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Memories Of Walkley

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Hi hillsbro, it wasn't me who went to Russia it was Alan who had the paper shop I was lorry driving and Europe was far enough for me as I could be away for several weeks at a time on the odd ocasion it ran into months but only occasionally.

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I recall Ridgewick, in our house on Bole Hill Rd, telling my dad that fishermen put maggots in their mouths before putting them on the hook. My dad said it's to warm them up so they wriggle better.

 

Most fisherman did that then, including myself, but not the ones that were dyed bright pink or yellow as that dye was found to be a carcinogen!

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I hadn't realised that Roy's Bistro was as far down as Industry Street, though I recognise the building now on Google Earth, with the entrance at the side. Roy's food was excellent; it's a pity the bistro didn't survive long.

My goodness - Jimmy Jackson; I used to sell him stamps that I had on approval...

Jack Ridgwick is now in a care home at Nether Edge but I saw him not so long ago and he was still very much his old self.

 

If I had stamps on approval I always sent them back. I was dicussing this a few years ago with someone who just kept them and never paid. What concerns me is that I never thought of that.

I never went in the restaurant when it was Roy's even though I met him a few times, my pal had the garage accross the road.

It was the booking three weeks in advance that always cobbled me. I was and still am, prone to deciding on the night where to go. Which tends to limit my choice sometimes to people I know who will find me a table.

 

Back to the main topic.

My great grandfather, a quarryman lived and brought up about 8 kids at Watercress cottage, on the left, next to the water trough on Walkley Bank Rd. as you head out, towards Rivelin.

It was in a little dip at the bottom of Milners field.

It was demolished to make way for housing in the early 60s, I think.

Looking back if it had survived a few more years it would have been done up and been a fabulous little cottage. I think there were two attached, at right angles to the road, which I should think was just a track when they lived there.

It was affectionately called "the wattercressoil"

I don't suppose you've any photos, have you Hillsbro.

I remember taking a handfull of watercress home and my mum dumping it because it was all battered and inedible.

 

Hillsbro what do you know about Racker Way. Its only just below Walkley Bank Rd. and goes to more or less the same place, so why was it there, or is it older than the road

Opposite watercress cottage the steep wood is the Donkey Wood where donkeys were tethered, apparently. I'm not sure when. Is that something to do with Racker Way.

Just down the river from the paddling pool. If you walk through the thicket at the bottom of Roscoe wood, there are the concrete remains of an outdoor swimming pool, which ceased sometime before the war.

It was always a dark and dismal place to play as kids.

 

Next time I'm in the area I want to look in Walkley cemetery.

Apparently some of my grandads brothers are there, died in action or as a result of wounding in the 1st war.

Someone did an article in the star last poppy day.

One brother the oldest I think, was Horatio.

In the early 50s my older brother came home having learned about ratios at school, to which my grandad said "I had a brother called ratio". Its gone down in family folk lore, as these things do.

 

My grandad had an army disability pension. I think it was about half a crown (I know I can say that because only geriatrics read this part of the forum), it was for mustard gas poisoning, in the trenches.

In the 50's my grandad and a few other old men used to sit on the wall at the end of Bole Hill Rd. just before the top of Compton St. a few pairs of semis there now (didn't a car or lorry once miss the bend from Heavygate and go through the front window).

Or sometimes further down opposite the library.

All dressed exactly the same. Collarless white shirt, heavy brown corderoy trousers up to their chests, thick brown leather belt, black jacket, black waistcoat and black army boots. The shirt was changed now and again but I think the rest was changed when it wore out and not before.

This was my dad's dad, all my mum ever said about him was "Scruffy old Bugger". I think Albert steptoe was modelled on him.

I've just remembered up to his death in 1956 he used to wear his wifes false teeth to eat meat, He could manage everything else with his gums. The joke was she died in 1936.

Thats all for now folks.

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Hi hillsbro, it wasn't me who went to Russia it was Alan who had the paper shop I was lorry driving and Europe was far enough for me as I could be away for several weeks at a time on the odd ocasion it ran into months but only occasionally.

 

So you said; I was just remarking on how unusual it was for anyone to go to Russia in the 1960s (even residents of the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire ;)). It got easier and cheaper in the 1970s. In 1984 I came out of a Moscow hotel and was surprised to see a Carnell's coach in the car park. Lorry drivers are the salt of the earth, as I learned in my hitch-hiking days.

 

Two branches of my ancestry lived on the top side of South Road - great-grandparents on Duncombe Street and a great-uncle on Matlock Road. They were very religious, as it seems many were in Walkley in days of old - or maybe it was just the Robinsons...

 

There was an off-licence on Commonside that used to sell malt whisky on draught - does anyone know if they still do?

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:love:Loving this thread!!

Thanks everyone:love:

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....It was affectionately called "the wattercressoil" I don't suppose you've any photos, have you Hillsbro.

Sorry no, I have nothing of Walkley Bank Road; most of my old postcards are Hillsborough, Rivelin and Wadsley. I remember the horse trough; there were lots of them (one was where the Malin Bridge tram stop is now).

...what do you know about Racker Way. Its only just below Walkley Bank Rd. and goes to more or less the same place, so why was it there, or is it older than the road. Opposite watercress cottage the steep wood is the Donkey Wood where donkeys were tethered, apparently. I'm not sure when. Is that something to do with Racker Way.

Racker Way doesn't feature in the 1925 directory so it must have been built-up after this date. The earlier maps I have don't seem to show so much as a track there, but the name supposedly comes from the fact that the "rackers" used this route to carry goods produced in the Rivelin mills via Lower Walkley to market in Sheffield and beyond. They used donkeys, mules etc. which had a "rack" fixed to either side of their backs, to which the packages of knives etc. would be secured. At least, this is what I've heard, and it might explain the name Donkey Woods.

...Just down [up?] the river from the paddling pool. If you walk through the thicket at the bottom of Roscoe wood, there are the concrete remains of an outdoor swimming pool, which ceased sometime before the war. It was always a dark and dismal place to play as kids.

I do have photos of this: Rivelin pool The pool closed when the wooden changing rooms burned down in the 1930s. There was a footbridge over the river that survived until a few years ago but it was demolished when it became unsafe.

...I've just remembered up to his death in 1956 he used to wear his wifes false teeth to eat meat, He could manage everything else with his gums. The joke was she died in 1936.

My dad only ever wore his (own) false teeth for weddings and funerals... :P

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So you said; I was just remarking on how unusual it was for anyone to go to Russia in the 1960s (even residents of the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire ;)). It got easier and cheaper in the 1970s. In 1984 I came out of a Moscow hotel and was surprised to see a Carnell's coach in the car park. Lorry drivers are the salt of the earth, as I learned in my hitch-hiking days.

 

Two branches of my ancestry lived on the top side of South Road - great-grandparents on Duncombe Street and a great-uncle on Matlock Road. They were very religious, as it seems many were in Walkley in days of old - or maybe it was just the Robinsons...

 

There was an off-licence on Commonside that used to sell malt whisky on draught - does anyone know if they still do?

 

 

That would be old Mr Robinson and his son young Peter Robinson, who if he's still with us will be touching 80 I would think.

 

There were Robinsons on Bole Hill Rd. The two lads were David and John.

John sang in the cathederal choir. Are they related to you.

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I don't recognise any of the names, Tooeg, and most of my Robinson forebears in Walkley go back a bit further than this. Great-grandad Harry Robinson (1869-1937) lived on Duncombe Street and his eldest son William (1889-1961) on Matlock Road. Harry's daughter Doris never married and remained at 135 Duncombe Street until she died in 1974. My dad's brother Sydney returned to his roots (from Woodland View) when he bought 84 Cundy Street in the late 1950s.

They were all a bit eccentric. Maybe it's a family trait....:(

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Tiger 110 I think

 

My great Grandma was Mary Ambler who lived at Crooks and her daughter Ellen Ambler (my grandma) lived at 135 Walkley Street - where my mother was born. I remember Eric ambler - one of a number of Great Uncle's I had. I spent many happy hours at Walkley and Rivelin. My grandmother lived opposite the cooperative shop.

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Racker Way doesn't feature in the 1925 directory so it must have been built-up after this date. The earlier maps I have don't seem to show so much as a track there, but the name supposedly comes from the fact that the "rackers" used this route to carry goods produced in the Rivelin mills via Lower Walkley to market in Sheffield and beyond. They used donkeys, mules etc. which had a "rack" fixed to either side of their backs, to which the packages of knives etc. would be secured.

 

According to the OED a 'racker' is horse that moves with a 'racking' gait - that is, between an amble and a trot. Someone once told me it was also the name for a lead pack pony, but that isn't in the dictionary.

 

Martin Olive told us in a class I used to go to, that the current Racker Way was not the original and that the Council had unaccountably taken it from its 'rightful' location (the continuation of Walkley Street down towards Hollins Bridge).

 

Here is a picture of the 'right' Racker way, dated 1920: Picture Sheffield image

 

There is another image looking back from further down the hill.

 

Hugh

Edited by HughW
link mended (updated)

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Anybody any memories i used to live on freedom road my family still live there and have done since late 70's

 

Discuss Please!!!!

I used to live on Grammer Street (not there anymore). I went to Walkey Junior School in the late Sixties. I was told that they pulled most of it down for slum clearance purposes!

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Next time I'm in the area I want to look in Walkley cemetery. Apparently some of my grandads brothers are there, died in action or as a result of wounding in the 1st war.

Someone did an article in the star last poppy day.

One brother the oldest I think, was Horatio.

In the early 50s my older brother came home having learned about ratios at school, to which my grandad said "I had a brother called ratio". Its gone down in family folk lore, as these things do.

 

The article was probably about our Remembrance Day Tour, when we visit each of the war graves in the cemetery. There are 44 men buried in 43 war graves. The one grave with two casualties is that of your great uncles Horatio and James (a third brother, William, was KIA abroad but is commemorated on the gravestone).

 

If you would like to PM me an email address I will send you a plan and the text of the inscription. I also have a photo of James from a local newspaper (published when he was wounded).

 

Was your Grandad Edward? If so his starting pension was 11/- a week according to his service record at Ancestry.co.uk.

 

Hugh

(Friends of Walkley Cemetery)

Edited by HughW

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