"I have never forgotten the events of December 1940" says Sheffield woman

I was barely 10 years old the night of the blitz.
Joan from Gleadless Townend in Sheffield who was brought back to the City just before the blitz, despite being evacuated to the countrysideJoan from Gleadless Townend in Sheffield who was brought back to the City just before the blitz, despite being evacuated to the countryside
Joan from Gleadless Townend in Sheffield who was brought back to the City just before the blitz, despite being evacuated to the countryside

I'm 90 years old now and it has never left my memory.

At the time my mother, four-year-old brother and I lived on Hereford Street off The Moor.

I don't recognise it now, the area has completely changed.

It was a long wide street stretching from The Moor to St Mary's Road, now St Mary's gate.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The top part of the street had quite a few shops and two pubs. The bottom half, terraced houses on the right hand side covering the left side, W Tyzacks factory.

A few of the houses on the street had their cellars reinforced to act as an air-raid shelter to hold about three families and we were told which one to use.

Our cellars had part of a wall opened up so we could crawl to our designated cellars. We were lucky because ours was our next door neighbours.

We spent blitz night in there and as the bombs came down, the cellar shuddered and it was frightening.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When the 'all clear' went and we came outside and saw all the fires and the awful smell - at the top of the street and on the corner of The Moor was the Era furnishing company and that was ablaze, across the road on the corner of Thomas Street and The Moor was Phillips Furniture SHop and that was ablaze.

We were lucky our house was still standing apart from broken windows etc.

My mother was very upset and didn't want to stay in the house.

She wanted to go and stay at her sister's who lived on the Manor. She got a few of our clothes together in a bag and, of course, my aunty knew nothing about this, no phone in those days.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We started to walk down Hereford Street towards St Mary's Road.

Her idea was to walk down St Mary's Road to Granville Road up there to City Road and we'd be near the Manor but when we got to the bottom of Hereford Street there wasn't much left of that part of St Mary's Road.

Apparently a landmine had dropped, the road was a huge crater and most of the houses had disappeared.

Quite a lot of the families were killed, a school friend included.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

My mother wouldn't give in, we went back up Hereford Street and there was a street called Porter Street that ran parallel with The Moor.

We didn't get far up there, after walking over hosepipes the firemen directed us onto The Moor.

What a shock we had when we saw what had happened to the lovely street of Atkinson’s and Robert Bros.

We couldn't believe it when we saw the Central Cinema House so near but still standing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We walked on to Pinstone Street then to Fargate where there was a burnt out tram and seeing Proctors and the other shops and lovely Walsh's still smouldering.

When we got the corner of Fitzalan Square where my mum said there used to be a pub, we found out later it was called Marples and some men were throwing some white powder down onto the ruins.

We crossed over the road to Commercial Street at the bottom was Duke Street and we walked up there to the Manor Estate.

My aunty looked shocked when she saw us walk in. Then on Sunday evening they came again.

We ran down the garden to my aunt's Anderson shelters.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On our way down we saw a couple of incendiary bombs fall. We just stayed with my aunt a week as my father was in the RAF and got some compassionate leave.

My school - Duchess Road - had a direct hit. It was situated on the corner of Duchess Road and Shoreham Street.

We did what they called home service and we used people's front rooms on a parttime basis whilst we were found places in other schools which had not been bombed.

Joan Pinder, Gleadless

Related topics: