Sheffield corner shops past and present.

[schoolrdgal 10]

Mrs Lapiges on Carson Rd Crookes (not sure if thats how her name is spelt)

Mr Fords St Thomas Rd. Crookes, opposite Eyam Rd.

Mr Eyres, end of Salisbury Rd Crookes.

[tam1 10]

I spent the first twenty five years of my life being brough up in a Corner Shop. They were all 'beer offs'. (off license + other goods, food etc etc)

 

The first one was on St Phillips Road (about halfway up opposite the White Hart pub.)

This was in the mid 50's to about 1962.

Like Shullie I remember loose butter - my dad 'patting' it into pre weighed portions.

Sugar came in blue bags.

Kraft cheese came in a block which was sliced.

We had a set of beer pumps with a couple of barrels in the cellar - women used to come in with jugs etc to get a pint or two for the menfolk before they came home from work.

Kids coming in with empty pop bottles so they could get the deposit back and spend a few coppers on sweets from 'the penny tray'.

Families saving in the Christmas Club (6d a week, marked on a card) so they could have a decent Christmas with 'somat different' on the table.

Kids saving a few coppers a week in a similar fireworks club - fireworks sold 'loose' out of a couple of tins - 'penny bangers' or save up and get a 6d 'air bomb'

That shop sold everything - used to fascinate me how much was sold off cards that were hung up all over the place - combs, hairnets, rain bonnets, toys, various powders and poitions.....and all credit to my gran - she opened at 6 in the morning to catch the workers going off who came in for their fags or somat for packing up....and stayed open till 10 at night - six days a week and 2 hrs only on Sunday lunchtime.

 

There was a large notice that told customers that 'Do not ask for credit as a refusal often offends' and yet my gran did allow 'tick' to those she knew and trusted to give her the few bob they needed to feed their family until pay day.

 

Our next shop was on Addy Street, just below Crookesmoor School - much the same as before, no beer pumps but a large display of glass topped tins out of which was sold loose biscuits, the most popular being the broken biscuit tin - for a few coppers you could get a reasonable amount of biccies which were slightly damaged. By that time opening restictions had been lifted slightly and we opened on a Sunday night as well - but still seven days a week (no early monrng though - myold gran was well into her 60's by then.

 

Final shop was on Broomspring Lane - where my gran stayed until she retired in 1978 aged 83! - I swear tha0t if she could have found another shop she would have taken it, but by that time the death knell was sounding for the typical corner shop at the end of a row of terraced houses, whats more my dad came down quite firm and told her to stop - he was fed up of all the late nights (he had a day job and then did a few hours every evening in the shop)

 

Different life to most I guess - not much family life as the shop took dominence in terms of hours open etc, but looking back it gave us a living, put food ( and dads booze) on the table and a wealth of stories and characters that will I remember all my life.

 

My old gran passed away in 1984 approaching her 90th birthday - a testimony to a typical northern matriach that ruled the family with a rod of iron,(and yet she was only five foot) and was feared and loved by her customers and family alike.

 

Like most of the characters mentioned here and in the pub landlords and landladies threads - we will not see their like again.

Wondering if the Broomhall shop was the one belonging to Mrs Melluish at the end of Glouecester Street. I grew up in Broomhall and remember it well and also the chippie and Marys grocers shop just up the road.

[TKenny85 10]

I was brought up at Hillsborough and I remember Graham's corner shop just down Oakland near Malin Bridge school and Mick's down Findon Street. I knocked him off his bike once by accident. Used to get our mojo/ojow(?) sweets from there and football stickers.

[USUK 10]

the one on slinn st/heavygate road was sydney nigel coldwells and he and his wife sold allsorts. i used to get sent almost everyday for bits and bobs and me mam and dads fags!

 

They used to have two Boxers in the back yard. They used to hang their heads over the gate waiting for us to go past on the way home from school. Nigel's wife was a friend of my sister and used to live up the street from us. I'm afraid I can't remember her name (Nigel's wife that is:-)

[carosio 185]

During the 50s/60s on Grammar St, Lower Walkley, we had 8 corner shops, 1 shop mid terrace, 1 greengrocer, 2 chip shops, a pet shop and 2 pubs. I remember there were 3 other corner properties which appeared to have been small shops before then.

[katedave 10]

greystones school

[lewiswalker 11]

Hi, does anyone remember Magregors at the bottom of hill of Idsworth Road?

[liedon 10]

My grandparents had corner shop (beer off) on bottom of Jenkin Rd Opposite Rising Sun Brightside. It was demolished in 1976 and houses built there.

[kazumah 10]

IN THE 60'S BECKETS at mosbro up a back street somewhere near the fire station i think

 

hi loobylou don't remember beckets in mosbro. there was haslams & milns's on chapel st by the lambsex opposite the methodist church. I know that milnes's was there when my dad was a nipper long time ago!!

[An6y 10]

Bells on Wynyard Road opposite the gennal from Leader Rd, and Greters or reta's on Marcliff rd and then Caths just up from the Jocky on Wadsley lane

[shinysheff 10]

My dad Henry (Harry) crookes had the grocers shop on the corner of Shirland Lane and Britnall St. Attercliffe. from 1949 until the early 70s when the supermarkets down the common finally killed it off.

[poppins 10]

Nothing nicer than those little shops on South Road in Walkley,in the 50/60s, they were packed with shoppers, babies in those big prams would be lined up outside the shops, my Auntie Lilly would walk the whole length of South Road from one butcher to the next to save a penny, no cars to put groceries in back then, the women had to walk home lugging spuds, bread. veg & meat, get home then go back to Fish & Chip shop later on