When I was around six or seven years old, circa 1954, my mother would collect me from Huntsman’s Gardens Schools, in the depths of Sheffield’s industrial east end, and call round at Attercliffe Library for her weekly fix of books to read. Though she had left school at fourteen, she was an omnivorous reader.
I have a clear memory that, while she browsed, I would make a beeline for the bottom shelf of the music section, dig out a score of Handel’s Messiah and stare in wonderment at the multiple staves of the ‘Halleluiah Chorus’, amazed to see how much music could be going on at one instant.
How I reached this I’ve no idea. Somehow I must have known that the ‘Halleluiah Chorus’ was part of Messiah and that it had been written by George Frideric Handel, but the piece is actually buried at the end of Part II and so isn’t easy for a little kid to find.
Attercliffe Library, built in 1894, still exists, an elegant Jacobethan building next door to the older Attercliffe Baths of 1879. It was designed by Charles Wilke, about whom next to nothing is known.
For nearly a hundred years it provided knowledge and entertainment to Attercliffe workers and their families and then, when the houses eventually came down, it closed in 1986.
It’s now a rather fine restaurant, spearheading the cultural renaissance of Attercliffe as a place to visit: The Library Cafe & Restaurant | Attercliffe, Sheffield.
A Walk Round Attercliffe: The Heritage Open Days Walk Round Attercliffe is always oversubscribed, so I’m piloting a revised version of the tour on Sunday April 26th at 2.00pm, starting and finishing near the Attercliffe tram stop.
The only site visit will be to the Zion Graveyard: the other two sites, St Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church and the former Sheffield & Hallamshire Bank Branch, are unavailable on Sundays, but there will be a half-hour comfort stop, with hot drinks and cake available, at the Don Valley Hotel, formerly the Coach & Horses pub (built 1901).
Further details and bookings are at A Walk Round Attercliffe | Eventbrite.
Don also went to this school and remembered it well. It was such a change after the House school of the wartime years and before he moved on to Whitby Road school.
Pingback: Zion Graveyard 3 | Mike Higginbottom Interesting Times