'EELEY & ECCY ROAD

If you remember, I left you high above Heeley last time, so let's now descend into the Sheaf valley to Heeley itself. Here's the railway station, the first one out of Sheffield, when just two tracks. 

Quadrupling is about to happen.

Here's a 1950/60s view of Heeley station (Photo in my collection, photographer unknown).

Heeley station has long gone, as has the four track layout, but there's still a passing loop, where slow trains can be held.

Sheffield tram 114 passes Heeley Picture Palace.

On London Road, Heeley, is the Cremorne, a former Tetley house.

Also on London Road, the White Lion, totally unspoilt.

We now head across the valley of the Sheaf to Eccleshall Road - see the map here. Trams once ran along this major thoroughfare, passing the Picture House.

There are several good pubs along Eccy Road. First up, the Porter Brook, named after a tributary of the River Don.

Champs Sports Bar used to have real ale. I'm not certain that it still does.

The Nursery Tavern is a busy establishment.

There are a couple of micropubs worth seeking out; the Beer House and the Portland House.

South Yorkshire PTE once ran the majority of buses along Eccleshall Road. No. 247 is seen outside the long-lost Pomoma pub.

In 2006, TM Travel, Stagecoach and Powell's were serving this route.

At the bottom of Eccleshall Road was Ward's Brewery.

Today, the brewery gate survives, but behind it is now a Wetherspoons, the Sheaf Island.

Around a few corners was once the Earl of Arundel & Surrey, since shut.

By the former Midland Railway was SYPTE's Queens Road depot, where Leyland Atlantean 295 is seen.

Not far away was the old SUT coach garage, which, in the 1980s, became Sheffield Coach station.

Time for another beer, so we visit the Rutland, still one of the city's best real ale pubs.

That's it for now. Next time, a good look at Sheffield Midland station.

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY ROUTE TO SHEFFIELD

We now leave Derbyshire behind for the moment and we're about to enter South Yorkshire via the TotleyTunnel, that is over three miles long. Here's the Eastern End in 1893 with the Midland Railway Directors' inspection train being propelled by the contractors locomotive.

The Yorkshire portal in use, in MR days.

A Midland Railway signal box, "Totley Tunnel East", was still in use until recently, seen here 2006.

A DMU passes Totley Tunnel East in 1998.

Central Trains 170 108 is seen here in 2006.

Round the corner was Dore & Totley station, seen here when it was just a two track layout.

A couple of shots of the station after quadrupling in later Midland Railway times.

47159 passing Dore & Totley 18-6-1983, when all platforms were extant.

Moving forward to 1998 and only one platform survives, on the Hope Valley side.

Now it's 2006 and a Midland Mainline HST passes by.

Northern were operating the majority of stopping services in 2006.

Another platform was recently added. Photo by J Thomas (Creative Commons License).

Moving on towards Sheffield, we find Beauchief station, seen here as a two track affair.

It was later quadrupled, as seen by Ben Brooksbank in 1961 (Creative Commons License).

Beauchief was once famed for its abbey.

Sheffield's trams traversed Abbey Lane.

Back on the Midland Railway, a couple of scenes of the quadrupling near Millhouses circa 1901. The loco is the contractor's Manning Wardle 1366-1898 'Dora'.

Here's Millhouses & Eccleshall station in Midland Railway days around 1905.

The Midland Railway had a large loco shed at Millhouses.

Millhouses was an important place on Sheffield's tram network.

Here's and old postcard of Abbeydale Road, Millhouses, with the tram tracks, circa 1930.

Heading north, we come to Heeley, where we ascend a short, but very steep, bank to reach two great pubs, the Brothers Arms (formerly the Olde Shakespeare) and the Sheaf View.

That's where I'll leave you for now. More of the same next time. By the way, here's a link to the map of the journey so far.