Sheffield retro: 22 photos of high-rise life from 1950s to 90s, including Park Hill and Gleadless Valley

Sheffield's high-rise estates were in many cases born out of a determination to get rid of the city's slums and improve living standards.

Building up was a way to make the most of the limited space and ensure people no longer had to endure the cramped conditions numerous families had known.

The 'streets in the sky', as the Park Hill, Hyde Park and Kelvin tower blocks, were famously dubbed, were viewed when they opened in the 1960s as the futuristic standard to which social housing could aspire.

The elevated walkways were designed to maintain the sense of community, residents had plenty of shops, pubs and restaurants to choose from, and the flats were fitted with mod cons from washing machines to a waste disposal system which enabled tin cans and cardboard boxes to be dispatched down the sink.

The flats were initially sought after but in many cases the dream soon turned sour, and the tower blocks became dilapidated and plagued by crime and anti-social behaviour.

This retro photo gallery shows life on some of Sheffield's high-rise estates which have since been fully or partially demolished, like the Kelvin, Hyde Park and Norfolk Park flats, and those still standing, like the tower blocks at Park Hill and in Gleadless Valley, between the late 1950s and the 1990s.

The photos featured are taken from The Star's archives or shared courtesy of Picture Sheffield.