Children's homes or orphanages in Sheffield

[Arfer Mo 10]

Hi Lizanne

 

There was a boy's home on Broompring Lane around the time you are enquiring about.

 

I think they called it The Sheffield Home For Boys or The Sheffield Boys Shelter, I'm not too sure.

 

I do have some papers somewhere in the UK with an Address but unfortunately I'm here in New Zealand.

 

Maybe one of the Forummers will come up with more information.

 

Two members of my family stayed there until one went into the army and the other was sent to Canada to learn a trade.

 

To earn their keep they had o chop firewood and deliver it on a handcart to the customers.

 

I do hope this helps

 

Happy Days!

Hi Pop T I remember the Sheffield Boys Home some of the lads went to Springfield school and some to the school I went to,Broomhill one lad called Hudson was a good pal of mine eg, in fact lthe 4 Home boys carried me on a blackboard to the Childrens hospital when Ibroke my leg, they all wore navy blue jerseys and short brown corderoy trousers no matter how tall they were

[PopT 10]

When you are referring to Fullwood are we talking Fulwood Cottage Homes?

 

When I was at school at the Central Technical School the school raised a lot of money for the homes over the years.

 

I believe the Central Tech Old Boy's Association carried on with this good work after the school closed.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Happy days!

[flyer 10]

When you are referring to Fullwood are we talking Fulwood Cottage Homes?

 

When I was at school at the Central Technical School the school raised a lot of money for the homes over the years.

 

I believe the Central Tech Old Boy's Association carried on with this good work after the school closed.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Happy days!

Yes we are talking Fullwood Cottage Homes, during my stay it was a hell hole ruled for the most part by some of the most vile house mothers ever collected in one place,lots of storys on S.F on the abuse that went on,But It as to be said one of the House mothers was indeed rumoured to be kind & concerned,only a rumour though.

[anlabystreet 12]

yes thats right...i was in there twice over a four year period from being six years old...i was in cottage 1 with a witch for a house mother..chain smoking winnie edge ...she was the image of the wicked witch of the west in the wizard of oz..she used to gratuitously love hurting the kids..whenever she approached her hare lip used to tremble and it was frightening...next door at cottage 2 was a woman called thornton..she was ok...at the time i couldnt understand why winnie was so vile but now i can...no man could have ever looked at her so she took it out on the little boys she was supposed to be caring for...and the superintendant ( a bloke called brooks) knew what was going on but he chose not to say anything

[anlabystreet 12]

we were in a kids home in the early 50s at a place called "the grove" which was on either broomgrove or southgrove road...it was heaven..but then they took us off to fulwood to a fate worse than watching eastenders all night

[Arfer Mo 10]

Hi Lizanne

 

There was a boy's home on Broompring Lane around the time you are enquiring about.

 

I think they called it The Sheffield Home For Boys or The Sheffield Boys Shelter, I'm not too sure.

 

I do have some papers somewhere in the UK with an Address but unfortunately I'm here in New Zealand.

 

Maybe one of the Forummers will come up with more information.

 

Two members of my family stayed there until one went into the army and the other was sent to Canada to learn a trade.

 

To earn their keep they had o chop firewood and deliver it on a handcart to the customers.

 

I do hope this helps

 

Happy Days!

HI POP T Do you recall the names of your relations who were in Sheffield Home For Boys as iwas at BROOMHILL school with some of those boys, in fact i broke my leg in the playground and four of them carried me on a blacboard to the hospital [agreat idea of this teacher who went with us] but not mine , as try as they may to ease my pain it did not, i left this school shortly after as we moved house, and never met them again and cannot remember their names and thought it may jog my memory Cheers Arthur.

[SputnikBoy 10]

yes thats right...i was in there twice over a four year period from being six years old...i was in cottage 1 with a witch for a house mother..chain smoking winnie edge ...she was the image of the wicked witch of the west in the wizard of oz..she used to gratuitously love hurting the kids..whenever she approached her hare lip used to tremble and it was frightening...next door at cottage 2 was a woman called thornton..she was ok...at the time i couldnt understand why winnie was so vile but now i can...no man could have ever looked at her so she took it out on the little boys she was supposed to be caring for...and the superintendant ( a bloke called brooks) knew what was going on but he chose not to say anything

 

I seem to recall the name Winnie Edge although I can't put a face to the name. Just as well evidently. I was also 'a resident' of the home at the time of Superintendent Brooks. I wonder if I may have known you ...? I was with the rest of the young kids in Cottage #9. Miss Bower (Rosemary) was the house mother and, while she could be especially strict at times, she wasn't cruel anyway.

 

Sure wish I could say the same for one of the relief mothers (Miss Herring). She would get an adrenelin rush whenever the word 'punish' came into her mind. Then, like Jaws, her eyes would roll over and she would come at us (no 'shark music' to warn us) and tear us apart. She was horrible.

 

It would seem that the prerequisites for being a house mother at Fulwood Cottage Homes were: 1. must hate kids. 2. must have been continually rejected by the (male) population at large and, 3. must be appropriately psychotic and bitter. It's ironic really because the house parents as well as their charges were basically rejects of society. Still, some of us are still here and some of us are not necessarily too much the worse for wear from our past experiences.

 

Now, where IS that puppy? I saw him just a moment ago. Oh boy, I have this uncontrolable desire to torture him ... ... ...

[anlabystreet 12]

i remember how they just had you swopping schools at the drop of a hat...one day lydgate lane .the next..broomhill..then greystones...crookes and so on...it was impossible to feel secure when you were around strangers all the time...plus being dressed up in those oliver twist type boots and horizontal striped woolly ties must have made us look stupid... and although we all think it didnt damage us the truth is that it did...i always thought i was never as good as anyone else ..i didnt get any confidence in myself till i started work on the building sites and went to night school ..i formed relationships with people who i would know for years and still do...do you remember going to redcar ymca and tuffnells coming to take all our stuff...and we all thought it was great cos we had a supper

[SputnikBoy 10]

I'm certainly not saying that we were not affected in some way by our experiences at FCH. What I AM saying is that the effects may not have been (or MAY indeed have been to some) detrimental to us. When 'released' I personally was very naive after my 6-year stint in the home and I lacked certain social skills. But I got on with life and didn't and don't ever harp on about the abuse that went on there. And, any mistakes that I may have made in my life (LOTS!) were never the result of the FCH experience, even though it (the experience) helped to shape my young life.

 

The life and the times of such state homes were so much different 50 years ago. Things went on then that were not recognized for what they were. The times were almost 'Oliver Twist' and I seem to remember most of them in 'black and white'. Abuse as we use the term today was probably not even found in the dictionary. This is why so many things were overlooked. Today with almost everyone yelling "abuse" (quickly followed by "compensation") it would be a different story. Abuse is now a popular by-word and helps to justify the existence and the large bank accounts of psychologists, social workers, and lawyers.

 

You know, until you brought up the name Tuffnells I had totally forgotten about them. I also wasn't aware that the annual camp we went to was owned by the YMCA. I always thought that it was an abandoned army base of some sort. Wasn't it located at an area called Marske-by-the-sea or something similar? I remember almost drowning there when a beach-ball that I was chasing was blown into the ocean. Not retrieving it would have resulted in one of two alternatives ...either drowning or having to face the house-mother. I wasn't sure which of the two was worse. Anyway, a young man (life-guard?) rescued both me and the ball.

 

By the way, I was the good looking kid in Cottage #9 in case you're wondering who I was/am.

[anlabystreet 12]

yes it was marske...it belonged to the ymca..it was good of them to let 300 loony kids stay there..i can remember walking out onto the field from the wood sheds and down a steep cliff path to the right..the views were breathtaking looking out to sea..when you reached the bottom turned right it led to redcar ...everybody looked forward to going there...i often say i am going to go back up there to see the place again but i would think its built on by now...some good memories i always remember about fulwood...the snow was so deep every winter...going up blackbrook road as it started to rise the snow drifted and was as high as i was tall..took us ages to get to the top but we all enjoyed doing it .........and ............going to school on the two buses every morning when the drivers kept overtaking each other on redmires road , all the kids went berserk as they passed one another...it made everybodys day ...i also remember picking the blackberries every sunday morning that grew at the roadside when we all went to the chapel on david lane

[SputnikBoy 10]

Hi anlaby. Is there any chance you could PM (private message) me with your name? I tried to do the same with you but I couldn't find a PM facility beneath your screen name. I absolutely recall the places and the events you mention above so I may have known you.

 

By the way, my name in those days was not Sputnikboy.

[SputnikBoy 10]

For some reason my previous post didn't bump this thread to the top of the list or even register the post. So, I'll try again.