Happy Memories of Totley

I was most interested and thoroughly enjoyed the recent articles by John Andrews and Frank Young in which they recall their early days living in Totley. I remember well the people and places mentioned - I too have many happy memories, I know John and Frank, they were around two years younger than myself (quite a gap when schoolboys) so they were closer in age to my brother Brian and he would be one of the boys John mentioned attending High Storrs School with him. Frank lived nearby on Greenoak Road at the same time that I, with my parents and brother and sister lived on Aldam Road. We came to live at Totley in 1932, when I would be about six years of age, and went straight to Totley C of E, my brother Brian and sister Audrey joining the school later. I was there around eight years leaving as a 14 year old to become a student at the Sheffield College of Arts and Crafts. The teachers I remember were Miss Marsden (Infants) and the first Headmaster a Mr. Wood, followed a little later by Mr. Woods (an odd coincidence of surnames). Then there was Mr. Shirt, a young very fit sports conscious teacher who cycled from his home in Hunters Bar. Mr. Wylie, a good pianist, who took Music Classes and played at Morning Assembly as well as his other duties, including English.

Frank Young mentioned the Air Raid Shelter. I remember the senior boys were put in charge of a portable lamp each, which was hung up on the Inside wall, I had the enviable job (being a boy) of being in charge of the lamp for the senior girls section, the place being pitch black otherwise. I was told to sit by it making sure it did not go out. I felt quite important at the time. I was at school for only the first year of the War, but in that time I well remember the long slide in winter and Don Dean, one of my classmates, along with George Fisher, Reuben Adlington, and one or two others whose names escape me, looked after the garden at the rear of the school. How we enjoyed those times out in the open air and with a view not many schools could equal overlooking Blackamoor and the surrounding countryside. I have to this day a newspaper cutting, a photograph of the boys tending the garden, taken from the Sheffield Telegraph in 1940. We looked after the garden with loving care, later to be passed on to other boys to do likewise. So began for me a lifelong love of gardening. I wonder what became of that land?   

Mention of Reuben Adlington reminds me that in the late 1950s he became landlord of the Green Dragon in Dronfield (where I have lived for the past 33 years). I saw quite a lot of Reuben in those days as I was working nearby. 

Many will remember the winter days spent sledging, our favourite was 'Wings Hill'. Looking back those days seem to last for ever. The field was near Woodthorpe Hall and had a fearsome centre track and the side track built up like a miniature 'Brooklands'. My word could we fly down there! I recall an Army Searchlight Camp at the bottom of the hill. Nearby, the fields where in the summer we helped Tom Salt of Woodthorpe Hall Farm bring in the hay harvest on his horse-drawn cart (Happy days).   

Being a Church of England school, we had regular visits from the vicar and also periodically we would all go from school to a service at the Church. The Church fetes in the field adjoining the Church were always well supported. The children from the school would take part in Physical Training Displays, Country Dancing etc. The Rev. Hutton I remember as a kindly man and helpful in every way - it was a great shock to all when he died so young (in his forties I believe).   

Along with my brother I joined the choir at an early age and we remained members until our early twenties. In the later years travelling from our home at Beauchief, I could tell many a story of the happy times in the choir, the annual trips to the seaside, the Hope Choir Festival, choir practice in the basement of the church during wartime blackout, with the choirmaster Mr. Linfoot (a very good organist) having to make do with the harmonium for practice. The occasional recitals after Evensong, the vicar playing the cello, all fond memories.

I was in the All Saints Church, Totley Cubs and Scouts (scoutmaster Mr. Leslie Aubrey) many an hour tracking over Blackamoor etc. meetings at the Scout Hut next to the Crown Inn. The lasting memory being the landlady selling 'Palm' toffee to us, breaking with a toffee hammer the big slabs into 2oz or quarter pound bags.   

The days of friendship past but still remembered, days spent playing football and cricket in Greenoak Park. I just had to stroll up our garden, hop over the fence and I was in that field of treasured memories.   

In my early teens I was an errand boy at the Co-op Butchers on Baslow Road, covering many miles on the shop bike (a fully laden basket of weekend joints, sausages etc.) to local customers. A true door-to-door service, every Saturday in all weathers. Later I was errand boy to Mrs. Bargh, a charming lady who ran a grocery shop on Totley Rise, and where occasionally I helped the driver at Wints Grocery Shop with his van loads (no pay for this - I think the ride in the van was the attraction) or indeed was there for helping a certain Mr. Fish deliver fresh bread from the Dore Bakery of TURVESOWN, loading bread out of the ovens and into the van and off we would go around Totley, Bradway, Dronfield etc. - what a character he was, a laugh a minute. 

It was on Totley Rise some of the lads would help 'rumble' and chip potatoes down in the cellar for Mr. and Mrs. Shaw who ran the excellent Fish and Chip shop for many years. Looking back one has so many memories - Greenoak Hall was for many years the centre of activities: socials, dances, whist drives, etc. and I particularly remember the Boxing Matches put on there. Who remembers 'Curly' Gill, the local hero who pitted his skill of the noble art against opponents from in and outside the village.   

Certain shops stand out in the memory, Wesley’s on Baslow Road with their halfpenny and penny trays (containing liquorice and sherbet etc.) each item priced accordingly. There was also a two penny tray, you were really in the money if you could afford that one! Mr. Perkington’s shop at the corner of Totley Hall Lane, and Evans near the school - two more friendly 'tuck' shops. In the early days I remember an old fashioned shop kept by an elderly lady on the end of Summer Lane off Hillfoot Road - there was always the smell of paraffin lamps in the air, and she came down a creaking flight of stairs to serve us at a small counter with sweets. Also one must not forget 'Monty' Scott’s Barber Shop on Baslow Road - the venue for 'short back and sides'.   

The Abbeydale Cinema was the local -just a bus ride away and nearby the Heeley Coliseum and the Heeley Palace for the occasional visit. But want about Totley’s own little cinemas? It was for the younger end of the population, I cannot remember who put these shows on once a week in the Old Chapel near the school (Saturday nights I think). The place was packed - it was the chance to see films without having to travel out of the village, that was the attraction, that and meeting the girls!!   

As soon as I was sixteen I joined the ARP, later Civil Defence, as a cycle messenger based at Abbeydale Hall, our family by that time living on Abbeydale Road South. There were around six messengers turning out during Air Raid Alerts and also doing duties several nights a week. Ralph Gill from Totley village was one I remember. We cycled between Posts at Totley, Dore, Bradway, Parkhead and the Southern Division Headquarters on Chelsea Road at Nether Edge. Being in the Civil Defence I remember taking part in a Pageant at the City Hall and marching in the Victory Parade.   

The end of the war was celebrated with street parties and the one held on Totley Rise I remember well. Everyone seemed to be there and a good time was had by all. The war had brought folks together: Air Raid Alerts, Fire Watch, Dig for Victory - on the allotments, Civil Defence, Home Guard etc. all helped people through those times and although we had months of austerity and rationing still to go, things gradually got back to normal.   

In 1947 the Totley Community Association was formed, its home at Abbeydale Hall. It served the needs of people of all ages with dances, whist drives, snooker, table tennis and football etc.   

Reading the September issue of Totley Independent I see there is an article 'The End of an Era' referring to the 50th Anniversary of the Association. I was surprised there was no mention of the Football Club which took the Association’s name all over Sheffield and District, later playing in the Sheffield Friendlies League. I was Hon. Sec. For a while. We began in 1948 playing friendly matches, joining the League in 1950. I have records up to the 1953-54 Season during which time we won the 'Green Un' Merit Ball (an award given for the week's best performance) also winning once the 'Second Ball'. Cyril Hughes was our star performer, scoring 50 goals one season, and Mr. Joe Wilson who lived on Green Oak Road was our Trainer - home and away in all weathers. His son Raymond played for the team and at home games in Greenoak Park, Mrs Wilson kindly supplied the tea. Several stalwart players spring to mind, although we recruited from outside Totley, the majority were local lads, such as Ron Jackson, Sid Gauwood, Brian Gowers, Harold Booth and later his son Roy, Brian Turner, Bob Cowperthwaite, Ray Wilson, Peter Wilkin and my brother Brian, along with myself. If I have missed anyone, please forgive me.   

I must also mention Mr. Robinson, who was the Chairman of the Association at that time (his son Rony becoming famous in later years on Radio Sheffield). He gave us full support throughout. A most charming man I recall. Also about that time we formed a Table Tennis Team which played in the local Sheffield League, again taking the Community name all over the area.   

I remember too a Mr. Hawksworth, who was an active member, his son Johnny became an outstanding double bass player with the famous Ted Heath Orchestra, whose concerts after the war I and many others never missed at the Sheffield City Hall.   

I have so many memories, and like John and Frank I am sure many more remembers those days long ago with fond affection. Happy memories are so much a part of life, and I must thank you for your excellent magazine, which gives people a chance to read and write about life in a very choice part of Sheffield, an area of outstanding rural beauty, your publication highlighting any threat to spoil it and thereby giving every chance or continuing in the future what we have enjoyed in the past. Although it is a long time since I lived in Totley, it still has happy memories for me, I was so very pleased to live there and to be a part of it.

November 1997

Our Bygone World On Wheels

Do the young boys of today pass some of their time 'spotting' vehicles as I with my playmates used to do in pre-war Totley? Nowadays cars are very much alike in shape and design and you have to be within a yard or two to tell one from another. Commercial vehicles are little different, only a handful of makers names to note. 

In our young days we had a variety of vehicles to 'spot' at the various viewing points along Baslow Road. The skill or knack was being able to identify as soon as it came into view (and the further away the better!). Of course the number of vehicles on the road was far less than now, but it was still a worthwhile pastime, and kept us out of mischief! We did the usual boyish things, playing down by the river and climbing trees etc. We also cycled and played football and cricket. All good outdoor activities which kept us fit and I am sure we benefited in later life from it. Occasionally we enjoyed sitting on a wall or fence watching the world pass by.   

To name the makes of private cars no longer with us will I am sure bring back memories to many readers: Armstrong Slddeley (The Rev. Hutton of All Saints Totley owned one when I was a boy). The Alvis, Humber, Singer, Brough Superior, BSA Coupe, Crossley, Jowett, Hillman Minx, Lagonda, Lanchester, Wolsley, Riley, Talbot, Flying Standard, S.S.Jaguar, Triumph Gloria etc. What a list! I am sure many of you could add to it - and what a variety. Mention must be made of the Ford Popular (Yours brand new for £100). I believe the cheapest car ever made in this country. All the cars of that time had a distinctive appearance - not like today. Modern streamlining having lost the 'individual' look of the pre-war car. A fact that gave so much interest to our pastime. 

We also noted the names of the lorry and van owners, and could 'spot' many of those from afar. Firms such as Jas Shimwell from Youlgreave, whose lorries carried milk in churns collected from the farms around Derbyshire and taken to the Dairy Factories in Sheffield. They made little noise going in, but what a rattle and clang when they returned with the empties! Pickford Holland (with bricks from the kilns below Owler Bar), Toft Bros. & Tomlinson (Darley Dale), Arthur Davy (Provisions), Earls Cement (now Blue Circle), Cooper & Hart (Woodseats), Bradshaw & Bly, etc. - names no longer seen plying their trade through the area.   

At Totley Bents we had local Haulage firm of Slater's whose smart red lorries were a common sight around. A pal of mine, Douglas Turner had an elder brother Ken, who drove for them and years later owned his own Haulage business at Totley. Pre-war there were a number of locally owned lorries. Some of my school pals at that time had fathers driving their own lorries for hire or coal delivery. You were often more aware then of what vehicles were carrying. I remember the aroma of tar from asphalt carried by the lorries of Derbyshire Stone Ltd. and of 'spent' hops being taken from the Sheffield Breweries to the farms for fertiliser. Another but not so pleasant aroma was the wet fish in open boxes on the back of Frederick Pell's lorries being delivered to the fish shops etc. Another sight I recall was the large blocks of ice on the open backs of lorries (before the days of mass refrigeration). 

Sometimes we heard the sound of the fire bell, faintly at first then as it grew louder, our young hearts would pound with excitement at the sight and sound of the magnificent fire engine as it came into view, bright red and gleaming with brass work etc. The firemen wearing their brass helmets, standing on the back alongside the turntable ladder. It would race past us, followed by the fire car, probably, going to a chimney fire, commonplace in those days, the large majority of households having coal fires. These incidents were sometimes serious enough to call out the Fire Brigade. I remember a few haystacks catching fire but thankfully only one house completely destroyed by fire. So much for the motor vehicle.   

THE BICYCLE was much used in many jobs. The local 'bobby' could often be seen on his bike around Totley and the Telegram boy in uniform on his red bike (my brother Brian began his career in the Post Office as a Messenger). They were stationed at many local Post Offices, as well as in the Sheffield City Centre. The 'Lampman' came round on his bike (with ladder attached) to check the gas lamps which lit many of our roads in those days. One chap I fondly remember was the 'Knife and Scissors Sharpener'. He came round on his 'special bike' knocking on door to door. He had fixed to his bike a grinding wheel, this he turned from the rear wheel of the bike when elevated on a stand. We would watch enthralled as he peddled away sharpening carving knives etc., the sparks flying off all around him - what a sight.   

Many shops had their own delivery bikes, the goods carried in large wicker baskets on the front. One man we were always pleased to see was riding the Walls Ice Cream Tricycle - with his motto STOP ME AND BUY ONE on the front, and we did, eager to spend our pocket money before he ran out of supplies. A Mr. Kettley I remember calling at our house, he had an enclosed box cart on wheels, this he pushed around Totley selling bread and cakes door to door. Many fresh goods were delivered to your door in those days. 

HORSE DRAWN VEHICLES were around too. Mr. Taylor who owned the Grocery and Off Licence at the top of Totley Rise delivered all his goods by horse drawn dray. Mr. Windle being the man in charge of the dray. Many will remember the very distinctive two-wheeled horse drawn vans owned by Ringtons Tea. Mr. Chapman who lived at Totley Bents sold fresh fish from his horse and trap to homes in the area (a service which was very much appreciated). Mr. Kirby who farmed the land behind the 'Fleur de Lys' helped to keep the roads clean and tidy with the use of his horse and cart. A common sight in winter was the horse drawn snow plough, the winter time reminding me of the days as young boys when we helped to dig out the buses stuck in the snow on Baslow Road, heavy snow being quite common in those days (fun for us, but not if you were driving!) 

THE STEAM ROLLER. Pre-war many estate roads were laid out in Totley, and a sight to behold was the steam roller. Small boys were drawn to them as if by a magnet! The noise, fire, steam and smoke, what majestic beasts they were. Later came the motor roller, but they were never the same (like the steam and diesel engine on the railway I suppose). Mention of steam, you could still see the occasional steam lorry trundling about. One or two Breweries used them as did the Gas and Electric companies. Running these would be a bonus in the later war years, no problem need I say with petrol! Speaking of war time, in the early years we heard much grinding of gears from the 'L' plated army lorries going up and down Baslow Road, their drivers being trained for service world wide. I would be in my early teens then and saw many army convoys, most of the lorries being 'flat front' Bedfords. These Bedford lorries gave many years yeoman service to the private hauliers who used them after the War, most being ex-army.   

Life in our young days had not the frantic pace of today - thank goodness, and also none of the distractions i.e. television, videos, computer games etc. - we were free indeed to enjoy OUR BYGONE WORLD ON WHEELS. I wonder how the young boys of today will view the World on Wheels in fifty or sixty years time - Now there's a thought!

April 1998

See also Bob Carr's article on Totley Co-op. and photograph with Eric Renshaw