Wicker Arches

[HughW]

not sure if i am doing this right just signed up

i didnt know wicker exsisted until i got gtgrandfathers marriage certificate

he was living at7 wicker lane wicker is it still standing

and would anybody know were icould look up who were living at that address in october 1896

 

In White's 1901 directory (on-line at www.historicaldirectories.org) Mrs Harriett HEZZILL shopkeeper is listed at no. 7. The Public Mortuary was elsewhere (Plum Lane, Corporation Street, built 1884).

 

In the 1891 census there was a Benjamin LOCKWOOD living there (unmarried, 40, wire drawer) plus boarders called COLLINGHAM, RODGERS and TOWERS.

 

You can get closer to 1896 by looking in other directories and also the electoral registers in the Local Studies Library.

 

Hugh

[boston]

I had a garage in the early 80s in the Arches yard it was right at the top The Sheffield Rustproof Centre/MS Cars Ltd,the doors were painted black,red & yellow.Inside we opened up a few of the old arches inside,we were told that's where the elephants were put & were used when they needed to move heavy objects due to the bombing.The rat's inside were massive a foot long,my nephew Chris ran a mile when he saw it.

 

Were these the elephants who were used by Thos W Wards on Saville St, which were quite a famous sight at the time. I heard these were kept within the arches.

[Falls]

Hi,

 

The most famous butchers in the Wicker was Friedricks, at the corner of Willis Street. They were pork butchers but made other things as well.

 

Regards

[elenac]

Thats the place, thanks Falls.

[Martin Benne]

Hi,

 

The Chinese restaurant was the Peacock I think.

 

Yes that's right I seem to remember the final owners did a midnight runner after a late night card school went against them.

 

Did 61 Wicker used to be a drink shop called Elliot's, before Assoc. Chemists bought it?

 

I don't know the name but I understand it was one of the old sasparella / ice cream soda places that you could go in and have a herbal drink. They seemed to disappear in the early 60s.

 

The Wilberforce was a well know eating place. Very popular with local workers, even after some companies started their own canteens Also busy on Saturday afteroons in the football season with out-of-town fans. This would be in the years after the war - say up to 1951-52.

 

I have a picture of it in my office - the building was bought by the Midland Bank and demolished in the mid-60s - the Bank had moved to avoid the new road - which is only now being built and which misses the property that they moved from!!

 

Do you remember Waterfalls, the wholesale and retail grocer, next to the old Bentley showrooms.

 

No - but that must have been 65 or 67 - Bentleys was 69-71. That's probably the building that we found the pulley in the roofspace.

Somewhere between Woodcock's office and Schweitzer's there used to be an ironmongers called Norman Crapper. It was typical ironmonger - sold everything, smelt of paraffin, creeky wooden floor, etc. Do you remember it?

 

Probably before my time (b 1947)

 

Martin

[Patrick316]

Hi

 

I think that the holes in The Wicker Arches must've been made by shrapnel from a bomb blast rather than machine gun bullets.

 

The raids on Sheffield were made by Heinkel 111's, Junkers 88's or possibly Dornier 17's. None of these aircraft were designed for low-level staffing of roads or buildings etc. They would've been flying at around 15,000 ft in order to fly along radio beams in order to get to and from targets in the Midlands. If they had been flying any lower, they would've lost the beam signals and got lost.

 

The job of machine-gunning roads etc was left to the fighters of which the only one at that time that the German airforce used over Britain was the Me 109 - and that aircraft just didn't have the range to fly from bases in northern France to Sheffield and back. It only had enough fuel to spend 10 minutes combat time over the south coast before it had to turn back for home.

 

However, if the holes are definately made by bullets, could they have been made during the Sheffield Gang "wars"

 

Patrick

(Bournemouth, Dorset)

[Nigel Womersle]

I seem to remember there was a pub called "hole in the wall" if im wrong some one will correct me.

 

 

That was just through the arches leaving Wicker - Saville Street. It is still there but has been boarded up many a year. Looks like it is ready for demolition.

[Falls]

Hi

 

I think that the holes in The Wicker Arches must've been made by shrapnel from a bomb blast rather than machine gun bullets.

 

The raids on Sheffield were made by Heinkel 111's, Junkers 88's or possibly Dornier 17's. None of these aircraft were designed for low-level staffing of roads or buildings etc. They would've been flying at around 15,000 ft in order to fly along radio beams in order to get to and from targets in the Midlands. If they had been flying any lower, they would've lost the beam signals and got lost.

 

The job of machine-gunning roads etc was left to the fighters of which the only one at that time that the German airforce used over Britain was the Me 109 - and that aircraft just didn't have the range to fly from bases in northern France to Sheffield and back. It only had enough fuel to spend 10 minutes combat time over the south coast before it had to turn back for home.

 

However, if the holes are definately made by bullets, could they have been made during the Sheffield Gang "wars"

 

Patrick

(Bournemouth, Dorset)

 

Hi,

 

At the time of the blitz, there was supposed to be a type of light anticraft gun in use in the city. I never saw one but was told that they could be quickly set up and that some did move from street to street during the raids.

 

I was also told that they couldn't fire high enough to hit the bombers, created a lot of fall out (shell fragments, etc), excited crews sometimes started firing before a target had been identified and may therefore, have been responsible for some property damage. Eventually they were considered to be more trouble than they were worth and withdrawn.

 

After local people over came their initial shock resulting from the raids and their sense of humour began to return, there was a joke going around that the erratic performance of this particular type of gun and its crews, may have caused almost as much damage as the Luftwaffe.

 

Could shell fragments from the regular anti-aircraft gun batteries or one of these guns be responsible for some of the damage to the brickwork we have been talking about?

 

Regards

[nanrobbo]

Don't want to be a bore but- Please does anyone know if there was stables at some time in/ under the Wicker Arches Thanks.

[segasonic]

Hi,

 

Wicker Pubs

 

The pub nearest to the Wicker Arches is the Station Hotel (corner of Walker Street). This used to be a commercial hotel as well but it was quite badly damaged in the blitz and like a lot of other businesses at the time, it was only really patched up, as distinct from being repaired. They never restarted the hotel part of the business, that is up to 1960 when I left the area, but later licensees/managers may have had a go.

 

Coming towards town, there is The Viaduct pub, then New Inn and the Big Gun. On the other side was the Brown Cow.

 

Regards

 

The Station Hotel closed in the mid-late 90s I think, it's now some kind of sheltered housing or Asylum seeker accomodation IIRC.

The Viaduct is now an appliance or furniture shop.

Don't recall the New Inn, probably before my time? There was a big pub called the Coach House or similar between the Viaduct and Big Gun, this has since became a couple of fast food outlets.

The Big Gun is still open as a pub.

The Brown Cow was demolished to make way for the bypass to the Parkway.

The pub next to the Brown Cow is a Southern Fried Chicken place now.