senlac4

Thanks, Talked to the sheffield history reference library. Will go and do a study session with them as soon as I can make it.

Regarding the continuation of Rutland Road to Shirecliffe. I have only the haziest of recollections. I was born in 1939 and my first memories were of sitting in the shelter across the road from our house and listening to the anti-aircraft batteries on top of the wood. I remember some talk from the adults about the work on the road, but I had no clear idea of it. Interesting to me is also the fact that after the war was over we (kids) discovered what I later realised was a mass shelter on the 'rec' - recreation ground - at the very top of Vale Road, which was built into the ground alongside the upper side of the path. It had several huge compartments and appeared to be built of reinforced concrete. To my mind this underscores the idea that there was a good deal of concern on the part of the authorities that Parkwood Springs was particularly vulnerable due to its elevation and due to its positioning within a circle of strategic targets including the Hallamshire Steel Works, the anti-aircraft emplacements on top of the wood, the railway lines and the Neepsend gas works in the valley below.

Thanks for the information. I'm sure you must be right. My recollections are from the nineteen forties mainly. Can you remember who ran the fish and chip shop at the top of Valer Road during the war years?

Hi, 193 Wallace Road was the home of the Butcher family in the late 1940's and up to the mid fifties. Glenys Butcher was in my class at Hillfoot School from about 1945 to 1955. She later became a teacher herself. There were other members of the same family who went to Hillfoot as well, but Glenys was the most popular of the lot I think. I lived on Mount Road. I think the Parkwood Hotel was at the junction of Mount Road and Rutland Road, the road that led up from Neepsend through Bardwell Road and the Hallamshire Steel Works. The continuation of Rutland Road, which ran up to Shirecliffe and beyond was built by local men and lads just prior to the second world war. The steelworks and the railway line meant that the infrastructure was a prime target for bombing raids and without any other road being available Parkwood Springs would have been effectively isolated.

Hey tupp! This is amazing. The fainting episode has always been one of the unfathomable mysteries of my childhood. I was scared stiff at the time as were most of the kids and teachers as well. Do you know the quote from Othello that starts off the play "Othello" "Now now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe"? The old black ram is Othello of course and the white ewe is Desdemona. Wonder what tupping means? Have a ball!

I went to Hillfoot School from 1944 to 1954. The reception class was taught by Miss Robinson and Miss Stocks (from India) and the next class was taught by Miss Buxton, a large and fearsome lady who was apt to pinch your backside very hard if you talked during lessons. Later on there were Mr Johnson, Mr Stone, Mr Perry, Mr Feinberg and Mr Johnson. There was also Ruby Whitham, who would have you spellbound by stories of her trips to the Continent during the six weeks holiday. When I first went to Hillfoot the headmaster was Mr.McIver, who was succeeded by Mr. J.J. Simmons. Morning assemblies were formal with many hymns being sung. One year, maybe 1948, there was a mass fainting phenomenon in the morning assembly with dozens of children fainting and collapsing during the assembly and ambulances being called to take children to the Royal Infirmary, where they were kept in for the rest of the day. Wonder what caused that?