RiffRaff

As a former post said, this was a repeat already, but as a matter of interest, Discovery Channel have 2 different 'episodes of Time Team every weekday, at 2 pm and 7 pm....Bound to show it eventually.... If you check the Channel 4 Time Team site, or the Discovery channel version, you'll see various DVD's etc for sale....

Bigkev - You're right - I've never been there. You're right - I don't want to be there. You're right - I'll therefore never know what you're going through. Where you're wrong is that you seem to think that nobody will be on your side and support you... You've my vote for a start..... Anybody who can come clean like you have (and apologise to boot) gets my respect... So, good on you - best of British to you. Apology accepted, not really required, end of subject....

Whoa! Don't take it so hard! Case closed, methinks....

Try some punctuation, Bigkev - your messages would be a lot easier to read! Didn't Chalky White teach you anything??!!

Sorry - got sidetracked! Other class mates that I remember : Ian Bott : Martin Havenhand : Pete and John Fox (twins) : David Higginbotham : John Coupe : Dave O'Brien : Ian Corker : Max Clark..... Others will come back to me, I'm sure....

Sorry, Bigkev : your classmates' names don't ring any bells....but I've tried to recall a few others.... Mr.Haythorn (?) - History Was Mr.Wragg the Asst.Head? If so, I remember him being very critical of lads coming to school wearing fur-trimmed parkas....He called them "monkey boys", and went on to give us a lecture (this was at assembly) about fashions. I recall him saying that "mark my words, Oxford bags will come round again....." There was barely-muffled sniggering at this remark, and he went spare.... The Jthorpe girls' school was still at the bottom field at this time (don't know when they amalgamated) but the wire fence that separated the two schools wasn't up to much! But Helen Caunt...........Oh........! If you were lucky, you could hang around the gates and catch her walking (nay, gliding!) up Dyche Lane.....

(Repeat of earlier postings....) P.J. Adams was head if I remember correctly - a magistrate or JP to boot.... A French teacher (Dave Jessop) and my personal favourite, "Chalky" White, English teacher. Great bloke - had a thing about all his pupils being able to spell "immediately" correctly......Strange the things you remember! Also (in my time anyway) a Mr.Sibley, who looked after the library....also liked hiking with a huge rucksack. Often saw him wandering along Pinstone Street, waiting for a bus to take him to Matlock or wherever..... Also Jeff (Geoff?) Smith, maths teacher..... and Mr.Walker, R.I. teacher..... All retired/dead now, I guess... I left in 67 or 68 - to help you zero in, I was in Ray Ashcroft's class - he went on to appear in The Bill, Corrie, etc..... ...and was it Mr.Wilson (art teacher) who was also known as "Peanut", by virtue of head shape and....er....lack of locks? I bet the 'boys' will also remember a fellow pupil, Helen Caunt, a stunning looking lass even in her early teens. Went on to appear in Playboy (or Men Only) and eventually joined some band...Had moderate success (in the US) with a version of 'Wild Thing'.... Wish she'd been a wild thing with me.....

Spent many hours in Cat Lane woods with my dogs, until I left the area a couple of years ago. Used to nip down Northcote Ave., down the incline, passing the whitewashed cottage on the right, and then up through the woods..... Great in summer, fabulous in the snow - I used to let the dogs off the lead when we passed the cottage, and they made for the couple of flat fields on the left... God, did they enjoy that! Up towards Newfield School, before dropping down to the stream (Meers Brook, actually)....a quick dip (the dogs, not me!) before heading for home and stinking the place out as they dried off.... Fear that the cottage I mentioned is the only building still standing as far as I know....

Used to nip into Bradley's (top of Fargate, a few doors down from the Yorks Bank on the corner) to listen to new LP's during my lunchbreak....This would be '68/'69? They had 2 (3?) stand-in booths at the far left-hand side of the shop where (if the staff weren't too busy and you didn't prat about) they would let you listen to an album before buying it... I seem to remember a guy called Barry being manager, and a really terrific looking lass working there...long-haired blonde, really tiny, way less than 5' tall - a real stunner, and I was really taken with her..... I remember getting a bit of a shock when she told me that she was mid-twenties; I was only 18/19, and that age difference was a definite no-no! Wonder whatever became of her?

Yeah, Phil Brodie too.... Plus a guy I haven't seen for years, Paul Hill... Many bands in his time, including a stint as 'resident' guitarist at whatever-you-called-that-nightclub-near-the-Black-Swan.... Plus, as regards bass players, Mike Shedd....

Agree with all that's been said about Frank White, but does everybody realise what a wealth of other guitarist talent there is around Sheffield these days? Guitarists such as Harris Nixon (Carnival and Sour Mash), Ian and JJ from Mag 7 spring to mind, as well as other bands that are on the pub circuit locally. Check out the jam sessions at The Woodseats pub any Sunday afternoon - no entry fee, the muso's do it for bugger-all and everybody has a great time as well.

Cheers, all so far.... Yes, you're right - I always thought the thing about the 'good side' having to face away from you was the law of the land, but apparently not....It's a case of 'courtesy' to your neighbour, but there's no legal requirement apparently. I'm thinking back to my last house ; row of semi's, and in our case the back garden had a tall hedge on one side, and fencing panels on the other.... Never had a row about either, but (like I wrote earlier) I thought there was some 'rule of thumb' about what was whose, if you see what I mean.... In answer to the other reply, these houses were all privately owned, some freehold, some leasehold .....

...the rules about hedges/fences between properties? I remember that if YOU put a fence up, the 'nice' side has to face away from your property, and you end up with the crappy side, but there's also something about deciding whose responsibilty a hedge or fence actually is.... It's something like the right hand boundary is YOURS (and obviously this formula runs down the road for all your neighbours) but I can't remember the general rules.... Anybody help please?

The Grand Hotel was just that....THE hotel in Sheffield.... My family came across from Ireland in the "bad" winter - ('62?) to join my dad who was already "living" at the Grand, courtesy of his employer. The hotel was really "the place to stay", but unfortunately (because of the reputation) most of the staff tended to look down on customers...It was a case of "The Ritz" of Sheffield.... The lower ground floor was a gents' barbers, with half a dozen (+?) seats.....In the days of extreme politeness, with "anything for the weekend, sir?" thrown in......! When demolished (mid sixties?) the site became the Buccaneer bar, before changing to the Pig and Whistle if memory serves me...

The Mustard Seed, near the Army & Navy Stores on St.Paul's Parade...... and the Golden Egg on Fargate.... Both crap......

Further to the Sacco family comments, Gary still runs the car repairs business on Wilson Place... His mum and dad still live on Carrfield Road (or, at least did until late '02, which is when I left the area....)

Er.... That was the licence that was phased out, not the dog......

Not any more, Bikertec.... But about 20 years ago, you had to list your detector's component parts in order to get a licence. Can't remember how much (can't have been a deal : I actually bothered to get one!) but if memory serves me, you had to apply to the Home Office....I kid you not. Thinking on, I must have been a real model citizen in those days - I also had a dog licence! 7/6d (37.5p to you) for a year, just before it was phased out....

Talking of TimeTeam, I watched an old episode on Discovery last week. Showed one of the experts walking across a field in the middle of nowhere, talking to camera, when suddenly he excliamed "Hey! Look at this!" - Literally sitting on the surface, a Roman bracelet.... Hmmmmmm.......Right............ Call me an old cynic, but.....! I used to go out many years ago....in fact, it was at the time that you had to have your detector licenced, with full spec given to the authorities. Never really found anything "exciting" (y'know, Roman short sword an inch below surface, hoard of gold coins, etc) but I can vouch for the fact that it keeps you fit and in the fresh air. Farmers fields, yes, but ask permission first. I also checked with the library/archives section for old fairground locations, and checked "old" footpaths : the busier a patch of ground was, the more likely they dropped a coin/ring/etc. No bugger ever dropped a Saxon sword, tho.....! Good luck anyway...

Yes, milk checks still going.... I always get stuck in the Co-op queue behind the old sod who wants to buy 14, and insists on them being counted twice and then put in a bank change bag..... ****** me off.......

Next to the old Williams Deacons Bank on the cliffe (now Royal bank of Scot) there was a fruit/veg shop called Pierrepoint (or similar....) The owner was related to England's official hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, who held the job for donkey's years....

Try this mate: http://www.mag7.co.uk/links.htm Seen Mag7 many times - good band, with 2 former members of Maison Rouge......

Also knocked around with Steve Aspinall, John Draycott, Melvyn Harrison....all from Swallownest..... also Allyson Tagg.....

Sorry : post should read "from" not "form".... Senior moment ...... MOD: Spieling sorted.

Yep...and he was there in '63 when I came over from Eire....actually he was at Woodseats, but they shared the woodwork rooms with Jthorpe.....