Does anyone know the history of the Bole Hills?

[Tasai 10]

I live in Crookes and found this site interesting! I have lived here since I was 17 and love it!

 

http://www.chrishobbs.com/crookespicturepalace.htm

[mairaaa 10]

I remember as a child reading a plaque on the Bole Hills stating that it was a gift to the people of Sheffield for recreational and leisure purposes, but I can't remember by whom. I also read on the net that the Council purchased the Bole Hills in 1886, but does anyone know who from, and does it still belong to the people of Sheffield, and if so, should the plaque be re-erected so future generations will know who it was donated by, and when. The plaque also stated the number of acres that this person had left. It seems such a marvellous gift to the people of Sheffield, that the person should be recognised.

[USUK 10]

I remember as a child reading a plaque on the Bole Hills stating that it was a gift to the people of Sheffield for recreational and leisure purposes, but I can't remember by whom. I also read on the net that the Council purchased the Bole Hills in 1886, but does anyone know who from, and does it still belong to the people of Sheffield, and if so, should the plaque be re-erected so future generations will know who it was donated by, and when. The plaque also stated the number of acres that this person had left. It seems such a marvellous gift to the people of Sheffield, that the person should be recognised.

 

Where was the plaque located ?

[Tom Bailey 10]

Our favourite place to play was in the quarry next to the Bolehills.

[Expat-Mark1 10]

Can't add any eclesiastical or geology knowledge to the thread but can add some 50's and 60's history of the Bole Hills, especially the main playing fields which were once under Sheffield Education Committee regulations. I think the fields may well have been the recreational outlet of Bole Hill and Western Road schools?

At the end, nearest the police station on Northfield Road, was a 'cook house' where the Education meals were prepared. This was surrounded by a wonderful oval path which was an ideal cycle-speedway track!

Then there was a changing hut and surrounding toilets.

The main field now doesn't tell the truth as grass can be seen. There used to be a soccer pitch at the Walkley end with the main pitch at the Crookes end, by those toilets. In between was a hockey pitch alongside a concrete cricket strip. The 'top pitch' bore no grass at all. It was played on every night and was dust/mud/cinders, it was the colour of the sand in Tenerife!

The game would start about 6.15pm (after homework) and as eyes acclimatised, we could still be playing at 9.30. The bottom of the field was surrounded by sharp-spiked railings and many a ball bit the dust on those!

In summer, there was a queue to play tennis on about eight courts and you booked them down steps, no longer there, by the bowling club.

There was the childen's playground and the park-keeper's hut behind which hanky-panky is alleged to have taken place. I wouldn't know, I was busy with the football!

We used to come from the field and go into Meeson's sweet shop at the end of Longfield Road. We'd buy our JUBBLIES there but Pop Meeson kept about a dozen cats and they'd walk all over the jars and fridges - the whole shop stank of cat pee but I'm told his lemonade was great! We entertained ourselves in those days and loved every minute.

 

Thanks for posting this. The steps you mentioned were built in the early 1900's by my grandfather, for a pair of shoes, shame they are gone now.

[stevenm 10]

It would be interesting to know the answer re ownership. The Council ruthlessly stole the Walkley Library from the people of Sheffield (originally donated by the Carnegie Foundation) and don't forget all the council's  ruthless compulsory purchases in the 1960's which would have replaced Walkley with big high-rise flats.

[Elmambo 25]

The Bolehills, at the Crookes end onward, was originally used as a tip partly,for night soil, which was mixed with ash and clinker.  The contours have been softened with age, but 50, years ago it was obvious it had been tipped and there were patches of clinker, especially near the cottages.

All the playing fields area was a huge quarry which was filled by the cleansing dept. using domestic waste.  The childrens playground was opened around 1950/51.

Really, the survival of the Bolehills has been a matter of luck;  during the late Victorian housing boom and into the thirties, when much of present day Crookes was built, part of the land was a quarry and the other had been tipped and was unusable for house building.  Now that every nook and cranny has been infilled, I'm sure developers would love to get their hands on parts of it. but even our Coucil dare not allow it

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Elmambo
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