You left me on the edge of the Park Hill estate,
attempting to touch all six closed pubs.
I became a bit obsessed with the Parkway Tavern, tucked into the very heart of the complex.
It’s a hard estate to get to grips with, and a high fence to jump.
For a minute I thought it was deserted and I’d have to comfort myself with the joy of the Mansfield livery adorning the Trades & Labour Club.
But then we turned a corner and the Urban Splash regeneration springs into life.
Public art, inspirational words, £250k apartments, bistros replacing boozers….
I never did find the remains of the Parkway Tavern, of which BigJapp2 had said;
“Got to be honest I haven’t been in here ,but I have walked past it through park hill flats enough to know I would rather put my family jewels in a meat grinder than risk my life in there.”
I assume by “family jewels” he/she meant copies of the 1972 and 1975 Good Beer Guide.
Anyway, here’s some pics of the Parkway, courtesy of Little Bits of Sheffield.
It’s now a convenience store, probably selling champagne truffle artisan crisps for £3. Such is progress.
Inspiring, uplifting and sad at the same time. Lots of people loved living in Park Hill;
“It’s like being in heaven” said one early resident, while another said, “People look at us up here and think we live in a slum. They don’t realise that I live in a penthouse looking out over the city.”
We gave the cholera memorial a miss, for now, and headed home.
Thank you for including a link back to Little Bits of Sheffield 🙂
Should you fancy taking a look I have photographs too from The Link pub on Park Hill on another of my blogs Postcard Cafe.
The Link pub cellar: https://postcardcafe.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/view-from-the-cellar/
The Link pub with art installation: https://postcardcafe.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/mark-fell-the-link/
The bag of crisps in the photograph you featured above was actually a film prop left there in the bar of the Parkway Tavern after it was used in the film ’71 which was set in Northern Ireland but parts were filmed at Park Hill!!! So the bag of crisps is just some paper printed with a crisp bag design from I’m guessing 1971!
I saw the film when it was on telly and was completely thrown when instead of Northern Ireland they were running around Park Hill!
Best wishes and stay safe…
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Thank you for your wonderful blog; I hope my acknowledgement was OK as I’ve no doubt I’ll be delving into it again !
I’ll add those links to the post. Sheffield has some superb records of social history.
The crisp packet is very poignant !
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Fantastic incidental story on the crisp packet – it really did have me wondering.
Yes, 3p would have been just over 7d, the price of a packet of crisps back then.
Thanks 🙂
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Yup, 3p for a bag of crisps is spot on for the early 70s.
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There was a large brutalist development visible from my Notts. school in the 1960s and 1970s – the Balloon Woods Estate.
It was started in 1966, completed in 1970, but demolished in only 1983, owing to defective concrete.
Outsourcing hasn’t changed much over the years, has it?
Whatever, the public reaction to its disappearance was generally one of relief. Unlike its bigger relation in Sheffield it didn’t have topography as a selling point, even if it could have been rescued.
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If I’d started this blog in 1995 instead of 2015 there’d be a lot of brutalist and scruffy Nottingham on my blog !
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But what about the architecture?
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(slow golf clap)
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Interesting post.- loving the old signs and pics. My knowledge of history is sketchy so hadn’t appreciated Mary Queen of Scots lived in Sheffield for 14 years. When I say lived I mean held prisoner. The Dictionary of Pub Names says the Castle was opposite the pub.
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Held prisoner in Sheffield ? I know how she feels. She was probably allowed 2 pints take-out from the Fat Cat though.
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I believe you as your local knowledge is said to be second to none. Your ‘Every closed pub in Sheffield’ series is excellent.
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I must admit I’m indebted to local history sites and the effort of Sheffield Hatter and Alan Winfield.
Are there similar resources available for East Kilbride ?
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EK lacks history but check out pictures of the swimming pool (Dollan baths).
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Apparently Mary Queen of Scots was held both at Sheffield Castle and at Manor Lodge, and by all accounts she got out and about (for exercise rather than pub crawls, of course) a lot more than we’re allowed to nowadays. The lodge is not far from Park Hill flats and is sometimes referred to locally as the castle. The actual castle, which was demolished after the civil war, was at the confluence of the Don and Sheaf rivers, so easily within sight of Park Hill, but I wouldn’t decribe either location as “opposite” the Scottish Queen pub.
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It did seem a little unlikely. Top knowledge!
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Sheffield Hatter,
Mary Queen of Scots was also imprisoned at Chartley Manor between Stafford and Uttoxeter.
Her jailor Amias Paulet had prepared to move the queen the twelve miles from Tutbury before Christmas 1585, and decided to avoid going through Uttoxeter because the new bypass would be too confusing.
It was at Chartley that Mary received information – hidden in casks of Draught Bass – from Anthony Babington about a plot to free her and overthrow the Queen.
Fascinating stuff this history.
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“I became a bit obsessed with the Parkway Tavern, tucked into the very heart of the complex.”
I imagine that did very well back in the day.
“bistros replacing boozers….”
Sigh, progress.
““Got to be honest I haven’t been in here ,but I have walked past it through park hill flats enough to know I would rather put my family jewels in a meat grinder than risk my life in there.””
Not quite the community they had hoped for I guess. 😉
“I assume by “family jewels” he/she meant copies of the 1972 and 1975 Good Beer Guide.”
Well, as those from oop north might say, those two guides would certainly ‘test ee’. 🙂
“Such is progress.”
See above, below ‘bistros’.
“Inspiring, uplifting and sad at the same time.”
Those 3 don’t have to be incompatible. 😉
Cheers
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I think some sort of national award is merited for that “testes/test ee” line. Can you be knighted by the nQueen or does Justin do that ?
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Last time I looked, we’re still part of the Commonwealth so the Queen could definitely knight me! 🙂
Cheers
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