My Kind of Town

18/09/2026

70S SHEFFIELD FROM ABOVE

London Road and Queens Road, taken by Mike Lawton during a flight over the city in the 1970s.

11/09/2026

POWERED SCOOTERS OVER 100 YEARS OLD?

Shown is Lady Florence Norman, a suffragette, on her motor scooter in 1916, travelling to work in London.
It is an Autoped, a petrol-powered scooter imported from America.
If you were wondering whether such high-tech of the day ever made it as far as Sheffield, the answer is 'yes'.
Parts of an Autoped were unearthed near Tolley Hall during a project by The Friends of Gillfield Wood. The scooter is thought to have belonged to the Milner family.

04/09/2026

THE EGGBOX

It was meant to last for hundreds of years, but Sheffield's Town Hall extension was only 25 years old when the bulldozers arrived.
Completed in 1977 and quickly labelled "The Eggbox", the new extension accommodated 'offices of the future' for the city treasurer, the housing services department, and the department of planning and design.
Most people didn't like the way it cast a large shadow over the beautiful Peace Gardens. They appreciated it even less when its concrete became stained and shabby.
In 2002, the Eggbox was demolished as new plans were decided for the Peace Gardens and what had been Norfolk Street. The site later became home to restaurants, fountains and the Winter Gardens.

28/08/2026

SAME PLACE, DIFFERENT DAY

Here are two pictures of Sheffield's Broad Lane taken 30 years apart.
The top picture, from the 1980s, shows one of the city's final 'free' parking areas, before meters were erected.
Prominent in this picture, and also the 2016 view below, is the Montgomery Memorial Drinking Fountain which was subscribed for by the scholars and teachers of nearby Red Hill Sunday School and erected in 1860.
There was originally a seat around the fountain with an inscription "Rest for the Weary". Sadly this, and the lamp above, have long since disappeared.

27/08/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9KfeXnsIrM

#...

27/08/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi0VH-xcwAI

Join me on my mission, visiting five railway stations on the Hope V...

26/08/2026

WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE YORKSHIRE BELLE?

Join me on my mission as I set sail on the Yorkshire Belle from Bri...

21/08/2026

IT'S THE BINMEN

Before our gardens and driveways became cluttered with colourful wheelie-bins, each home had just the one metal bin for all waste... and flat-capped professionals emptied it weekly.

How many of you recall watching members of the city's team of dustmen collect the bins from back yards, sling them over their shoulders and carry them down the 'passage' to the waiting dustcart out in the street?

10/08/2026

THE BRAVEST LITTLE TRAIN.

Let’s visit the bravest steam train on its big birthday, and also e...

07/08/2026

VINTAGE TRANSPORT EXTRAVAGANZA.

Transport extravaganza with Mike’s Missions! ...