Knutty story

He was also one of the best comedians this country ever produced, up there with the likes of Tommy Cooper and all the rest of the comedians.

But he was also a great actor and no one did it any better than Knutty in all the pantos he did all over the country - Aladdin’s Wishee Washee, Widow Twankey, you name it, Knutty did it.

But, wherever he went, no matter what he did, he never forgot his roots.

Sheffield was his home and no matter who you were he always had time to stop and talk to you. I well remember at a dinner of the senior Blades at Bramall Lane when I had the great honour of sitting at the top table with Knutty who was the guest speaker. I was invited to show the senior Blades the Olympic torch and British Empire Medal I had just received. I well remember Knutty saying to me “Nah then John, does tha know that tha the only bloke they’ve let in here wearing a blue shirt”. It was great and some of the jokes were something else - over the belt, under the belt, they were all great.

I’ll miss him. Sheffield will miss him. He was, as The Star says, a legend. When I shook hands with him after that dinner, his parting words were, “Thee keep gooin, raise that million quid, thy art mad, but I’m madder than thee, and get thee sen a red shirt”. Thanks for the memories Knutty, you were one of the best. Pantos won’t be the same without Knutty.

John Burkhill

Sheffield’s mad man with the pram and proud of it

The state of Sheffield

The letter from Rose Basford certainly hit the nail squarely on the head. The buildings above the ground floor are unkept and a disgrace, weeds growing out of cracks and ledges, even the roof line has a growing area for the invasive Buddleia. Pretty it may be but not growing out of buildings, even the Town Hall, the present Big Top. How councillors can walk in and out of this grand building and not get something done about the weeds and moss that grow on it is beyond me.

I have to read statements from those in the Big Top enthusing about the new businesses that have moved to The Moor. Fast food, coffee shops, donuts just the type of shops that will attract shoppers. I don’t think so. Now we have The Light, a new cinema, surrounded by once again fast food outlets. To visit this cinema is not cheap by any means, you may get a large comfy seat and quality popcorn, but at what price? After all, you are just watching a film - we had cinemas in town, Cinema House, Gaumont, Hippodrome and the Palace, all of which were demolished because they were surplus to requirements.

The old Town Hall will be lost if the council don’t intervene soon. The same goes for the old Post Office on the corner of Commercial Street and Haymarket. Looking at the councils track record this may become a supermarket or some kind of food outlet. This area is so run down the rats are packing their bags and moving to pastures new. Rose mentions the Wicker, this area is a bit of an enigma, all those food outlets without any customers. Just what’s really happening there? Other towns and cities around Britain suffered in the war but they seem to have rebuilt in a better way than us, even little Lincoln has a much better shopping area than Sheffield, with a varied selection of businesses.

True, they have fast food outlets and coffee shops but the amount of quality shops puts ours to shame. How a city like Sheffield can give carte blanche to developers is just unbelievable. Meadowhall kicked off the slow death of the city centre and now Ikea will help to finish it off.

I’m very annoyed at the way our city has been architecturally cleansed. Victorian buildings, knock ‘em down, what shall we put in their place, student flats, no more, no more for God’s sake.

Vin Malone

by email

No expense spared

In 1952 I was a ten-year-old schoolboy at Prince Edward Junior School, Manor Top. That year the school held a fancy dress competition.

My best school pal, Roy Styring, and I entered as American Indians or Red Indians as they were called in those days. To our surprise, we won the competition and were told to report to the headmaster’s office for our prize. The headmaster, Mr Bernard Cross, said: “Well done boys” and gave us our prize, a digestive biscuit each. No expense spared in those days.

Last year, my wife and I visited the school. It turned out to be the school’s last day.

On entering the hall, I stood on the exact spot where Roy and I did our war dance, 65 years ago! Happy days.

Pete Childs

by email

Stabbings in town centre

I see the police are trotting out the old isolated incidents again. Every time a violent incident occurs, we are assured it’s an isolated incident, when we all know it’s reaching epidemic proportions.

T Walker

Handsworth

Events on the pitch

Reflecting on Sheffield Wednesday v United as a distraught, (for an hour or two), Wednesdayite, this is what I feel about events on the pitch. September 24, 2017 was obviously a much bigger game for United than Wednesday. Why wouldn’t it be?

In recent years The Blades have lost 69 games in League 1, that’s a full season and a halfs worth, whilst Wednesday have been narrowly denied Premier League Status twice.

Direct comparison of the teams faced by both Sheffield clubs so far, Brentford, Cardiff City, Sunderland and Nottingham Forest reveal an interesting picture. Wednesday gaining eight points and scoring seven goals, united six points and fourgoals. A pattern I predict is likely to be continued as the season progresses and forcing ‘giddy’ Blades to shut up. Wednesday have recorded a turnaround comeback win v Brentford - United have not.

But the blades have thrown away a winning position v Nottingham Forest, to lose. Wednesday have not.

So the joke is on Wednesday Billy Sharp, or is it ?

Steve Clark

Bank Terrace, Tideswell, SK17

Labour pantomime

Watching the Labour conference on the news was like watching a very bad pantomime. Corbyn was behaving like he was some sort of rock star in front of his shouting, screaming fan club. It was just a repeat of his behaviour during the election.

His followers are a hysterical mob who shout down anyone with an opinion different from theirs. In an interview afterwards, Corbyn smugly admitted his plans for this country if he is elected will cause absolute chaos. He thinks about nothing but his and the union bosses’ unworkable fantasies.