Some questions about old Sheffield.

[bensonhedges]

What was there before the Parkway was built ? And Park Square roundabout?

 

What was the closest coalmine to the city centre (in living memory)?

 

Where did the Goodwin fountain go to? And who was Goodwin?

 

How did you manage with outside toilets in this sort of weather?

[willo]

him8,would guess the nearest pit to the city centre would be the nunnery pit,down attercliffe-darnal way [highhazels] then spreadin out a bit there was orgreave-treeton & canklow.think b4 they built the parkway etc there were a lot of wharehouses for the river traffic [not sure].hope this helps,willo.

[willo]

p.s. outside loo, see my posts on the any 1 from attercliffe thread,about uninvited lodger usin it.

[bazjea]

Re Outside Loo- We had a paraffin heater in ours.Stopped the pipes freezing and lovely and warm in there in cold weather

 

Goodwin- Was a steel magnate. Neepsend Tool and Steel company was one of many companies he was involved in.

 

Goodwin Fountain- As far as I know it was just demolished.It suffered from vandalism and was often out of action.

[Plain Talker]

What was there before the Parkway was built ? And Park Square roundabout??

 

fields and allotments. there's a pic, in one of the old sheffield books of a chap walking on the newly completed parkway, before it was opened to traffic!

 

What was the closest coalmine to the city centre (in living memory)??

 

Nunnery is just the other side of the parkway, I think that'd be the nearest.

 

Where did the Goodwin fountain go to? And who was Goodwin??

Sir Stuart Goodwin was an Alderman (big-wig) in the city, (like J G Graves) I can't remember... Did the council transfer the name of the Goodwin fountain to the water feature in the new peace gardens?

 

How did you manage with outside toilets in this sort of weather?

we just were as quick as we could be!

 

a lot of us used to keep small paraffin stoves in there that were lit, virtually 24/7, just to stop the water in the loo cistern from freezing up. it was a bloomin cold trip across the yard, in winter, I can tell you! Thank goodness for indoor sanitation.

[Joanl]

I had a boyfriend that worked for a concrete firm when the Parkway was being built...

 

I went on one trip with him, in his talli-hoist and he let me pull the lever that made the cement come out....

 

My claim to fame therefore has always been that I helped to build the parkway.

[Ousetunes]

I'd love to see some pictures of the Parkway prior to its opening.

 

I vaguely recall going down there with my father one evening just before it was opened. I think we must have been on Cricket Inn Road or something and it was very impressive.

 

Would I be right in thinking that the dual-carriageway from Prince of Wales Road to Park Square roundabout was the last phase to be built? Wasn't the section from POW Road to the M1 already dual-carriageway and had been for some time?

 

Someone must have some photos.

[Guest]

What was there before the Parkway was built ? And Park Square roundabout?

 

 

The Sheffield Corn exchange stood on the site where the Parkway and Park Square now stand. Broad Street came down the right hand side of it and there was a pub on the opposite corner. The Corn Exchange was gutted by a bad fire (I think this was in the 1940's) but the ground floor on the front was kept in use - one of the business's was a cafe which was used by a lot of the Market workers. I used it about 1957 / 1958. I believe The Corn Exchange was finally demolished in the 1960's.

[Falls]

Hi,

 

Nunnery was the last (and nearest) operational colliery to the city centre.

It was at the end of Cricket Inn, close to the junction with Woodburn Road. You could also get to it from the end of Broad Oaks.

 

There also used to be a bit of the Nunnery Colliery machinery on Sheaf Street, across from the bottom of Commercial Street. Where Park Square is now. In its later days, I believe it was a pumping station ( it looked a bit like an old oil rig) for draining the Nunnery and pumping water into the Sheaf. There may have been a pit shaft there at one time. There was also a bunch of very, very old cottages. All very quaint. The machinery, and the cottages, disappeared about the time that the Nunnery closed (late 50's is my guess)

 

The first section of the Parkway opened when the Wholesale Fruit and Veg Market moved to the Parkway from Castlefolds - late 50's -early 60's. The first section (one lane each way) ran from Manor Lane to Handsworth. There was no underpass at Prince of Wales Road (PoW) or flyover at Handsworth Road.

 

The connection between Handsworth Road and the M1 was opened (four lanes) late 73 or early 74. In case you are wondering, the M1 had already reached Tinsley in 1968-89 but SCC didn't seem to have found out for some time.

 

Can't tell you when the PoW- Manor Lane section was twinned but it was still two lanes when I left town in 1974. Of course, the connection to Park Square came later -much,much later.

 

Sir Stuart Goodwin was a benifactor and the Chairman, or certainly a major player, in Neepsend Steel and Tool Corporation. NSTC was a big city employer at one time. Think the fountain opened in Oct 62 (plus or minus a year) but could be wrong. Because of its location, it could not have existed before the trams came off in Oct. 1960. Don't know when it was removed.

 

Over the years, SCC have had so many go's at "tarting up" the Town Hall Square that it makes your head spin. The fountain was just one.

Regards

[PopT]

Just for interest, before living memory there was a coalmine at the bottom of 'The Moor'.

 

There may have been others which left tunnels raised in another post on the forum.

 

Happy Days!