235-239 (rear of), Crookes

Image: © Dave Hitchborne Taken: 26 Aug 2008

At the age of seven, way back in 1949, when I lived here above the former Sheffield Savings Bank http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1232062 this was a little known, but World Class cricket ground. From 1949 to the early ‘50s, many test matches were played here and many a sixer was belted out of the boundary only to fall foul of the dreaded tramcar wheels on the main road. The wickets were scrawled in chalk on the right–hand corner of the then garage. It can be seen here though that the garage doors have been removed and the garage turned into an outbuilding. Remarkably, only one window was ever broken and that was due to substituting the rubber ball for a golf ball. I dread to think what the result would have been if it had connected with the bowler’s head. Back then, the ground seemed so big and it was certainly in better condition. There were no Wheelie bins, only a bin for the waste bits of meat from Peat’s butchers shop. At times there was a bit of a hum from the bin, but on cold days it wasn’t too bad. The corrugated sheeting of the add–on was painted black back then and the building was a handy leg–up when the ball got lodged in the guttering. Similarly, an outside toilet that was to the right and at the back of the fence was useful for access to the upstairs kitchen window when I came home from school and no one was in.

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