Basalt Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 There used to be the remains of a WW2 gun battery on what is now Park Avenue / Park View Road estate at Chapeltown. We used to play in it whe we were kids. You could see where the AA guns had been and various concrete huts were still there. The estate was built around 1968 so it must have been there up to then. There have been other topics about WW2 camps etc, recently so I thought I would add this one. Just one more WW" thing, did anyone go to Burncross Infants and Junior school. Can you remember the thing in the field called The Point. I think that was some sort of air raid shelter thingy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I was thinking about the shelter in the middle of the field only yesterday because of the WW2 memory thread ISTR that there were some steel doors in the middle of the playing field at Burncross Infants with the shelter underneath. Of course, my memory is from the early 70's, so I'm sure there must be members that have proper memories of this. Hunshelf AA guns! Well... the last time I went down the Farmers Lane the remains of it were still there although they had slipped down the quarry many years ago. It wasn't really at Park Av though - it's on the other side of the playing fields. I expect it's still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbuck Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 My Dad told me this Story..In the early years of the war all the houses in Shiregreen lane where we lived, were supplied with steel Andersons shelters, if you had a cellar you didn't get one. Most people in the lane just stacked the steel sheets at the back of the house and did no more...But my Dad started to dig a hole in the garden to erect his shelter, while he was digging he could see the nieghbours looking at him through the lace curtains but he ignored them and kept on digging. When the hole was completed he got out the spanners and erected the shelter as per instructions. After that he made and installed bunk beds for "us Kids" and finally he added a pump to remove any water that gathered in the bottom. At this point we were the only people in the Lane with a completed Air Raid Shelter. The next day there was an almighty explosion heard over Shiregreen followed by others, and about half a dozen frightened nieghbours "thinking that it was an Air raid" ran down to our house and in to our shelter. The explosions turned out to be the newly installed guns at Hunshelf being tested. One week later all the Andersons shelters in the Lane were installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneofThree Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 That sounds right. I heard people who lived in Ecclesfield had cracked walls and ceilings as a result of vibration from the guns. Just replying to Tony's coment. The shelter at Burncross was as he described. Steel doors leading into something under the ground. We never knew what it was, the teachers called it The Point because it was pointed. These memories are not well documented as far as I can see. I have not seen any local history books about Hunshelf guns. Whatever the thing was in Burncross school it wasn't an Anderson Shelter, it was something much more substantial. All pupils and staff of of Burncross School must remember it, can't anyone tell us what was inside. What about the builders who built the new houses, they must have dug it up !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 In relation to this check this out http://www.yfaonline.com/yfapublic/assetDetails.cfm?film=2299&keyword= Hunshelf Gun Site also shows lound side, chap park etc... enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Womersle Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 My Dad told me that on the nights of the Sheffield Blitz, the guns at Hunshelf started firing around 7.30 and continued non-stop until the early hours of the following mornings. The day after, Mr Thorne, the Chapeltown dentist, presented the soldiers with a full barrel of beer. My parents lived on The Common, Ecclesfield, and said the noise from the guns was unbelievable but very necessary. Their back door was blown off its hinges by the shells from the ammunition. My cousin managed and lived at Ecclesfield Cinema House. The projectionist had to flash a message on the screen saying that films would be shown for the entirity of the air raid, for those who did not want to venture out into the street. Needless to say the cinema was operating all through the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badab1ng Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 As a kid in the early/mid 60's I used to play in the remnants of the old Hunshelf. I defeated the Hun single handed !! I remember one particular building with a large G on the side of it and watching the archive brought back memories of running in and out of the old gun emplacements. My family had an air raid shelter in the back garden, buried deep in to the ground ( the old Holdens shop at Cowley view) me and friends spent a whole summer digging out 20 years of rubbish and used it as a hideout when scrumping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SV500 Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 On the old film showing the big gun,what road are the houses on in the back ground ? I thought they would be on Crakehall road,but a friend says not, JJ.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badab1ng Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Wouldn't it be Park Avenue or Park view ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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