"I lived at Sheffield's famous Park Hill flats during the 1970s and it was brilliant"

Sheffield’s Park Hill flats were famously branded the ‘streets in the sky’ when the futuristic development was completed in 1961.

The high-rise blocks were initially hugely popular before undergoing a dramatic decline, growing dilapidated and becoming plagued by crime and anti-social behaviour.

Today, following a dramatic turnaround, Park Hill is one of the city’s most desirable places in which to live.

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Heather Harrison, a retired post office counter clerk, spoke to The Star about her experience living there in the 1970s.

“I lived there between 1970 and 1973 and it was brilliant,” she said.

“There was a real community. Everybody knew everybody else and you all helped one another out.

‘You had everything. It was like a little town’

“It was lovely with all the amenities. You had four pubs, the butchers, a fishmongers, a mini-supermarket, a dentists, a shoe shop, a clothes shop, grocery stores, a nursery, a school, and you could walk down to the market. There was the barber, Dougie, too, where everyone went to get their hair cut. You had everything. It was like a little town.

“We had a lovely maisonette, which was huge, we had fantastic neighbours who would do anything for you, and we were very happy.

“There were people you could rely on and we lived opposite the police station so if there was any trouble I could knock on the door.

“I wouldn’t have left but I had two small children and I wanted them to be able to play in a garden so when we got the chance of a house nearby we took it. I was sorry we had to leave in some respects.

‘There was a really strong community’

“Even after we moved, every Friday after my husband Bob got paid we used to have our evening meal and come down here to Crazy Cuts, the mini-supermarket, to do the weekly shop.

“When our children were old enough we took them to Grace Owen Nursery too and I’d come here with my mum to get the groceries and things like that.

“After we moved away, they started putting problem families in and it started going downhill. When we were here there were no problem families or anything like that. There was a really strong community.

‘I don’t think I would fit in now’

“I still come here to visit my friend and it’s a bit bittersweet coming back. I don’t think I would fit in now.

“All the places I knew have gone and you don’t have all the amenities like you used to and I’m afraid the ones that are here are a bit expensive. I couldn’t afford them.

“Our old flat was in Hague, on the bottom level. It’s the phase (of the redevelopment) they’re going to start next and it’s all fenced off at the moment but I can see it when I go past on the bus.

“I’d love to see it finished. I have so many happy memories of my time there.”