Steveinusa

I was born on borough road and the Softleys lived opposite. I seem to remember a big house facing the pub and my Aunt & Uncle moved into part of it as rented tenants.

I remember a DS girl who lived near the Tavern, she loved to dance.

I believe it was, they had a son called Alan. I remember that by the end of a winters saturday I had paraffin all over the back room floor and stank of the stuff. My Mum was Ettie Norris, don't know if you remember her, she actually used to go to school with Marjorie Smith.

Michaels brother was Max & his sister was Anne. Their father was Arthur & mum was Joyce.

If your grandma was Joyce, then my mum went to school with her. She used to clean for Joyce while I played with Michael. Joyce also had another son & a daughter, though regretably I can't remember their names. Unfortunately I don't have any photos but I have fond memories of "Aunty" Joyce.

What was your father-in-laws name and job while he was at Hadfields? Also I have a friend Maurice Foster who worked at Arthur Lees back in the 60/70's.

I started work as an apprentice electrician in 1964 at Hadfields East Hecla Works on Vulcan Road. The company employed many thousands of people on the huge site which is now Meadowhall. Every aspect of Steel work was carried out there, huge Blast Furnaces and later Electric Arc Furnaces melted the scrap metal that was turned back into steel ingots. The steel ingots were then transported hot to the Rolling Mills where they were rolled into round bars etc. Some of the steel went to the forge where it was formed by giant hammer presses into large rolls.. These were then taken to the large machine shop where they were turned into the final product. The company also embraced a foundry where the molten steel was poured into castings intricately designed to produce multiple cast items. A smaller foundry produced smaller castings by the lost wax method. The company was also associated with defence and cast tank turrets. There was even a firing range where the turrets were tested by firing shells at them. Mr. Hadfield was famous for concopting the original formula for Manganese steel which was used for railway lines. Every skill imaginable was available and generally most people worked very hard. As an apprentice I looked forward to the annual wage negotiation as the Union & Management stood their ground until finally the union went on strike ( a yearly event). As apprentices we were not allowed to strike so we all went to the Hadfields sports ground to play football or cricket & get paid. Good times for us but hard times for working men & women and their families. At one stage Hadfield became associated with Jenson Cars & I remember a few of these posh vehicles appearing as Directors vehicles. Hadfields was taken over by Dunford & Elliot and the company name changed to Dunford Hadfields. This was a great time for me as this embraced a department within Dunford & Elliot called the Special Projects Division and as I came towards the end of my apprenticeship I was fortunate enough to move into this department. They had been responsible for building the mechanical computer for the Jodrell Bank Telescope and they worked closely with Sheffield & Southampton Universities Space Research Departments. We built Satellite and Rocket electronic payloads as well as a Meteorite counter that was sited out on the moors. In addition, Infra-red telescopes were built that went to Tenerife & Hawaii. All this seemed a far cry from the now ailing steelworks that occupied that site. I remember watching the M1 viaduct cross the Hadfield property & I remember all those wonderful characters that helped shape my working life

I moved to Colley Avenue when I was 5 years old in 1953. I lived at 42 until 1965 and then lived at 35 until 1968. The Moores lived at 29 Tony & Keith as I remember were the boys. I think Keith was the younger one probably 1 to 2 years older than me.

I used to live on Colley Avenue, my Mum worked at the Hardware shop owned by Tom & Marjorie Smith. I used to clean his Rover & served paraffin during the winter on a saturday. We used to go to Colley Youth club & from there to the Bassett for a pint & then back to the chippy. Great days.:)