Lensman

My father in law worked there. Name of Harold Leng. He was an inspector. Can't recall when he retired though. Was a member of the 25 year club and he was very proud of that! ---------- Post added 19-04-2015 at 17:59 ---------- PS he was also a member of the First Aiders. Have an old picture of a group of them and will see if I can dig it out.

Some time go on this Forum there was some queries about Frank Brindley, the Sheffield news photographer. I though it would be interesting to add bit, from personal experience, about this man, who died in 1967. When I was in my teens in 1961, I paid Brindley a visit at his house, 973 Abbeydale Road, Millhouses, as he had advertised a Rolleiflex camera for sale and I was just getting to grips with photography at the age of about 17. Brindley was from the same family as those running steel and tool company of that name, which is still trading in Darnall. In addition to being their works manager (?) he also ran an independant outfit called Sheffield News Pictures and, when I visited him, this was displayed on a small brass plate at his doorway. At that time he was living downstairs and had his bed in the dining room. The front room contained piles of yellow Kodak paper boxes into which were stuffed hundreds of prints, the product of his photo news gathering activities. He spent a great deal of time talking to me about the local Derbyshire lead mining industry and showing me photographs of the remains of the mines. At that time - unlike nowadays - I had no particular interest in this subject but now wish I had spent a bit more time listening to him! I did not buy the camera he had for sale (cannot recall why but probably too expensive !) but later I came across his name, which was linked to the father of local gritstone climbing and caving, one J.W.Puttrell. The latter will be familiar to many a Sheffielder. Puttrell, who died in 1939, collected many old newspaper cuttings, chiefly about Derbyshire lead mines and caving, and these cuttings make fascinating reading. If it is a wet day and you have an hour or two to spare, a visit to Sheffield City library Local History section is well worth while to read through these. A lot of the cuttings have Brindley's name on them and I can do no better than suggest this link for a flavour of their content: http://www.nmrs.org.uk/publications/pdf/BM43/BM43-35-40-yesterday.pdf Brindley discovered a cave system close by the A6 road, near Taddington, near to Buxton, and named this "Puttrell Caverns" after the great man. I recall reading somewhere that this Cavern may now be lost when the road was widened. However, Bridley took some photographs of the system which can be viewed here under Puttrell Caverns : http://www.rockarchivist.co.uk/pers_puttrell.shtml This web site is worth perusing in its own right for a lot of interesting material about Jimmy Puttrell. In addition to mines and caves, Brindley also produced a series of fascinating photographs more locally, including old buses, and shots of an old tunnel beneath the former Star and Telegraph building, and much more besides, some of which can be seen on the web and also in Sheffield Archives. I have no idea where the vast bulk of his photographs ended up, but hopefully they were not destroyed.

Hi Meltman. Long time in replying, sorry. Think the other chap you could not remember was Reg Frost? Did all the cine work. Lived off Abbey Lane and, unfortunately, was discovered hanging out of his car on Cemetery Road (I think) having suffered a massive heart attack. Was in the RAF and taken prisoner by the Germans. Was always quoting German expressions but never talked about his imprisonment.

Yes, I worked there from 1960 to 1964. Cherry Tree Labs was a rambling old chapel (I think) and when I was there they had just started to process colour film. In charge of that department was Ian Mottershaw. The company had a filming and photographic business also. I remember going past the place on the bus and there was a big blue painted wall with a logo of an eye and the words Photography for Industry.

Thanks DREB. Looked at the picture on Friends Reunited and think this is the Moira I was asking about. Lived next to Holy Trinity Church on Grove Road and was my first girlfriend! Never knew what became of her.

Moira Maguire? Anyone know anything about her? There was a Moira Maguire who lived on Grove Road, Millhouses. Wonder if this is the same girl?

I am sure you do; I was that handsome young whipper snapper and Jack Dalton's worst nightmare! Guess you knew Harry (?) in Creep; can't recall his surname but he lived at Wales and died of a heart attack many years ago. Walking around Norroy Street these days makes you wonder if it all happened:confused:

Quite Right. I worked in the Photographic Department from 1964 until 1980 and it was located at the bottom of the ramp next to the sandwich shop, which was next to the Nelson Pub. At the bottom of the ramp, turning left, was the creep lab and right, the photographic department. This comprised a large studio, cine editing room, various darkrooms and print finishing rooms. At the rear of the cine editing room as a vertical ladder which emerged from a "hole" near where the chauffeurs garage was located. It was a casualty clearing place in the war but the room shown on the 28 days later site must be the one on Carlisle Street, since the Norroy place has been, to the best of my knowledge,probably filled in when the new building works above were undertaken. The place was ideal for photography as there was no daylight to interfere in the processes.

I was at Greggs after failing my 11+ in 1956. The other week I had occasion to walk by the place, now much changed, with security gates &c, and wondered how on earth they managed to fit everyone into the school panorama photo I still have in my loft. The front garden there looks tiny now. I well remember Rankin who often used to distribute empty tins of his "Four Square Green" tobacco tins to the class, with everyone clammering to get one. Rankin lived at Bubnell, Baslow, if I recall correctly. Of the teachers there in my time, there was Fuchs, and also his wife, a tiny little woman who spoke with a thick Austrian accent and wore too much red lipstick. Mr Midgley was there too, and he was a very nice guy, although he tended to find it a bit difficult to control the art and PT classes.He also worked at Birkdale School. He was always a bit put on, I would guess. Along with him was Mr Barlow - can't recall his first name - who, like Mrs Wolstenholme, whom I recall was never far out of his company (!) smoked almost as much as Arnold. Mrs Anderson taught us geography and she was quite an attractive lady, from memory. Of the pupils there in my time, I seem to remember the females more than the males (wonder why that is ). There was Mary Plummer who I briefly heard of on friends reunited site and now lives somewhere in the Home Counties; Jennifer Chadwick and Valerie Slater.Valerie was from Conisborough, and she had a wonderful figure. I met her by chance many years later, at a wedding reception at the White Rose Pub in Handsworth, and I asked her if she was married, to which she replied "No, still a batchelor girl". What a waste:love: There was also Joan Swinscoe, mentioned elsewhere, who, despite being pretty good with her fists, I had a crush on. After getting her on her own one hot summers day in the front bay of the tram, as it headed towards Millhouses, I asked her to the Abbeydale cinema. I was crushed when told it was too hot for the pictures. End of story! The chap I sat next to was called Howard Pease, a pretty good artist, such that, in boring lessions we would swap cartoon drawings under the desk amid muffled laughter. Howard lived at Thorpe Hesley. The above-mentioned Mrs Wolstenholme had her son there at the school; always regarded as a bit of a mummy's boy or wimp, so it was decided to play a prank on him. I supplied a number of cascara laxative tablets and Chris Tym (Totley Rise and related to the butchers there) installed these into the poor lad's packed lunch. Sadly, we were rumbled before the food was consumed and lectured about the dangers of the lad being hospitalised, this, followed by six strokes of the cane in Arnold's Craven A smoke filled office, and followed by three days Saturday detention. My father was very amused by this but I suspect the law would have been called these days. I later attended the school's dance - along with my girlfriend, later to become my wife - and this was held at the Locano, on London Road; it is now a supermarket I think. Here Rankin caused much muttering behind hands as he danced all night with Maxine Wragg, a prefect, many years his junior.It was probably the last school dance ever held. The house captain of Keats house was one Richard Ellis and he regularly gravitated to the bombed out ruins of St Marks Church in company with Christine - whose surname I forget - for a bit of what we all imagined was some slap and tickle at lunchtimes. Sports was usually held at the City Surveyors Ground (or 'Survivors' as many termed it) on Heeley Bank Road. From there Humphries used to take us cross country running up as far as Myrtle Springs and then down over the fields which are have long since been built over and where the trams now run. Swimming was a treat, as this effectively meant half a day off. We went to the public baths at Broadfield Road by bus, a long trip from Newbould Lane and via Nether Edge. From the bus I always looked out for the big eye logo on the blue wall of Photofinishers, under which were the words 'photography for industry' and thought, yes, I would like to do that. After leaving Greggs in 1961 I got a job there, at a time when colour photography was just becoming widely available to the amateur; here I met my future wife and commenced my career in photography which has been my sole occupation for the last 50 years or more.