Sheffield in 1935

Fitzalan Square in 1935

Never let be said that the blog is hide bound by geography.  

And so today we are in Fitzalan Square in Sheffield, in 1935.

This I know because the postcard was produced by the Valentine Company and the reference number dates it to that year.

Of course it has changed quite a bit since then and I did have some difficulty recognising it at first.

Some of the old land marks remain like the bronze statue of Edward VII erected in 1913 which cost the square its large cab stand and clock.

King Edward V11 statue

Ahead of us the big white building which twists round from High Street to Haymarket is also still there but seems to have been truncated somewhat.

But others have long gone, like the London Mart which stood on the corner of Flat Street and High Street and can just be glimpsed in the top left hand corner of the picture opposite the C&A building.

It was first occupied as a hotel in 1870 and was taken over by John Marples in 1886 who gave it the name of the London Mart but as was locally known as the Marples.

During the Sheffield Blitz on the night of December 12th the building received a direct hit from a bomb which plunged through the building and detonated just above the cellars killing approximately 70 people who had taken shelter in the cellars.

Flat Street & corner of the London Mart 

The building was reduced to a 15 foot high pile of rubble.  Despite this, the following day 7 men were rescued alive from a section of the cellars which had been protected when the cellar roof had not collapsed.

The site remained derelict until 1959 when the brewing company John Smith opened a pub on the site which was called the Marples.

Square received a facelift during the summer of 2003 when  the Edward VII statue was cleaned and  lights were added to illuminate it at night.

New sandstone paving and steel benches were installed, the trees were pruned back and improved street lighting put in.

I could go on but think I have strayed well away from 1935.  Suffice to say that in writing this I discovered that one of my new facebook pals knew the pub well and our own Josh and Polly live close by.

So another small world.

Picture; Fitzalan Square, 1935 from the collection of Alan Brown, listing of Marples, John & Co, wine & spirit merchants from Whites Directory for Sheffield and Rotherham, 1911