| Sheffield surnames: Frost, Coulbeck, Braithwaite, Stratford, Newton, Langley |
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Anyone who's seen the film The Full Monty probably thinks they've seen Sheffield. Admittedly, it does show quite a bit of this city, but it doesn't show the breadth of landscapes from the wild beauty of the surrounding moors, to the tamed beauty of the numerous parks and then to awesome beauty of the industrial heritage. OK, there's a large dose of nostalgia creeping into the last part of that statement, there was also grime, dirt, poverty and injury. The photo shows a misty moisty morning in 1959. This was taken on Burbage Moor, Derbyshire, not far outside Sheffield. L-R (Margaret) Jean Frost, Jean Frost (nee Braithwaite), and Ian James Frost.
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Jean says: The photo shows Ecclesall Church which I attended as a child. I never really liked it, as it was high church; that is, until a new, young organist arrived who could play boogie-woogie on the church organ. We had a bit of excitement one Sunday on the 60s, when the church was featured live on Songs of Praise. Mum was dressed very fashionably, so she was asked to take me and Ian and sit at the front. During the service, someone came over and asked her to stop us staring at the camera!
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A wintry scene from the back garden of the Frost family house in Charnley Avenue, Ecclesall. I don't know for certain when this taken as the scene was repeated year after year, except in 1962-63, when the snow was much deeper... one day we opened the back door and the snow had drifted all the way over the opening. Charnley Avenue was part of the Knab Farm Estate, built on the eponymous farm from 1956-1958. We moved there from Gleadless in 1957, and to get to the shops, had to walk through a field full of cows. They're very scary when you're only 4 years old! The garden was very large, with trees and a small and oft-dammed stream running through it.
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This time it's the back garden of our previous home in Carson Mount, Gleadless, where we lived from 1952 to 1957. I'm the one with the cup of sugar and a lolly - the short stuff with the curly hair is the first of my three brothers, Ian James (known as Jack). He still has the curly hair, but I'm not skinny any more! Gleadless, which is part of Sheffield, has the distinction of changing counties back and forth. When Ian was born there in 1956, it was during an 18-month sojourn in Derbyshire, so his birth certificate has Sheffield, Derbyshire on it, which always raises a few queries. |
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The aforementioned three brothers, L-R, Andrew Philip, Ian James and Neil William. They are standing in Ecclesall Woods, which was once part of a bigger forest and the true home of Robin Hood - the Nottingham connection is a 17th century fabrication. Loxley or Locksley is on the outskirts of Sheffield, there are more pubs called 'Robin Hood' than in Nottingham, and the grave of Little John is in Hathersage, just outside Sheffield. If you want to read further, visit this very comprehensive website: Robin Hood - Outlaw Legend of Oxley. And if memory serves me right, those anoraks were Lincoln Green. |
Links to Sheffield Genealogy and History websites: The Wikipedia entry for Sheffield The Sheffield & District Family History Society |