PopT

Have you tried to get a copy of the deeds to your house? If not you should be able to get a copy from the holder. It's amazing how much info is on some of the deeds such as plan details, renovations, names of previous owners with their addresses. It's worth a try. Hope this is helpful. Best of Luck.

Hi Deano Still Digging? Try the Canada White Pages for names, telephone numbers and addresses. Pop T (NZ)

As a lad I once worked with an old ex miner from Hoyland. He referred to my steel capped boots as 'Burrin Boits'. He said that in his younger day the miners used to indulge in a deadly game of shin kicking for bets. Many a miner went home skint having lost his wages in these games. The idea was to stand facing your opponent with your hands on his shoulders. At a given signal after the bets were placed they proceeded to kick each other's shins until one of them gave in. It gives an whole new meaning to the phrase, 'Sharpening thi Clog irons on't coursy edge'. Does anyone else know of this or any other betting games from those 'good' old days.

I remember going to a bungalow off Stannington Road near Lomas Hall to buy some fish from a fish breeder. His name was John, I never heard his second name. He was paid to keep the fish fed, replenished and the tanks cleaned in the Hole in the Road. He also ran a business supplying fish tanks etc to Restaurants, offices and business premises.I presume he emptied the tank and retained the fish before the Hole in the Road was closed.

My wife's family owned the house in the 1700's and I know the licence for the chapel on the Low Road to Dungworth was signed there so they could have weddings and funerals etc. Try contacting the Bradfield Archives which are open to the public every Thursday. I know they have information on Spout House. I hope this helps you.

Have tou got any info about the painter Rossetti living in and painting in walkley?

re-leo butler Take alook at the articles placed in this ehistory section under the subject of lost pubs you maybe interested about what is written about the Plommer murder. Two items I was told about was the demands of gang members for free fish suppers and if they were not forthcoming they threw a shovel of hot coals into the chip pan so nobody got any. Another man I worked with as a lad in the steelworks was beaten black and blue in his house entry only to find out later it was a case of mistaken identity. More later

Re Manning Did Gus and Elsie once live near The Bath pub off Glossop Rd? If so I have a couple of photographs of them. Maybe 'Grandson Manning' may like a copy.

If your struggling with the spelling the word Grammar it's a waste of time explaining cogniscenti.

A long, long time ago at the Sheffield Central Technical School they had 4 houses. I think they were Stephenson, Brunel, Telford and MacAdam. I'll stand being corrected by the cogniscenti1

It does seem a waste of talent on Local radio when you read about the different people that have been sacked or 'let go' as they say. In this history section there are references to Ray Stuart, Tony Capstick and Roger Moffatt all were excellent in their time and all deemed politically non-correct by Local radio in Sheffield. Does this mean that any talent is to be strangled here, and the drones will rule? What a dull world we would live in if all the writers actors and musicians were straitjacketed.

I'm sure a lot of the old timers will remember the 'Monkey Runs' where the lads and lasses would parade up and down an area checking the talent out. The lads invariably walked from Herbal Drink Shop to Herbal Drink Shop. The usual tipple was a hot Sarsparella drink or an Oxo drink. This was before coffee bars and there were nowhere else to go unless you risked under aged drinking in pubs. It all sounds so simple and boring now but in those days this was the thing to do on a Sunday evening.

I still have an unused block of 'Donkey Stone' that I found at the old house when Mam passed on, please don't ask me why I have kept it for 20 years. I remember Dad coming home from the working men's club on a Sunday and putting a bottle of Milk Stout, a bottle of Bass Brown Ale and a bottle of Lemonade on the dinner table for us all. He would take the carving knife from the meat plate and take it outside and sharpen it up on the sandstone kitchen window cill before he cut the joint up. I also remember having to cut up squares of newspaper, making a hole through the corners and threading them on a string to hang on a nail on the back of the outside toilet door. In those days we were fortunate that we had our own outside toilet and didn't have to share as many other families did. I can also remember the unmentionable in todays climate. the women of the house having to empty the chamber pots into a white pail and take them across the yard to empty into the outside toilet. There was very few secrets in those days, everybody knew everyone else's daily routines and habits.

Does anyone remember Ray Stuart and his group 'Frankenstein and the Monsters'. He was also a popular Sheffield DJ. We all thought he was great. I wondered what happened to him or is he still in Sheffield?

I remember the old 'Mek Do and Mend Days'. The old man used to cut up tins to use them as patches to repair amost anything. Either soldering them on or nailing them over holes. Another common usage was the pot repairers that you could buy. These were a small bolt through two metal washers and two inner cork washers. When a metal cooking pot or kettle had a hole in it the washers were bolted through the hole to make it leak proof. Can you imagine that today? The cast iron kettle was permanently sat on the trivet attached to the grate of the fireplace. Inside the kettle was an Oyster shell which they said kept the water clear and free from rust. I still can't work that one out, maybe someone can illucidate?

Hi Lostrider Reply to Lostrider Before we came out to New Zealand, my daughter out there asked us if we could buy a Robin decoration for their Christmas tree. She had been explaining to her three little ones that the Robin was quite common in English gardens and that we(Gran and Pop) had one on our Christmas tree. We tried to buy one in Sheffield but couldn't find one anywhere. A lady shop assistant in Cole Brothers told us that the only chance of buying one was to shop in the South as in the North Birds including Robins were considered bad luck. She said that no-one stocked them as they never sold due to this. We finally got our Daughter in Law to send one up from Reading where they were a regular feature amongst the Christmas decorations on sale in the shops. It was a beauty and all the three kids loved to see that little bird with his red breast sat on one of the Christmas tree branches.

At the Bradfield Parish Council Offices in Low Bradfield there is an archive containing information on the flood of 1864. There are books on sale about the subject. Malcolm Nunn the Archivist there is a much informed and respected local historian and has a large knowledge of the flood, he has lectured on the subject and is most helpful to anyone interested. Please note the Archive is only open to the general public every Thursday (All Day) when Mr Nunn will be in attendance. I hope this helps any interested parties. Pop T

Reply To Mojoworking I knew of several families who couldn't really afford to buy new Whit Suntide outfits for all their kids so they took a cheque on weekly payment to pay for them and afterwards sold or pawned the outfits. This might sound grim in these days but they held up their heads in pride to see their kids dressed up, particularly if they were going on the church procession. Many a photograph survived much longer than the outfits themselves.

Every week we walked from Parkside Road School to the Hillsborough baths for our weekly swimming lessons. When we reached Howard's Dairy near Wigfull's shop just below Hawksley Avenue we often saw a Chimpanzee dressed in boys clothes across the road waving to us. I was told his name was Peter and he lived in the Entry house next to the Knitwear shop. Does anyone else recall him and if so I would be very interested to know more about him and his keepers.

My uncle Frank Terry served with the Sheffield Pals in France where he had his right leg and half of his pelvis blown away whilst carrying a stretcher. Two other local men were killed by the same shell but another man Cyril Pont survived but lost both his legs. I was told that Frank with five of his comrades used to attend the Armistice parade. Every year he would blow 'The Last Post' on his bugle in front of the memorial in Weston Park. These old soldiers could not march very far and so as the parade used to reach the Brown Bear on Norfolk Street they used to do a smart right turn and leave the parade by marching into the pub.

I was once introduced to an old timer who fought as a bare knuckle fighter for Sam Garvin. He told me that Garvin was a bookmaker and used to arrange the fights in pub yards. He paid him to fight and then took the bets on the outcome of the contest. It appears that sometimes the fighters were allowed to bind their knuckles in straw. The area around the old man's face was full of scar tissue which was caused by pieces of straw that embedded themselves in his face. After each round these pieces were pulled out by the seconds. Someone mentions Mr Bean's book about the gangs but if you read the book you must accept that his information came from the court records and the newspapers of the time. These reports did away with a lot of the legends that existed about the gangs but are not always the full story. The men in the gangs were real people and got up to all sorts of villainy but it is not to say they were not family men and good in lots of ways. For years some of the stories were suppressed because of the support these men received from their families and friends. I have more info but it will have to wait for another time.

We always gave a pair of scissors to a female and a penknife to a male out of town visitor as presents to visitors but demanded a coin in exchange to seal the friendship. Always worked harder or worked overtime to get extra money for 'Bull Week' which was the week before the holidays. This custom originated in Stannington at Christmastime when then the Cutler paid part of the Christmas wages by giving his workers meat from a Bull he killed each year. This encouraged the workers workers to work harder to pay for the beef. Beef was always eaten instead of poultry at Christmastime in the old days. Visited all the neighbours to show off our new clothes on a Whit Sunday and they would all give us money in appreciation.

Does anyone remember courting in the meadows or the site of '****ten Entry'?

In Reply to John Edward I worked in the steel industry for theirty years as did my father, uncles and grandfather. I do have some knowledge. If you wish to contact me with any specific questions I will do my best to help you. Pop T

Memories came flooding back when I read the letters with comments about Violet May. As a young teenagerI used to go to her record shops in the early days searching for jazz records. One shop was on South Street opposite the Old Corn Exchange opposite the bottom of the old Rag and Tag market. She moved to a shop on City Road above Bernard Street. Later she moved to a corner shop at the back of the Moor near the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant. She used a cigarette holder to smoke her cigarettes and seemed to have quite a collection of them, everytime I saw her she had a different one. She attended all the jazz concerts at the City Hall and cut quite a figure dressed in long dresses and smoking from a very long cigarette holder. She knew most of the musicians and her knowledge of jazz music was extensive. I remember her guiding my choice of records knowing what little money I could afford and Ithank her for developing my education in the music. I once picked up two metal master cut recordings of Charlie Parker from her shop on City Road only to sell them back the following Saturday. At that young age I was disillusioned with them as they contained lots of false starts and stops. Little did I know that this was normal for 'The Bird', any jazz fan today would give his high teeth for those two unique recordings today. Does anyone else remember this Sheffield character and the early jazz days in Sheffield? Pop T