISH ROAD AND I WAS THE ONE WHO KNOCKED ON YOUR DOOR AT 5 AM
KEITH GREGORY

i Was The Son Next Door, I Lived At 5 Standish Road And I Was The One Who Knocked On Your Door At 5 Am
Keith Gregory

Yes, He Was A Hero That Night.
By The Way, The House Was Demolished Within Half An Hour And The Roof Landed On The Atlas And Norfolk Cricket Pitch.
However,3 Hours Later The Milkman Still Left 2 Bottles Of Milk On The Step (now The Highest Point Of The House).

I remember the night before, sat on our front wall with the other kids in our road and talking about how weird the sky looked. Next day all hell broke loose. Next door's chimney went through the roof, demolishing their girls bedroom, luckily she was out at work. My dad was out trying to lash down the telegraph pole at the top of our drive, before that came down through our front window. The rest of the day he was out with the ladders helping folk fix their roofs. We kids had a great time, flying umbrellas on clothes line - best kites ever. Next day dad took us out in the car to see the wreckage of pre-fabs - up parkwood springs I think. I still have a copy of the chart from the anemometer at Weston Park - ink all over the place - wind speed over 100 mph.
I also remember looking at the colour of the sky before the storm with my parents.I had a paper round covering most of the Arbourthorne prefabs.I took a lot of papers back to the Northern avenue paper shop as there were no doors to post them through.The BBC were there with Dimbleby but they failed to feature me so fame has eluded me.The damage was amazing,most being flattened.Its very lucky that there wasnt a greater loss of life.Roof tiles were whizzing about and most houses had some damage.I believe some of the homeless took shelter in Hurlfield (my old school).Im glad I wasnt in a prefab that night.

I lived on Ravensworth road at the time and dad came home from work saying "for gods sake dont go out, its like the blitz out there, slates are raining down"
The next morning it had eased but on my way to school, picking my way through the slates on Carltonville Road, when I got to the end, my school Carbrook was just up on the left. Across the road the whole gable end of a house had been blown off, the chimney took the full force of the wind and the gable with it. Amazingly I dont think anyone was hurt but it must have been terrifying lying in bed and then suddenly the wall dissapears!

Hi i lived in the chip shop on the corner of Cartonville road and i too rememer the house it was like someone had chopped it in half. I often talk about it but no one believes me. I also went to Carbrook school miss Renshaw hope my daughter dosent get on like her.

i lived on fitzhubert road on the manor the house across the road from me had its gable end blown in the family was not evacutated though the house was weeks with just polethene sheeting up to it

I remember it well.We liverd at Parkwood Springs at the time. Slates flying all over, one came through the glass in the front door, just missed my mother who was going upstairs. Everyone was wearing crash helmets outside. Worried about the gas tanks on Farfield Rd going up. When we got to Chaucer School part of the roof had blown off, so we were sent home. My husband who lived opoposite the gas tanks slept all the way through the gale.

I was 18 at the time, and slept through the night, never hearing a thing. I couldn't understand why my parents were dressed in their going out clothes, when I got up next morning. My clothes were at the side of them. Evidently, they let me sleep, and would have woken me if they had to evacuate.

As a new user on this forum, I have some catching up to do, so please excuse me for bumping yet another thread.

My recollections are of a house on Heavygate Road (I'm pretty sure it was the road, or it could have been the avenue as they are pretty similar and we regularly used both) having the whole gable end blown off.

Also the roof came off the pub on Bole Hill Road (called Rivelin View Hotel IIRC). There were two or three houses next to the pub which also lost their roofs. The properties were left derelict (I remember playing in and around them) for a while before being pulled down.

I was 4 years old and remember the night very well. My dad was on night shift at Arthur Lee so I was in my mum's bed keeping warm and we were both kept awake all night by the sounds from outside, dustbin lids and slates and debris of all kind. I lived on Craddock Road Arbourthorne and the prefabs at the top of the road took quite a hammering. I remember Bill Grundy from Granada tv, interviewing people who had been made homeless and I recognised some people on tv, which was quite exciting for a 4 year old. Also Norfolk school across from my house was used for the evacuees. I was not allowed to go to Nursery the following day (Friday) but spent it all looking out of the window at all the activity and the damage.

I know this is an old thread but it's timely with regard to where I live. Last wk., here on Prince Edward Island, we've had a freezing rain storm that brought down over 100 utility poles and left most of the island without power. At one point 96% of us were in the dark. Some people are still without power after a week.

The point is: all of our transmission lines here are above ground, whereas in the UK, at least the neighborhood distribution lines are below ground. I think even some of the main high voltage power lines may be below ground (?). Some of us here are calling for the lines to go underground , so they won't be as vulnerable to storms.

I'd like to be able to cite the Sheffield gale (yes, I remember it well) as an example of how underground lines can be effective. I didn't notice anyone mentioning power outages resulting from the gale and I don't remember any.

Does anyone recall or know if there were any power outages associated with that gale? I'd appreciate knowing. thks.

I may have already posted this, cant remember, but I lived on Ravensworth Road at the time, Dad came home from work saying he had nearly been hit by numerous falling slates that were flying like frisbies (except of course that they didnt exist at the time) he and his workmates were watching out for each other and kept dodging into entries when the 'blitz' was at its worst.
The next morning when I went to school (Carbrook), at the end of Carltonville Road where it met Attercliffe Common the whole side of a house was blown down. Apparently the chimney on the gable end took the full force of the wind and took the whole gable end with it.
Anybody else remember this?

Reading through this thread, I remember this house ;it was the first house after the end of a row of shops on the same side as the conservative club. there was a road which led to houses which were on dunlop street . you could see the whole of the house -reminiscent of a dolls house with the door open.

I recall going to Carbrook school and having to walk close to the house wall because the slates were coming off the rooves of the houses into the middle of the road.

After making the effort of getting to school, we were all herded into Mr Wilsds class because only about 30 pupils had made it into school.

Full lessons ,which seeemed unjust given the fact that we were there at all, we were tough, we had to be dying to get a day off school!

I remember a similar scene of a row of houses on Tuxford Road at the side of the Filesmiths Arms. When they demolished them later, we watched the demolition from Cardiff Street and there was a load of rats fled the scene. Talk about Hamlyns Town in Brunswick! Scared the life out of me and I have disliked vermin in any form since.

I remember the gales well our family sat up most of the night I had just stood up when the window blew in allover the chair I had been sat in. No I don't remember any sort of power cut's ( would be these day's though ) and it was school as normal next day !

Its amazing the detail that can be remembered at a time like this. We lived in Holme Lane Hillsborough and I too remember the night before the storm, I said to my dad isn't the sky weird it was a bright lilac colour and it had gone very still and silent no birds singing. We slept downstairs that night, the next door shop 's kitchen chimney came down and when we did eventually venture out it was a hell of a mess. [It was very gusty and the wind howled last night here in swindon and as usual I did not get off to sleep till it had dropped ] I was nearly 15 in 62 and can remember 'The Moor' looking like a war zone

I slept through it all, although looking out of the bedroom window next morning there were still corrugated sheets blowing along like kites.
The roof of the Rivelin View Hotel landed on the Bole Hills, it must have been a north wind.
A couple of gable ends blew off the council houses on Heavygate Rd. or Avenue.
The roof blew off the House on the corner of Highton St. and Heavygate Rd The last time I looked it still had a reduced pitch, covered in mineral felt, I wonder if it had a fifty year guarantee.
Our terrace had some roof damage, the council came and laid an old barrage balloon over it. I can just imagine at the end of the war some council man saying, "we'll hang on to this, you never know."
Thinking back I can't imagine how they got it up onto the roof, it must have weighed a ton (figure of speach).

I also slept through it, but my dad was up late and watched the "action", being narrowly missed by our skylight window that hit the ground just in front of him. The following day I was waiting to cross the road at Hillsborough Corner when a Granada TV van stopped and Bill Grundy asked me for directions to Skye Edge. My aunt and uncle lived on Penrith Road, and several families whose prefabs had been flattened by the wind were moved into unoccupied houses nearby. The Telegraph & Star quickly produced a "Sheffield Hurricane" supplement with photos of the desolation.

Hazel,

It was February.....I was 10 and my grandad died that night.

My grandad didn't die that night. He passed away about 4 months later. I remember after his funeral my grandma saying she thought the gale had brought about his death. They lived in a house on Talbot Place in the Park district which had slate roofing tiles. Of course many of those were blown off, so the roof leaked rain water into the attic and then through into the house itself. Day after day, my grandad would have to go up and down the attic stairs to empty bucket after bucket of water. Well, he died of cancer, so the gale itself wasn't the cause of his death, but it can't have done him any good all that climbing and heavy lifting. As I look back on it now, two thoughts cross my mind. What were all the other family members (yes, me included) doing to help? And, what the hell was the landlord doing taking his own sweet time to fix it or at least patch it up? My grandparents were the tenants. Makes me angry, reproachful, even now to think about it.

The local paper - either The Star or that other one - published a 'Hurricane Special' edition. I suppose it would be a collector's item today but could be in a local library somewhere.

I have one, and the Sheffield Flood supplement too!

My grandad didn't die that night. He passed away about 4 months later. I remember after his funeral my grandma saying she thought the gale had brought about his death. They lived in a house on Talbot Place in the Park district which had slate roofing tiles. Of course many of those were blown off, so the roof leaked rain water into the attic and then through into the house itself. Day after day, my grandad would have to go up and down the attic stairs to empty bucket after bucket of water. Well, he died of cancer, so the gale itself wasn't the cause of his death, but it can't have done him any good all that climbing and heavy lifting. As I look back on it now, two thoughts cross my mind. What were all the other family members (yes, me included) doing to help? And, what the hell was the landlord doing taking his own sweet time to fix it or at least patch it up? My grandparents were the tenants. Makes me angry, reproachful, even now to think about it.


I know mine wasn't an emergency situation, but at this time I worked at Wigfalls. A whole crew of workers were hired to reinstall all the TV aerials that had blown down. It took six weeks of seven days a week, until the situation was corrected. So I imagine all related trades, roofers, brickies etc. were similarly stretched. This could account for the delay in getting work done.

The roof of the Rivelin View Hotel landed on the Bole Hills, it must have been a north wind.


Interestingly, this is I think is the only mention of the general direction of the gale.

The house where I lived at Gleadless must have been well constructed ( mid 1950's ) because it didn't even suffer a lost tile. There was, however , a site of individual garages , all corrugated sheet steel or asbestos, behind the house which was decimated. Numerous garages had been lifted off their foundations, thrown in the air and dropped in neighbours' gardens. At the time I was on a course at Chesterfield College and my Dad used to drop me off at the Midland Station. Travelling down East Bank Road the following morning was a scene of utter devastation. Many of the new houses on Gleadless Valley had lost their flat roofs. Trees were felled and debris was everywhere. I particularly remember the floodlight pylon at Bramall Lane being doubled over and the 100 foot crane which was constructing the muti- storey block at the College of Technology ( now Hallam Uni ) similarly being draped over the building.

I know mine wasn't an emergency situation, but at this time I worked at Wigfalls. A whole crew of workers were hired to reinstall all the TV aerials that had blown down. It took six weeks of seven days a week, until the situation was corrected. So I imagine all related trades, roofers, brickies etc. were similarly stretched. This could account for the delay in getting work done.

Point taken, jmdee and no purpose dwelling on it now I suppose.

But, I remember that gale very well. A whole side of the upstairs of a brick house missing on the Woodthorpe estate near prince of Wales Road. As I was sat on the upper deck of the bus the next morning, I could see right into the bedroom. And I've always been amazed at the low mortality resulting from the gale. I think one person died when the chimney collapsed while he was in bed? Those slate roofing tiles had razor sharp edges on them. Flying around in the air, they could pretty well have decapitated someone.

Point taken, jmdee and no purpose dwelling on it now I suppose.

But, I remember that gale very well. A whole side of the upstairs of a brick house missing on the Woodthorpe estate near prince of Wales Road. As I was sat on the upper deck of the bus the next morning, I could see right into the bedroom. And I've always been amazed at the low mortality resulting from the gale. I think one person died when the chimney collapsed while he was in bed? Those slate roofing tiles had razor sharp edges on them. Flying around in the air, they could pretty well have decapitated someone.

as I said in a post from quite a while ago, on this thread when it first started, My late uncle did actually wear his motorbike crash helmet to walk across the yard to the loo, during the gale, as the slates were so dangerous. He was laughed at by all, until he came back indoors, as white as a sheet, with a slate embedded in his crash helmet.

My parents married at a church in Carbrook, in March 1962, just a month after the gales. They honestly thought that there'd be no church left, to marry in, (!) with the damage that the gales wreaked.

I particularly remember the floodlight pylon at Bramall Lane being doubled over and the 100 foot crane which was constructing the muti- storey block at the College of Technology ( now Hallam Uni ) similarly being draped over the building.

I remember seeing that on the news- this new Tech College on Pond St. also had a massive system of scaffolding which had collapsed, heaven knows how they dismantled it.

I didn't notice anyone mentioning power outages resulting from the gale and I don't remember any.

Does anyone recall or know if there were any power outages associated with that gale? I'd appreciate knowing. thks.

12 months previously (as far as I can remember) there was another severe gale which resulted in most of the lights in north Sheffield going out, must have been bad as we stayed up all night.

The Sheffield Star reported a wind speed of 120mph, recorded at Weston Park. It was not an isolated hurricane, it has happened before, allegedly every 40 years or so on average.

12 months previously (as far as I can remember) there was another severe gale which resulted in most of the lights in north Sheffield going out, must have been bad as we stayed up all night.

Might have been a substation hit by lightning, something like that. We had a power outage once because a racoon bit through a cable at one of the substations. The racoon looked stunned but just ambled away. cheers :huh:

We lived on Liverpool Street Attercliffe (with my paternal grandparents) at the time. The memory of that day is so vivid altho I was only 5 at the time. I'd just started at Maltby Street School & insisted I went to School. My uncles, (Mick & Terry, would have been 11 & ready for leaving Maltby Street to start at Park House) thought I was stark raving mad, crying cos I didn't want to miss school. However, to pacify me, mum & I set off to walk the short distance to school. I remember we didn't get very far. We were clinging to street lamps & slates were flying off missing us by inches. We gave up the battle & ret'd home. My mum still has scrap books of press cuttings from the time & they make fascinating reading .........................

Obviously I wasn't born at the time of the 1962 gales. I was born a couple of years later.

I can relate the tales, however as they have gone down in family legend (as no doubt the incidences others have related have gone down in family legend within their families)

However I do remember some gales in the mid 1970s (?1974?) which brought our chimney pot through the roof into my attic bedroom, and of course the terrifying gales that hit the UK in October 1987.

Obviously I wasn't born at the time of the 1962 gales. I was born a couple of years later.

I can relate the tales, however as they have gone down in family legend (as no doubt the incidences others have related have gone down in family legend within their families)

However I do remember some gales in the mid 1970s (?1974?) which brought our chimney pot through the roof into my attic bedroom, and of course the terrifying gales that hit the UK in October 1987.

We had strong winds in the winter of 1973-4.I was on night shift at Kniveton Park and we had to stop work due to flying glass from the steelworks roof.I went home at 6am to North Anston.We didnt have any street lighting as the estate was still being built but I could tell that something was wrong with the house roof tiles.All the roof tiles at the side of our house were stacked half way across the roof.My neighbour,s garage roof was in his neighbours garden ,and his garage wall was on top of his Ford Capri !!!!!

Remember a policeman saying that at the height of the wind on the Arbourthorne with prefabs collapsing and slates flying off, a young lad came up to him and asked him if he'd seen a green dustbin lid !!!!!
Never was the sharpest in the knife drawer, I lived down Heeley at the time and blissfully slept through it, First indication was going to work next day walking down Thirlwell road which is almost vertical, seeing a slate rolling up hill towards me and thinking, funny.....

I can remember sitting on a bus at the terminus Southey Green(just outside the library I think) the morning after, and the bus rocking and rolling:o. I was sat on the top deck as usual though, which wouldn`t have helped.

I was 9 at the time and my claim to fame was that I saw Fyffe Robertson from the Tonight Show (anyone remember it, hosted by Cliff Michelmore) on the old Arbourthorne prefabs site, interviewing the locals

My goodness - I had almost forgotten him. Here he is on YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u-c5ZX2fnI)James Fyfe Robertson, 1902-1987. Cliff Michelmore was great - I think he's still around at almost 90.

I lived at the top of Dagnam Road , Arbourthorne at the time of the gales and was in my last year at Norfolk school. The winds that night were terrible and blew a great hole in our roof as well as blowing the chimney stack down.
The next morning me and my mates went to school via Northern Ave. to see the damage we had heard about on the radio. It was an amazing sight. All the prefabs that were on the left hand side of the road were flattened . Indeed , half of them were in the gardens of the brick built houses on the other side. Peoples belongings were scattered all over the place and folk were just wandering around in a daze.It was something I'll never forget.

Bruce Forsyth donated the jackpot (£900!) from Beat The Clock on Saturday Night At The London Palladium, it went to the sheffield Hurricane Fund, wonder what it was spent on

I was 10 and living right down in the depths of Gleadless Valley and our den in Rollestone Wood was destroyed.:(

my wife and me had been married about a year and we had only been in our house just over a month when the gales hit us, we lived up gleadless rd. while we were in bed bricks came down the chimney in the middle of the night, when we got in touch with our insurance co we said the quote was fifty pounds he said to get it done if you can. i've just had a claim for three thousand pounds for a house thats just been compleated, the wind had buckled all four walls so they would have to rebuild it the builders we got had come over from ireland on the reciept was for a bricklayer a labourer a plasterer another labourer two scaffolders we only saw two men at a time on our house.My parents had been living in a thirteen story block on the twelfth floor on mitchell street about six or eight months when about three in the morning they got up they couldn't sleep so mum made a cup of tea for each, while they were sat dad said to mum our table is moving away from the wall about four inches. when he asked the caretaker the following morning he was told there was seven inches of sway allowed for if not the tower would just crumple.,

I was brought up six miles south of Chesterfield and we had the 1962 gales. I remember waking at 05:00am to the sound of roof tiles being blown off by the dozen. On my way to work I saw sheets of corrigated iron being blown from rooves. I was apprenticed in the building trade and spent the next few days helping to make rooves and chimneys safe, it then took weeks to put things back to normal. I did get lots of overtime though.

...I was apprenticed in the building trade and spent the next few days helping to make rooves and chimneys safe, it then took weeks to put things back to normal. I did get lots of overtime though.

As they say "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good" and at least you were kept busy. The insurance people weren't happy, though... The claims man who visited our house was from Leicester - the insurance company (Norwich Union I think) had had to draft people in from elsewhere to deal with the workload.

my wife and me had been married about a year and we had only been in our house just over a month when the gales hit us, we lived up gleadless rd. while we were in bed bricks came down the chimney in the middle of the night, when we got in touch with our insurance co we said the quote was fifty pounds he said to get it done if you can. i've just had a claim for three thousand pounds for a house thats just been compleated, the wind had buckled all four walls so they would have to rebuild it the builders we got had come over from ireland on the reciept was for a bricklayer a labourer a plasterer another labourer two scaffolders we only saw two men at a time on our house.My parents had been living in a thirteen story block on the twelfth floor on mitchell street about six or eight months when about three in the morning they got up they couldn't sleep so mum made a cup of tea for each, while they were sat dad said to mum our table is moving away from the wall about four inches. when he asked the caretaker the following morning he was told there was seven inches of sway allowed for if not the tower would just crumple.,

Yes, all of the tower blocks were designed with a certain amount of "give" because of wind-pressures.

My aunt, and a cousin, both lived on the 15th floors of tower blocks on Norfolk Park, and it was extremely eerie sitting there and feeling the sway, watching Xmas decorations and the ceiling-lights rocking.

The views were fantastic, you could see right the way over the Roman road, past Ringinglow, but as wonderful as it was, I hate heights, and spent 99% of the time in their flats willing the time to pass when I could get my feet on solid ground! :hihi:

OK, I have to confess, though, I am the sort of woman who gets dizzy wearing platform -soled shoes! lol

Not St Hilda's but the Methodist Church at Firth Park. His child/ren were killed.

Mr Thompson was the Vicar at St Hilda's in the Vicarage next door - we are Windmill Lane residents and have been for over 45 years - I remember this so well.

The prefabs on Honeysuckle Road were also damaged.

Colin Hill was the vicar at St Thomas on Holywell Road Grimesthorpe. His wife was killed by a chimney stack falling through the roof and right into the lounge as she sat reading. I went to St Thomas's church at that time and everyone was stunned by the news. I think that Colin left the parish shortly after this

I remember the gales. My mum kept us off school we were living on Seagrave Cres then and someones garage door had come hurtling down the road and there were slates flying around. It was a really sad day for me because I insisted on taking my box kite out (can you believe it) and of couse it was snaffled up and whisked away from me the moment I let go of it.

I had plenty of kites after that but never one as good as that box kit. I often wonder where it ended up!:(

:confused: I was at Newfield Secondry School at the time of the Sheffield Gales, it totally tore of the school roof.
I can remember seeing a peice of guttering flying through the air and it embedded in the embankment out side the main doors.

We were kept at school until 12.30pm and we thought we would hae had the day off, what a disapointment. The school was ony closed a day or so, good workmen those days, to the dissapointment of us. :rant: :confused:

Your memory is better than mine i also went to newfield ( boys ) but cant remember the school roof being blown off ,the gym roof was and finished up on the nearby sports field .the front of the building was made of steel frames holding the glass sheets the frames were pushed inwards and were only stopped by some floor supports in later years rods were fitted to prevent a repeat performance.one thing that i remember well is the smell of hot tar that seemed to last for years so the main building roof must have suffered some damage due to lifting.I lived at the bottom of derbyshire lane at the time and we had to walk to school i was surprised by how little damage had been done, the road was covered in broken slates of course but i only saw one chimney stack down and that had fallen on a motorbike combination parked just up the road from my mothers house.The Sheffield history forum recently ran a thread about the storm and someone posted the stars special edition but the quality was a bit ropey .

I was 3 at the time & was allowed into my parents bed due to the storm. Laying between my mum & dad, I watched through their bedroom window (we had no upstairs curtains) as Mr Kendall's chimney first wobbled a little & then crashed down. I did not see the last part of the fall, as I had shot under the covers by then. We lived on Well Rd & Mr Kendall's yard backed on to our back garden. I can still remember that quite clearly.

omg... was very young when they struck... my pop went round doing repairs.

I remember this very well . We lived at Darnall at the time it was extremely frightening to a 9 year old as I was at the time . We lived on Gladstone St and it blew most of the tiles of the roof , hence because our home was rented by a private landlord the four of us in the family had to sleep in the front room till the repairs were done to the roof for about 6 months ! . We were a lot better of than our neighbours though who lived on the gable end house , the chimney came through the roof and landed straight in the middle of the bed . Luckily my friend Ian was sleeping in his mums room that night because his father was on nights otherwise the poor lad wouldn't not have survived the carnage in his room . Very lucky lad !

Coming up next week. 50th Anniversary of that terrifying storm overnight Thursday 15th /Friday 16th February 1962. Remember it like it was yesterday - horrific event.

My father made a short tape recording of the gale on his Grundig reel to reel, he hung the mic out of the window and you can hear the sounds of aerials rattling and slates hitting the ground.

It was reported that one in three house were damaged.
I was working on some new houses at Foxhill at the time and I remember it ripped the roof of some of the houses under constuction

My parents had lived in lodgings for over 12 years and were allocated their first home on Foxhill Avenue but had to wait a while longer due to the flat roofs blowing off- i was 11 years old at the time but the estate was great especially the back edge on the grasslides and open coutryside.

what about 52 ,as a kid i remember slate hitting me still got the blue scar today

I am currently putting together a new website which will be based upon quirky, unusual or unknown news and events in Sheffield. I have recently discovered that this week sees the 50th anniversary of the Great Sheffield Gale. I would love to do a story on this to coincide with the opening of the website. I was wondering if anyone has any memories of the gales that hit Sheffield over two days, causing 3 deaths and damaging 100,000 buildings?

If you have any memories you wish to share, please reply to this thread. Leaving your name would also be great as I would like to quote some of the people who were around at the time.

Thanks

Ben Johnson

Quite a thread on it here;

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9475

...causing 3 deaths and damaging 100,000 buildings?

Were there 100,000 buildings in Sheffield?

If you are on about quirky facts ....
Cant be sure of the details but there was a flood in Sheffield when a dam burst in Loxley turn of last centuryish (I think). They built a pub to commemorate it called The Sheffield Flood, which later burnt down. It was a pub quizz question "what year did the Sheffield flood burn down?"(I got it wrong)
May be something to research and include???

Were there 100,000 buildings in Sheffield?

According to the information I'm using! But sources seem to have conflicting figures, which is why I could do with some first-hand info!

The Sheffield Star said this...
"Gusts of 96mph tore through the area destroying 98 homes and damaging nearly two-thirds of all city buildings.
In a single morning, 6,000 people were left homeless and a clean up bill of £2 million was caused.
The government was so concerned it declared Sheffield a national disaster zone."

Sounds worse than I'd imagined.

Bluebottle, thanks for that. I'll certainly look it up.

I was 12 at the time and lived at Gleadless. On our way to school in town (school was open as usual) I remember the bus passing the devasted prefabs on Manor and Arbouthorne. The cranes twisted around the scaffolding during the building of what is now part of the university buildings in Pond St. We walked up Howard St and there was a Thorntons shop on the corner of Union St, their plate glass window was laying smashed in the road.
I suppose as 12 year olds, we didn't really appreciate the seriousness of that dreadful wind. (I slept through it).

Thanks cytine, some great stuff there. I really appreciate it. If you don't mind me quoting you in the article you can send me your name in a private message.

i remember my school (newfield )having the gym roof blown off
i also remember collecting slates in the street and selling them to builders
all the prefabs up east bank road were flattened

Looks like we've been moved!

There used to be a chart in Weston Park Museum showing the wind speeds readings,don't know if it's still there?

I remember it well because my mother's birthday is today (Valentine's Day), she's 86.
Back in 1962 it was traditional for the family to go out to the pub around any family member's birthday, the family were going out on the Friday night 16th., mum was most miffed because her birthday get together had to be cancelled due to the storm.
We walked up to Carfield School on the morning of Friday 16th. and we were delighted to find it closed!
I can recall all the roof tiles/slates from the houses on Upper Albert Road being piled up and people running round trying to catch them in buckets as they were dropping, as kids we thought it funny but, how dangerous.