BrianW

In the 70's Jap cars were looked down on. Datsun had a reputation for gearbox failures. Remember the joke that "its raining datsun cogs" (cats and dogs).

Hello Neil, I have just sent you a private message 😀

Shentalls in Frecheville if I remember correctly was next to Browns the butcher. I remember the butter being in wooden barrels but we could only afford margarine. 😦They let me have 2 bent strips of wood from a barrel which I though would make suitable skis when tied to my feet; they didn't work but it was fun trying. 😀 The co-op was at the other end of the Frecheville shops and was definitely out of our price range.

Hello Moirahyde, Do you think that Frank Searle, son, 10 (1901 census) is the same Frank Searle : SEARLE, Frank Private. Duke of Wellington Regiment. OfNeepsend. Missing. (16 Jan 1915, Sheffield Daily Independent). see page 105 https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/content/dam/sheffield/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/WWI%20index%20to%20Independent%201914-1915.pdf

In the mid 1950s : Frecheville primary school which was located on Birley Moor Road after the Co-op (replaced in the 60s/70s by houses) had a May Pole . Frecheville Methodist church on Churchdale Road also had a May Queen, I was a page boy all dressed in whites .

May not have been able to afford anything; but I could dream.

On one of the para websites there is a photo of Fred added by Sylvia Phillips née Auty : http://www.paradata.org.uk/people/frederick-auty There is another site where Fred's details are only partially complete, perhaps you could add to them : http://www.fhon.bombtempi.com/Servicemen/Detail/24315

I cannot be sure about the 4 brick houses at the end of Alport Road. But I do definitely know that there was a police station/homes at the top of Frecheville at the junction of Fox Lane & Hopefield Avenue. I used to pass them daily before taking the lane down to Base Green Junior school. As I remember there was a central door into the police station desk; this seems to have been bricked up and you can just make out the newer brickwork. The 4 houses on Alport Road are of the same construction and the 2 on the RH side also look to have had the central door bricked up (but the central garden gate remains). Hopefully someone who lives down there can give a better reply.

This is slightly off topic; but in the 1960's the trees along Heathfield Road, leading up to the Community Centre, were a lot smaller than those shown on google. Each tree had a tall iron circular fence around it. I remember that around the 11 November that poppy crosses would be planted at the base of each tree in Remembrance. I was in the Cubs and together with the Scout band there would be small services there. Again off topic, at the top of the pond, there was a narrow path leading inbetween the tennis courts onto Hopedale Road. Either side of this path were small ornamental gardens which we knew as the Peace Gardens. We knew that we were not allowed to play in there. For Ragnar, I was born in a house just opposite you at 16 Hopefield Avenue where my parents were lodged by another familly. We moved onto Churchdale in 1957.

To make a steerable front axle involved making a hole in the wood; as we didn't own a drill we used the fire poker; once red hot it would slowly burn its way through the wood To fix the pram wheel axle to the wooden frame involved straightening out last years rusty nails before hammering them in and bending them over the axle. Never got on with string steering, I couldn't hold the steering during cornering which usually ended up with the wheel jamming under the frame and ripping the axle off. Better to use your feet on the front axle, you might jam your ankle during cornering but the pain was quicker than carrying out major axle repairs

Hello coop, I don't know the origins of the pond, but it was a great place to play during the 50's/60's. We used to say that the water came from a natural spring somewhere in the middle. At some times of the year water came out of another natural spring nearby, at the entrance to what used to be 2 rows of garages (since demolished and now called Churchdale mews). The water would come up through the broken tarmac and slowly run out onto Churchdale Road. On the southern side of the pond (Brackenfield Grove side) was an overflow drain set into the pond edge which seemed to regulate the water in the pond. Periodically this was opened up to allow the pond level to go down exposing all the edge walls and allowing the pond to be cleaned. The pond just seemed to refill on its own.

Hello Laughter, I remember your family living on Hopefield Avenue just opposite David Fox. Played occasionally with David, usually involved games of cricket up the side of his house. I also remember Cynthia Sherwood who lived next to David Pye on Churchdale Road. Her big sister Molly had an MBG GT at some time which was quite rare at that time. Also next door to the Sherwoods were the Halidays (? not sure if the name is correct). Mr Haliday used to occasionally cut my hair in his kitchen. Did you ever go to the Methodist Church at the bottom of your garden? If so were you ever the Sunday School Queen? I never went to the rock club so have no stories to tell.

I went to Basegreen Junior 60-64ish, before that Frecheville Infants 58-60ish and before that to Frecheville nursery which used to be on Birley Moor Road. I lived close to both the Cundy & Umpleby families on Churchdale Road. I remember the names only of Miss Beale & Selby from the infants. At the juniors Mr Murton's daughter joined our class for 1 year, probably around 11+ time. Sad to read that the school has already been knocked down.

Do you remember that inbetween the 2 sets of tennis courts there were 2 small ornamental gardens, I think that we called them the piece or remembrance gardens. We could play anywhere but would never have considered going in them to play. Do you also remember that Heathfield Road leading up to the community centre was also planted with ornamental trees. Around the 11 November lots of little remembrance crosses would be planted around the trees. Again we would never consider touching them.

We used to call the tall roundabout a "coppers helmet" We used to go down the slide a few times sat on the waxed paper covering from a loaf of bread; it used to increase the speed & the fun. hate to think what the state of our shorts were though.