PeterR

I'm the same age as you Albert. My wife and I were on holiday touring New England when Sinatra died in '98. All the tv stations were broadcasting only Sinatra. It would have seemed much the same, I guess, when President Kennedy died in '63.

Thanks melv, I see what you mean about the accident. It could well be as you say. Perhaps I made an assumption that the lifting tackle failed. I'll never know as my old pal Ron Skinner died in 2012. Peter.

Hi Melv, Thanks for you comment on the short film of Princess Alexandra's visit. My old pal who worked in vac melt once told me that he had a lucky escape in the furnace on the left of the last pic on my post 748. He said that he was down inside the confined space when the item being lowered in broke free of the chains and came to rest on the inside of the furnace, as opposed to on him. Peter.

There are lots of interesting posts on here! My Dad took me to Armandos in 1960 and I bought a s/hand NSU Quickly moped as my first bike. At 16 I was too light and skinny to handle anything much bigger. (I do remember that it was a very small shop as described on the previous post by tinfoilhat). However, the following weekend a car hit me when I was leaving the roundabout at Firth Park and, to cut a long story short, the bike was written off. When I'd recovered from my injuries I bought a s/hand Alpino scooter from Bill Beevers at Page Hall. In 1961 I took a Saturday job at John Banners department store at Attercliffe to fund the HP payments on a brand new Lambretta TV 175, (which I kept for three years before buying my first car). I had looked in Dan Bradbury's window many times but in the end as they wouldn't make an offer on my Alpino I bought from Walter Wraggs on West Bar. Got my new helmet, jacket and gloves from Ropers on London Road just below Dan's. Here's Dan's in 1963.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s17666&prevUrl= Here I am in 1962, probably showing the first signs of mods, with chrome tape bling and a custom made twin tail pipe which was also chrome tape blinged , which cost me 5 Woodbines to one of the fitters at work . My Dad's old ambulance box, which I handpainted, is on the carrier, behind which the Lambretta penant on chrome pole can just be seen. Mud flap out of shot. A small mirror on the handlebars provided less than useless rear view. A plastic covered cushion provided back support for my girlfriend, albeit after she had already bruised the base of her spine on the carrier I loved that scooter....Those were the days!..... http:// https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOxyolg_NfQIz21FeL2PGQSCeVl5ft0CWRaULNuO8Bzn2h8kRZPdWmQVj3TkZPqVQ?key=MkdJZGNfM2VWYWFaa1Q1QkN6OWxiOHphTWFlNldn Peter.

Hi Meltman, Here, for convenience, are the pics on my post number 740 which you mention..... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;u07183&pos=1&action=zoom&id=100500 http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;u07180&pos=1&action=zoom&id=100497 I was trying to make them fit in my mind to Firth Browns but wasn't convinced that the rail track was a big enough area. Sometimes the text on Picture Sheffield is incorrect. The following pic showing the Head Offices entrance, which are also at the beginning and end of the short film on my post 744, were for example originally listed as T W Ward at the Wicker. Having given my provenance to Picture Sheffield, as mentioned in brief in their notes on the pic, they kindly changed it to Firth Brown.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s26727&pos=390&action=zoom&id=29146 ---------- Post added 03-02-2018 at 12:44 ---------- Hi melv and Swowls, Is vac remelt the shop you mention melv? It was on the left at the top of Garter Street...... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;u08905&pos=1&action=zoom&id=95055 My old pal from 1959 in Progress and Planning office moved to work on the shop floor there in 1963. I recall that he used to park his car under cover inside the shop when on night shifts . I have been in that shop and do recall that only the first furnace on left of pic was there at that time. Yes Swowls, I recall the yard as being small and ideal for a private game of football!!

Hi brian1941 and all, Here's a four and a half minute of film at Firth Browns from 1957, a couple of years before I started work there aged 15. It starts straight away outside the Head Offices main entrance on Savile Street East. I recognise Doctor Sykes guiding Princess Alexandra of Kent around some of the workshops. In 1967 he was Director of the new Research Laboratory on Princess Street. Have a wander around with the party and I'm sure you'll recognise some of the locations Brian. Peter.

Hi melv and swowls, Your comments on the previous two posts are interesting. Could these have been bored and planed by the machinery you mention?? Looks like the front of the building you mention, on Carlisle Street East and then the back where the rail line was.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;u07183&pos=1&action=zoom&id=100500 http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;u07180&pos=1&action=zoom&id=100497 Is this the furnace you mention?? The diameter looks right.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s40994&pos=1&action=zoom&id=120696 Or am I wrong on all counts? Peter.

I remember seeing one apparently being steamed up at what appeared to be a small depot off Attercliffe Road, possibly Worksop Road or the first part of Darnall Road, on the way to my aunt's with my mother around 1949. I thought it was strange and old fashioned, but of course petrol would still be scarce then.

Hi stpetre, Would the Rotherham one have been Hagues' at Parkgate, Rotherham?...... https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/09/thatcher.williamhague I used to garage my Ever Ready van near them in the mid/late sixties. Here I am in 1972, the only photo I have of the van, outside my home then at Bramley, Rotherham.... https://photos.app.goo.gl/A1Am3Sjo27F2mKg73 Peter.

You're welcome Brian. Yes, I have been in or passed many shops during my time at FB during 1959/66. After more than half a century some of the old memories are getting more difficult to recall though I'm afraid. Peter.

Hi All, brian1941 has asked me to post the following two links to his photos and also two links to pics on Picture Sheffield so he can then comment on them later.... Pic 1 https://photos.app.goo.gl/a0xAfsIHjKlVLMRw2 Pic 2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/utzXP08cG94CLX0G3 Pic 3 http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04075&prevUrl= Pic 4 http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04074&prevUrl= Peter..

Hi Harry and welcome from me too. I'm looking forward to your stories. I was only a comparatively short time at Grimesthorpe although they were my formative years and seemed forever. I lived at the lower end on Adsetts Street from birth in 1943 and left for Shiregreen in 1957 aged 14. I note that you mention the schools. There are several threads and here's a sample post of mine from the thread ''Earl Marshall Secondary...as it was known before''. The pics are on photobucket and now have lots of adverts on. I'm now using Google for future posts instead. https://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10758886&postcount=78 Regards, Peter.

Regarding the war memorial plaque Meltman....In 1990 when the clock had been vandalized I was concerned that the memorial plaque may be too, but thankfully it escaped that fate thanks to you and your colleagues. I'd like to know the story of how it was achieved. I like your story about central stores (the great Two Ronnies... ''fork 'andles'' eh) and how you were treated as a young lad and then got your revenge. When I started as chargehand in Central Warehouse in 1964 which was, to remind everyone, a different shop to central stores, I was only just 20. Some of the shop floor men had worked there throughout the war and worked long hours and slept there. They were not about to take any orders which they didn't like from a mere upstart. The phrase they often used was also ''One thing at a time!!'' I guess it was a common saying at FB in those days .

Hi swowls, melv and All, You have many tragic stories in your above post swowls. My Dad worked at Firth Vickers and in the early 'fifties he told me of an electrician being killed when working on a forge press or hammer. Dad must have been shaken as he rarely spoke to me about such things. On another occasion, Mr Carless, who lived across Adsetts Street from me, bought my mother's piano for his daughter Irene. I remember him wheeling it across the cobbled street by himself with no apparent effort. I thought it would be shaken to bits but it must have survived. This would be about 1952 when I was 8 going on 9. My point is that he worked, I recall, at Firth Browns and shortly after the afforementioned episode I was told that he had been crushed by a hot ingot and died. In these days of automation we thankfully don't hear of these numbers of fatalities. Peter. ---------- Post added 07-01-2018 at 17:54 ---------- Hi All, I have always wondered what happened to the 1914/18 war memorial which was placed on the wall next to the Head Offices entrance on Savile Street East. It can be seen here in 1985 immediately to the right of the canopy and on the ground floor.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s26727&prevUrl= It can also be seen here in my photograph snapped in 1990 when the property was empty. Incidentally, the glass on the clock which was attached to the part of the property destined for demolision was smashed by that time. I suspect some idiot used it for target practice which was such a shame. Hundreds of workers, including me, would have checked the time by it every working day. I've wondered many times if that also survives, as does T W Wards clock, from their premises on Carlisle Road near The Wicker. It now resides at Kelham Island Industrial Museum. However I can't trace the FB one..... https://photos.app.goo.gl/W5UIqvMUx4JwcVcu1 In this pic of the premises in 2005 the buildings to the left of the memorial had been demolished. The remaining premises are now named President Buildings. The memorial has been removed but the surround can be seen on the ground floor, facing the street, to the far left.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;c01487&prevUrl= A bit of research revealed this which seems to indicate that the memorial is stiil around and in close vacinity to it's original location.... https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/249465/ Hope you find this interesting. Peter.

There are several videos/slides on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=old+sheffield+town+hall

Well melv, I was a Driving Instructor on cars for 12 years from 1990 and I soon learned that it was nigh on impossible to change some peoples' attitude. I knew the ones who would do as they liked when they obtained their full licence. At the time I obtained my overhead crane licence (see pics below) it didn't seem right to be moved straight to the much heavier and higher Central Warehouse crane without any sort of supervision, or guidance on signals from slingers. Anyway, you learned by watching others, that's how it was back in 1964/5. However I did have experience slinging and also on the weigh scales. The first time I offloaded two machined rings that weighed around 6 tons each from the confines of a metal high sided railway wagon was a bit daunting. A few weeks earlier, when our full time driver was in control of the crane offloading a railway wagon, a load slipped off the dogs with a hell of a resounding racket moments after the crane took the load off the battens. I wouldn't apportion any blame to the driver on that occasion. The foreman, Ron Parkin, shot out of the office to investigate but thankfully no one was injured, or worse. He closed the job down to give everyone chance to recover from the shock. Click on each of these links and then click on each pic for a bigger one. The words ''Say something'' disappear after a couple of seconds.... Here's my overhead crane licence which I still have... https://photos.app.goo.gl/1J2igiNviaJh5O0g2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/R8TKMoDXJJ9iLV5s1 For a bit of light relief.... I travelled to work on the last of the trams on Savile Street East in 1959/60 and then by buses until I had my own transport. Here I am with my forms of personal transport which I travelled to work on/in during the rest of my time at FB. The pics are shown in date order 1961,2,4 and 5..... https://photos.app.goo.gl/lhQAvRims9rwbWc13 https://photos.app.goo.gl/HXJiQNYP4mmNAXYF3 https://photos.app.goo.gl/n6nPWW7pJCALfq5l2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/TSy5A6EuUjuPo2oo1 Peter.

That's a tragic story melv. When I was in Progress and Planning at 36 gate aged 15 in 1959 I heard of someone getting crushed by a railway wagon and also of a painter who had fallen from high onto some machinery and lost his life. When I was asked if I would take a crane driving course aged 22 in 1965, our crane driver in Central Warehouse invited me upstairs to see the workings on ours. As mentioned on a previous post it was high up near the top of the roof. I was standing on the access walkway and about half way across the shop looking towards the driver's cab and watching the crab in operation. Anyway the driver decided, without warning me, to move off down the shop. Not being ready for it I would have been thrown off, to my right, in front of the crab and straight down to the shop floor had I not managed to reach out and grab the rail on my left. I'm no way near as quick and agile now. I remember giving him a telling off but bet the poor man was as shocked as me . All eyes below were looking up. It's one of the nearest calls I've had in 74 years. Peter. ---------- Post added 03-01-2018 at 17:47 ---------- Here's a pic taken just a little further along and a little closer to the one on post 722... https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW009649 Peter.

Hi melv, Whilst training on a crane in a scrap bay in Siemens Melting shop I had the opportunity to sit in one of the cranes above the electric arc furnaces. They were about to tap one and I was, understandably, asked to leave before the process began. Another high point, excuse the pun, was when the trainer, Jim, said he would take me to the highest crane at FB. I can't remember where it was located but it must have been in the melting shop. We set off on a narrow girder high up with no handrails which I had seen lads previously sweeping with nonchalance. I took about three steps and told him I had to turn around and go back. Here's another look at the melting shop and the cranes in 1954..... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?action=zoomWindow&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04493&prevUrl= http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04496&pos=173&action=zoom&id=92865 Peter.

Seems to me that, seriously, one could easily see a Great Dane with a shopping basket in it's mouth as mentioned in your previous post! The dog's ears are right and something is partially covering it's face.

Hi howsmicha, Just in case you don't know of it, this link to Picture Sheffield may interest you. I just typed Town Hall Pinstone Street in the search box and it brought this up..... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?&searchterms=town+hall+pinstone+street&action=search&keywords=all%3BCONTAINS%3B%25town%25%3BAND%3Ball%3BCONTAINS%3B%25hall%25%3BAND%3Ball%3BCONTAINS%3B%25pinstone%25%3BAND%3Ball%3BCONTAINS%3B%25street%25%3B#rowNumber7 Peter.

Yes, I've had pleasure from this pic for a while. It's great to see it all laid out and easy to orientate everything! The crane tracks in Central Warehouse (mentioned in my post 722) were above the highest windows. It seemed to me to be a long way down to the shop floor when making my way across the mesh walkway to climb down into the cab! I can see all the offices I worked in too. Happy New Year to All!! Peter.

Hi melv, The central stores you mention at 38 gate must be a different place to Central Warehouse where I worked at 37 gate. The name may be a little confusing as I thought at the time. Completed items were delivered to us from the shops and we then arranged to have them transported to customers. I remember offloading small items from light machine shops off Scammel Scarrabs up to heavy machined items weighing several tons each from railway wagons which came into the shop through a back door. We then prepared them for despatch and arranged transport by such as British Road Services and loaded onto their lorries. Central Warehouse is the building with the tall chimney nearest the bottom on this 1947 pic. You may be able to make out Carwood Road to the right of it at the junction with Savile Street East.The chimney had been demolished by my time. The water/cooling tower you mention on post 710 is immediately left of the chimney on the pic. below. You'd have to register on the site to get a bigger pic. if you can't zoom on your computer.... https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW009656 Peter.

Did any of you maintenance guys ever do any work on the overhead crane in Central Warehouse at 37 gate?? (the same yard as light machine shops) I was chargehand in there 1964/6 and mainly worked in the office. To be able to stand in, should our driver not turn up for work, I obtained an overhead crane drivers licence after training in the Siemens shop. I loved the opportunity to drive that crane and still have the licence. Suppose it's not valid now over half a century on I attempted to see inside the shop and hopefully have a peak at the crane in around 1990, but was apprehended half way across the yard and had to withdraw. Here's a rather dim pic (but I'm fortunate that it came out) from inside the shop looking out into the yard, which had 37 gate ahead at the far end. I snapped it from upstairs where access to the crane was across a mesh walkway (which I wasn't fond of). Part of the crane's girderwork can just be made out at an angle across from the top of the windows. Sadly the cab is out of shot left of windows.... (Click on each pic for a bigger one) https://photos.app.goo.gl/n4r3zqpFW7n9546p2 Here's an equally dim shot I snapped in the same direction from my office up steps at the opposite end of the shop. The stairways leading up to the crane were through the back door behind me. ... https://photos.app.goo.gl/TUwNJIrgCg1xQAM32 Peter.

Yes, the drawing office was accessed through 36 gate. I was in the Forgings Sales office next door in the same block 1961 to 1964. Went in there occasionally. The canteen was just past 37 gate but on the opposite side of the street and was opened on 23rd Oct 1917. I used the staff one at times when I was in the offices 1959 to 1964. It was in the same building but faced Princess Street. Always wondered why there were seperate canteens for blue and white collar. Assumed it was so we didn't get overall grease on our posh suits . I had a look round it a few years ago when it was a furniture warehouse. Although it was partitioned I could still see the windows and work the orientation. Here it is in 1919.... http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04618&pos=15&action=zoom&id=94766 http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04656&pos=18&action=zoom&id=95363 http://picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y04655&pos=17&action=zoom&id=95362 Peter.

Thanks Jean and same from me to All Peter.