BILL ELLIS

I've just checked out the printed programme for Speech Day Wed 22nd March 1961. The evening started with the singing of the school hymn which was "He liveth long who liveth well." I'll post a scan of this [when I learn the tech!] if you'd like to see it. The familiar crossed torches of the school badge are on the front cover.

I found an interesting picture whilst searching for something else. I'm not very good at pasting in addresses but here goes: http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=y01533 Alternatively go to the Sheffield Library Services: Picture y01533 It shows an outdoor science lesson in the grounds of Nethergreen School. Clearly in the background is the back of the urinal building in question.

Did you have a school hymn? Ours at Abbeydale Boys was "He liveth long who liveth well." It was sung at Speech Day and quite often in assemblies too. Somewhere along the line they changed to a new tune: probably an innovation by the music teacher Mr Cookson. Some words, from memory: He liveth long who liveth well All else is being flung away. He liveth longest who can tell Of true things truly done each day. ***** Fill up each hour with what will last Use well the moments as they go The life above when this is past Is the ripe fruit of life below. Stirring stuff, though I don't think it would quite work these days!

Teachers' Orphanages were run by the Benevolent and Orphan Fund of the National Union of Teachers. They ran homes for the orphan girls of teachers. These were national rather than local orphanages but I don't quite know how they decided on Sheffield. Firs Hall [?Hill] opened in 1887, this was replaced by Page Hall in 1894, which was in turn replaced by Tapton Grange in 1927. Tapton Grange admitted boys too from about 1951. It closed in 1963.

Yes! I think it was Bertram Mills Circus, early 1950's. Somewhere in the middle of town on waste land or possibly bomb site. Guess Division Street area. Clearly remember animals performing e.g. lion tamer. Think it was dark when we arrived: try February. The show ended with an amazing show of illuminated fountains.

I think the prefabricated buildings that people remember appeared after the war. As far as I know school dinners came along because of the war, it wasn't considered safe for pupils to walk home for dinner as was once the common practice. So school dinners, along with free school milk and hastily erected buildings became part of the post-war deal.

BRIGHT STREET! It really caught my eye, because I've got a faded old second-hand book that once belonged to someone who lived in Bright Street. The owner scribbled "B. Stead" inside the front cover. At the back, young master Stead has added "H. Stead. 188 Bright Street, Carbrook, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Europe, The World." Date? hard to say. The book is 'Boycotted' by T.B. Read a popular writer of schoolboy stories. The handwriting looks pretty much the style children were taught in school any time up to the mid 1950's. I bought the book whilst on holiday: certainly nowhere near Sheffield. Can anyone with a street directory solve this one?? PS The book also spent some of its life with John R Jenkinson who also wrote his address in the front: 265 Westwick Road Sheffield: this was near Beauchief Park. PPS Carbrook jogs my memory. Wasn't there a BRIGHTSIDE & CARBROOK CO-OP?

Loved the steamed pudding they gave us. Had never had anything like it at home: very happy introduction.

I remember my first school dinner ever. This was at Nether Green School in the mid-fifties. We had something called 'hash' [a new word to me] followed by treacle tart. This was served on rather faded plastic plates probably in pastel pink, blue, yellow and green. For school dinners we used to go to the basement of the Methodist Church next door. There were long trestle tables with benches each side and a chair at the top end. There was a kind of mini blackboard on the wall with a hand-written menu in chalk capitals. Mrs Dean was the head dinner lady, a small woman with a high voice who didn't like us coming in too noisily. Dinners used to arrive in the back of a large grey van with the sign 'School Meals' painted on the side. Somebody I know said they once saw a container of stew [or perhaps I should say 'hash'] fall of the back off the van. The driver scraped it off the road and put it back in the container. Different teachers had different ways of running things. The fairest one was Mr McGrady, who used to send us up in strict rotation starting with a new table each week. Some seemed only to notice only the children sitting near them - especially the ones who were sitting up straight. Mrs Korklein was a very short lady with very high heels, who was pretty assertive with the senior boys if necessary! A new head followed Mr Thraves, Mr Simmonds I think. He had great vision to improve the school [including its awful outdoor loos] He wanted meals cooked on the premises. I wasn't sure what 'premises' meant but I thought it might be some kind of round shiny oven - a bit like the containers that brought in the hash I mentioned earlier!

Really good to hear of someone else who remembered it. I remember the shop was by a brick arch and this must have been the entrance to the stable yard of the Ranmoor Inn. Couldn't tell you much more about the Ranmoor Inn itself except the landlord had the surname Garside.

Large-scale OS maps have the tramlines marked on so you can see where they end. I discovered this recently looking up Page Hall on the 1905 map. Trams ran along Firth Park Road to just beyond the junction with Bolsover Road.

Many thanks to HILLSBRO and SEGASONIC for the info. I guess I'm looking for anywhere from 169 and 191 Firth Park Road on the census. Is there any way to narrow this down a bit more? I clicked on the 'copy' hotlink and sure enough it took me to the entry in White's directory. HOW DO YOU DO THAT? If I knew I could post a photo of Page Hall and its predecessor, Firs Hall. Segasonic, have looked at the 1905 OS map for Page Hall. Original entrance looks as if it was on the corner of Bolsover Road and Firth Park Road. You go up a drive and this takes you to the front aspect of the house. Camell Road isn't shown on the map and must have been built later. It now forms the main approach to the building, which as I've said in my first post exists as a care home.

Page Hall was the site of the Teachers' Orphanage in Sheffield from 1894 to 1927. It stood in its own private grounds at the junction of Bolsover Road and Firth Park Road. [The buidling still exists as a care home although the grounds are much reduced in size] It should be a simple matter to find it on the 1911 Census, but what was its address? It doesn't seem to be named as Page Hall or an orphanage.

Does anyone remember The Little Tuck Shop? It was a tiny half-shop that stood just by the Ranmoor Inn in Fulwood Road. If you went to Notre Dame School it was right by your bus stop! I remember the sign, painted on a nearby section of wall. It said "Our aim is to pleased you." Bottom left was a picture of a schoolboy with a pea-shooter and top right was a Mr Quelch type schoolmaster being hit by the pea. The shopkeeper was a cheery little dark haired lady who knew us all by name.