Falls

Hi Peter, If it wasn't you on that organized the trip, then I can't think who it could have been! You mentioned a "sump"? Was this a complete tunnel system that went off on the left hand side of the second tunnel, towards the end? There had been some "talk" about going into this system earlier but when we reached what would have been the entrance, it was completely "flooded out". Apparently this happened when there had been heavy rain up-top and it had certainly rained heavily earlier that week. I wasn't too despondent as I didn't fancy a bought of "underwater swimming" to add to the "soaking" I was already experiencing. Regards

Hi Peter, Do you remember going down Speedwell Cavern one Saturday Night in the late fifties? My guess is the summer of 1958 -certainly no later. This was a trip you organised through a Prof. at Leicester U. At the time, he was the only person the Speedwell people would allow into their system outside regular business hours. There were just the four of us - the Prof.; yourself, my friend Mike A. and me. I think we used one of the Speedwell boats to reach the end of the tunnel the public were permitted to see at the time. There, we inflated a small boat, piled in our gear and entered the second tunnel. I thought we would ride in another boat but No!, we walked the length of the second tunnel - up to our necks in water!! I remember the initial chill as we went into the water but after that, the temp. didn't seem to matter. A great Trip. Regards

Nether Edge – Only for two weeks: I was born there. Wicker,Gleadless, Montreal, Gleadless (again), Dronfield, Niagara Falls, Bangkok, Lima, Tehran, Mumbai. Long since retired and living in a community close to Toronto Regards

Hello hillsbro, Thanks for the notice. That must have been the place. All a long time ago. Another old shop/restaurant that Town Hall crowd let be demolished would be Tuckwood's This was on Fargate, close to where M & S are now. If my memory is not playing tricks, I seem to recall you entered this place form Fargate by a wide passageway section with counters on each side and this eventually opened-up in to a larger/higher section with a glass roof. An old aunt of my father's religiously bought Tuckwood's cakes and pastries. If you were invited to tea, you were sure to be offered some kind pastry: "Do have piece of this cake", She would say "its from Tuckwood's" Her husband used to comment: "She would offer you bloody paving slabs instead of cake if Tuckwood's sold e'm." Regards

Hi, As a young child (WWII and later) I would often go into town with my father on Saturday mornings. We would walk up Castle Green to Castle Street and facing across the street was the burnt-out structural remains of a restaurant that I believe was called Stephenson's. It must have been all wrought iron work with some kind of glass atrium (and most likely potted palms). According to my father, the food was excellent but it was the kind of place families like ours only went to on very special occasions. It was never rebuilt, in fact the black granite-faced B & C Co-op building was eventually built on roughly the same site. Regards

Hi, During W.W.II, the nearest U.S. Base/Camp to Sheffield, that I'm aware of, was on the A629 above Penistone (opposite the Scout Dyke Reservoir). Most of the buildings/huts at the camp were cleared right after the War but it's possible some of the hut foundations are still visible. As far as I remember, it was a transport depot: I never knew if it was U.S. Army or U.S. Army Air Corp. The trucks were used to transport munitions that were brought-in by rail to the smaller ( and quieter) railway stations in the area. I believe Wortley was one such station, although there most-likely were others. Regards

Hi hillsbro, You have just jogged my memory. Occasionally,when the tram or bus crews were changing the destination indicators at a terminus on the old buses/trams, they would sometimes have difficult finding the destination they were initially searching for and bring-up all kinds of old destinations first. Places where buses/trams didn't run anymore. One of these might be "Post Tram" you mentioned. Seem to think the lettering for "Post Tram" (or "Post Bus") indications were "Red", while all the regular destinations, etc. were the regular white lettering on a black background. All a very long time ago. Regards

Hi, Does anybody recall the time when you could post a letter on a tram or bus? In the 1940's most of the buses and trams in Sheffield were still prewar relics. Many of the double decker's had a bracket on the back, close to the platform. Trams had a similar bracket but these were fixed to the curved part on the platform(s) themselves. I was a young kid at the time so I asked my father what they were used for. He told me these brackets were to attach mail boxes!! Apparently late night buses and trams on certain routes before the war carried a small mail box. If you want to post a letter for local delivery the next morning, you just waved-down the tram and dropped you stamp- address mail in the box. Regards

If you were looking for good quality tools, Grant and Bradbury's on West Street was a good source. Regards

As I recall, both pubs were within "Easy Staggering Distance" of your house !! Merry Christmas to you and the family

Hi, When I was an apprentice in Sheffield in the 1950's, we went on a number of works visits arranged by an organization called the National Trades Technical Society (NTTS). Does this organization still exist? One visit was an all-day affair to see Vulcan Bombers being built. The fuselage,engine nacelles (housings) etc., were assembled in the old AVRO factory at Chadderton (N.E.of Manchester, near Oldham) and then the planes were transported, by road, to AVRO's works/airfield at Woodford (east of Manchester Airport, near Poynton). Woodford carried out the finally assembly, test flying, etc. Moving the planes from Chadderton to Woodford was a major undertaking on the narrow roads/streets along the route and therefore, it could only be done on Sunday mornings. On one section of the route, the road was so narrow, some lighting poles had to be relocated. Other poles were fitted with hinges close to pavement level, so they could be unpinned and laid back against the adjacent building to provide the necessary clearances. As far as I can remember, the visit was in June 1955 or 56, so most likely it was the first B1 batch 25 aircraft we saw being built. Regards

Hi, I was told "Garret Eight" was a corruption of the proper name: "Garret Height". A "Garret" (or Attic) is name for a room/bedroom built into the roof of a building. Hope this helps. Regards

Andrews Street ran from the Wicker to the old GCR/LNER potato warehouse on Johnson street. Part of the new Inner Relief Road (Derek Dooley Way) is built over the top of it. Regards

Hi, We also lived in Montreal in the mid 1960's for a couple of years and much preferred it to Toronto. Far more character. On the other hand, we never got used to the bitter cold and the 80-90 inches of snow each winter back then. Somebody once said the sad thing about Montreal is the Skiing is bad in June, July and August. Regards

Hi, I often wondered what happened to that model. I always assumed it became something of an embarrassment to the Town Hall crowd and was quietly disposed of. Regards