These nostalgic photos capture Sheffield as it looked during the 1940s and 50s, a period fast fading from living memory.
They show how Sheffield stood strong during the Sheffield Blitz, as the aerial bombardment brought buildings crashing down but failed to crush citizens’ spirits.
And they depict how Sheffield dusted itself off and rebuilt during the post-war years, shaping itself a bold new identity from amid the wreckage.
In the city centre, Walsh’s and Atkinsons department stores were rebuilt after being reduced to rubble. The Marples Hotel, where an estimated 70 people sheltering in the cellar had been tragically killed in a direct hit by a German bomb in 1940, also rose again.
Further out, construction started on Sheffield’s futuristic ‘streets in the sky’, as the Park Hill flats, replacing the old slum housing, were famously dubbed. It was also when work began on the ‘dreamland’ Gleadless Valley estate, while swathes of new homes were created in other suburbs.
This retro photo gallery shows youngsters queueing up for their school dinners and enjoying themselves in the playground, with those images likely to bring back memories for anyone who grew up in the 1940s or 50s.
The atmospheric black-and-white images take us along Fargate, The Moor, High Street and other major city centre thoroughfares, showing popular shops of the era, including Cole Brothers, Woolworths, Burton and Barratts.
They also take us out into the suburbs, including Handsworth, Hillsborough, Burngreave and Firth Park.
A steam train chugging out of Sheffield Midland station, the historic steelworks where Meadowhall now stands, a popular confectionery store and the old Mikado Cafe on Haymarket are just some of the other arresting images in this trip down memory lane.
Do these photos bring back any memories for you of Sheffield during the 1940s and 50s, and are there any old businesses you recognise?
9. Fitzalan Square
Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, looking towards Haymarket, showing Barclays Bank, the News Theatre (former Electra Palace) and the Bell Hotel, in June 1952 | Picture Sheffield/J.E.S.
10. GPO
Christmas parcels being sorted at Sheffield General Post Office in December 1952 | Sheffield Newspapers
11. Owlerton
The typically packed terraces at Owlerton in June 1947. Sheffield riders won every heat to beat Bristol 60 - 24 in a Division 2 league match. In the background are the iconic cooling towers. | Submitted
12. Exchange Street
Exchange Street, Sheffield, pictured sometime during the 1940s or 50s, with the Rotherham House pub on the left | Picture Sheffield/Mr J.D.Smithies, Huddersfield