Jump to content


Oldest street name sign still on wall.

Recommended Posts

Walking on Glossop road today I spotted a road name sign on the wall of the building opposite the students union bar.It looks as if it is the original cast Iron one,very small and hardly visible because of the number of times it has been painted over I should think.Has anyone seen any more old street signs?

Edited by Kidorry

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One on a building bottom of Scarsdale Road Woodseats with its' original name Green Lane.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
One on a building bottom of Scarsdale Road Woodseats with its' original name Green Lane.
Yes - here it is. Most of the old cast-iron street signs seem to have disappeared in recent years; the late Peter Harvey illustrated four surviving ones on the front cover of his book "Street Names of Sheffield" - see here. Many of the cast iron signs also gave the old names of the streets, as in the case of Scarsdale Road. Two more cast-iron signs with former names that spring to mind were "MINTO ROAD late MILNER ROAD" in Hillsborough (this survived until the 1970s) and "RURAL LANE late FOX LANE" in Wadsley (this got nicked in the 1990s). The renamings came about for various reasons - often they date from the turn of the last century when the city boundary was extended and some street names were duplicated in the "new suburbs" - this explains the "BRIDPORT ROAD late BAWTRY ROAD" sign that Peter Harvey shows, and it may explain the Green Lane and Fox Lane renamings. Milner Road was evidently renamed in honour of the Earl of Minto, according to Peter Harvey.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

At the bottom of Crookes Road in Broomhill is a very old cast road sign. Number 4 holds great sentimental memories for me so I would love to purchase that sign if ever it is removed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There was a spate of thefts of cast iron streetnames a few years ago when scrap prices were high and a number around Walkley disappeared then. There are two that I like for sentimental reasons, one on Staniforth Road and one on City Road both give the former names and both were covered by advertising signs until they were removed about ten years ago. They were rusty and blended in so well with the brickwork that you'd only really notice them from the top deck of a bus.

 

One I did like was "Cotton Mill Row" which I think was wooden with metal letters but that's been replaced with something more modern.

 

My grandad lived on Carter Place at Heeley and the street name was on his house. When it was demolished he got the nameplate from the contractors and placed it above the door to his greenhouse. A relative sold it to an antique dealer in Killamarsh when my grandad died so I guess it's still around somewhere.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I did once try to buy an old Sheffield Road sign. They were knocking down the row of shops at the side of the Golden Ball pub on Attercliffe Road or was it Common. [Where the defunct stadium front car park was] The shops were the swap shop [remember them] The cafe and an opticians. I hovered round and offered one of the demolition crew £20 for the sign [ It was the early 80's and it was a lot of money] gave him my phone number didn't hear anything and when I drove past the building was down and I retrieved part of the smashed sign from the rubble " TTER" as I recall. What a waste. The good part was I bought the old pinball from the derelict cafe when I caught the owner sneaking out. My point is these old signs should be saved where possible and saved at Kelham Island perhaps. I still wonder what happened to the really old sign that was on the building at the end of Broadfield Road that was demolished this year

Edited by Odd-jobs

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Walking on Glossop road today I spotted a road name sign on the wall of the building opposite the students union bar.It looks as if it is the original cast Iron one,very small and hardly visible because of the number of times it has been painted over I should think.Has anyone seen any more old street signs?

 

I spotted one quite by chance today, in hillsbro's old territory; I was using Kendal Road, S6, as a short cut to drop down on to Holme Lane from Dykes Hall Road. On Oakland Road, on the Oakland Road Club boundary wall, right opposite the end of Kendal, there is a very old cast-iron sign saying " Oakland Road late Hawksley Road". I remember this sign from when I was a girl, 60 odd years ago, any idea of its date of provenance, hillsbro?

Edited by susie1
Correction

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
There was a spate of thefts of cast iron streetnames a few years ago when scrap prices were high and a number around Walkley disappeared then. There are two that I like for sentimental reasons, one on Staniforth Road and one on City Road both give the former names and both were covered by advertising signs until they were removed about ten years ago. They were rusty and blended in so well with the brickwork that you'd only really notice them from the top deck of a bus.

 

One I did like was "Cotton Mill Row" which I think was wooden with metal letters but that's been replaced with something more modern.

 

My grandad lived on Carter Place at Heeley and the street name was on his house. When it was demolished he got the nameplate from the contractors and placed it above the door to his greenhouse. A relative sold it to an antique dealer in Killamarsh when my grandad died so I guess it's still around somewhere.

 

What was your grandfather's family name? We lived at number 13 Carter Place for a few years.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What was your grandfather's family name? We lived at number 13 Carter Place for a few years.

My Gran had the corner shop on Carter Place. I was born in the next house up in 1965.

 

---------- Post added 24-12-2014 at 00:13 ----------

 

And there's an old sign next to my workshop on Bardwell Rd

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi susie1 - I had quite forgotten Oakland Road. The upper part was known as Hawksley Road until 1903 - here is "]a scanfrom Peter Harvey's book and a scan from Peter Harvey's book and an 1890s map. Other re-namings at that time were the adjacent Harrison Street which became part of Kendal Road, Green Street which became Greeenock Street, Providence Road which became Portsea Road and part of Taplin Road which became Harrison Road. Note the mis-spellings on the map "Hauksley Rd.", "Authorn Rd.", "Beachwood Rod." etc.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What was your grandfather's family name? We lived at number 13 Carter Place for a few years.

 

It was "Moore" but he was known to all and sundry as "Batty". He moved temporarily to Kent Road when his house was demolished and then to Intake.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.