Parkhill is what most visitors to Sheffield first witness, when either driving into the city or leaving the train. It was the result of public health acts which demanded that Britains slums be cleared. Prior to the tower block being constructed, the area consisted of back to back terraces and wasteground known to locals as "Little Chicago" due to the increase in crime and social decline.
An example of Post War Slums
Modern day gangs are far from a new concept and the current gangs that tarnish the Sheffield streets are in no way a modern day phenomenon. Sheffield and its poorer communities like many other UK cities suffered greatly from the economic downturn of the late 1920s, also as the "Great Depression" or "Great Slump" One major cause of this downturn was the amount of investment that European nations had put into their involvements in World War 1. Britain had in some ways tried to alleviate the impact of the first world war by its selling of foreign assets.
The North of England was particularily susceptible to the effects of the economic downturn due to its heavy dependance upon the heavy industry which had flourished throughout. Sheffield was renowned for its steel industry, the industry was the backbone of the community. Stainless Steel was invented by Harry Brearly in 1913. The First World War had a great impact on the requirement for the metal, however its production was affected by the amount of men signing up to do their bit in the war efforts. Another factor in how the Depression was felt by the working class communities of Sheffield was due to the more efficient and modern rivals from overseas.
The North of England became poverty stricken, with disease and malnutrition being rife. Scurvy, rickets and Tuberculosis were common place. Although Britain had an advanced welfare state for its time it did not serve those who needed it the most. The state would pay out based on those who had made contributions, the benefits were only payable for a maximum of 15 weeks, those paid poorly were unable to make the necessary contributions. These people, Britains poorest were discarded and forgotten by the very system that should have been implemented to help them.
To most persons the Great Depression is not the first thing that spirngs into mind when asked about the 1920's It is generally seen in a far different light. The "Roaring Twenties" You only need to think of the Flappers. A new breed of femininity where women would wear excessive makeup, where women could vote and drive motorcars, smoke and dance in jazz clubs. Sporting bobbed hair with cigarette holder suggestively held, the image of the flapper almost defines the 1920s. As normal as it all sounds by todays standards this was something that had never been seen until the twenties and as much as it was still not totally accepted, the 1920s saw liberalism. The Twenties are portrayed as glamarous and liberating however the Great Depression meant that this could not be sustained and there was a much darker and deprived life for the working class of the 1920s.
As the depression hit Sheffields poorest families, Gambling became a means to try and accrue some extra pennies. This gambling was carried out in an area known as "The Skyring", highly illegal this activity was maintained and looked after by notorious hard men (George Mooney and brother John Thomas) who had their "pikers" to act as look outs for any intervention from the police. Once the depression kicked in these hard men were not going to give up the high life they had recently become accustomed to and decided they no longer required the services of their pikers. The loyal helpers took great exception to this and formed their own allegiance to one another, known as "The Park Brigade". Two very feared gangs had been formed.
The formation of these gangs saw an unprecedented rise in shooting, stabbings and violent attacks. The crime wave resulted in the murder of an innocent bystander and caused public outrage.
The Mass unemployment of the Great Depreession came to an end in Britain as the nation prepared for and fought in World War 2.
The idea behind the Parkhill Estate was to replace these slums with ultra modern living, maintaining the sense of community but allowing residents modern facilities that they had never yet experienced. Sheffield City Council enlisted the assistance of two young modernists The architects Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith began designing Parkhill in 1945 and borrowed heavly from the ideas of The Smithsons
Parkhill was not alone, around the same era, two other locally well known complexes were constructed in Sheffield. These were Kelvin Flats and Hyde Park Flats. You only need to enter Kelvin or Hyde Park into a search engine to be presented with the fond memories past residents hold for these developments. Here are two images of these complexes:
Kelvin Flats has since been demolished, whilst Hyde Park was partially demolished and the remainder was redevolped to accomodate for the World Student Games in 1991. The photo below shows a Hyde Park block, post redevolpment. The block was renamed "Castle Court" and is now run by Northern Counties Housing Association This image shows how Hyde Park Flats was transformed for the 1991 Student Games:
PLEASE CONTACT ME BY EMAIL IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD TO THE SITE: SAZ@PARKHILLFLATS.CO.UK