mtnz

I recall in the 70's as a teenager it was a very good unofficial skating rink when it froze over enough even though it was full. A couple of friends and I made a very rude word on the surface one night using blocks of ice. It didn't melt for ages dues to the weather.

My father worked for Mellowes all his working life, and later when it was RTZ Pillar. Tom Teanby. He was an accountant.

The first drop handle bar bike with gears I had was a Kerry. That was in 1975 and it was 2nd hand. It got me interested in cycling as a pastime for the rest of my life, but I didn't keep it long because it was a load of junk really. Heavy steel frame and cheap components. But it did the job.

I used to take part in those when I was 18 / 19. My performance used to decrease after a pint or 2 as the evening progressed. That would be old equipment now. Each roller was connected to a large lap counter at the back. I recall Malcolm Pearce got the speed record using a massive chainring and a very small hand made sprocket. About 120mph, of course there was less friction than on the road.

A bit off the thread this, but there's a bit in between these two era's you left out. When it was deserted and derelict for a long time because the canal traffic shifted to the road. Others may say the 'suits' had the vision to save it and resurrect it.

If there's that much information freely available on the net, then I don't think so. Why did you feel a need to publish this personal information for all to see about people who you do not even know?

Yep that looks like it.

Maybe if you're in the Sheffield Phoenix.

The world over markets are generally open places where people browse in natural daylight in lively surroundings at what is being offered. However not in cuttsie's world it seems, it has to be an ugly and dowdy concrete edifice that gives some people a feeling of claustrophobia that all but a certain section of hardy locals will set foot in. An attractive open air site will attract a wider variety of traders other than the ones hawking the rubbish you see in the Castle Market that you can buy in a pound shop generally. This will in turn attract a far wider section of the public from all walks of life and all parts of the city. Why does the market have to be for those wanting a cheap deal all the time? You're just thinking of yourself.

I don't agree the whole centre is a disgrace. I visited last year for the first time in many years and I thought the area around the town hall to Barkers Pool, the Cathedral and to where the hole in the road used to be looked really great. However when I continued to walk and got to the Castle Market that impression changed to what a terrible looking place it is. I am really pleased to hear it is going. Since I was a young kid I thought it was awful. Exposing some of Sheffields earliest history is a terrific idea in my opinion. Hopefully some of the other remaining old buildings will be included in the makeover.

There was something weird about [Master] Bates and Haig the way they liked to dish out corporal punishment to an entire class at a time for one minor misdemeanour. They came into the showers too often aswell.

I rode Norfolk Park Saturday afternnon races a couple of times. The up part got pretty tiring after a while, then a fast swoop down the other side. I remember a guy in our club (S Yorks RC) turned up in navy blue shorts and the commissaire wouldn't let him ride due to the rules back then in the 80's.

If you search Sheffield Libraries website you will find copies of the book 'on the shelves'

Do you have any photos you can put on line?

It was a long time ago but as I recall, where you park near the bridge, on the left a track goes up onto the moor and more or less follows the road but up on the edge. There is a small cave of leaning rocks I crawled through before getting to the 'chair'. You can see it from a distance as a chair, but when you're on it it looks less chairlike. If you find it and it doesn't look the way I describe it, put it down to a boys interpretation of what I thought it looked like.