Reginald St/Rd . Where was it ?

[extaxman]

Clocker,

 

Courts are hard to describe. They were usually found in slum areas and were sometimes part of "back to back" houses. Now I'm confusing you even more.

 

"Back to backs" have one house facing on to the street and another, sharing the same back wall, facing on to a court, known locally as a yard. You can get to the houses in the yard by going up an "entry". In the yard where I spent my first 13 years there were 9 houses sharing 6 toilets.

 

The addresses for the houses in the yards showed the court number first followed by the house number, I lived at 14ct 9hse in Brightmore St in Sheffield.

 

I know it sounds really rough and ready but the community spirit helped a lot, at Christmas we used to move all the furniture out into the yard and have really wild parties. We had a burglar living next door to us but no one minded because he'd said that he wouldn't steal anything from anyone in the yard. We also used to have a "bookies runner" sat on the steps of one of the houses taking bets, believe it or not, but he became an MP later on!

[Texas]

Hey clocker, I'll try to describe a court to you. First get a copy of any Charles Dickens novel, especially the ones with the gloomy illustrations. Then get the style of the drawings in your mind and listen up.

The entrance to a court was usually through a passage way from the street, perhaps two cars wide. The court would be approxamately 50yds wide, and perhaps the same in length. Courts would vary perhaps, given how much space was available when built.

So it was like a big yard. It could either be paved with stone slabs or bare earth, or a combination of both, depending on the wear and tear over the years. Stand in the middle of the yard and on all sides would be houses, a door and window, a door and window etc;etc. In other words terraced, the description 'Town House' hadn't been invented when these babies were in vogue. The houses could be three stories, maybe four.

Usually there were a couple of steps up to the door. Washing would probably be strung out across the yard. Usually there was a grate in the middle of the yard where you would pour any unwanted liquids. Some didn't get much sunlight.

The ones I remember were like this in Woodside Lane.

And while we're on a Dickensian theme, Merry Christmas.

[clocker]

Texas , I did a search on picture sheffield and I do see what you mean about gloomy . They have a few photos of Reginald St. and it looked quite dismal . My memory is poor but I think I seem to remember living in a similar house , I believe Woodseats , just prior to leaving for Canada . I do remember the outside toilet and the newspaper torn into squares for ....well , you know .

 

Thanks to all who have responded .