City Walk

Hubby and I had been trying to attempt a walk for a couple of days, but "Mum & Dad's" taxi service had been in full use, so on Saturday we seized the opportunity and did one of my favourite city walks. We parked up at Meadowhall - as we had dropped the DQ at work - and walked down the footpath alongside the river Don into Sheffield. The footpath is well maintained as it is part of the Five Weirs Walk , but the marvellous steel walkways are often victim to metal theft these days. This scarey spider has survived though.

Many of the old industrial units by the river are now derelict, but a few were occupied and in full swing.

We spotted some fab graffiti painted on one building.


We reached the city and ended up on the " Wicker" - one of Sheffield's historical streets, full of fabulous grade II listed buildings but sadly now a more run down part of town.
The Wicker Arches used to carry the main railway line from Manchester, but this line and station are no longer used.
Can you see the patched up bit? A relic from the Sheffield Blitz.
At this stage, it started to pour with rain and sleet, so we popped into a gorgeous little pattiserie. Its years since I stepped into an eaterie on the Wicker and it was really lovely.
Once refreshed, we took time to explore some of the great buildings on the road.
The history of some of these buildings are amazing and should be preserved. I always love finding history and interest that I have not seen before - in places that I visit or pass through often. Its all about looking that bit closer.

There are some fascinating old buildings at the end of the Wicker. Until the floods in 2007, these housed a furniture shop, but they are empty now. I hope they don't get pulled down.

I wanted to photograph this area as it is where 2 rivers converge. The tunnel on the right brings the river Sheaf (where Sheffield takes its name from) from its culvert under the city, to join the river Don.
Whilst it was still raining, we thought we would pop into Castle Market - Sheffield indoor market who's days are apparently numbered. I've not been to Castle market since about 1980, and the area around it is very run down, but we were both gobsmacked to find how lovely it was inside. It was really clean and tidy. I'm planning a return trip for a better look.
Once back outside, the sun was shining, so we headed down to the canal basin for our return leg of the walk.


I think that there is a certain beauty in some of the derelict buildings along side the canal.
With the sun now shining brightly, the reflections in the canal where stunning.


The river and canal must have been a wonderful breath of fresh air through the industrial part of the city in the past - it still is. It draws the wildlife right into the heart of Sheffield. We saw a Kingfisher - as we have every time we have done this walk. And we finally got to take a walk! x