Dore to Door internet edition

Local history - Summer 2003

Jean Recalls - Letters - Living history Sundays - Whinfell quarry garden - Local blues legend

Jean Recalls

First let me apologise to those who took exception to my remarks in the Spring Dore to Door, when I called to shame Darnall. I thought everyone would realise it was written with "tongue in cheek". A sense of humour seems sadly lacking in some people.

I much enjoyed Richard’s article on Joe Rowarth. What a character he was. I remember also the gypsies camping on ‘The Parish Piece’ as the piece of land on the opposite side of the road from Owlet Farm, was known. It was quite open when I was young but the Corporation blocked the entrance and it became very overgrown. The gypsies used to make wooden pegs with, I believe ash wood and strips of metal cut from old cans to bind the two pieces together. They lasted for years, didn’t mark your clothing and never blew off the line.

Children were threatened if they didn’t behave that the gypsies would take them, but it was always summer when they came and life as a gypsy seemed quite romantic. They were very unpopular with the grown-ups, poaching and nicking. They never seemed to be here long.

One glorious hot day Miss Davies, our teacher took us to look round Totley Brick Works. Not for us the luxury cruise to the Med., we got half a day to foot it there and back. I don’t remember being all that enthusiastic for a look at a brick works, but we did get a drink and a biscuit in their canteen.

It was burning hot on the way home, Miss Davies and the pupils who lived at the Totley end left us at the top of Old Hay Lane. We were all dying of thirst and on the way down Old Hay somebody acquired a bottle of pop but it had a crown top and we had no means of removing it efficiently. It was hit on the stone wall, glass and pop everywhere but none to quench us. Can you imagine children of 10 and younger being left their own devices these days.

I eventually arrived, hot, dusty, minus one hair ribbon and the buckle from my sandal. I had further to go than most, living on Newfield Lane. Happy days!

There are still too many dog faeces on the pavements. Fifty poo bags only cost £1.50. But I do think we need more bins, though I’d hate the job of having to empty them, especially in summer. We shall soon be able to dispense with replacing the asphalt too; there is so much chewing gum around.

Jean Dean

Letters

Dear Sir,

"Blue Ridge"

The demolition of Blue Ridge and the projected re-development of the site cause me to feel a degree of nostalgic sadness.

The house was built by (or for) my uncle, Herbert Brownhill, in the mid 1930's when I was a small boy. I was very proud of my rich Uncle Bert who ran a very successful oil business from his office in Campo Lane, besides being a figure of some importance in the Scouting Movement. The splendid house which he built was proof of his acumen throughout the years of the Depression.

‘Uncle’ Bert was in fact the husband of my father’s cousin, whom I knew as Auntie Cissie (Isobel). They had a daughter, Doreen, who was much older than I and whom I saw on but rare occasions.

The house was originally known as Ashfurlong House, Cavendish Avenue, and my uncle was at pains to point out that the roof tiles, which he said were green, were distinctive among the red roofs of the other new houses. You could see his green roof from Tinker’s Corner at Bradway.

Several times before the War my uncle would come to collect myself, my brother, father, mother and grandfather from our very modest home at Gleadless and drive us to Dore in his Lagonda for Sunday afternoon tea. Besides the excellent tea, I remember playing ball games on the lawn and retrieving the ball from the new shrubberies. There was also a luxurious padded and canopied swing-seat on the terrace, and a bell to call the Maid to the dining room from the kitchen, a piece of advanced technology operated by a foot switch under the table. I was much impressed.

The war came and I never visited or saw the house again until in recent years when I returned to Sheffield after a long time away. My uncle died in 1946 and my aunt re-married. I last saw her in 1948, but I remember both aunt and uncle as kind, if slightly awe-inspiring people, generous to my brother (who was their Godson) and to me. I am sorry to learn that the green (blue?) tiles will soon be gone and that the site will be crowded and the traffic congested.

Anthony Fry

Dear Sir,

I wonder if anyone can help me please.

I am researching the history of John Henry Parkes aged 25, married 12.2.1894 in Christ Church Dore to Ada Boucher aged 22, daughter of Thomas Boucher. Her father and mother Thomas & Cecelia Boucher also lived in the village, that name may also jog someone’s memory.

I have not been able to find records of any children they had, but know that they still lived in the Village, as by 1923 John Henry became known as simply Henry. I have only found details for a John Henry Parkes and Rose/Rosey/Rosie. In 1923 they were living in "MOSTYN " Totley Brook Road, and John Henry, "Henry" as later known, was an accomplished violin player. They were a very well known musical family in Sheffield and had a musical shop.

I would be very grateful if anyone has any information no matter how little about the family or anything they feel would help me in my search. I can be reached by email at Patgeni13@aol.com or via the editor.

Pat Smith

Dear Sir,

I am doing some research into the life of Alice May Crossland, who was a piano teacher and also Enid Blyton’s aunt. She lived on Meadway Drive from around the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Does anyone remember her please? Maybe you were even one of her pupils and know if she ever composed music herself. I should be so grateful to hear. I can be reached on Tel: 268 3173 at 50 Benty Lane, Sheffield SI0 5NF.

Primrose Lockwood

Living history Sundays

On the first Sunday of every month you can meet characters from 1851 at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and explore different themes from their life and times. Programmes run from 11.30am to 4.15pm.

1 June "Excuse me, but why did you do that?" Dramatic stories from yesteryear.

6 July "From Smoky to Shiny" Art, industry and working life at Abbeydale

3 August "They don’t make ‘em like they used to" Try your hand at some old-fashioned country crafts

7 September "What’s all’ song and dance about?" Join in a day of song, dance and music making

5 October "Steam, Fire and Water" Steam Traction Engines and Storytelling

The Hamlet is open f rom 10am to 4 pm Mondays to Thursdays and from 11am to 4.45pm on Sundays (closed Fridays and Saturdays).

Admission £3 Adults, £2 Concessions, Accompanied children FREE. Free access to visit Hamlet Cafe and Gift Shop.

Whinfell quarry garden

This local garden was created at the turn of the 19/20 centuries by my grandfather Samuel Doncaster - always known as ‘Mr Sam’. He was a Sheffield steel maker and chairman of Daniel Doncaster & Sons in Penistone Road. He was a great gardener, knew many influential gardeners of the time and followed the precepts of Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson.

The Quarry Garden was started in 1898 and was fully flourishing by the 1920s, when Mr Sam commissioned a number of water colours of the garden by Frank Saltfleet, a Sheffield artist and pupil of John Ruskin who ran an educational settlement in Walkley for working men.

I have some contemporary photographs of the Quarry Garden to show, also three of Saltfleet’s paintings. It is always a pleasure to talk about my favourite garden, and I look forward to this event on June 4th in Dore.

Stephen Doncaster

Ed. This promises to be an interesting evening for both gardeners and people interested in local history.

Local blues legend

I have been living here for 35 years, and never cease to be amazed at the way my notebook/tape recorder constantly bulges with previously unknown facts about the area. Just recently for example, I discovered that our quiet suburb is the home of one of Britain’s best known blues musicians.

To the casual passer by, Prospect Place, is just a delightfully secluded corner of the Bradway area, but local resident Bob Hall has played with most of the post-war blues legends.

From the North Sea Jazz Festival to the San Francisco Blues Festival, Bob has taken his unique brand of blues and boogie woogie all over the world for more than 40 years and he is acknowledged as Britain’s finest blues and boogie pianist.

Credit for much of Bob’s success goers to his long-time partner Hillary Blythe, whose crystal clear vocals and rock steady bass playing underpin all his performances. Hillary’s treatment of the blues and gospel classics are highlights of their show.

A composer of distinction, Bob has a catalogue of finely crafted songs to his credit, each song delivered in a disarming, understated vocal style accompanied by his electrifying keyboard skills. Anecdotes are a special feature of the Bob Hall Show, for a lifetime of music and a passion for blues history has left Bob with a host of yarns.

Born in London in 1942 into a musical family Boob’s powerful left hand gave him a natural aptitude for boogie woogie and by his early teens he was leading his first band. Bob partnered the late Alexis Korner and performed regularly with slide guitarist and singer Jo Ann Kelly.

He was a founder member of several British blues bands including Tramp, the Sunflower Blues Band and the De-luxe Blues Band. He also worked with artists such as Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood of super group Fleetwood Mac. Away from the blues-rock field Bob has worked as a sideman with such blues originals as John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Witherspoon, Chuck Berry, Homesick James and Eddie Clearwater.

Bob’s own boogie woogie big band, which later became Rocket 88, included Hal Singer, Don Weller, and Dick Morrissey among many leading jazzmen, together with Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart of the Rolling Stone and Jack Bruce from Cream.

He has recorded over 100 albums, with a high proportion of them still in catalogue, and is the sleeve note writer for Yazoo records piano blues series, and is now working on the piano sections of the Routledge Encyclopaedia of the Blues.

Behind Bob’s homely appearance is the man who was chairman of Sheffield’s National Centre for Popular Music and enjoys a double career as blues pianist and industrial patent and trademark attorney.

A lawyer and metallurgist, he accepted a post with Sheffield legal firm Dibb Lupton Alsop and is now a partner with Harrison Goddard Foote.

The critics write:

"This is a piano player who knows his music through and through and can hold his own with the best in the world". New Orleans Review.

"Bob Hall has worked with the best simply because he is one of the best" Jazz Times.

"The finest blues and boogie woogie piano player this side of the Atlantic" Folk Roots.

"Bob Hall plays piano in the flowing style of pre-war masters, meaning that he plays with often understated grace and style, and – when called upon – with power". Living Blues.

"One of the blues world’s most respected musicians". Red Lick.

Roger Davis