The Sheffield Round Walk is a 14 mile circular walk made up of four sections in the south-west of the city. It's a fantastic walk that encompasses the very best of Sheffield, introducing the stunning countryside on our doorstep and contrasting it against the concrete and green spaces of the urban environment. If you're a local resident perhaps you've seen the route's waymarks with their distinctive acorn.
The walk begins in the popular Endcliffe Park, following the Porter Valley out to the edges of the Peak District at Ringinglow. The route then turns back towards the south of the city along the Limb Valley, before emerging out of Ecclesall Wood onto Abbeydale Road South at Dore train station; that covers the first and second sections. The third and fourth sections resume from Dore station through Ladies Spring Wood, passing Beauchief Abbey before crossing Graves Park; Gleadless Valley is next and on to Meersbrook Park and finally along Brincliffe Edge and back to the start.
On a particularly fine and sunny August morning, I finally set off on the Sheffield Round Walk. I had walked the route in it's entirety about five years previously and I had planned to walk it again for sometime; although in order to enjoy the sights and local history found along the route, I decided to split the the walk's four sections as two short walks of two sections each. The Sheffield Round walk begins in Endcliffe Park, found on Ecclesall Road, a 10 minutes stroll past boutiques, fashionable bars and restaurants.
A series of public parks and gardens along the Porter Valley were developed over a period of time from 1855 to 1938 on land either donated, bought outright or cleared by fire. Endcliffe Park was laid out in 1885 and designed by William Goldring (1854 - 1919) a landscape architect and naturalist who had a long association with the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in London as well as editing respected journals in his field. It's estimated that William Goldring worked on at least 700 projects in England alone, landscaping public parks, gardens and the grounds of hospitals and institutions. He also worked as far afield as America and India. The park was opened in 1887 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, which marked her 50 years as monarch, after this Endcliffe Park continued to be expanded and saw the addition of various monuments and facilities.
Upon entering the park at Hunters Bar roundabout the first thing you see is a tennis pavilion and lodge that were built in 1891 inspired by the Arts and Craft movement that advocated traditional craftsmanship and designs that referenced medieval, romantic or folk styles. However, my eye was caught by a large monument a little further along.
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| Large monument to Queen Victoria by Alfred Turner. |
The striking monument features Queen Victoria on a pedestal of Portland Stone flanked by life-size bronze statues on either end, representing 'Labour' and 'Maternity'. Two values that perfectly characterize the Victorian period. Queen Victoria died in January 1901 after ruling 63 years, originally sited in the city centre from 1905, this monument commemorates her passing.
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| Figure of 'Labour' with hammer and anvil. |
The sculptures are wonderfully detailed, Labour and Maternity were both displayed in the Royal Academy, London in 1904 to much admiration at the time. Sculpted by Alfred Turner (1874 - 1940) who was commissioned to create many war memorials and statues in his career.
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| Figure of 'Maternity' with two children. |
A series of relief carvings above the dedication depict 'Courage', 'Justice' and 'Truth'. I was surprised by the quality of the carvings and the skill of the sculptor. A monument of national importance hidden away in a green corner of Sheffield!
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| Courage, Justice and Truth. |
Endcliffe Park is very popular, especially with families due it's broad and smooth footpaths, perfect for pushchairs, so in anticipation of the crowds I had arrived in the park at 9.00am but was confounded by the sight of hundreds of runners, all moving in the same direction. I guessed it must have been an organised event. Sighing quietly, I walked against the flow of people that flashed past in a river of panting, sweaty bodies all wearing revealing neon coloured running gear.
I gently pushed through the crowd and the park opened up into a broad expanse of grass, that on a hot summer day is filled with happy families and groups of friends enjoying the open space and sunshine. A cafe provides refreshments and toilet facilities, which was busy even this early.
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| Looking towards the cafe. |
Continuing past the cafe I left the crowds behind as the broad footpath curved around a corner, apart from the occasional runner or dog walker the park was peaceful and serene. The path bordered a large pond, the first of many forgotten remains of industry on the Porter Brook but more on that later.
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| The curving serpentine path through the trees. |
After less than 10 minutes walking the park ended at Rustlings Road, a prosperous tree-lined residential street that skirted the whole length of one side of Endcliffe Park. Clearly visible on the other side of the road was a waymark bearing an acorn and the words 'Sheffield Round Walk' pointing towards the entrance to Bingham Park and Whiteley Wood.
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| The broad footpath and cycle lane through Bingham Park. |
Here the path was tarmacked and almost wide enough to be a road, on the right the Porter Brook river while on the left the ground grew into a steep tree covered hillside. Further on the right, to the north, over the trees I could see lines of densely packed terraced houses, a reminder that I was still in the middle of a city.
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| Trees on the hillside that ran along the footpath. |
Along the course of the Porter Brook there are what at first glance appear to be duck or boating ponds but which are in fact, remains of once important industries in Sheffield. These are dams and they were the locations of 'Cutlers' Wheels' which were grinding workshops powered by water-wheels. Quite often the buildings and water-wheel have gone and all that remains are the dam, weirs and goits (water channels).
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| Cool, moist shade just beyond the Ibbotson Wheel Dam. |
The Ibbotson Wheel Dam is such an example, despite being in use as a Cutlers' Wheel from 1753 until at least 1900 and being in good repair as late as 1930, it was demolished in 1950. At one time Sheffield had been dependent on the energy generated by water-wheels to power it's burgeoning industries, by 1740 it's estimated that 90 mills had been built, two thirds of which were used for grinding by cutlers or for other edged products; this number grew to over a 100 by 1850. Few people would guess walking along the peaceful rivers and waterways of Sheffield, that these had been crucibles of industry, fuelling the development of a city and supporting 1000's of workers, craftsmen and their families. A chapter of history all but vanished and forgotten.
The Porter Valley had 21 mill dams powering 19 water wheels that provided energy for machinery that ranged from forging hammers to rolling mills and to the cutlers' wheels. Luckily the very next turn on the footpath brought me to Shepherd Wheel, a sole surviving example of the buildings and workshops that once existed in such great numbers on Sheffield's rivers, not just the Porter Brook.
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| Interior of the main building, Shepherd Wheel. The past is preserved and vividly brought to life. |
The footpath continued and entered an open space which the wooded hillside bordered on the left while on the right-hand side a low building was set amongst some trees. A large public information board informed me that this was Shepherd Wheel, a fully restored grinding works, typical of the kind that were in use throughout Sheffield. Excitingly, the doors were open and I had the pleasure of looking around by myself.
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| A photograph from the information board showing grinders at work. copyright © Sheffield City Council |
Sheffield's metal industries can be traced back to the medieval period. The area was perfect for these industries to develop, having all of the raw materials locally, such as iron ore, sandstone for grinding wheels and charcoal as well as five fast flowing rivers, the Porter, Rivelin, Loxley, Don and Sheaf.
The earliest written evidence for the production of cutlery in Sheffield is a tax document for 'Robert the Cutler' dated 1297.
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| The 'crown gear' (centre) connected to the water-wheel on the other-side of the wall. |
The site is first mentioned in a will of Roger Barnsley dating to May 1566 which left possession of 'a whele in Porter's Felid' to his son Thomas. The wheel and the land upon which it was located passed to various families until it came under the ownership of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, who became the Duke of Norfolk in 1664 and held over a thousand acres of land in Sheffield.
Shepherd Wheel is actually named after a Mr Shepherd, who rented the site from 1749 to 1794 and passed the tenancy to his son-in-law. The Dukes of Norfolk sold the freehold of the site in 1811 to John Eyre, an entrepreneur who provided work and materials to the grinders, then passed on the finished goods to market. For three generations a family called Hinde were tenants at the wheel from as early as 1820 until the end of the site's working life in the 1930's, although by then they had shared tenancy with another family, the Briggs.
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| A glazing wheel used to refine a blade after the first grinding process. |
Obviously during it's long and complicated history, the site developed and changed, the current large workshop was built between 1769 and 1771, during the time Mr Shepherd was tenant; the second and smaller workshop was added in the late 1790's or early 1800's.
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| The reconstruction is superb, it feels like the craftsmen have only just left. |
Shepherd Wheel only operated a single process, grinding blades; items of cutlery would be passed along various workshops, at each one a craftsman would perform a single, specialised process, from forging to grinding and through to polishing and final assembly, ready for sale. A grinder would rent and be responsible for a 'trow,' the trough that contained the grindstone and the 'horsing', the seat used during grinding. The grinder would work on his own, bringing in work from his customers who in turn would have purchased the blank blades from the forge workshops.
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| Penknife blades waiting to be ground. |
During Mr Shepherd's time at the site, a factory system had developed, where a single man operated the workshop and employed a team of grinders to do the work for him.
The process generally involved grinding a fine cutting edge onto a forged knife blade with a sandstone wheel three feet in diameter, this would leave the blade roughly finished; it would then be 'glazed' where any fine particles (flash) left behind from the grinding would be removed on a wheel of wood covered in leather impressed with sand or later on, emery powder.
I can't cover every aspect of the work carried out at a 'Cutlers' Wheel' but hopefully there's enough to give an impression of the lives of the craftsmen. I can't imagine how tough their working conditions must have been, they were constantly wet, hunched over, breathing in dust and metal particles; all the while enduring the deafening sound of the grinding wheels turning, the screech of metal on stone and the rattle of belts, pulleys and machinery!
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| I couldn't help but imagine the tough lives of the grinders. |
I spent a long time absorbing the history and atmosphere of the workshops, I was especially moved by the tools, all bearing the patina of long and hard use, left as if waiting for the hands that had wielded them to return and pick them up again.
It dawned on me that I had only covered a tiny fraction of the first section of the Round Walk and that I'd better resume my travels but before I left, I wanted to see the water-wheel itself. They had been the heart of many industries along the five rivers of Sheffield for so long and yet also so forgotten and lost from the landscape.
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| The water-wheel is 18 feet (5.5m) in diameter and 6 feet (2m) wide. |
I was glad to have seen the wheel and to have paid my respects as it were but I was behind schedule and there was still half of section one to cover and the whole of section two. Time to put my best foot forward and see what else the Sheffield Round Walk had in store for me.
To be continued.
