Hole in the road - should it return?

[beechnut]

See this article at Wikipedia for opening and closing dates of Hole in the Road complex: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Street_(Sheffield)

 

I don't think the opening date of November 1967 can refer to the whole of the system, as I was delivering stock to Rackhams after Christmas, and into January 1968, and they were still installing escalators at the upper end. Bunker & Pratley's subway showroom was certainly open in 1967, also the transport enquiry office.

[hillsbro]

Here's a rather "atmospheric" photo:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1139/533347005_b4972e452f.jpg?v=0

 

And one from the Firth Park School website: http://www.firthparkgrammarschool.co.uk/sheffield/01.jpg

 

And a 1989 aerial view: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1243/541163475_9410805c05.jpg?v=0

 

Does anyone have a photo of the fish tank?

[Plain Talker]

The fish tank was situated just below the bus in the 1989 picture, but the shade covers it up.

[hillsbro]

Yes - you can just see the lower part of the frame. I remember the huge tropical fish that were in the tank, and they always seemed very well cared for.

[Sheff2006]

See this article at Wikipedia for opening and closing dates of Hole in the Road complex: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Street_(Sheffield)

 

Ahh thanks for the link to the dates Geddy Lee.

 

Reading Beechnut's post though, it never occurred to me that it might have only been partially open on November 27th 1967. Regarding the fish tank, does anyone know when it appeared?

[hillsbro]

As far as I recall, the fish tank was there from the very beginning, and it soon became a popular meeting point. I seem to remember that some idiot once smashed the glass with a sledge-hammer (?). I remember seeing a Christmas display in the centre of the circle, and I think that almost all the complex was open in November, but the top end wasn't quite finished.

 

Older forummers might remember the homeless "Subway Cyril" who spent most of his time there. Poor Cyril Griffin used to work with my father at Firth Browns, but suffered some sort of breakdown. He died of exposure one night in 1976 and was found in the doorway of BHS.

[0114owl1867]

yes i miss it big time i used to get my hair cut down there (near the toilets) and meet my bird at the fishtank every saturday, then up the escalator to rackhams, or go in downstairs (i wonder if that space is still there?)

[Sheff2006]

yes i miss it big time i used to get my hair cut down there (near the toilets) and meet my bird at the fishtank every saturday, then up the escalator to rackhams, or go in downstairs (i wonder if that space is still there?)

 

Hmm yes it makes you wonder if the downstairs spaces in the shops are still there and what they're like. I remember using the down in the hole entrance to House Of Fraser (Rackhams) but the C&A entrance is the most memorable to me.

 

Does anyone who worked/works in these buildings know anything about the spaces that were part of the hole in the road?

[hillsbro]

Hmm yes it makes you wonder if the downstairs spaces in the shops are still there and what they're like. ... Does anyone who worked/works in these buildings know anything about the spaces that were part of the hole in the road?

 

Interesting point. In the early 1970s I worked at the Midland Bank (now the Banker's Draft) and we just had a staircase leading down to the subway. I imagine that this space is now part of the gents' toilet in the pub. Across the square, where Instant Images, Bunker & Pratleys, Yorkshire Electricity and Tandys were, the shops had subway entrances/sales areas which are presumably now also part of the basements.

[sheffchef]

Who else misses Sheffield's hole in the road and thinks it should return?

 

I miss the hole in road, particulary the fish tank in the wall I would always rush up to it and gaze through the thick glass never quite understanding how they got there and how they were fed

Then mum would call me, so I would have to tear myself away and yes I remember the escalators never working and the wino's starting to hang around!

 

It was good in it's time and yes I would like it back but feel we have moved on and it wouldn't be the same if it was brought back.... plus think of all the chavs that would be lurking around!!!