Redgates toy shop - Who remembers it?

[chrishall 10]

I was born in '47 and always remember Redgates being on the Moor right hand side travelling up the Moor towards the Town Hall - last shop or next to last at Furnival Gate, was still there in '64 I think? Maybe still there when I left Sheffield in '66?

[Cheetham 10]

I was born in '47 and always remember Redgates being on the Moor right hand side travelling up the Moor towards the Town Hall - last shop or next to last at Furnival Gate, was still there in '64 I think? Maybe still there when I left Sheffield in '66?

 

Thanks. That's exactly where I remember it was located in the '60's

[Eli the Cat 10]

Thanks. That's exactly where I remember it was located in the '60's

 

And that's where I remember it in the 70s. best toy shop ever. It was like being in a sweet shop - you never knew what to pester your parents for! Dad would take us downstairs when Mum was choosing pressies to send to Santa upstairs and vice versa. Real trip down memory lane:)

[maxiesmum 10]

Hello,

I was lucky enough to work at Redgates in the early 70s. I worked on the large toy and bike department. I oved every minute of it especially on a Thursday when it was quiet and the management all had a day off !! We used to play with the toys and ride the bikes round............ Such fun!! LOL! It was sad when it closed down and it looks as if the building is never going to be used again.

[maxiesmum 10]

I thought Redgates was at the bottom of Ecclesall Road when I was a lad....opposite the S & E Dept store.

 

Or is my memory playing tricks on me ?

 

Yes Redgates was originally where you say, it got bombed in the war and moved to the moor.

[maxiesmum 10]

A friend of mine her mother worked at one time in the personell dept at Redgates. Her name was Mrs Green.

 

Ah, yes Mrs Green as we assistants at Redgates all knew her. She was the personnel manager . A nice person indeed.

[maxiesmum 10]

What no one remembers Wilson Gumperts in Fitzalan square,I must be getting old then!!!!!

 

Hello,

I worked at Wilson and Gumperts in Fitzallan Square for just over a year then around 1969 or 1970 it shut down and we assistants were transfered to Redgates. Yes Wilson and Gumperts was just as magical as Redgates even though it was smaller!

[Luckyyorkie2 10]

Hi, I remember my Parents used to go to Redgates for some of our Christmas presents, but can't really remember the shop so we must have stayed at home with Grandparents whilst Mum & Dad went, but looking back we often wondered how they managed to make sure all 6 of us Kids had big piles of pressies every year

[SLY64 10]

I worked at Redgates in 1982 for 5 years downstairs in the basement on the lego department, games and subbuteo...oh happy days!!

[Maggie Nunn 0]

‘KEEP THE NAME OF REDGATES ALIVE’

Tuesday 25th February at 10:30AM a plaque will be unveiled to commemorate the great Toy Shop that brought so much joy and anticipation to the children of Sheffield for the past 140 years. The unveiling will take place outside the new H&M store on the Moor. Everyone welcome! 

[FIRETHORN1 58]

Does anyone remember buying boxes of  "a'penny men" from Redgate's? They were boxes of tiny toy soldiers. Each one was about as big as your little fingernail and you got about 24  of them to the box, which cost 1 shilling - i.e 12 old pennies - which made each tiny soldier cost half a penny... hence the name "a'penny men"!  My little brother and I loved them. You could get them in all sorts of different armies - British, German, Japanese infantry - even older armies, like Cavaliers and Roundheads.  My absolute favourites were my sets of American Civil war soldiers - with the Union soldiers made of navy blue plastic and the Confederate soldiers made of pale grey plastic ,

 

In the mid-to late 60's, my little brother and I were given  a threepenny bit as spending money  to take to school every day. We would religiously  save our threepenny bits from Monday to Thursday, so that we had a shilling to spend in Redgate's  on the Saturday. On Fridays, we'd spend our remaining threepenny bit on sweets. I always used to spend my spare threepence buying a  "penny arrer" (a thin strip of chewy toffee called an Arrow bar, which cost 1 penny ),  then I'd buy 2 Lemfizz cubes at 2 for a penny and then either 4 Blackjack chews, 4 Fruit Salad chews, or 4 Sports Mixture gums - all at 4 for a penny.

 

On Saturdays, my dad would take us into Redgate's in town,  where we would spend our saved up shillings on a box of "a'penny men". Dad would then walk us down to the old Castle Market and treat us to a plate of vinegary cockles or whelks, then buy us a bag of boiled sweets to take home with us,

 

Thanks for this thread, These are really good memories of Redgates - and of a really nice part of my 60's childhood 

Edited March 4, 2020 by FIRETHORN1

[inessex 11]

I was lucky enough to be able to look in Redgates  most nights on the way home from school. Had to change from the Firth Park tram to the Bradway bus outside.  Age of 10.  Kids not allowed to do that now. 1960 saw this wooden boat kit in the window. Got it for my 10th birthday.  Mum not too well at the time so didn't sleep built it at night. Major task steaming wood etc.  Restoring it for my grand kids at this time