Sheffield gales 1962

[PhilipB 10]

Originally posted by derfice

my pal les lived in a prefab house on the arbouthorne. i can remember him telling me the next day that he laid in bed and watched the roof disappear. didn't seem to worry him too much though.

 

Was at Hurlfield School and they closed it the day after because lots of people from the Arbourthorne prefabs were sheltered in the school overnight.

[bigkev 10]

I can remember it well we lived on lowedges then on toppham road and out of our kitchen window we saw the wind lift a wooden fence off then someones front lawn and drop it on the roof of one of the houses over the road. we also saw a three wheeler car just get lifted as it was just a toy and dropped at the back of our masonette, them winds was really strong in fact just up from the shops on lowedges it blew one side of a house in, then what happened we had to contend with the floods in the 60's I can remember going down to my grandma's who lived down the cliffe and going for a walk with my dad what use to be the weir walk just off carbrook street it took you down to brightside the water level was that high that they had put up steel sheets down the weir walk it was about 3 inches from the top of the brightside bridge next to the bridge inn infact the weir head where the water fall was you couldnt see it as there was that much water going over it and up sheffield on ladys bridge there was that much wood piled high the water was licking the top of the bridge if I can remember rightly what is now the garage just across from the old sheaf market where the houses use to be all that was flooded.

[robmaujac 10]

To Pitsmoorlad. My uncle Aunt and cousin were the people your dad rescued at Shirecliffe on that night, That has brought back alot of memories to me. I was living in Sheffield at Cromford Street at the time and we had to be brought downstairs from our attic and sleep in the front room as all the chimney pots were falling through the rooftops. Maureen.

[dustbunny 10]

I remember the 1962 gales, the chimney on the house across the road was blown off and went through the roof luckily no one was in bed at the time. I can rmeber not having to go to school that day. When I was little I used to spend a lot of my time in Sharmans sat at the counter. That would have been around 1957/1958 chatting away to the customers. I lived on Victoria street before moving to Hodgson Street then to the Gleadless Valley in 1963.:

[Windmillgal 10]

Originally posted by Timbuck

With my bedroom window missing and a howling gale blowing through the house I some how managed to get dressed and went downstairs. My Father and Brother were outside the house inspecting the asbestos garage which had moved about two feet, and was stopped from blowing away by the car inside, the side of the garage looked like a porcupine with dozens of broken roof slates sticking out of it, the nearby houses had all lost parts of their roofs. The wind had now dropped a lot but was still gusting very strongly . It was agreed that I patched up the damage while my Dad and Brother went to work.

To get some material to board up the window I set off to Firth Park to "Richardson's" the nearest DIY shop,

On my way I passed "Hoskins chip shop" where the front of the shop was caved in with glass

everywhere...Further down Bellhouse Rd more roof damage..when I got to the bottom of Windmill Lane the Fire Brigade was sorting out a house where the whole gable end had fallen inwards, I later found out that some children had been Killed in bed in that incident.

I carried on down to Firth Park and I noticed that the sky was clear blue and high up in the air you could see items of building materials spinning around like straw in the wind, The radio had put out a warning to watch out for falling debri. When I got to Richardson's DIY shop, the owner was doing a roaring trade and had almost sold out of Boards nails and timber lats, but I was lucky enough to get some gear for my window repair.

A man who I knew, told me that the Vicar and his wife at St Hildas Church, had been killed on the settee in the lounge of the Vicarage, due to the chimney stack falling through the roof and bedroom floor and into the lounge.

When I got back home the Granada TV news was on, and I remember Bill Grundy (of Sex Pistols fame) standing on a hill overlooking Sheffield and saying that a Gale of 120 mph had hit Sheffield at 6 oclock that morning and it had now dropped down to a mere 80mph . I've seen a few storms since then but nothing like that one.

[Windmillgal 10]

Not St Hilda's but the Methodist Church at Firth Park. His child/ren were killed.

 

Mr Thompson was the Vicar at St Hilda's in the Vicarage next door - we are Windmill Lane residents and have been for over 45 years - I remember this so well.

 

The prefabs on Honeysuckle Road were also damaged.

[Trekker 10]

sure it's bin said b4 but the prefabs on skyedge were rippid apart. my dad helped out.

[poppins 10]

My mom saved the newspapers from the 1962 gale, i still have them, but put them somplace clever of course, wouldn't know where to start looking for them now .

[lazarus 68]

I slept through it all, all I saw was the aftermath when I went to work the next day, I was seventeen at the time.

 

I could sleep for England then.

[hazel 11]

I lived at Intake at the time in a brand new semi which luckily escaped any damge.

I was just 2 mths pregnant with my first child and the fear of windy weather lasted for years.

I remember sruggling up the road to see that my parents were ok and going into town to work.

Can anyone remember what mth it was as my Dad died on the 4th of April of that yr so ? march.

hazel

[RoyalRegular 10]

Hazel,

 

It was February.....I was 10 and my grandad died that night.

[hazel 11]

Thanks Royal,

I knew it had to be near the time my Dad died by

my son's date of birth.

Must have been a traumatic time for your family too

 

hazel