WW2 Bomb shelters

I have a letter written by my father about sheltering in the Spital Hill to Bridgehouse railway tunnel in WW2. He states he took the back seat of the car (an old Ford Prefect) into the tunnel on he and his family sheltered from the Blitz. At the time they lived in Fowler St. but some of his wife's family was from Thistle St. Does any else have memories of this tunnel. The entranceto the tunnel is still visible (blocked) from the Savile St. side if the Wicker arches.

I have a letter written by my father about sheltering in the Spital Hill to Bridgehouse railway tunnel in WW2. He states he took the back seat of the car (an old Ford Prefect) into the tunnel on he and his family sheltered from the Blitz. At the time they lived in Fowler St. but some of his wife's family was from Thistle St. Does any else have memories of this tunnel. The entranceto the tunnel is still visible (blocked) from the Savile St. side if the Wicker arches.[/quote

 

The tunnel was known as 'Fiery Jack'. If you go to the search forum box on the left, type in Fiery Jack and 'Railway Line and Tunnel' will come up. You'll find a lot of answers there.

I have a letter written by my father about sheltering in the Spital Hill to Bridgehouse railway tunnel in WW2. He states he took the back seat of the car (an old Ford Prefect) into the tunnel on he and his family sheltered from the Blitz. At the time they lived in Fowler St. but some of his wife's family was from Thistle St. Does any else have memories of this tunnel. The entrance to the tunnel is still visible (blocked) from the Savile St. side if the Wicker arches.

Do you have any family names. I grew up near to both those areas,Grove Street,Rock Street,Brunswick Rd.

stpetre, Many thanks. Will follow your leads.

---------- Post added 20-02-2017 at 19:47 ----------

Do you have any family names. I grew up near to both those areas,Grove Street,Rock Street,Brunswick Rd.

Siren, I remember the Topliss family who lived near the bomb site of Grove St.At the far end of Grove St.(the dead end) I knew the Reynolds. I used to collect the papers from the newsagent at the junction of Grove St and Fowler St.

F/Phil

Thanks for that I have a very vague recollection of the name Reynolds. I remember the bombsites,I lived on Grove St till I was about 5 or 6. b.1947. Does that fit with you age range?

F/Phil

Thanks for that I have a very vague recollection of the name Reynolds. I remember the bombsites,I lived on Grove St till I was about 5 or 6. b.1947. Does that fit with you age range?

---------- Post added 22-02-2017 at 08:42 ----------

Photographs of Pitsmoor (aerial shots) can be found on ' Britain from Above' website. Open and enter Sheffield Needsend. One of these (about six snaps)shows the area in the 1950s. Enlarge and you can see individual houses and streets.

In some of the older homes, the cellar functioned as a bomb shelter. That was certainly the case in my grandparents' home in the Park district.

A lot of houses had a hole in the cellar wall leading to the house next door as an escape route if your house was bombed.Ours did.

A lot of houses had a hole in the cellar wall leading to the house next door as an escape route if your house was bombed.Ours did.

So did my grandparents' home. In fact, I was told that all the neighbors gathered together in their home during an air raid.

A lot of houses had a hole in the cellar wall leading to the house next door as an escape route if your house was bombed.Ours did.

Yes Kidorry, our house in Pitsmoor did too and we had a 'somewhat' shelter for four families -23 adults and children- in the back yard. Not that my dad occupied it too often, as he and LOTS more that weren't in the services, were keeping the steel works production going, even during air raids !

The 2 nearest shelters for us were under the Harlequin pub on Johnson St. and under the Red Lion pub on Nursery St.

The 2 nearest shelters for us were under the Harlequin pub on Johnson St. and under the Red Lion pub on Nursery St.

'Red ' Lion Mr.K. or Lion Hotel ?