Jim Hardie Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 l believe it houses entrance to undergound tunel leading to the once Shewsbury Hospital[a shot in the dark:hihi::] there is someone in the t]Town Hall has a key ARFER MO PS NOT LIVING IN SHEFILD for a god many years whereabouts is the bot of Charter row? This is the building mentioned by the OP. It's actually on Moore Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falls Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I was told that the concrete sub station on Charter Row was specially designed so that in case of an explosion the roof which is weaker than the reinforced walls would lift off skywards. I hope this info makes everyone feel safer as they pass this monstrous looking effigy to the power board. I certainly do not feel any safer but then I will be a million miles away. Hi, It may not be the most attractive building in Sheffield but believe me, the alternative would be infinitely worse. I'll explain but first you need a bit of history. By the late 1950, the T&D (transmission and distibution) system in Sheffield was desperately in need of an upgrade. The central area in particular also needed more power - lots more power. The big question was how to get this power into town. The cheapest method would have been to bring it on overhead steel towers but you can imagine the fire-storm of critism that this would have raised. What they did decide to do is bring it in town underground at high voltage (around 230,000 v) in oil-filled cables. A new development at the time. The power comes in overhead to Norton (not too far from the water tower ) and then it goes underground along Hemsworth Road, down Warminster Road (cant remember exactly which route it took after that but ended up on Charter Row. Just laying the cables into town was a nighmare (I lived in the middle of the digging at Norton). Getting them to work was alos a real challenge but the system seems to have stood the test of time. Being at very high voltage, very large transformers were needed to reduce (step-down) the voltage. Its these transformers, together with lot of switchgear that is in the concrete building. The building may be ugly to some but having all the transformers and control gear outdoors, as we do in Canada, would be infinitely worse. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUFFEMS Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hi, It may not be the most attractive building in Sheffield but believe me, the alternative would be infinitely worse. I'll explain but first you need a bit of history. By the late 1950, the T&D (transmission and distibution) system in Sheffield was desperately in need of an upgrade. The central area in particular also needed more power - lots more power. The big question was how to get this power into town. The cheapest method would have been to bring it on overhead steel towers but you can imagine the fire-storm of critism that this would have raised. What they did decide to do is bring it in town underground at high voltage (around 230,000 v) in oil-filled cables. A recently new development at the time. The power comes in overhead to Norton (not too far from the water tower ) and then it goes underground along Hemsworth Road, down Warminster Road and on to Charter Row. Just laying the cables into town was a nighmare (I lived in the middle of the digging ) and getting them to work was a real challenge but the system seems to have stood the test of time. Being at very high voltage, very large transformers were needed to reduce (step-down) the voltage. Its these transformers, together with lot of switchgear that is in the concrete building. The building may be ugly to some but having all the transformers and control gear outdoors, as we do in Canada, would be infinitely worse. Regards Thanks for the explanation, we always knew that it was something to do with electricity but, we never knew actually what was in the building itself. I've never admired the building as such but, it is necessary and the lighting makes it very attractive. Now, Park Hill is a totally different matter, ugly when it was new and uglier still now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookingfat Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 it is or was an electricity sob power station thousands of people have wondered what it was for years a prison was one of them cause it had no windows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasha_78_1 Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Away from the city, there used to be a big old house on Gleadless Common, called the Warren I think, up the hill from Durlstone Crescent, on the same side, above the bungalows. We always thought it very mysterious as children, the garden was always overgrown and we never saw anyone coming or going. Does anyone know who it belonged to? It was demolished to make way for new houses on Durlstone Drive and Grove I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexAtkin Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Hi, It may not be the most attractive building in Sheffield but believe me, the alternative would be infinitely worse. I'll explain but first you need a bit of history. By the late 1950, the T&D (transmission and distibution) system in Sheffield was desperately in need of an upgrade. The central area in particular also needed more power - lots more power. The big question was how to get this power into town. The cheapest method would have been to bring it on overhead steel towers but you can imagine the fire-storm of critism that this would have raised. What they did decide to do is bring it in town underground at high voltage (around 230,000 v) in oil-filled cables. A new development at the time. The power comes in overhead to Norton (not too far from the water tower ) and then it goes underground along Hemsworth Road, down Warminster Road (cant remember exactly which route it took after that but ended up on Charter Row. Just laying the cables into town was a nighmare (I lived in the middle of the digging at Norton). Getting them to work was alos a real challenge but the system seems to have stood the test of time. Being at very high voltage, very large transformers were needed to reduce (step-down) the voltage. Its these transformers, together with lot of switchgear that is in the concrete building. The building may be ugly to some but having all the transformers and control gear outdoors, as we do in Canada, would be infinitely worse. Regards I realise some might not appreciate me raising this thread from the dead for a second time but I just had to say thanks for this explanation. I have always had a fascination with the electricity grid so I am baffled that I never knew this. The few times people mentioned the building in conversation they seemed to think it was to do with the telephones/telegraphs rather than power, yes had I passed by the back side of the building its readily apparent. For that matter I am surprised I never noticed any noise coming from the building, I guess I just never paid much attention to it. Over the past few years I have had a bit of an obsession going on with trying to work out the grid layout around Sheffield and it had been rather bugging me trying to figure out why the overheads come down where they do at Hemsworth Road, rather than into the small Jordanthorpe Supergrid switching station. It was particularly puzzling when I later noticed the switching station on Warminster Road which appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Do you know if its also true that the lonely fenced off house at the junction near the bottom of East Bank Road is also a small switching station? I had always been told it was but never seen any proof, but then what else could it be? The more I see photos of the US and Canada, the more impressed I am at how much of the grid in the UK is laid underground. There are some truely horrendous overhead cabling jobs over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopT Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 There was a large house near the five arches on Herries Road South which was always a mystery to me apart from scromping the apples from there. Does anyone have any details of how old the place was and who lived there. I think it was called Oxprings House. Happy Days! PopT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 It really amazes me that people live in this City and dont know anything about its buildings, the one in question has been there since the early sixties, its not as if its suddenly sprung up over night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Thanks for the explanation, we always knew that it was something to do with electricity but, we never knew actually what was in the building itself. I've never admired the building as such but, it is necessary and the lighting makes it very attractive. Now, Park Hill is a totally different matter, ugly when it was new and uglier still now. I like the Moore Street sub-station a lot and thanks for the thorough explanation from Falls above. However I really dislike the attempt to prettify it with coloured lights. It just looks wrong. It's not meant to be pretty and looked much better reflecting the orange sodium light of nearby street lighting. The coloured lights also cost £78,000 to install (and how much to run and maintain?) A big waste of money in these times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Talker Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Do you know if its also true that the lonely fenced off house at the junction near the bottom of East Bank Road is also a small switching station? I had always been told it was but never seen any proof, but then what else could it be? (snippage) the "lonely house" at the bottom of East Bank Road is a water pumping station, not electricity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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