The 1960s were an incredibly busy decade for the city of Sheffield. The iconic and much-missed subterranean roundabout the ‘Hole in the Road’ was constructed, featuring pedestrian subways, shops and the fish tank.
Sheffield also saw the completion of Park Hill, Hyde Park and Kelvin Flats, as well as Gleadless Valley and Callow Mount tower blocks, and Stannington’s Deer Park flats – all built in a decade that saw the demolition of slum houses across the city.
Fargate welcomed the completed Goodwin Fountain, which was to become a beloved city-centre meeting place, and was immortalised with the line "Be there 2 o'clock by the fountain down the road", in the song Disco 2000 by Pulp.
While we are on the topic of music, Peter Stringfellow also opened the famous King Mojo Club (1964-67) on Pitsmoor Road, which would play host to numerous legendary 1960s touring acts. Jimi Hendrix, Ike and Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, The Who and Small Faces… and that’s just getting started.
The city and region also played host to multiple performances from the ‘Fab Four’ from Merseyside (although it was still technically Lancashire at this time), The Beatles.
One thing for sure is that the late Peter Stringfellow and Sheffield played a big part in the history of the ‘Swinging Sixties’.
Also in this gallery, you’ll get to see pictures of the Tinsley Viaduct which was finished in 1968, a unique two-tier road bridge that helped to reshape the city’s transport links alongside the now-gone Blackburn Meadows’ cooling towers.
It was also the end of an era as Sheffield’s last traditional electric tram finished active service in October 1960, marking the end of an era for public transport – until the Supertram would decades later arrive with a technologically superior, but much smaller in scope, transport network.
Do you remember putting a penny on the tracks as the last tram approached?
Take a look through today’s retro gallery on Sheffield from years gone by.
1. Thorntons
Thorntons is the third-most-missed UK high street brand. It was established in 1911 by Joseph Thornton and his son, William Joseph Thornton, in Sheffield. This photo shows the Thorntons Chocolate Kabin shop, on Norfolk Street, Sheffield, sometime during the 60s or 70s. | Picture Sheffield
2. How we lived
The living room of a home on Cobden View Road, Crookes, Sheffield, in the 60s or 70s, after improvements were made as part of the 'Patch and Mend Programme' | Picture Sheffield/SCC
3. Tram junction
Visitors inspect a tram junction, which has been made at the Edgar Allen steel foundry, Meadowhall, Sheffield, on June 21, 1962. It was said at the time that there were only two places in the world where hardened manganese steel tram junctions could be made and they were both located in the same road in Sheffield. Renowned throughout the world for the quality of its steel, Sheffield exported steel globally during the 60s. (Photo by Paul Walters Worldwide Photography Ltd./Heritage Images/Getty Images)
4. West Street
Shops on West Street, Sheffield, in January 1960, including Shaw's Butchers and Collins Confectioners | Sheffield Newspapers