Attercliffe common.

[whitebike1]

Anyone remember living on Amberley street in the 50s and 60s and going into snarts corner shop ,and also into robinsons shop at the corner of berkley street .

[MILO007]

Hi whitebike1 3of my schoolmates lived on amberley street i was born in the 50s and left the cliffe in 1972 i lived on rotherham st

[donsmoobabe]

im not from that era but I do currently work at 33 Attercliffe common next to amberly garage what used to Arabian nights does anyone remember what the building used to be before that ?

[hillsbro]

...does anyone remember what the building used to be before that ?

An interesting question – I remember this building from the 1950s/60s but couldn’t tell you what was there at that time. I do remember a doctor’s surgery next door (shown on this 1950s map), and the Globe Cinema was at the other side.

 

The building perhaps dates from the late 19th century. The 1905 and 1911 directories show "Simpson & Melling, painters" at 33 Attercliffe Common, with "Blyth & Forrest, surgeons" next door at No 39. The partners in the painting firm were Frederick Simpson of Firth Park Road (where the firm also had another branch) and Harry Melling of Main Road, Handsworth.

 

Going back to the 1881 census return, No 33 is shown as "Elliott’s Buildings", with "John Johnson, mason" at No 1 and "George Rowland, sawyer (wood)" at No 3 – though this might (?) have been an earlier building on the same site.

 

By 1924 Simpson & Melling had moved to Norfolk Street and 33 Attercliffe Common was evidently unoccupied. I'll see if I can find any later directories to see how the building was used after 1924..

 

---------- Post added 11-08-2015 at 19:32 ----------

 

I found some later directories. The Arabian Nights café must have opened in the early 1960s. Prior to that No 33 had been a sweet shop since the late 1920s..