Bratby

Lisascrap. Yes,I remember David Mansell. We went to Abbeydale Sec together though he was in a different year. Bit of a hard man but I liked him. They had a big semi-circular back yard. A girl named Rose live there as well. It's a long time ago now and memories have a funny way of becoming what you would like them to have been. I lived round the corner from him on Saxon Rd/Copley St. Only seen him once since then,he mentioned he'd been working on cruise ships as an entertainer or something similar. He's on Friendsreunited in the Abbeydale Infants/Juniors section.

Did anyone live, or does anyone know anybody that lived in Coronation Buildings on Infirmary Rd before they bulldozed it to build the Kelvin Flats My grandma and uncles lived there around '63-'64. I remember it being a bit rough when me and Mum used to visit - the number nine circular stopped right next to it on its way from Heeley. The building was about four storeys high - rectangular and had a big courtyard where all children played underneath all the washing strung up across it - and dingy stairwells and long balconies - a bit like the Duke St flats but with more sides. They were a bit rough I seem to recall - but they were lovely and cosy inside. Can't get anything from 'Picture Sheffield'- they've got loads of pictures from that area around the time I want, but none showing the flats. There was a row of shops with a cafe underneath where greasers used to hang out. Any information would be appreciated.

Anyone remember the guy who sold the Green Un on a Saturday night, stood in the entrance next to the bed shop at the bottom of Broadfield Road. Yes, I used to deliver newspapers for him. He lived around the back and used to pay you out in coppers piled up on his kitchen table. Can't remember his name though - but he was a cantankerous old codger.

Dear enaid, Where was Duckets on Broadfield Rd? Was it theHeeley Baths/Abbeydale Rd end or the Heeley Social/London Rd end. I lived on Saxon Rd until 1970 - can't place the name of this company though

My nom-de-plume refers to the greatest,most prolific and underrated painter this country has ever produced - John Bratby - check him out please. Consequently, you may gather that I'm interested in painting and the other Fine Arts, which is true. I was trained as a multi-disciplinary artist and attended Psalter Lane and Bradford School of Art for my BA. However, I have always had a penchant for film and theatre production ( I wanted to be a film director from a very early age and still do - sadly this will never happen, but I get vicarious pleasure when I see films made by my favourite directors: Welles, Huston,Wilder, Mackendrick,Kurosawa,Jancso,Eisenstein to name a few. Also, I was fortunate enough to be taken regularly to the theatre by my parents from a very early age,which again,imprinted itself and formed very favourable impressions on my putative imagination. So I was ready: when the opportunity arose to obtain a scholarship to join the MA ‘Theatre and Film’ course at Sheffield University. I gained so much from that course : practically and theoretically: that I became a peripatetic Scenic Artist, travelling the country from theatre to theatre. I don’t do that now because I have a family to worry about – but I still make a living painting the odd picture when I have time and helping the local ‘am dram’ people. I’ve always written – keeping a notebook about me at all times. This helps my (very poor) short term memory to function and also helps me visualise the abstract into two dimensional images. Sometimes incorporating them into my pictures. I’m not a bad writer for a visual artist. I hate all the jargon and gobbledegook one reads in art magazines and, unfortunately by artists themselves. Sometimes their prose is so high falutin’ and hyperbolic that it’s embarrassing – they try to justify the mediocre by using an overblown and incomprehensible style to raise it from the mundane. I’m well versed in artspeak but find it boring to write ( thesaurus in hand looking for big words to describe little things) and tedious to read. I think I’ve outgrown all that pretentious cack and now attempt to simplify and focus the literate to the visual (oops, I’ve unwittingly sidestepped into artspeak ). Thing of comic book prose – that’s what I want or Hemingway’s dialogue style or Pinter’s pauses. Nice. I’ve said enough – so unlike Vladimir and Estragon – I wont be waiting too long I hope

My parents took us out for a drive after Sunday lunch during the Summer months - mostly around the Peak District - and this programme seems to be the strongest memory of those outings, apart from a montage of disparate landscapes viewed from a back seat window with this programme as a soundtrack. Could be popular - but ( as already mentioned) - what would the playlist be nowadays ?

GOYA FOR PRESIDENT RA RA RA!!!!! Oh ye white rose !! - is that for the presidency of that bloated and cack-filled establishent called the Royal Academy- or just a cheer for a genius. I'll have a look at the blog when I've got the kids to bed. I might dream of the 'Disasters of War' if I'm lucky tonight

I did my foundation at Psalter Lane from '85-'86 - stuck in the portacabins in the car park whilst they were building a new History Of Art ( I think) faculty. I remember all the tutors mentioned - but nobody's referred to Percy Peacock. Ed Meyer took a couple of us to Lincoln Cathedral to perform in some medieval pageant or something. All pageboy,doublet and hose and curled up shoes parading through the streets. Very fey-just like him. His fireplace had a quote from John Donne carved into the mantle. Loved Psalter Lane so,so much. They had the best arts library anywhere - and I've been to a few. Turned me down for the sculpture degree however-so I had to go to Bradford School of Art instead. I hope it doesn't get relocated - having a load of arty farties isolated in the leafy, steep roaded suburbs was just the ticket for introspective creativity. Plus you were surrounded by people with minds and souls alike. God save art ! Thank God for art and artists!! Anybody still in Sheffield who did their foundation at the same time? Would love to see if anybody's still working in any arts field. I am - but only just. The passion is still there though.

Anybody live around Broadfield Rd from 1964 to 1972 ?

That's the one ! Thank you

Anybody remember Firma Chrome and the Wolf Safety Lamp Company on Saxon Rd ? I used to live on that road and there was even a builders' yard somewhere half way down. All these factories and businesses squeezed neck and neck between all the terraced houses. Plus the River Sheaf and derelict Heeley Station, the Express Dairy and countless other places were all there to see, explore and play on. There was so much activity then, so many families that everyone knew so many things to see and do. I'm beginning to forget that we hadn't two halfpennies to rub together. The place was a paradise for the imagination. No wonder I'm so bloody eccentric living in that environment. All bulldozed for a stupid ring-road. Slum-clearance my backside. That wasn't a slum, it was a community and it's all gone. I took the opportunity of having a look at it when I was last 'home' - very sad and deserted. Even Abbeydale Secondary looksas if it's shrunk to half it's size.

Apologies for not replying sooner. Do you remember Harry Roberts the PE teacher & Mr Gomersall - Mrs Murray - can't remember many more. Perhaps you could remind me. As for the pupils, I was in a class with Katherine Harrison ( used to fancy her rotten ) Julie Ramsden - I think that was her first name - Carol Simmonite, Julie Green - Shaun Jackson,Robert Millington,Steve Kenyon - and the fantastic football team - Steve Merrill,Graham Hyde,Tony Wood,Dave Arliss,Steve Jennings - God, I can't remember many more. Went back to have a look at it a while ago - sems very,very small and a bit tatty but it was a fantastic place to go to and it brought back vague and ghostly memories. I'm sure there was another girl called 'Grant' that I went to King Ecgberts with. Very good looking blond. I keep coming up with 'Julie' for some reason on all the girls' names, but I was more interested in football than girls at that time.

What's this ? When was this constructed ?

Meersbrook Park. That's a realslope. Hard work walking back up though

Yes I was there until we all got moved to King Ecgberts.