Tent on devonshire green in the 60s

[hillsbro]

When did this pub close?..

Must have been about 40 years ago. It is shown in the 1968 Kelly's Directory (at 57 Chester Street) but not in the 1973 directory.

[willybite]

Must have been about 40 years ago. It is shown in the 1968 Kelly's Directory (at 57 Chester Street) but not in the 1973 directory.

 

hiya hillsbro i don't think i've answered any of your posts before but the last time i went in the grey horse was 1960/61 and it was a darts semi final that i was in anyhow back to an earlier post of mine about the bombed buildings around devonshire,chester ,broomhall streets,there were spare land at both sides of the greyhorse and at the back of it on wellington st opposite wolstenholmes, it always seemed strange when only the pub abd 3/4 houses the other side of the spare land.when we were growing up the questions were why nothing was built on devonshire spare land and the answer we were told that it was owned by the church which church we never knew, but it seemed odd that it was just used as a carpark.

[Jim Hardie]

Devonshire Green itself is fairly new but the area used to be known as "Devonshire Street bombed site", as the buildings had been destroyed in the 1940 Blitz. Here is a link to a photo on the picturesheffield.com site showing how the area looked after the Luftwaffe had paid it a visit.

 

After the war the empty space was used as a convenient city-centre location for circuses etc. I also remember, in c. 1957, going to see "Jonah" the preserved whale there (do any other Forummers remember this? Here is a link to a BBC web page about Jonah). And in 1965 the site was used for "Itinerama", the travelling Cinerama. Another picture.sheffield.com photo shows the Cinerama marquee being erected, and here is an aerial view of the area showing the tent, also the Itinerama staff accommodation trailers, temporary buildings for ticket sales etc.

 

In March 1965 as a 17 year-old I was still at school and couldn't have afforded to go, but I sold part of my stamp collection (to "Titch" Taylor in form 5G...) to raise the money to take my girlfriend Susan to see the film

on a 100-foot wide curved screen. I think they also showed How The West Was Won and "Cinerama Holiday". I still have my ticket..

 

I saw the whale at the bottom of the Moor in about 1954. My mother decided to save a few pence and sent me in alone.

I walked down one side of it and decided the other side would be the same so I went back the same way and out the entrance.

No mum! I started to blub and a lady took my hand and started to take me home. My mother caught us up near the top of Alderson Road, a fair distance away. She of course had been waiting for me outside the exit which was on the side of the whale which I had declined to view.

Whenever I see a whale with its mouth propped open I remember my trip down the Moor.