beechnut

The 1953 Coronation. Nobody else in our family had a TV (they were expensive) and so we had a "family gathering" to watch the Coronation live on TV as Richard Dimbleby did the commentary. There was only one channel - ITV didn't come to Sheffield until a few years later.

I see Buzzards more frequently on Wadsley Common nowadays, as well as the kestrels that are always there. I haven't seen a red kite there yet, though!

Yes - old Kelly’s directories show a “Samuel Musk, decorator” on Den Bank Crescent.

They were on Regent Terrace off Glossop Road (here is a link to a "picturesheffield" photo), but I think they also had a place on Fulwood Road, Broomhill. https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s24279&pos=1&action=zoom&id=26732

Mick59 tells us (in post #5 above) that it was once a care home, but has now been converted into apartments.

My grandma also used to enjoy uncooked tripe with salt, pepper and vinegar. I don't think I could face it but my mum used to do us tripe & onions. As pattricia wrote she would cut the tripe into small pieces and simmer it in milk (I think she added the onions halfway through).

I also noticed that it is still shown on Google maps (though higher up the hill than its 1950s location) but I couldn't find any street-level views of Granville Lane. Also. the Royal Mail website doesn't list any postcodes for Granville Lane. Maybe a mistake by Google?

My grandmother came from Load Brook and lived most of her life at Woodland View near Malin Bridge. On Saturdays she would catch the Load Brook bus to see her family. I remember her telling me that there were never many on the bus - there must only have been a couple of dozen people living in the cottages at Load Brook and on surrounding farms.

It was indeed a shame about Cyril Griffin; he worked at Firth Browns as an electrician but was badly affected when his parents died and somehow became homeless. I used to see him in the early 1970s, in the early mornings when I started work to let cleaners in. I would occasionally chat to him and give him a drink from the machine - "tea with sugar" he would always say. You tend to think about these people at Christmas - as you say, TriStar, they don't choose to be like that and there must be many on the streets tonight.

Belated birthday greetings, hillsbro! As "Sweetcheeks" wrote yesterday you are one of Sheffield Forum's gems. With your knowledge of Sheffield's history etc, and especially your own area of Hillsborough, many Forum members have benefited from your contributions. I turned 70 last year but don't feel any older as I'm sure you don't also - it's just a number!

Yes indeed - in the book "Street Names of Sheffield" Peter Harvey wrote that Robinson Road was named "from the brickyard of James Robinson and Son at the end of Blagden Street. Robinsons were brick manufacturers in the Park district for more than 100 years".

Woolworth's in Hillsborough. The smaller Airfix kits cost 2 shillings each (that's 10p to youngsters who don't remember real money - but worth about £2.50 today) and looked like this. The tube of polystyrene cement cost another sixpence. You could even <br /> "]join the club.

There are Forty Foot drains, well-known to anglers, in various parts of Eastern England - see here - but the original meaning of "forty foot" was concerned with rights of way, as trastrick and hillsbro noted.

Grew up in Sheffield, lived in Lincoln, Scunthorpe and Filton (Bristol) but happy to be back in Sheffield.

Time will tell, but personally I think De Gaulle got it right in 1963 with his “veto” speech (translation): "Britain is insular, maritime, related through her trade, her markets, her supply routes to countries very far away. She pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities, and only slightly agricultural ones. She has, in all her doings, very marked and very original habits and traditions. In short, Britain’s nature, Britain’s structure, Britain’s very situation differs profoundly from those of the continentals." And so did the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies in the same year, if De Gaulle had let us in: "Australia is being asked to sign a blank cheque."

Yes, Clixby's was a decorating firm in Sheffield from the 1930s onwards - here is an old thread: www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1464248

Not in Sheffield chippies it isn't.

I meant Hillsbro's journey of up to 55 minutes. It would be faster now that the 52a bus goes direct from Hillsborough to Broomhill, from where it's a 350-yard trot down Newbould Lane.

Well, not as long as yours RW, but I for one wouldn't have liked to spend nearly an hour each way on two buses. It would be faster now thanks to the 52a and a brisk walk to and from Fulwood Road / Whitham Road.

Yes it was the out-of-town routes that carried parcels, certainly in the 1960s to my knowledge. These routes were operated by the "Sheffield Joint Omnibus Committee" made up of Sheffield Corporation Transport Department and British Railways. Routes operated purely by the Corporation within the city didn't carry parcels.

The first photo is clearly dated 1984.

I don't think we need worry about the 11-plus system being reintroduced nationwide. Whatever system is in place won't be ideal for all pupils - the challenge is trying to achieve the optimum system. Germany, for example, seems to achieve good results with a blend of selective schools (e.g. Gymnasium = grammar school) and comprehensives (Gesamtschule).

Quite right - it all boils down to the fact that the 11-plus system was competitive, with only a certain number of grammar school places being available each year.

Well, I wouldn't say that this shows a flaw in the system. Clearly there was a fixed number of grammar school places each year, and the difficulty for the people who set the questions was achieving the same "level" with each exam. If in any one year too many pupils "passed" so that the pass mark had to be raised, this could simply have been because the questions were easier.

Yes - as Hillsbro wrote, if too many pupils passed for the number of grammar school places that were available, the pass mark was raised so that just enough passed for the available places. That's quite correct - this "handicap" system was explained to us by the class teacher as we prepared for the 11 plus. In fact I think that in the 1950s some children did start at infants' school later in the school year than others, depending on when their birthday fell. My sister's birthday is 29 August, and so I imagine she had a zero handicap!