Don Ashford

Our Early Days in Totley

Recently my wife commented on the friendliness shown her when shopping at shops on Totley Rise and this started us once again reminiscing about when we came to live here in 1957. I had come to work in Sheffield and, after the usual hunt we bought a house not yet built. One lunchtime a colleague offered to drive me up from town to check building progress. He lived off Twentywell Lane and said we would go there for a bite to eat and would need to call at the shops beforehand.

This is my first memory of the shops and I have to admit it was not an auspicious one. He parked the car and went to buy two large chops from Tyms the butcher. As I recall there was a sloping wooden panel in the window and here the meat was displayed - not very hygienic was my thought. After we moved here we were regular customers there over many years. An abiding memory is of Horace, slinging the bits he trimmed off meat, into the corner of the shop. I always imagined these were his sausage ingredients, so much nicer than today’s pre-packed offerings from supermarkets.

Another regular port of call was Mrs Springs well stocked sweet shop. Sometimes, on the way back from a local Sunday walk, we would call in for the children to select something from the halfpenny tray, a selection laid out to tempt any small child and needing much consideration before the choice was made. This always had to be done under Mrs Springs vigilant guard. I seem to remember Mrs Spring telling me her father ran the photo shop in Norfolk Row in town - the Sheffield Photo Company- and that he was a pioneer of cine films.

Occasionally my wife and I would treat ourselves, not being restricted to the tray! The constraint in those days was more financial than possible effect on the waistline. A little higher up were the delicatessen run by Eric and Davy's the provision merchants. We occasionally shopped there though most of our provisions were from Ormes at the corner of Bushey Wood Road. The system there was for a lady to come round to the house to collect the order which was then delivered later. I suppose this may be regarded as the forerunner of ordering over the internet - but no charge and no minimum order.

Next to Ormes was Bradshaw's greengrocer, Jimmy Martin next to them, and the local branch of the city library, now a hairdresser's establishment. Our girls loved to go to chose their books from the children' selection. One of our early neighbours here was manager of the large Davy's branch in Fargate, the one which always had the lovely smell of grinding coffee. He occasionally gave me a lift into town and I remember him having a little moan one morning. He compared his job with that of the manager of M&S also in Fargate. The point he was making was that as soon as any line did not sell well in M&S it was withdrawn. On the other hand he had to stock over 5000 different items and he could be called to account if a customer found just one not available. Of course M&S survived and Davys disappeared.

Another illustration of different attitudes to service comes from my own family. My son- in-law John works in London in the news industry. His first job every day before breakfast is to devour the morning newspapers. His regular grumble whenever he stayed here over a bank holiday was that he couldn't get them because Jim Martin was closed. We, on the other hand remember Jim's kindness all round. Shortly after our move here my wife asked for a magazine Jim didn't have. A few days later he dashed out when he saw her at the bus stop to tell her he'd got it. Another time offering to cash a cheque before cash machines were around, reminding us to get tickets for the local shows, selling someone a single battery fiam a pack of four and many others.

It was not just the shopkeepers who seemed so helpful in those days. We moved into the new house in the depth of winter, in early December with two small girls. What could be more welcoming than finding a pint of milk on the doorstep left there before we were up by Mr & Mrs Frith who continued to supply us for many years. Two particular things I remember about Mrs Frith were her refusal to accept any "alien" milk bottles for return and her scorn for "hogmanised" (homogenised) milk. I am sure it is not just we oldies who look back on those times with pleasant memories.

Our three daughters have all been known to drag up some memory from their childhood Recently our eldest daughter related a tale, perhaps towards the end of her primary school days. She said she had been allowed to join a group of local children, each armed with sixpence, to go to the chip shop on the rise. Apparently their goal was to buy a bag of chips each, a real treat different from home prepared variety. It turned out on arrival at the chip shop one of the lads discovered he was a penny short of the required sum for the bag of chips. This must have been before the cod war because he was able to buy a portion of fish instead. However the lady serving couldn't bear this poor lads disappointment, so gave him a few chips as well and so he got fish and chips.

Of course they were lucky in two particular aspects, a lot of children of similar ages all moving into these few houses within about a year, and being at a time when they could go unescorted by adults as they grew older.

In days before widespread television, mobile phones, internet and universal car transport, they were more dependent on their own resources for play and entertainment. Perhaps on some future occasion I may be allowed to offer other memories of changes since our early days here. 

December 2008

When We Came To Totley

We moved into our present house in December 1957. I had been working in Sheffield from January of that year, travelling on buses from our home in Doncaster as we didn’t have a car. We came into a small development of sixteen new houses built onto a road of properties built between the two world wars. We then had two daughters and more than half of the houses had children of, or approaching school age, so there never seemed a shortage of playmates when they were young. As the road is a cul-de-sac and the cars were fewer and slower, the children were fairly free to visit each other’s houses. 

Our house in Doncaster had been built post war, still with building restrictions, and was very cold except close to the fire. It took major courage to leave the fireside and go into the kitchen to prepare a bedtime drink. Our newer house in contrast was almost tropical. It didn’t have central heating, double glazing or cavity wall insulation. It did have a coke boiler in the kitchen which could be left on all night and was very cosy. The boiler fed a copper radiator on the landing to keep the upstairs chill at bay. 

One of the first letters my wife wrote to a former neighbour in Doncaster extolled the shops in easy reach compared to the two with us in reach in Bessacarr. This, of course, was before the days of deep freeze and domestic refrigerators. Shopping was almost a daily necessity so to have Ormes store as we reached the main road, greengrocer next door and then Jimmy Martin’s treasure trove of a shop next and a branch of the city I library. On Totley Rise, then still the main road, were the newsagent, fishmonger, two butchers, sweet shop, haberdashery, children’s clothing and footwear, cobbler, post office and even a branch of the large Sheffield provision merchant Davys. On the opposite side of the road up on the bank, were ladies and gents hairdressers (separate in those days), a bank, electricians and painter and decorator, wallpaper shop. Ormes employed a lady to go round and collect grocery orders for later delivery- a far cry from a visit to the supermarket and scrabbling on shelves at floor level or at unattainable heights to load a trolley for oneself. Something she didn’t mention which I am sure would have amused - a lamplighter still came round each evening to light individual gas lamps. 

Early in 1958 we purchased our first car, a three year old "Ford Pop”. Again this was "local shopping” from the Cross Scythes car dealer. Petrol was bought and servicing carried out at Thompson’s garage on the site above the Glover Road junction, more recently a veterinary surgery. 

After the Easter holiday of that year came an important family event, start of school. Many members of staff at Totley Primary are remembered by all our girls with affection and mentioned from time to time. One mentioned recently raised a smile. One of our girls, when in Mrs White’s class, had a slight "accident”. On the way home when her mother collected her from school said matter of factly "mummy, I’ve got Mrs White's panties on!” 

Of course so many things have happened in the time since we came. For example I can think of more than twenty major building developments in the vicinity and yet there is still a housing shortage! Car ownership and usage has increased x-fold. Public transport buses do not seem as well maintained and as clean as they were when part of the local authority fleet. However, to return to an earlier statement, if my wife were to write a similar letter today she would still be able to comment on a reasonable variety of shops though very different from when we came.

One good aspect which is still with us is the friendly helpful nature of the staff in the shops. Even so I am not sure we could replicate an event we remember. A gentleman in the road, then in his nineties, had looked after his invalid wife over many years. After she died, he decided to take a holiday in the Hebrides. This was in the days before package holidays were so common. One day, as my wife passed his home, he asked her to take a telegram to the post office. This was to book his sailing. “Ask Mrs Jackson to send it and tell her I’ll pay her next time I’m in." 

May 2012

Our Early Days in Totley (2)

A recent note in the Totley Independent that the History Group members were seeking evidence from the 1940's prompted me to think about our early experiences here. We moved into our newly built house here in December 1957. I had worked in Sheffield from January of that year and my first local experience dates from that summer. A works colleague who lived in Twentywell Avenue offered to take me one lunchtime to see how our house was progressing. He parked on the Rise, then the main road, and purchased two large pork chops from Tym's the butchers. My recollection of my first view of the shop was meat displayed on sloping wooden boards in the window. 

When we moved in here we thought we were in paradise as far as shopping was concerned. We had moved from the Bessacar area of Doncaster with only two "corner" shops, newsagent and greengrocer. During the next nine years my wife was engaged in the "school run" - rather different from what the term means presently. Her vehicles were not a variety of cars but first a large Silver Cross pram, then a push chair, and, on more than one occasion a large toboggan type sledge when schools did not close when snow fell. Consequently she did a lot of almost daily shopping on her journeys to and from school. My excursions there were mostly at weekends and so I also got to know many of the shops.

The first group we passed on the way from home were on the corner of Abbeydale Road South and Bushey Wood Road. On the corner was Orme's who also had a store in Bakewell. Next door was the greengrocer Bradshaw's and then Martin's the last survivor of that group. The other end of this group was the branch library before the present one on Baslow Road. The lowest shop on the Rise, now demolished and rebuilt was Bonner's the newsagents. Our eldest daughter had a "Star" delivery round there for pocket money. She tells me they had a list of houses they covered, corrected by Mrs. Bonner for holidays and cancellations. Their first job was to count the number of copies they needed for that delivery and woe betide anyone short or in excess! I cannot remember any shop between Bonner's and Chambers' the fishmongers. The fish and chip shop in those days was fairly low down, though I'm not sure exactly where.

A story about that stems from those days. Our little group of sixteen new houses meant all our three girls had plenty of playmates of similar ages. One of our girls and a group of four or five friends went to the chip shop to buy 6d. worth of chips each. On arrival one of the boys had lost Id. and was allowed a small piece of fish instead. Then the lady serving also gave him a few chips as well! Does this story show how cheap fish was in those days? Higher up, possibly where the Indian Restaurant now trades, were the Baby Bar and Whitehead's, treasure houses for children's clothes, footwear and wool, materials and sundries for homemade children's wear. Higher still were the pharmacy, Robinson's grocery, Tym's the butchers and Spring's sweet shop. Although at this time giants such as Boots the Chemist had taken over many privately-run pharmacies, ours was still a survivor. Many still dispensed their own remedies, not just selling pre-packaged medicines off the shelf. One in particular I remember Burton's Bronchial Balsam. This almost burned the back of your throat off but it quickly cleared away any coughs sneezes and wheezes. Horace an ex-army man managed the butchers, always helpful and deft with meat choppers and lethally sharpened knives. 

In those days the elderly Mrs. Spring was usually in charge of the sweet shop. My visits there were usually on a Sunday afternoon family visit after a local walk. When asked she would reluctantly produce from under the counter the "penny tray". This contained a variety of sweets, some small enough to be bought four for a penny. No matter how long the little customers pondered over what to buy she stood guard with eagle eye. Some Sundays the shop was operated by Mrs Spring's daughter-in-law and granddaughter who were less obvious guardians of the penny tray. I believe Mrs Spring told me her father was the pioneer Sheffield photographer (Frank?) Mottershaw.

Continuing up were Eric's small delicatessen, Damms' the cobblers with hairdressing above or behind. Mr & Mrs Damms were keen walkers on continental holidays. I remember one day he told me he paid £40.00 for his boots - that seemed a fortune to me in those days. Davys the Sheffield provision merchants had a branch below the Post Office, where Mrs Jackson provided the service. The counter was then on the left as you entered, not the right as it is now. Beyond the Post Office were Thompsons the butchers and Grattons general store. My wife has a memory about the Post Office which nicely illustrates how most of the shops helped in a personal way. When we first moved in a Mr & Mrs Midgley lived in a detached corner house at the bottom of the road. The house had the date carved into the stonework. For many years Mr Midgley looked after his invalid wife until her death. After her death he decided to go on holiday to the islands off the north of Scotland. One day when my wife passed his house on the way to collect the children from school he asked her to call in the Post Office for him. "Ask her to send this telegram and I'll pay her the next time I'm in." It was to confirm booking of some holiday accommodation he had arranged. He was then probably in his nineties. 

No doubt readers with better memories than mine will be able to find mistakes in what I think I remember but this cannot detract from our nostalgic thoughts of those happy days. 

August 2013