Smith's Field or Smithies Field near Petre Street

[pigeon 11]

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hi pigeon, looking through the photos, off petre st,

the shop on the corner did it become a seconed hand shop

befor it was knocked down.

To be honest I cant remember it was a sweet shop and at night a big dog slept in there it used to go crazy if you went to door and banged on glass (on way home from baths)

[rf2690 10]

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hi pigeon, looking through the photos, off petre st,

the shop on the corner did it become a seconed hand shop

befor it was knocked down.

 

Yes Brian it did,bus stop was outside it before it went up the hill to top off sutherland rd.run up there a few times when i've seen petre st bus down at the gower st bus stop.lol.sheila.Happy New Year Brian.

[brian1941 11]

Yes Brian it did,bus stop was outside it before it went up the hill to top off sutherland rd.run up there a few times when i've seen petre st bus down at the gower st bus stop.lol.sheila.Happy New Year Brian.

.

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hi shelia, yes i bet you were a good runner, in the first picture you

can see the church spire up where you live- are i`am right- not sure.

 

did you have a good un for 2011 bye.

[DIDO 11]

old photos of smithies field.

 

 

[philw53 10]

I like those photos Dido, especially the second, which shows our (current) house in the background (not Wood Hill, but Meadow Head, according to the 1853 map of the area). Any chance of posting a higher resolution copy?

 

The future of Smithies field is currently up for discussion. Next week (13th Jan) we should have some indication of what's planned, as there is a meeting with the developer that is currently building 44 houses, 90-odd flats and a 70-odd bed care home on the stretch of Grimesthorpe Road where Wood Hill house used to be. Hopefully, the field will be left intact (apart from the massive bulldozer tracks currently on it and the damage due to a grass fire last summer), as it is green belt.

[brian1941 11]

Hi ya arfer mo, just been going through threads and seen your photo

of the smiths field, on the left at the top was mrs gladies taffender

house i think it was a 12 roomed house sumut like that.

It did belong to the duke of norfolk and the land of smithes field, i also lodged there for some years and it was a great house.

The thing is, have you been on grimesthorpe rd lately, they have biult

houses and flats facing the road on where taffendres house was.

They started from the last house on the right of your picture.

They are ready for letting anytime now.

Did you live near there.

[johnpm 18]

My grandaunt Phillis Beeston nee Moore & her husband Edwin Beeston had a bakers/confectioners at 209/211 Petre St which I think was maybe on the corner of Petre St & Carwood Rd. They had it in the early part of the 19th century perhaps up to shortly before the 2nd war.

My dad Jim Moore was born at 40 Jamaica St & the family moved to 309 Petre St in 1931. Grandad Harry Watson Moore died in 1945 but Grandma Mary Ann Moore lived there until the houses were demolished as did my uncle, Harry Watson Moore who lived at 305. My grandma couldn't cope with losing her home & died soon after moving from there into a home on Barnsley Rd.

Anybody know when the houses on Petre St were demolished - was it about 1974 ?

[andysell 10]

We called Smith's field 'Smickies' and we used to search for marbles in a company's ash tip at the bottom of the field.

[linwhiterose 10]

(Quote)"Going back up Petre st on the right there was the fusty sweet shop and then on the corner of Sutherland rd and Petre st Fairbrothers tailors, I went to school with Janet Fairbrother.

Tony Wagstaff, John Timmins, Stu Butler, Tony Saccomando, Phillip Gill all good swimmers because of that sadist Mr Scott."

 

I could have sworn Janet's family name was Fairweather, as I went to school with her younger sister Julie. Maybe my mind is playing up. I lived on the same road as John Timmins on Alliance Street before they were demolished, and Stu Butler and his family lived near us on the new Carwood Estate. A real trip down memory lane.

Hi Shelby

 

I used to live on Atlas Street until I got married in 1972 (my mum lived there until the slum clearance) we lived next door to the Davison family and was friends then and still am friends now with the Timmins and Fellows families

[david weston 10]

I think there's some confusion over the 'Big' houses on the top of Smith's Field. There was a large vicarage-type house on Grimesthorpe Road at the bottom of Osgathorpe Lane / top of Torbay Road; it is visible on DIDO's second photo above. Further on Grimesthorpe Road, just after the opening to the field, there was a much older, large house which is the one most people are refering to. It backed right onto Grimesthorpe Road with no pavement and its sandstone walls were very weathered. There was a lean-to guard frame made of metal bars around a low window at road level. PSCC cricket club had a player form Sutherland Road ( below Petre Street) called Ken Speechly who was a milk man. The iron rings which held the barrage balloons were still in place in the 60's and may still be there ?

[beezerboy 12]

I think there's some confusion over the 'Big' houses on the top of Smith's Field. There was a large vicarage-type house on Grimesthorpe Road at the bottom of Osgathorpe Lane / top of Torbay Road; it is visible on DIDO's second photo above. Further on Grimesthorpe Road, just after the opening to the field, there was a much older, large house which is the one most people are refering to. It backed right onto Grimesthorpe Road with no pavement and its sandstone walls were very weathered. There was a lean-to guard frame made of metal bars around a low window at road level. PSCC cricket club had a player form Sutherland Road ( below Petre Street) called Ken Speechly who was a milk man. The iron rings which held the barrage balloons were still in place in the 60's and may still be there ?

 

According to the 1905 survey map,the one at the top Carwood Lane ,above what became Torbay road was Hall Carr House,the one above the cricket field was Meadow Head,whilst the one further east on Grimey Road was Woodhill House and I think the Taffinders may have lived there at some time . We used to sledge down that part of the field. Does anyone remember that there was an air raid shelter dug in the side of the banking at the top .

[rf2690 10]

According to the 1905 survey map,the one at the top Carwood Lane ,above what became Torbay road was Hall Carr House,the one above the cricket field was Meadow Head,whilst the one further east on Grimey Road was Woodhill House and I think the Taffinders may have lived there at some time . We used to sledge down that part of the field. Does anyone remember that there was an air raid shelter dug in the side of the banking at the top .

Your right Taffinders did live there.Can't recall an air raid shelter but can remember sliding down the same hill on pieces of carboard.