Climbin' Ovver: Exploring Sheffield part 1 of 2: Firth Brown Medical Centre

The north east side of Sheffield was, and to an extent still is the heart of its steel industry.

The areas of Burngreave, Brightside, Darnall, Attercliffe, Newhall, Neepsend, Carbrook, Grimesthorpe, Meadowhall, Wincobank and Tinsley were full of big factories that must have made for a striking landscape in the industry's heyday.

Two extant works in Brightside: Firth Vickers (left) and Forgemasters (right)

One of the foremost companies was Firth Brown Steels, which occupied the Atlas & Norfolk works between Carlisle Street and Saville Street East / Brightside Lane, plus the Vickers Works (armaments) and Staybrite Works near Meadowhall, recently demolished.

It played a key role in the development of Stainless Steel and made products for the rail and shipbuilding industries.

The Atlas Works (shown in the old map below) was demolished in the 1980s, however one section remains, perhaps because it served as a WW2 air raid shelter for the works and nearby school and was bomb proof and hard to knock down.

1948

2014

It was a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) during the war and continued for some time afterwards as a medical centre for the steel works, though it's not clear for how long.

Now it is shielded by a long wall and has a car park on top. Adjacent there is another building, maybe part of the same unit, but that one seems well sealed and filled.

Inside there are several rooms with furniture and relics such as fire extinguishers and empty cordial bottles.

One room has to be accessed via a hole in a wall that has been smashed through - one wonders whether there could be more to this murky space.