The five arches

[johnpm 18]

It could well be a London-Manchester expresss, as the Great Central's "London extension" enabled them to compete with the Midland Railway. Here is a photo of a loco heading a train in the opposite direction, a Manchester-London express leaving Manchester Central in the early 1900s.

 

What a comedown for the Five Arches - from carrying crack express trains to having a single track used by a few freight workings!

 

---------- Post added 21-12-2016 at 11:32 ----------

 

Yes indeed - here's a photo. It was actually a postcard that turned up on eBay in 2012. I was outbid (it went for £12.50) so I cunningly copied the grainy image and photoshopped it a bit.

 

Thanks Hillsbro. Happy Christmas.

[hillsbro 32]

Thanks Hillsbro. Happy Christmas.

Season's greetings returned!

[old tup 30]

The Black Bridge is at the bottom of "Scotsmans Hill" it was used for burials in the top half of Wardsend Cemetery and as a right of way,Wardsend was the only burial ground in Britain with a main railway line running through the middle of it!.Lower towards the power station the White Bridge was also a right of way outside the cemetery leading down through the bending back and forth railed pathway to the very bottom of Wardsend cemetery!.A right turn led to the black stone bridge over the River Don to Liversey Street,now a memory as it was washed away in the bad flooding a few years back,it has been replaced by a more modern model!.On the next bend on Liversey Street behind the large steel gates was our cottage built in the late 1700s for a schoolteacher,at the bottom of our field was the footbridge over the Don used by the workers at the Power Station our old man included!.As kids we used to dare each other to cross the White Bridge like tightrope walkers across the arch on top,I did it once it was scary, when you think of what could have happened if you slipped doesn,t bare thinking about, if only our parents knew!.From behind the Owlerton Dog Track now the area is a dump a far cry from when I spent my childhood up to my twenties down there!.

Edited December 21, 2016 by old tup
cant decide between bear and bare!

[hillsbro 32]

Hi old tup - it's good as always to read your recollections! It's such a pity that the old Wardsend Bridge wasn't rebuilt as it was, but I suppose the new one will withstand better any such floods in future. Here is an old postcard view.

[old tup 30]

Merry Christmas Hillsbro,good picture from the 1800s,at the bottom left hand corner out of sight was the start of the goit feeding the millpond behind our cottage!.It emptied back into the River Don by two separate goits nearby the footbridge and weir opposite the power station,it was all demolished and filled in around 1926 so I never saw it as that was 20 years before I was born!.It can be seen on Picture Sheffield from the air forum!.

[hillsbro 32]

Merry Christmas old tup! Your former home and the goit are shown on this old map - click on the blue dot and drag to the left for a modern aerial view.

[Yorkshire 53 10]

There was also a painting on the upper side, in the 70's I think, about immigration.

[HughW 10]

I spent an enjoyable hour this afternoon exposing the remains of the white bridge. There are some photos in a (new) thread on the Wardsend Cemetery Facebook page...

The White Bridge

[WarPig 78]

There's an old photo of the five arches currently on sale on eBay

[hillsbro 32]

I spent an enjoyable hour this afternoon exposing the remains of the white bridge. There are some photos in a (new) thread on the Wardsend Cemetery Facebook page...

It's very interesting to see the photos!

There's an old photo of the five arches currently on sale on eBay

Thanks for the tip, WarPig - I downloaded the image: here it is after "Photoshopping". Edited December 23, 2016 by hillsbro

[bullerboY 10]

Thanks for that Hugh W i spent my younger years playing in that cemetery and always went across the white bridge from where i lived on Shirecliffe in the 40s-50s,at side of the two trees just to the left as you approached them was a mass grave the last time i was there it was covered with soil which had been tipped everywhere.At the other side of the bridge was the Zig Zag railings down to Club Mill Rd i couldnt believe that they had pulled this bridge down.In the 60s we used to ride our Trials motorbikes across it and on to the muckhills which was the spoils from the power station and were made by a cable and bucket system.I understand that at one time there was a tunnel under the railway line before the bridge was built but was filled in when a woman was attacked and murdered in it,i think the stream which is now piped ran through it.

[old tup 30]

I spent an enjoyable hour this afternoon exposing the remains of the white bridge. There are some photos in a (new) thread on the Wardsend Cemetery Facebook page...

The White Bridge

Looking at your picture HughW gives me the shivers whatever possessed me to cross over balancing atop the arch I,ll never know!.We never saw danger as kids in those days,some of the things we got up to I better not repeat!.Its a wonder I,m alive today when I recollect what my schoolpals and I at Hillfoot got up to in the area,no wonder my old man was always on my case!.