Littledaler

I went to the one on Abbeydale Road. It was really just a shop with a counter and sold tall glasses of sarsasparilla. As far as I know they were quite innocent but all those years ago they were very different from anything else in town.

Grammar Schools were brilliant - it was the Secondary Modern part of the system that needed tweaking but of course, instead of that, some numty decided that grammar schools were elitist and the system was unfair. What absolute rubbish. How were they elitist when in reality they offered someone like me and my brother, two kids from a council estate (allbeit a fabulous one when we were kids, maybe the best in Sheffield), a first class education. He went to Firth Park Grammar School for Boys and I went to Grange Grammar School for Girls. Very strict but if I hadn't gone there, I would not have done nearly so well, judging by people I knew who went to Waltheof, for instance. The selection system was fair then i.e. the 11 Plus but that was in the days when everyone was on a level playing field, as they say - not like now when those who can afford it have their children tutored to pass the entry exams.

I lived "up the road" from Darnall, off Prince of Wales Road on Littledale but of course Darnall and town were our two main shopping areas. Remember having a bottle of pop and bag of crisps (with bag of salt) and the Libs. And remember the trips to Mablethorpe etc. The Wellington pub was called The Rubber Boot. Remember very well the Medical Aid Whitsuntide parade that finished in High Hazels Park. We went to High Hazels a lot, particularly to roller skate on the flat asphalted rink and then went to the "tea shop". You could get a tuppenny drink, a penny drink or a ha'penny drink. Happy days!

The Rag and Bone man who came onto Littledale Estate regularly would have an array of rewards - but whatever we gave him, we only ever got "entry level" reward - a balloon.

I started work at British Steel Tinsley Park in September 1969 and my first weekly wage (paid in real folding stuff in a little brown envelope) was £5.18s.9d. It increased very slowly during the Seventies.

Thank you all for your prompt responses, particularly hillsbro. Even though all the houses are now gone, I can still get a feel for where my Grandfather was born. No doubt I'll be back with more queries! Regards Littledaler

Researching family history and my grandfather was born on Rectory Terrace, his birth being registered in the Brightside parish of Sheffield. Google does not recognise Rectory Terrace - does anyone know whereabouts it was please? Thanks.

Angela, sorry to hear about your Mum. The previous post was correct in the Jerusalem was the school hymn - like so many others, although we were told it was actually called "And did Those Feel!", as the hymn "Jerusalem" is the one that starts "Jerusalem! Jerusalem!". Probably Miss Williams having a joke. There was no school prayer as I remember but we always sang "For those is peril on the Sea" regularly because of the association with Captain de Neuman. I would also be interested to know your mother's name, I might have known her. I attended Grange from 1964 - 1969. The following year it ceased being a Girls' Grammar School unfortunately. It was a great place to go to school and I know I owe my success to their valiant efforts, given that I was not the most academically gifted. However, some of the teachers were useless (see my previous posts) but they wouldn't allow undisciplined behaviour which meant there was no disruptive behaviour that plagues classrooms these days. Take care and take comfort that your Mum would have had happy memories of her school days.

Does anyone know what a Grinder's Basker is or was please? Thank you.

I do remember going to Abbeydale Boys to use their language lab. Suzanne Brindley and I once freaked out the teacher (don't remember her name) when we started using the headphones like a radio and saying "BD to Z Victor 1, come in Z Victor1" - she thought she had inadvertently tuned into the police frequency! Does anyone remember the name of the history American exchange teacher (xchanged for Miss Truswell)? I was in the A class at the Grange and one day she took us out via the bay window (which I'd never seen opened before) into the car park to see the solar eclipse. Unfortunately, our classroom was next to Rawlings' office - I'd never seen the old bat move so fast; she was out there calling "What are you doing out here with the girls?" Was anyone unfortunate enough to be in the class with that wast-of-space woman who used to teach PE until she became too decrepit so changed to French and we got lumbered with her. She was going on about English grammar interminably and when someone (?Paula Brown) asked why we were doing English and not French, she came out with the classic "You'll never be able to speak French if you can't speak English proper!" I remember thinking that we were all stuffed and might as well just go home - who the hell employed her? The other interesting class was RE with the woman who used to be a missionary. Someone was burning incense in the classroom and she started with the most likely culprit (not guilty that time) but sent her out of the classroom anyway, then one by one accused various girls but even when proved innocent, she sent them outside. Eventually there was nearly half the class out there and then - trouble! - Glister came along and asked why we were all outside. Even though not the culprits she made us go back in and apologise! HAPPY DAYS

There was a children's home on Littledale Estate, next to the shops, opposite Acres Hill Junior School. Occasionally there were problems with some of the "inmates" and there was an unwritten rule for kids living on the estate that, when they walked past, they didn't look in the windows of the home!

Realise it's a while since this thread started but only recently become a Forumer. I remember the S&E for school uniform. Once my Mum for some reason used by Gran's divi number and went off to do something else, leaving me, at the age of about 12, to forge my Gran's signature! Remember the wooden floor boards, money in the tube - great, much better than paying with cards.

We had a Joe's ice cream van come round Littledale Estate in the 50's/early 60s. Proper ice cream that he dug out of a great vat and plastered onto a cornet with a trowel. If you were REALLY well off, he did a great luxury sandwich with a thick chocolate wafer on the bottom - fab! Happy days

An ancestor's burial information show him as being a "Grinders' Basker" - does anyone know what job this was please? He lived on Newhall Road, Attercliffe and died in 1936 if that helps. Thank you.

Thank you for that - even though it no longer exists, at least I now know the area it was in. I know the terraced houses in Attercliffe were small and had no bathroom, but I can't help feeling a sort of sadness when I look on Google maps now at the area - there are no houses now.