My formative years were spent from 1954 - 1965 in a cavernous Vicarage at the heart of the community based at the bottom of Chapeltown Road known as Sheepscar. The pungent aroma emanating from the local tannery at times permeated the area, and even the houses, but life continued as though it did not exist. Diverse communities moved busily up and down the road and into the adjacent streets and parks with acknowledgments of varying degrees. Being very young I did not understand the complexities and challenges that existed but I felt a warmth that meant mercy to me and seemed to bind people together.

The Doctors surgery where one actually had a family doctor you knew, provided the necessary treatments and prescriptions dispensed by Jacksons the Chemist and where you could purchase what appeared to be the panacea for all ills, Angiers Emulsion, through the taking of just one spoonful a day. Cigarettes, tobacco and accessories were readily available from all the newsagents, but for me it was the penny chews that excited the taste buds and comics featuring Roy of the Rovers and Desperate Dan that stimulated the mind before progressing across the road to the well stocked library.

Meat, or should I say carcasses, hung from huge hooks in Everingham’s with sawdust below to soak up any blood that may have exited from the lifeless bodies, whilst the whole bacon joints were cut on a manual machine at the “number” requested by the customer.  Bread and confectionary was available from Perkins or Ainsley’s along with the spam or luncheon meat thinly sliced for lunch and tea. Stationary of any sort could be purchased at Tunicks, a shop stacked form floor to ceiling, front and back, to the sound of a basic printing press churning out the required leaflets, books and cards.

One could never forget the “local” serving Tetley’s stocked on a regular basis from barrels that rolled off the open lorry drawn by the most beautiful drayhorses from the local brewery. A small backstreet shop appeared to sell everything that might be needed including live chickens stored in crates in the backyard - only once did I notice the owner chasing a chicken up Evelyn Street that had escaped the death sentence that awaited the inhabitants.

And then the church, St Clement’s, that allowed a young boy to race his tricycles and later bicycle around its paths when no services, weddings or funerals were taking place. Jumble sales that sold everything, including false teeth and used knickers, Bazaars opened by celebrities including Sooty ably assisted by Harry Corbett, Gang Shows, Bring and Buys, Scouts/Guides, choirs groups for all sorts and conditions provided much community spirit for people dressed in bright coloured clothing appropriate for their cultures and faiths with the accompaniment sometimes, especially at Remembrance time, of a marching band from the local barracks - all captured on camera by local photographer Gerry Donne of Donne Studios. There was so much to see, smell, hear and taste that provided an ideal and exciting place to live and learn and which resulted in huge tears when the time came to relocate. A never forgotten foundation for a life to be lived! Thank you Sheepscar and thank you to those who contributed so much without even knowing it.