Sheffield history: While playing out in 1970s Ellesmere we saw change as an opportunity

Playing out in Ellesmere, my last play day was the last thing on my mind. Playing out back then was a magical time of exploration of your local area, making friends and foes.

Toys, bikes and footballs weren’t bountiful back then – we had to make our own entertainment. If you had a football you were king and guaranteed a game.

I was, in a way, lucky to grow up in Ellesmere during the “slum clearance period” – a description I’ve never liked. These houses may have been categorised as slums by some dusty text book or a list of basic requirements, but they were homes and more importantly homes in communities.

Sunday was my day to play out. My family are Christian, Seventh Day Adventists. Therefore church services were on Saturday so I rarely played out on Saturdays.

As the limited TV was even more limited on Sunday, playing out was a must.

TV then was not so memorable to a nine-year-old. I remember programmes such as Morning Worship, Going for A Song with Arthur Negus, Onedin Line, Poldark and Songs of Praise.

Sunday, come what may, regardless of the weather, I would run out of my house with the peals of the local churches ringing in my ears.

Meeting up with my friends, but how? We had no internet, no mobile phones, or games consoles to contact each other with.

I would run down the road to Ellesmere community centre peace gardens to check if my friends were there, if not I'd run round the corner to Ellesmere Primary School playground to see if a game of football was going on.

We as children didn’t have the lines of communication the children have today, yet we were always able to find each other, and congregate in one of numerous places, Wembley playground situated on Sutherland Road, near the baths of the same name was popular.

I was never ever thinking this would end, although due the clearances friends and family would be constantly disappearing to other parts of the city. We were all having to move, it was a case of waiting to see where your new home would be.

My parents were looking to move to the S5 area of Sheffield, so I had a slight idea which area we were heading to.

We had great times in 70s Ellesmere although there was bomb damage and run down areas, as children we were unaware. The clearance really accelerated the dilapidated look of the area. Children are so adaptable, we saw every change as an opportunity.

Every cleared house gave us a new chance to play somewhere new, cause mayhem without any fear of being chastised. It was an exciting time, we as kids never had concerns of the loss of 100-year-old buildings or the breakup of communities.

We didn't realise that we were saying goodbye to friends we may never see again.