Finding Phil's Phillimore Fiction [1]

It Begins With Cricket ...

In the middle of the 19th century, the area of Sheffield known as "Park" (as in the today's famous Park Hill and Hyde Park Flats) was growing. Housing terraces were built on the steeply sloping land up the hill from the River Sheaf. St John' Church provided for the residents' spiritual needs and there was a cricket ground. The track that became Cricket Inn Road was also developed with terraces, school and, of course many pubs.

It was never a prosperous area; this picture (c. 1900) is captioned "An outing for the poor people."

In 1927, Sheffield Tramways and Motors started a motor omnibus service, numbered 98. It was renumbered 46 in 1932 to release 98 for a variant of the pre-existing 97 to Southey Green. Despite the development of the Wybourn Estate and later the huge swathe of semis at Manor, the 46 plodded on regardless.

As this early 1960 map shows, it wiggled a bit but terminated on Cricket Inn Road itself at the foot of Cricket inn Crescent.

Then in 1960 came the big push north. It ran via terraced housing on Woodbourn Road ...

... via Wilfrid Road, Eleanor Street and Phillimore Road to a terminus just off Greenland Road. You can follow the dots on the somewhat simplified map above. Eleanor Street was blessed with somewhat better housing ...

... some with the luxury of bay windows! Note, in both pictures, the shiny new yellow bus stop signs installed for the start of this route extension.

A lot has changed.

Woodbourn Road is a blasted heath being developed for small industrial units but served by the Meadowhell line of Sheffield Supertram.

Eleanor Street and Phillimore Road have been cleared of their blackened terraces and the more recent version of high density housing has replaced them.

Modern prosperity brings more car ownership which means the bus service needs financial support.

Thus we have today's route 6 run by T M Travel.

There is no need for a bus on Woodbourn Road (or a tram for that matter) as nobody lives there; but the Darnall hinterland is still served. The route now uses Worksop Road at Attercliffe, never served by bus in the good old days, then wending its way as closely as possible to the old route as road layout changes will allow. 

It doubles back to Darnall via replacement housing on the verges of Greenland Road. Coleford Road (beneath "Export" below) ...

... is now industrial (right in today's view below) with route 6 serving Greenland Way behind the trees on the left. A bit different isn't it?

Since November last year T M Travel's 6 has become cross city, picking up the former route 85 from Tesco on Abbeydale Road and in to town via Carterknowle Road and, controversially,via Brocco Bank.

The Darnall end was unchanged, continuing from Greenland Way via Darnall shopping centre and Prince of Wales Road to Bowden Wood and Littledale.

The 6A variant runs evenings and Sundays from City only, ignoring the two side estates and terminating at Manor Top. On a previous visit to Sheffield fbb moaned (as usual) about the poor presentation of bus stop information for this service in the Littledale area.

See "Sheffield First Hand : At The Bus Stop" (read again)

So, at long last, we can turn back to T M Travel's "excellent" App and see how it presents route 6.

 Next No 6 blog : Thursday 4th February