ENCOUNTERS SHOPS >  127 CLUB GARDEN ROAD > 
sharrow stories

A large map of Sharrow was displayed on the wall and visitors were invited to mark particular places with miniature flags, along with a memory or story associated to that place. Sharrow is a diverse area and we wanted to unearth and bring together individual stories and everyday human experiences that happen within shared spaces. The work viewed as a whole reveals the universal stories of hope, fear, love, sadness, anger, loss, grief; all of which could either define or transcend age, culture and social status. 

Click here for images of the Sharrow Stories display. 
Below are some transcribed stories.

A couple of years ago in Mount Pleasant Park there was a tournament of football by Football Unites Racism Divides, and our team came into the semi finals. I played up front and I scored in a couple of the matches (O aged 13) 

A few months ago there was a fire at my school. Somebody climbed up the building … there was a cigarette inside the room. The fire brigade and the police came (S age 10)

My family owned this shop between 1851-1966. It was a grocery business called Stevenson Brothers Ltd. My Father was one of the last of the brothers. The business ended with my Father and his brother. It was retail and wholesale and this shop sold to other shops in the area. I lived on Woodstock rd as a little girl.

The front room of the house next door was the office. The cellars and the rooms above this space was full of stock! There were bins with sugar, flour that they used to scoop out and serve and sell. You could choose biscuits from a large glass fronted cabinet. I can remember vinegar in barrels where you turned on a tap to get the vinegar and bacon cutting machines. The shop was down the adjoining wall.

I remember Franklin St with houses that were small and pokey, back to back, some them of course were kept like little palaces! They moved all the people from there to Jordanthorpe and Batemoor. I used to run the Girls Brigade and the company lost a lot of girls when people moved on. When people moved into the flats we had girls join us but there was a big turnover of people in the flats so girls came and went. There was a loss of a sense of community.

I used to pick my parents up from the shop after I finished work until they retired in 1966. The shop was sold on and it became an electrical shop. My Father went to Sharrow Lane school and got a medal for attendance! (Miss S age 73)

This shop was a shop used for selling and repairing washing machines and hoovers. Previous to that it was a grocers shop
(Mr K)

In about 1954/55 I used to come down to this shop when I was a child and help out, stacking shelves and clearing up. There was butter and large bags of sugar, a large glass cabinet in the back room. The cat always used to be having kittens amongst the sacks I used to get ten shillings

This shop was an Asian clothes shop. In the counter the draws had bangles, jewellery, laces, fabrics, elastic, all sorts of things. Everywhere was material and clothes. We used to have nice materials that we bought from here. My sister and my Mum would make my Shawal Kammes for me from the fabric. Behind, the shop you could use the phone to ring Pakistan, you paid the cost of a call and you phoned out

We like this area, the people the school. We all went to Sharrow infant and juniors and now we are all at Abbeydale grange. We don’t really like the flats, drug dealing, trouble (S age 12, S age 15, A age 14)

The lock to the shop door was really difficult and we had to use penetrating oil and a key but it didn’t work, then we tried ‘jigglers’ but that didn’t work so I took a hammer to it! It cost £22.50
(Mr A age 46)

One time my brothers left the door open so decided to go on the run. I ran down to my childminders on Langdon St but there was no-one there so I went to a man’s house who took me to Lilian’s but in the end I ended up at an old people’s home, and they rang the police and they took me home

I moved to Ventor place when I was four. I went to Sharrow Lane School. I moved to Woodhead rd when I was fourteen. I moved back there when I was twenty three. Both my children were conceived there. I’ve had the happiest days of my life in and around Sharrow. I now live on Sharrow Street. The area has changed a lot over the years but is still very friendly. I think of it as home
(B age 36)

I was given a house by the council. I moved in and it was a dump!! Above the stairs was a leak, in the front room there was a hole in the plaster and in the cupboards it was damp, mouldy and stank and made me feel sick! It took the council four months to fix the leak. I spoke to a Russian and they said that not even in Soviet times was it that bad.

As a kid I used to go with my mates down the road to a cutlery factory, maybe a Little Mesters, near where the Leverton Flats are now. We used to find pieces of metal that had knife shapes cut out of them – if you were really lucky you’d find an actual knife blade

Memories of Primary School! School trips, friendships and teachers. Changes, growing up and leaving school, becoming more independent

I ate some food and I got a balloon at a party at school. We were in the school hall (M aged 6)

My Mum kidded me by getting me to sing Yellow Submarine outside the shop on the corner of Carterknowle Rd – she said that if I sang the shop keeper would open up. I didn’t realise that it was opening up time anyway – I was only three! (S age 40)

Over a period of ten years I lived in two different houses on Club Garden Rd, for a short time only. In both cases I was staying with friends after ending long term relationships, they were troubled times and I guess I was just passing through

Every night after work I cycle home. I always come up through these streets to home on Wostenholm Rd. I really enjoy the feeling of cycling around . I feel at home here. (S age 25)

This is where I stayed when I first came to Sheffield in 1985 with Steve, Rita, Anne, Ricky, Gerry, Andrew and met Jim (whose Canadian canoe was stored in the cellar). Steve still lives there with Kathy and is turning it into a palace now that he too has found M. Right

I used to live here on Washington rd flats. The view from there was just beautiful … I enjoyed watching fireworks when it was bonfire night, also new Years Day. Sometimes I saw a rainbow. I enjoyed watching many different coloured cars parked on the road. When it was snowing I loved watching the lines cars made in the snow
(K age 27)

I used to live on Washington Rd flats, then Bramall Lane then back here to Clark Square. I know this area like the back of my hand. It’s not bad round here, always friendly people. I know everyone round here. Asif’s shop has been here for ages, I’ve known him since I was a baby, he’s looked after me he knows my mum. I went to Sharrow schools, now I work in the kitchen I the Pomona Pub on Ecclesall rd. I remember going to the Hub on a Monday night to keep myself off the streets – you do all sorts, go on trips, just go in, listen to music, dj, play pool. There needs to be more places where kids can go, off the streets. There is too much bad stuff happening (D age 17)

It was a big upheaval when they built the estate, a lot more people than expected. There’s not many people left who moved in originally. There was Ashley rd and Franklin St and they’re now under the flats. There used to be church processions at Whitsuntide. I remember sledging down Salmon St from where the flats are now (M age 60) 

There used to be a dog that lived half way along Salmon St called Prince. He was so scary we used to walk round the long way to avoid going past him! 

Everyone round here worked at James Neil’s or at Chestermans on Club Garden rd. I’ve lived here all my life. We were poor but those on Franklin Street must have thought we were rich, much bigger houses here. I worked at pickerings cardboard factory. I remember Big George out on the streets and the kids following him and singing voting songs (M age 60)

During the Falklands war a bloke who was going off there left some money behind the bar at Tuxedo Blue and said he’d be coming back for it. Sad thing is he never did…

I saw a pantomime at the Merlin theatre years ago and thought I’d love to do that. So I went along and took my first steps to tread the boards myself. The Merlin theatre is in such a beautiful setting, calm, peaceful, and full of magic. This was a turning point in my life. 

I came to Steade Rd in 1983 to work for the NUM [National Union of Miners]. During the strike I moved to Vincent Rd. During this period Sharrow was a vibrant political community whose support kept me going

This shop was on the BBC as part of a series called ‘I Didn’t Know You Cared’, ten episodes about life in Sheffield. There were scenes filmed around Sheffield and this shop was changed into a Temperance Bar, it was about ten years ago?

This used to be where The Star Cinema was, most people from round here would have gone there. People would have called in on the way back from work” I used to go as a lad to see Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges. I lived in Lawson Street which is under the flats now.

I miss Lybia, my family, my work. I was a dental nurse. But I like Sharrow, it’s close to the centre and there are lots of different nationalities and it’s quiet and there are lots of different activities. My husband came to study here and we will go back when he’s finished. He is studying metallurgy engineering. I’ve got three children and we live on Hobart St

I used to live on Sharrow with my boyfriend but then we split up and I moved to Arbourthorne. But now I’m hoping to move back on Nether Edge to be around some old friends but most of all to start a new life and hopefully get my own flat and start afresh

This was where I first lived when I came to Sheffield about twenty years ago. It was a quiet happy house with two other women in it. Although we sometimes ate together we lived fairly independent lives, different friends, different interests. One of the women moved out and I took over her bedroom and spent a weekend painting it pink. Outside was a tree with blossom the same colour.

I used to live on Denham Rd when I was a student here. Lots of happy memories of living and sharing spaces and being with friends. I still have a very close friend who lives in the area. So my memories are about the people I have encountered in the area. I now transport family to and from Bramall Lane on a regular basis!

There was a ginnel from Broadfield Rd over the river to Little London rd. On the right hand side there was a cutlers firm, a Little Mesters, a wheel. That might be what the dam was for, I think it was a little further up? Broadfield houses used to flood. During the blitz the planes followed Broadfield Rd and dropped their bombs hence the road became pitted. 

This shop was a shop for selling and repairing washing machines and hoovers previous to that it was a grocers shop 

I moved to Ventnor Place when I was four. I went to Sharrow Lane school. I moved to Woodhead rd when I was 14. I moved back here when I was 23. both my children were conceived here. I’ve had the happiest times of my life in and around Sharrow. I now live on Sharrow St. The area has changed a lot over the years but it is still very friendly. I think of it as home (B age 36)

I like this area the people the school, we all went to Sharrow Infants and Juniors and we are all at Abbeydale Grange. We don’t really like the flats, the drug dealing, the trouble
(S age 12, S age 15, A age 14)

We used to play in the playground on the flats, a game called Delavio, Kick Can Caught, 1..2..3.. I once ran into the ‘No Ball Games’ sign as a kid and cut my lip open!!

Sharrow’s Found Bicycles – and what they can teach you. I have found several very good bicycles on the streets of Sharrow in skips. I found two bikes on South View Crescent. A very fast Raleigh racing bike and a Dutch ‘Spartan’ touring bike. This was a beautiful bike, very upright and comfortable. This bike taught me that sometimes it is good to glide along slowly and not race about.

When we moved to Sharrow me and my sister were only eight. We lived at Hunters Bar and used to travel to the dentist in Sharrow on the bus. I remember thinking I didn’t like Sharrow much, the busy main road, the Royal pub which looked quite rough, the mix of different people. However, years later we got to know this area and me and my sister have spent most of our adult lives living round here. We love it here. And my sister’s daughter is nearly four years old and gets given sweets and lots of fuss from the shopkeepers. Our Mum and Dad still live in Hinters Bar – and I think Sharrow is much friendlier!

I remember being burgled. I was on the first floor and they got in through a window without breaking it. They broke the lock. They took a computer and video. Now I’ve got a wrought iron grill on my flat balcony so people can’t get in. I didn’t replace anything until the grill was up and a friend had put a five lever deadlock on the door. There used to be gangs of youths around the stairwells but that doesn’t happen so much now. Since moving to the estate I’ve been a victim of crime four times. The burglary, youths who took my wallet from my back pocket, a man who forced his way into my flat and hit me over the head demanding money. In the end he got eight years as he’d done it before. I ended up in A & E and just a couple of months ago a man let his dog off its lead late at night and I told him to put the dog back on its lead. As I was leaving the flat I had been visiting he was waiting for me and told me he was going to beat me up. I just had to keep cool. I called the police, I always do. I’m sure most estates have that, it isn’t unique, you hear about other estates having big drug problems. We used to a couple of years ago and there were two drug houses but the police shut them down