High Street (Sheffield)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
High Street is one of the main thoroughfares and shopping areas in the city centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, located at the approximate grid reference of SK356874. High Street starts at the Commercial Street, Fitzalan Square and Haymarket junction and runs for approximately 400 metres west to conclude near the Sheffield Cathedral where it forms a Y-junction with Fargate and Church Street. High Street has the traditional wide variety of shops, financial institutions and eating places which are associated with any British town centre.
For part of its length High Street carries the A621 road before it swings south down Arundel Gate. The Sheffield Supertram system runs along High Street in its own reserved half of the road, the other half is a one way system for regular traffic travelling west, there is a tram stop midway along known as Castle Square. Many bus services use the street and it has become notorious in recent years for bus congestion.
[edit] History
For many years High Street remained no wider than it had been in the Middle Ages, plans were first put forward to widen it by the local council in 1875 but work did not start until 1895 due to objections from shop keepers. High Street was doubled in width by the improvement work as all the old buildings on the south side of the street were demolished and replaced by more elegant structures. Amongst the new buildings was John Walsh's department store, which opened in 1900, the store later became Rackhams and then the House of Fraser and at its peak had over 600 employees. The original building was bombed and destroyed during the Sheffield Blitz in 1940 and did not reopen until 1953. Kelmsley House, better known as the Star and Telegraph building was opened on the north side of High Street in 1913, it now houses the headquarters of the Sheffield Star newspaper (although the entrance is on York Street) with its white brickwork and elegant clock tower it is a familiar landmark.
High Street suffered badly as a result of the Sheffield Blitz in December 1940 when many of the high Victorian buildings on the south side of the street were devasted by Germany bombing, these were the newer buildings which appeared as a result of the road widening at the end of the 19th century. All of the older shops on the northern side were spared by the bombing.
Some of the shops and businesses which stand on High Street today are as follows:
- Blue Arrow (Employment Agency)
- Lloyds TSB (Bank)
- Halifax (bank)
- Cavells Café Bar
- Boots the Chemist
- NatWest (Bank)
- TJ Hughes (Department Store)
- HMV (Music and Video Store)
- Pizza Hut (Eating Place)
- Blacks (Outdoor Pursuits shop)
- Primark (Clothing)
- Cooplands (Bakers)
- GT News (Newsagents)
- McDonald's (Eating Place)
- Bradford & Bingley (Bank)
[edit] References
- Central Sheffield, Martin Olive, ISBN 0-7524-00118
