blitzkid

When Home Farm Products first appeared in town, some time after the War, it was said that it belonged to Mattocks, the butchers. They had two shops before that on Spital Hill, near to the bottom of Spital Street. One of the two bosses was nicknamed "Pam" (Percy Arthur Mattock). I used to queue up in their shop every Saturday morning to get my Mother's meat ration.

re Mr Jenkins.... One afternoon I was looking at an unusual car standing in Gray Street, by the caretaker's gate. I would guess that this was in 1945 or 46. Marching out of the gate and into the car came a smart little man in army officer's uniform. He must have been for a job interview, and had been successful, because a few weeks later we were introduced to him as our new form teacher - Mr. Jenkins. He was a small Edward G. Robinson look-alike, with horn-rimmed specs, and reeking of cigarettes. He had a deep gruff voice and was a wonderful teacher. It was my last year at Pye Bank, so I guess that Jenks started there in 1946.

Sticky buns - baked by Ivy Goodman, I believe. She was a small lady with a severe masculine haircut.

Hi, Falls - I don't remember the Ambulances, probably because (unfortunately) I never got into the girls' playground ! I remember the barage balloon which lived on the "Rec" just behind the school wall. the balloon was struck by lightning one afternoon, providing a great display. The RAF officer in charge of the ballon crew was at one time billeted in my Grandma's house in Gray Street. He had a cushy job, I thought. I seem to remember that the large-diameter water pipes were not in place very long, but I may be wrong. They stood on the kerb edge, which made them rather a hazard ! The two nearest Static Water Tanks were - 1) a large brick-built one at the bottom of the Old Gardens, at the junction of Gray Street and Fox Street. My mate Barry Meech fell in one evening. It contained about 2 feet of water but 18 inches of rubble, but only his dignity was hurt. 2) a circular steel one on the site of one of the two bombed shops at the junction of Fox Street and Andover Street. I watched the firemen digging out in preparation for the tank. One of the firemen found a mud-covered frying-pan - nobody else wanted it , so I took it home. My mother used it for the next forty years.

Burngreave Congregational Church was further down Pitsmoor Road, almost opposite the top of Woodside Lane.

Does anyone know of any pictures of the old Burngreave Congregational Church ("Burngreave Congs" as it was called). The Sunday School hall was on Nottingham Cliff. At the back was a grassy area down to the actual church building, which stood on Pitsmoor Road. The hall had a stage for concerts, and was the home of the Sheffield 113 Group Scouts and Cubs. Around the walls were pictures of "May Queens", some of which dated back many years, even then. The top man at the church was also a manager at the old Fir Vale Hospital.

Thanks for all the replies! :thumbsup:

Does anyone remember a chip shop called the White House which stood in Andover Street, between Rock Street and Nottingham Street? I was a whitewashed building which looked like a single-storey thatched cottage (although if it ever was thatched, in the 40s it had a slate roof). The walls were rough and it had a small front window in the chip-shop part. In the only other room you could hear the rumbler machine peeling spuds.

Hi, Texas. Regarding Josie Buccieri - Her parents had a shop on Rock Street. I don't know if they were bakers, but I often went to their shop to get my Grandma's bread. It was a lovely golden loaf, shaped like a flattened rugby ball, but even "ordinary" bread was better in those days.

My Grandma Fox lived at the corner of Gray Street and Andover Street just below Pye Bank School. My parents had the next house down Andover Street. I was 4 years old at the time of the Blitz, sheltering in the cellar of the house during the bombing (which was too close for comfort!) We had to live downstairs in the house for months afterwards with no slates on the roof. A family from Gray Street were killed when their Anderson shelter was flattened by a bomb. The bomb craters in the "old gardens" later became a playground for us kids. I went to Pye Bank School from 1941 to 1947. The headmaster was Mr. Speight (who had to cane me on two painful occasions). I remember some of the kids' names - Alan Bradley, Barry Meach, David Smith, Albert Morley, Roy Bentley, Shirley Emmett, Marion Greaves, Eileen Marriot, Josie Buccieri and Pat Brown. Another friend, Frankie Hewitt, was given the job of ringing the school bell in the mornings, as soon as this was allowed again after the war. I have only happy memories of Pye Bank School (apart from the cane), and the "old-fashioned" teaching methods gave me a good start in life.

Tony was born about 1936 and went to Pye Bank School and City Grammar? Thank you.

Does anyone remember Brenda who was a pupil at the City Grammar School in the early 50's? A pensioner by now! Thank you.

Does anyone remember "Penny" who lived in Crookes in the 50's and worked at the Central School Clinic in Sheffield? Thank you.

As a young lad in the years after the War, it was exciting to see the various new buses which were bought to replace the older long-service buses. One morning, when leaving home for school, I saw a bus on the Shiregreen route coming down Nottingham Street before turning into Rock Street. I thought it was the most beautiful bus I had ever seen. It was a new AEC, all shiny cream with the blue lines. The council had bought a whole fleet of these beauties. In the air conditions which applied in those days, it wasn't practical to keep the tops of the buses painted cream, and later these buses were repainted with grey roofs - and suddenly looked very ordinary! Like a lot of people, I didn't like it when buses and trams started appearing wearing green paint - yuk. Even brand-new Leyland buses delivered in the new green livery were smart, but not beautiful. An old AEC (Bus number was used to try out various colour schemes. I seem to remember seeing cream buses with a lot of blue, and after the trams had disappeared someone decided that cream and orange was the way ahead. Oh dear. Sheffield Transport colour schemes went from good to bad to worse over the years, in my opinion.

I n the early 50's there were queues at every cinema in town (I mean the centre of Sheffield!) on Saturday and sunday evenings. I seem to remember that the Sunday film was a filler, not the main film shown for the rest of the week. The Gaumont in Barkers Pool (previously the Regent) was the most glamorous for decor. Across the road was the Cinema House, and nearby was the Hippodrome (an old theatre with an opening roof), and the Palace in Union Street which was Sheffield's oldest cinema. There was the News Theatre in Fitzalan Square . Later on the Odeon opened, its skeleton steelwork had stood throughout the war, waiting patiently for attention. Later still the short-lived ABC was built - and knocked down ! Elsewhere, I thought the Rex at Intake was a beautiful cinema. My "locals" were the Coliseum (Spital Hill), the Don (West Bar), the Wicker in its innocent days, and any cinema within a tram-ride (which meant many more options).