Who remembers the old Sheffield?

[Nigel Womersle]

unlucky fitzallan square.

The marples got bombed in the war,iwas there the day that Wigfalls was burnt to the ground,and saw the classic cinema go up in smoke to,Nothing to do with me im not a pyromaniac i just happened to be in town at the time,but not when the marples got bombed before my time!

its not looking to bad now but a shame no one wants the old gpo building or the old halfords shop.

does anyone know that underneath Fitzallan square was the offices of Sheffield Transport.

 

There are also public conveniences still under Fitzalan Square. Edward V11 stands guard over them. See my input about the old Burton building at the top of Angel Street. I remember the opening of the original Odeon (now Mecca Bingo) in Flat Street. The opening film was 'Reach For The Sky', and all who attended the civic opening screening were given a 'Made in Sheffield' penknife. I worked on the top floor of the Head Post Office in Fitzalan Square and we had a really good view of the area.

[Nigel Womersle]

I'd have to say the old Sheaf , Rag & Tag market, with all those characters loudly proclaiming their wares. Anyone remember the large shed in there where they sold all kinds of animals..dogs, cats, rabbits, even tortoises? Then there was Granelli's cafe housed in the market that served pint mugs of tea, dripping cakes, the usual working joe fare. When my brother and I were young kids, my aunt gave my grandad some money to take us to Davy's cafe, which was quite the place. My grandad, who worked at a fruit stall in the market, had no time for such niceties and took us to Granelli's instead. "Tha dunt want te go theer, dus tha?" What a laugh we all had afterwards.

 

I remember Davy's cafe in the Haymarket. It was called 'The Mikado'. You could smell the roast coffee there from Fitalan Square on a good windy day. You could also smell the Sheaf Brewery at the end of Waingate and Lady's Bridge. I remember those huge brass weighing scales at the entrance of the 'Rag 'n' Tag'. Before you sat in the chair, the lady who owned them, would look you over and guess your weight. Sitting in the chair would prove her right or wrong.

[hillsbro]

There are also public conveniences still under Fitzalan Square. Edward VII stands guard over them. See my input about the old Burton building at the top of Angel Street. I remember the opening of the original Odeon (now Mecca Bingo) in Flat Street. The opening film was 'Reach For The Sky', and all who attended the civic opening screening were given a 'Made in Sheffield' penknife. I worked on the top floor of the Head Post Office in Fitzalan Square and we had a really good view of the area.

 

It's interesting to know that the Fitzalan Square loos are still there, albeit in subterranean isolation. And this is the point: they were closed years ago, and where ARE the public conveniences in Sheffield now? Apart from the 20p-a-go toilets at the Town Hall, there seems to be none at all, so we have to resort to sneaking into pubs or going into T J Hughes or Cole Brothers.

 

I have just returned from three weeks in South Africa, which many might regard as a Third World country, but there are clean public toilets wherever you need them.

 

I also remember the Odeon opening, in 1956. One of the first films to be shown was "Three Coins in the Fountain", and they had a model fountain in the foyer with a stream of water and miniature statues with a classical Italian look about them. I think the money that people threw into the little pool was given to charities.

[hazel]

I remember going to the Odeon for the first time on a Sunday.

Sunday was such a boring day as nothing opened on a Sunday in those days.

Can you remember the man with the banner walking up and down the queue saying, the wages of sin are death and Repent or we would all burn in Hell

 

hazel

[parsleydiva]

Why did you put the Loopy thing on?

 

I have not been back to Sheffield for 27 years, I was only asking a question.

 

No offence meant it was the thumbs up I was meaning to portray shall have to stop using these figures not quite used to them yet. Sorry

[hillsbro]

I remember going to the Odeon for the first time on a Sunday.

Sunday was such a boring day as nothing opened on a Sunday in those days.

Can you remember the man with the banner walking up and down the queue saying, the wages of sin are death and Repent or we would all burn in Hell

 

hazel

 

I well remember the man with the banner. I used to see him more recently in Fargate, though I don't know if he is still around. What beats me is why these people stand there or walk up and down with their banners, exhorting passers-by to repent of their sins, when nobody EVER pays the slightest attention to them. Of course, it's a free country - it just seems a total waste of someone's time. A bit like the man with the sandwich board who every evening used to haunt the West End of London's "theatreland" giving out (or, I think, selling for 2p a time) leaflets telling people to eat less protein as it causes "sexual excess". As they say, "it takes all sorts to make a world".

[SheShe]

I well remember the man with the banner. I used to see him more recently in Fargate, though I don't know if he is still around.

 

If it's the same man (and I think it is ) he was there on thursday outside River Island.

[PopT]

I was once told he thew man in Fargate with the religious banner was the uncle of Joe Cocker.

 

I cannot verify this but maybe someone will put us right.

 

If nothing else, he is a well known character on the streets of Sheffield, he has carried that banner for years in all weathers.

 

Happy Days!

[hillsbro]

I was once told he thew man in Fargate with the religious banner was the uncle of Joe Cocker.

 

I cannot verify this but maybe someone will put us right.

 

His surname is certainly Cocker, and he is/was connected with the Cocker cutlery firm. He used to live near us, on Avondale Road, but moved away in the late 1970s. When I started as a student nurse at the Northen General in 1969 he let me have a nice pair of scissors cheap. After he left Hillsborough I often used to see his estate car with religious texts painted on it. Nice chap, but a strange lifestyle...

[CHAIRBOY]

Bridge Street bus station, near to where Irwin Mitchells is now. I used to catch the bus there to get to, among other places, Shiregreen cricket ground. Seem to recall it being the 150 service in the days of the cream and navy livery.