Story by Nikky Wilson
Starting a new job in Burngreave last year, I was struck by the discovery that some residents don’t like the way the name ‘Burngreave’ is applied to the whole area. Further investigation on the subject has revealed a group of people who feel a strong sense of loyalty to Pitsmoor in particular. So I went to talk to one, Winnie Bentley, who lives in the landmark Toll Bar House.
Winnie first moved to Pitsmoor when she was married in 1947, to a terrace house on Rock Street. “I’ve always known this area as Pitsmoor, not Burngreave. To my knowledge, this included down Spital Hill to the Wicker Arches, up Shirecliffe Lane and across to Grimesthorpe, not just the bit that we call Pitsmoor village,” she told me.
“Oh, it was lovely then! Not a lot of money around but everyone was friendly and helped each other in small ways. I used to be the ‘alarm clock’ for all the houses in our courtyard as well as my own husband, throwing stones at the upstairs windows to get the men up for shift work in the factories. And it was safe – sometimes we forgot to lock the back door at night! Even now, there is still a strong sense of community, especially among the older people.”
Looking at old maps of the area and census records from the1840s, it’s clear that Pitsmoor existed as a village on the edge of Sheffield when ‘Burnt Greave’ was only a piece of woodland along the Barnsley New Road (now Burngreave Road). Surrounded by fields and farms, the village of Pitsmoor must have been the hub for a largely rural community. Then came the Industrial Revolution in the 1850s, along with a huge demand for labour in the steel mills and houses for the workers. As Sheffield expanded, Pitsmoor became a suburb of the city.
When Winnie moved into the area after the Second World War, it was still very much a thriving community, with a cluster of shops in Pitsmoor village providing for all her needs.
“There was a grocer, a bread shop, Brown’s Milk (also known as the Beer Off, where you could buy beer and spirits), Helliwell’s (the paraffin and tin shop) and Molly Fantam’s dress shop, where everyone used to go for a natter and where you could buy your dresses on credit. I never needed to look farther. And for a social life we went to the pub.”
Winnie’s house has a lot of Pitsmoor history associated with it. Built as the Toll Bar House in 1836, it was where all traffic entering or leaving the city had to pay a toll to use the road.
“The tolls were collected from what is now the bathroom window in the house, and often sheep were penned up against the railings outside the house if their owners couldn’t pay the toll to bring them into Sheffield,”
“It’s a lovely house, and for my husband, Tom, it was his dream come true when we bought it, but what irked him most was that it had a Burngreave Road address, not Pitsmoor!”
Thanks to Winnie Bentley for talking to me about her experiences in Pitsmoor. If you want to read more about the area, Parish of Pitsmoor Local History has recently been republished, available from Christ Church in Pitsmoor at £2.00 each (or on loan from Burngreave Library). If you want to share a story about the area, please contact Burngreave Voices on 276 1900 or call into Burngreave Library.
Burngreave Voices: Our Stories Celebrated is a Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust project in partnership with Sheffield Libraries and Information Service, WEA and Sheffield College.