Sheffield 'Founding' Families

[Floridablade]

My mother worked for Mrs. Wostenholm for about 30 years but I didn't know their connection with Nether Edge although that's where we lived. It was the same old story really we took everything for granted , never questioned anything. James Neil was a famous industrialist, his principle product was metal cutting tools, hacksaws, and their house was in Fulwood. I painted it for him and he caught me looking at some old blunderbuss in his garage and told me to take them, he had no use for them, no idea what happened to them because I was called up for N.S. so I wrapped them in oil cloth and hid them in the cellar and then forgot about them.

[Albert T Smith]

A lot of the highways in Sheffield are named after the cities well known people of years gone bye. I believe that over a short time period, probably because of political correctness, the city as lost a lot because this was not continued. This may also be a indicator that those who now have a controlling hand of the city, do not originate from it.

 

The main entry point to the city is named, ' The Parkway '. Why? Who thought of that name? Could it not have been named after someone who helped to create and maintain this city by ensuring that it had a Green Belt to frame it and had a Peak District National Park to attach its self to?

I believe Sheffield is the only city that does attach itself to a National Park.

[buck]

I wonder about Bramhall Lane. A family in Plainville CT with that name are friends of mine, and say the family came from Sheffield way back when..

[Greybeard]

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[Greybeard]

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[hillsbro]

Perhaps the 'Parkway' is named after Sheffield Park - ie the park that once belonged to the lord of the manor, as is Park Square ?

 

This may be one reason for the choice of the word 'Parkway' in Sheffield, but (at risk of going a little further off-topic...) the origin of the word apparently goes back to 1920s America, when it meant a specific (and rather different) type of road. Although many wide, well-landscaped roads are now called parkways, Bill Bryson writes in his book Made in America "The name parkway was significant. These roads were designed for leisure driving for the middle classes." .... "They were lavishly landscaped and endowed with graceful curves and wooded medians (i.e. central reservations) to enhance their aesthetics. Billboards, gas stations and other roadside detritus were ruthlessly excluded. They weren't so much highways as sylvan glades where you could exercise your car."

 

I quite agree that major new roads could commemorate notable Sheffield people, and a Albert suggests, the Parkway could have been named after someone who helped to create and maintain Sheffields green areas.

[Greybeard]

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[Wardonia]

Not sure but isn't Sheffield the only English city to have a National Park within its boundary ? - I live in Sheffield but I also live in the Peak National Park.

 

Parts of the Peak National Park are in Greater Manchester, but I'm not quite sure if that's the same thing as Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county.

[buck]

This may be one reason for the choice of the word 'Parkway' in Sheffield, but (at risk of going a little further off-topic...) the origin of the word apparently goes back to 1920s America, when it meant a specific (and rather different) type of road. Although many wide, well-landscaped roads are now called parkways, Bill Bryson writes in his book Made in America "The name parkway was significant. These roads were designed for leisure driving for the middle classes." .... "They were lavishly landscaped and endowed with graceful curves and wooded medians (i.e. central reservations) to enhance their aesthetics. Billboards, gas stations and other roadside detritus were ruthlessly excluded. They weren't so much highways as sylvan glades where you could exercise your car."

 

I quite agree that major new roads could commemorate notable Sheffield people, and a Albert suggests, the Parkway could have been named after someone who helped to create and maintain Sheffields green areas.

Parkways are still quite numerous. They are free of commercial traffic such as heavy trucks, or buses I believe. Many of them built during the 30s suffer from one big problem, the entry ramps are very short,and often with a full stop before yielding. There are lots of accidents when cars try to get on with cars going fast and both lanes full.

[wolfstalin]

Hillsbro, - I expect your right about this, it was just a guess on my part. A happy coinidence then that an ancient road, a continuation of Dixon lane in fact, now well buried under Park Square was in 1736 known as 'Park Gate'.

 

Just like our council to get something right by accident

 

 

Actually not Greybeard;

 

The Parkway was named Sheffield Parkway in lieu of the desired effect of some sort of high class link road between the city and the new motorway at Tinsley.

 

Originally the Sheffield Parkway ended at Manor Lane and not Park Square, this was be for the Nunnery site was cleared and Cowleyshaws (sic) Pond had been filled in.