For our spring week-long holiday this year, we went on a city break. In Sheffield, the city where we have set up home four years ago and where my husband has lived most of his life.
There wasn't enough funds to go away as I've only recently returned to work but we have a discounted voucher for an afternoon tea at the Hilton's in Victoria Quays so we decided to walk around town while we worked up our appetite. This turned out to be a four-hour stroll, based on the Sheffield Town Walk map, a 2-mile walk along the River Don into the heart of the modern city where we discovered the medieval streets which still bear their original names and the bits of history that came with it.
It felt much like any other city breaks we have been to with a printed map in hand (though not as detailed as we would have hoped for) downloaded from the council's website. The weather was predictably British, with the sun occasionally threatening to push away the heavy clouds which brought with it spells of rain but not quite doing a good job. We brought umbrellas so we were prepared for the downpours.
There are very few centuries old buildings in Sheffield, much of the city centre has been devastated by the German bombs during the second world war. The rushed redevelopment that followed built functional but uninspiring buildings amidst a Post-War economic hangover. But the city's latest round of urban regeneration is aiming to compliment its cultural heritage and the architectural design of its past. This walk sought to highlight the contrast between the new, the old and the present day.
We started at the tram stop in Ponds Forge, an area of former mill ponds and steel works dating back at least to the 1500s which is now the site of a leisure centre complex which contains an Olympic-sized swimming pool. In front of the building is Canada House, an impressive landmark building dating 1874, although its inauspicious location means most people saunter past without a second glance.
We walked up the ramp, over Park Square, watched the cars careening to the motorway and crossed the tramlines to the left then took the sloping walkway towards Victoria Quays.
Instead of turning towards the cobbled approach to the canal basin, we crossed the road towards (8) Blonk Street - named after Messrs. Blonk and Co. who ran the Wicker Tilt in 1787 - but not before noticing the newly refurbished Alexandra House, a former run-down pub and hotel turned into boutique student pods, a sure lure to the Far Eastern student market.
Crossing the elaborately decorated bridge in Blonk Street, we stood to marvel at the striking Wicker Riverside Apartments along the banks of the River Don which posed in stark contrast of the historic Royal Victoria (now Holiday Inn) not far off in the background. Although I'm still not quite sure what to make out of this new infrastructure, the development has impressed by creating sustainable transport routes and river walkways, helping reconnect the city with its river.
We crossed the bridge to the other side where the River Sheaf enters the Don via a culvert, opposite is the site of the (9) Sheffield Castle (too ugly to photograph) of c.1270, which replaced a motte and bailey constructed following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Mary, Queen of Scots was made prisoner in the stone castle for 14 years between 1570 and 1584. The castle was dismantled by Parliamentarians in 1648 and although there are no surviving drawings or plans of the castle, excavations have revealed the stone foundations and evidences of earlier structure. Until recently, the site has been home to Castle market, an eyesore of a 1960s modern Brutalist building that most locals were glad to be relocated. After its demolition, the council is said to create a parkland around the castle's remains down to the River Don.
On our side of the bridge, the mixing of old and new is definitely evident with the iQuarter, a 17-storey glass curved apartment tower which houses a (10) crucible chimney stack of the 1800s.
Walking alongside the river through a passageway are the walls of the Royal Exchange Buildings of 1899 which contained flats and also housed stables. Eventually we emerged at (11) Lady's Bridge, the oldest bridge across the Don in Sheffield, linking the Wicker to the north and Waingate to the South.
On the other side of the bridge, where the weir once fed water into the mill of the Wicker Tilt, glass-fronted buildings are reflected in the clear flowing river.
We turned towards Nursery Street and walked along the river on the nicely pave pathways and crossed the iron bridge to admire the view of Sheffield from this side.
Before we reached Corporation Street/A61, is a picturesque sight of the former Wicker Holy Trinity Church (now New Testament Church of God, Sheffield) with the chimney of Aizlewood's Mill behind reflected in the river. Crossing the street towards Kelham Island, we took a snap of the spring meadow in the middle of the dual carriageway with another view of the city centre and the large graffiti drawing of the popular artist Phlegm on the walls of the Riverside along the riverbank, something I have been wanting to take after driving past numerous times.
(12) Kelham Island Quarter is a separate blog altogether but this is one of the photos we've taken of the industrial museum with the surrounding area undergoing a massive urban regeneration with the creation of sustainable homes.
In exploring Kelham Island, we missed the turn off along Russell Street and carried on towards the Shalesmoor roundabout before walking along Doncaster Street where we found the Cementation Furnace, a grade II listed building and the only surviving example of this type of steel making furnace in Britain. This is the part where we get lost, unable to comprehend the printed map and found ourselves walking along empty rundown buildings, a haven for graffiti artists whose works we found along the walls.
We started walking up the hill and found ourselves looking up the new apartment buildings that have been built for the East Asian student market that pumps £120m in the city's economy over a single year. A lot of building developments continue to rise in this part of the Sheffield, not just of student accommodations but also of glass-fronted office buildings, although most of them seem to look empty and still being advertised for rent.
We are now back in our map, opposite the museum is the site of (14) Sheffield Workhouse. We walked back up the hill through Paradise Street, over Queen Street up to (15) Paradise Square, which was built between the 1770s and 1790s. The map says that John Wesley preached here in 1779 and it was a meeting place for Chartists between 1830 and 1840. What a shame that it has been turned into a car park for the employees of the solicitors and estate agents that occupy the surrounding buildings!
There is a narrow alleyway to the left of the square, we followed that onto North Church Street and found the (16) Synagouge that was built in 1872 by the small Jewish community in the city.
.jpg "Sheffield cultural walk")
Turning right diagonally across into St Peter's Close - up and through the passageway onto Campo Lane then across the street, we stood to admire (17) Old Bank House, the oldest surviving brick house in Sheffield from 1728.
This was supposed to be the end of the walk but because we started in the middle, we are just halfway through our walk which originally starts from the (1) Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, a parish church building originally built in 1116. After living in the city for over 4 years, it was my first time to set foot in this ancient heart of my adopted home and found the bright interior as welcoming and as warm.
To carry on with the walk, we walked back along East Parade, a lovely cobbled stone street lined with offices, cafes and restaurants with pretty buildings you would barely notice unless you look up.
We turned right towards (3) Hartshead Square and continued to Watson's Walk and Market Place and found this lovely little space that was so different to its surrounding area.
We carried on the passage way to Angel's Street which used to be a site of the Market Cross and the notorious Shambles, a filty and run down area even by 18th Century standards. Well, not much has changed.
Across the tramlines is (4) Fitzalan Square, an area that has been a market quarter since the medieval era. A statue of King Edward VII stands in the middle of the square surrounded by businesses with upstairs flats.
We missed the walk down the steps to (5) Bakers Hill as we carried on walking along Pond Street and made a left turn to Pond Hill where we found (6) Old Queen's Head, a timber framed public house which claims to be the oldest building in Sheffield which dates back to the 1500s.
At this point, we digressed again and turned left on Sheaf Street towards the train station but not before taking this photograph of the city's skyline.
At the train station, we visited the Sheffield Tap, a newly restored pub which was used as a bar and restaurant catering to the First Class passengers since 1904 but had been until recently used as a store room for 35 years. The pub which can be accessed either through Sheaf Street or Platform 1B is noteworthy for its sumptuous Edwardian rooms and its collection of quality cask ales and beers from around the world.
After a short visit to the toilet, we were off again, walking along Sheaf Street and taking a photo of Sheffield Digital Campus, which is aimed to help establish the city as a centre for IT related and knowledge based industries in the UK and in Europe.
At the ramp opposite Ponds Forge, we ascended towards Park Hill flats, a Grade II listed council housing estates built in post WW2 era that's considered by many to be a blot on the landscape. It's currently undergoing renovation by Urban Splash to turn it into upmarket apartments and business units and has been shortlisted for the 2013 RIBA Stirling Price, the most prestigious British award for excellence in architecture.
Not everyone seem to be keen on this new boost of life, angry and senseless graffiti already lined the walls of the walkway, which would hardly be attractive to the building's target market.
That being said, we have noticed that plenty of flats are already taken up, with the elevator in constant use and the glass fronted windows showing signs of occupancy. But for such a massive complex, it still felt eerily quiet and lifeless in the middle of the day.
Leaving the area, we crossed the tramlines, walked down the ramp towards (7) Victoria Quays and approached the canal basin through The Terminal Grain Warehouse which have been converted into flats. This once thriving transhipment point which opened in 1814 had been in decline since 1970 until it was given a new lease of life in the 1990s with the restoration of the warehouses and erection of new buildings that now surround the canal. It's now one of my favourite parts of Sheffield, especially on a bright and sunny day when the colourful canal boats are reflected in the water.
Under one of the arches, we turned left to find the Hilton Hotel but not before getting sidetracked by a left turn towards the riverside, crossing the bow string arch steel truss bridge taking this view of the Wicker Riverside and the Royal Victoria.
Then we finally headed to have our afternoon tea at the Hilton Hotel to cap off what turned out to be a four-hour leisurely walk to rediscover our city's history, appreciate its present and look forward to its future.
No comments:
Post a Comment