Sheffield Xmas lights in the 60's

[BigUn]

And so they should swanny.Ithink it was called the travellers,unless any one else can correct me. :wave:

[Marky Baby]

Do you remember the Big Crowns that used to be suspended in a line running down the centre of the Moor? They used to frighten me as a kid because of the way that they swayed in the wind and when you sat at the front on the top deck of the bus it felt like you were going to bang into them.

I don't know if it's true but somebody once told me that they were bought second hand from Blackpool!

Also I remember the fibre glass reindeer (that were lit up from inside), around the top of the Hole in the road.

[PhilipB]

In the 60s people would come from miles around to walk through town. The Moor just had to be seen to be believed.

Masses of photographers with their cameras on tripods and kids were just in a different world.

[Fareast]

........and it wasn't ONLY the Xmas lights that were attractive .

The whole of the City seemed to come alive at Xmas . There were , "private " lights as well as the street lights . The city seemed to be clean , yet full of people , hustle and bustle .

About a week or so before Xmas , there was a feeling in the air that , "Xmas had arrived ".

As someone has already pointed out , it was a magical time for children but adults seemed to enjoy it too .

I don't live in Sheffield any more but from what I can gather from various posts the whole thing has gone down the drain . Progress !!

[Basalt]

Most of the villages had their own lights. High Green had a set that was suspended along the side of Mortomley Park between the trees from the corner of Greengate Lane.

 

When you were on the bus on a cold winter night, the sight of the mortomley lights through the steam on the bus windows would let you know you were in High Green and it was nearly time to get off.

 

Ah the memories.

[Plain Talker]

Originally posted by Fareast

........and it wasn't ONLY the Xmas lights that were attractive .

The whole of the City seemed to come alive at Xmas . There were , "private " lights as well as the street lights . The city seemed to be clean , yet full of people , hustle and bustle .

About a week or so before Xmas , there was a feeling in the air that , "Xmas had arrived ".

As someone has already pointed out , it was a magical time for children but adults seemed to enjoy it too .

I don't live in Sheffield any more but from what I can gather from various posts the whole thing has gone down the drain . Progress !!

 

I agree with what you say in your reminiscences, Fareast...

 

I remember the warmth of the glow of the shop windows, all golden and enticing...

 

Pressing my nose up against the shop window to peer through the mist at the wares displayed for sale.

 

PT

[Fareast]

I don't know if you'll agree with this , Plain Talker , but I think traffic made a lot of difference to the atmosphere !

I know there are lots of good reasons to separate traffic and people but it does in turn create its own problems . They often knock down some historic , interesting buildings to make new roads to keep traffic away from busy city centres .

When the Xmas lights came on , the cars and buses , in my opinion , added to the , "hustle and bustle " atmosphere . Pedestrian areas have their good points but to me it all seems so quiet and lifeless nowadays . I suppose 'cos of the big increase in traffic volume , it would be a whole new ball-game these days --------yet , it still seems a pity.

The other negative effect these days is Meadowhall. Again , there's something to be said for free parking , being out of the rain.........etc........but it seems to have had the effect of reducing the number of prosperous , well-set up shops that seemed to be all over the city centre in the '50's to the '70's. All these places made a special effort at Xmas , not only with lights but creative window displays and Xmass-y events inside the stores .

A bit off the topic but do you remember [or anyone else ?] Marshall and Snelgrove 's on Leopold Street ? My sister always told me it was the classiest shop in Sheffield . Even the name sounds snobby ! Walsh's ran it a close second , being the 'Harrods' of Sheffield .

[OntarioOwl]

It wasn't that bad into the 70s either. I remember as a kid going into town to see the lights, and they stretched from Snig Hill right down the Moor. We used to get excited just watching the council workmen putting them up!!! It started to go downhill during the Government v Council battles of the early-mid 80s, and by the sounds of it it's got worse.

 

Shame.

[swanny]

I also remember those Big Crowns Marky Baby! I'd forgotten about them. I had exactly the same thoughts as you. Infact it was so scary if you were riding at the front of the top deck and you saw the bus heading towards them.

 

Basalt has also jogged my memory mentioning the lights at High Green etc., I never got to see them but didn't they have lights in the park at Chapeltown too?? The old memory gets a bit fuzzy after the age of 21!

[poppins]

I don't recall any christmas lights in Sheffield in the 60s , i do remember going on the coach every xmas to see the Blackpool illuminations though....we thought they were marvelous !