I was born and brought up in a modestly affluent part of Sheffield and then moved away for 17 years. I returned in 1989, to live in Pitsmoor, a place regarded as one of the most disadvantaged inner city areas.
Pitsmoor’s shopping centre is called Ellesmere Green and it is at the top of Spital Hill. The photo shows Spital Hill. The road in the foreground is Saville Street and the buildings are on the hill. I took the photo several years ago and nothing much has changed. (The building on the right has a roof, for some reason!) Nothing much ever does on Spital Hill.
I first became aware of Spital Hill and Ellesmere Green in 1982. I remember being told of “Armageddon Wholefoods” who had a shop on Spital Hill during the seventies. They closed because of the rats.
Beer and …
I felt most connected during the nineties and into the early years of this century. At the time we had the East House and The Golden Perch on one side of the road and on the other, the Kashmir and Mangla.
The Golden Perch was a spit and sawdust pub with excellent real ale and the most miserable landlord you ever met. He hated all his customers and we spited him by visiting and deliberately enjoying his excellent ales and the classical music he played to put us off. Eventually he closed and left to follow his ambition to be the world’s most miserable bus driver. The pub became the M Tavern, which still served real ale and retained the bar billiards table. But they insisted on live performances by Tom Jones impersonators. So after that we favoured the East House. The Golden Perch is now mostly empty and a small travel agency.
The East House was a real ale pub whose claim to infamy was a mass shooting during the 1960s. And they think Pitsmoor is bad today! It was a small pub and they allowed us to take our beers across the road to the Kashmir or Mangla. It’s now a small general store. There’s been a lot of dealing in the area and most pubs closed as a result.
… Curry
The restaurants were both Kashmiri Indians and each had their fans. The Mangla is the survivor and was OK, a little cheaper but nowhere near as good as the Kashmir. Still isn’t.
The Kashmir was presided over by Paul who knew his regulars and welcomed them warmly. My starter of choice was mixed bahjias. Onion, mushroom and potato. Each coated in batter and with minty yoghurt sauce, squirted from a washing-up liquid bottle. And then a bowl of curry, you ate with your fingers (spoons provided on request) using a naan bread the size of cartwheel. Novices ordered rice as well and were always defeated.
For afters there were the famous spongy balls. Paul posted the record number of spongy balls eaten following a full meal. I think the record stood at 36. I remember a friend at one of my birthday meals. She was defeated by one ball. There are two things to remember about spongy balls, should you ever encounter them. They are small enough to place in your mouth whole but it’s not so easy to get them out again if you have teeth. You can of course chew them but the second thing to remember is they are boiled in syrup and so – specific heat! My friend needed a long cool drink and a lie down after that!
Transformation
The area has undergone transformation over the last 5 to 7 years. The largest Tesco in Europe opened between Saville Street and Spital Hill. At the time, about 6 years ago, most of us thought the half dozen or so general stores would close. They’re still there, while Tesco, despite its prime position alongside the ring and spine roads, has seen disappointing sales.
The shops are run largely by migrant communities. The restaurants now are Eastern Mediterranean. Kashmiri cuisine is hard to find, apart from the Mangla. There are loads of gift shops, funded by Muslim women who pool their earnings, often as cleaners, buy goods in places like UEA or Dubai and share the proceeds. Some time ago, I counted 17 such shops in Ellesmere Green. Today there are about 10, which still seems a lot.
It’s a thriving community funded through hard work and determination from families fighting to survive in an adverse economy. I am not really a part of it. I walk through and admire it and try to picture how it might be in 10 years’ time.
LOCKDOWN POSTSCRIPT
Places have histories and personalities. My story aims to introduce you to a specific place, through my experiences of it over the years. I hope I convey the sense of my long association with Ellesmere Green.
In paragraph 2, I say nothing changes and then continue with several examples of things that changed. I could point to dozens of changes. And yet it’s true, nothing changes. Despite several attempts to improve it, the area remains stubbornly run-down.
But there’s something positive in all this. It’s a place where people survive because they support each other. Things change because there’s always someone ready to give it a chance.
Anticipating the New Normal
The question on many peoples’ lips is, what will the “new normal” be like? Be warned, there will be massive pressure to return to the old normal. This pressure is immense, if only because we all know what the old normal was like. There are also vested interests in the old normal; those who control resources will want to hang onto them.
It’s hard to grasp the new normal because we’ve not experienced it. Even if I dream up some utopian paradise, you’re unlikely to agree with me and even if you do, the effort to turn around the ship of state is immense.
The new normal will happen through thousands of incremental changes and we will not see its full shape until those changes happen and the usual jostling for position takes place.
Where will the new normal come from?
- Most prosaic but really important, social distancing continues with localised and sporadic lockdowns. Somehow we must maximise economic activity and minimise disease activity.
- Small businesses re-establish activity post-lockdown. Some have moved some or all activities online. Some of those have found it works well and so will continue online activities. Others seek to change how they operate as a result of the lockdown and new insights from experience.
- There’ll be new ideas. Some implemented by small business owners who decide to try something new.
- Others need investment and so businesses seek funding from government or other sources.
- There are likely to be government initiatives to jump-start the economy. We saw this sort of thing in the 1980s. They aim to get people into employment primarily and so can lack a real sense of what neighbourhoods need. But equally, increasing spending power works for other businesses and so when well-planned may have an overall positive impact.
A Sense of Place
The strength of places like Ellesmere Green is not in its buildings but in the people and networks of support. Some are religion based, there’s a Mosque and a large non-mainstream Church, both facing onto the Green. Others are nationality based. Pitsmoor’s always had very clearly defined ethnic groups, partly natural and partly through government encouraged funding schemes in the 80s and 90s.
Many businesses get by through networks of families and friends who contribute and support. A functioning shop is a status symbol and serves as a meeting place. Half a dozen or so grocers are still there despite the huge Tesco on their doorstep.
Whilst they must be financially viable, it’s likely they do not aim to employ everyone who works for them. I’m not saying this is a good or bad approach to the local economy but there’s every chance these businesses will survive. A few seem to have gone under but as economic conditions improve, I suspect many old traders will find their way back.
This is an economy built on trust and confidence in the future. There may seem to be little change but this micro-economy has put down roots. With or without dreamers, we may be surprised by how Ellesmere Green develops in the future.
Does anyone know of other similar places? Is anyone studying how these hidden economies survive?
Why I Am Doing This
Stories rarely remain unchanged, the context in which they’re told matters just as much as the context referred to by the story. I wrote this sequence of 21 stories about 17 months ago. You may have read some or all of them in their earlier form. Reading them now, we perhaps see something different, especially as we consider the role of place in development of local economies.
As I republish these stories, I revise and polish them. Some need little change, for others the changes are extensive. At the end of each story, I add reflections based on where my thinking has moved onto, especially in the context of the Lockdown.
This is story 11/21. Last Story: Roles: Crossing the Line Next Story: Participation: Cottingham Blues