Sheffield South Yorkshire 15th February 26

On Sunday the 15th February 2026, we left Sitwell Arms Hotel and drove to a café nearby for breakfast. Well I was gobsmacked how cheap cafes are up here. More than half the price you'd spend in the South!

After Breakfast we drove to have a look about Sheffield.

As we entered Sheffield via Bramall Lane, we pass Sheffield Utd Football Ground. Hard to get excited about a club that made a big deal about relegation against West Ham in 2009. Ha ha no I haven't forgotten even after all this time!

After eventually finding a car park on Solly Street, we walked into the city.

We reach Sheffield Cathedral, we walk around trying to find the entrance to look about.

The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914. Sheffield Cathedral is one of five Grade I listed buildings in the city, along with the Town Hall, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, and the parish churches at Ecclesfield and Bradfield.

The cathedral is located on Church Street in the city centre, close to the head of Fargate. Construction of the earliest section of the cathedral dates back to c. 1200, with the newest construction completed in 1966; the building is an unusual mixture of medieval and modern architecture. Cathedral tram stop, located outside the front churchyard, opened in 1994 and is today served by all four lines of the Sheffield Supertram network. Most recently, the cathedral underwent an interior and exterior refurbishment in 2013–2014.

Sheffield Cathedral was damaged in a fire on 14 May 2020, an investigation into which is ongoing; a 40-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with arson. The fire destroyed a portion of the cathedral used by a homelessness charity. A previous fire caused damage to the cathedral belltower in 1979.

I have no pictures of the inside as when we entered there was a service going on. We had programs thrust into our hands and a man of the cloth rushed over and ushered us to empty seats.

Now if anyone knows me that was like a living hell for me. I am no way religious in fact an atheist. To have to endure sitting through a service was a horror. I wanted to just get up and leave, but Mel was too embarrassed. So we sat through a bit then they were giving communion. I saw one couple leave at this point, so I nudged Mel and we quickly made our escape!

Once out we made our way through the city and to the Town Hall.

The current building, commissioned to replace the Old Town Hall, was designed by the London-based architect Edward William Mountford in the Renaissance Revival style and constructed between 1890 and 1897. The building was opened by Queen Victoria, using a remote control lock from her carriage, on 21 May 1897. The turning of the key in the lock triggered a light in the building which was the signal for three concealed men to open the gates.

An extension designed by F. E. P. Edwards was opened by the Prince of Wales on 29 May 1923.

The gardens were first laid out in 1938, following the demolition of St Paul's Church. Originally named St Paul's Gardens, they were immediately nicknamed the "Peace Gardens", marking the contemporary signing of the Munich Agreement.

An extension designed in the Brutalist style was added to the east of the Peace Gardens in 1977; nicknamed The Egg-Box after its appearance, it was demolished in 2002.

Outside the Town Hall is the sole surviving Police box in Sheffield. 

The boxes in Sheffield were painted green and white They also featured a design that allowed them to be used as temporary lock-ups to detain suspects. Both the telephone and a first aid kit could be accessed from the outside by members of the public or the constable.

When radio communications became available for individual officers, cities began removing the boxes. The only one left in Sheffield can be found along Surrey Street, just outside the town hall. Although no longer a police callbox, this one is still used by city ambassadors to provide tourists with a helping hand and travel information.

We pass the Peace Gardens in front on the Town Hall. 

The Peace Gardens area was originally the churchyard of St Paul's Church, which was built in the 18th century. The church was built to accommodate Sheffield’s increasing population, which had outgrown the capacity of the Parish Church (which is now the Anglican Cathedral).

A wealthy local goldsmith called Robert Downs paid for St Paul’s Church to be built and work started in 1720. However, Robert Downs later had a disagreement with the church authorities and for a short time he allowed dissenters to worship in the building. This was stopped when the church was finally consecrated or blessed in 1740.

By 1938 the Church of England had no further use for St Paul’s and it was demolished to make way for a proposed extension to the Town Hall. Unfortunately, due to the Second World War, the extension was never built and all that remained of the building were the churchyard walls.

We created a temporary garden with the remaining walls and named it St Paul’s Gardens. However the name soon changed to the Peace Gardens due to the popular desire for a return to peacetime. The name became formal in 1985.

The Goodwin Fountain has 89 individual jets of water and is dedicated to Sir Stuart and Lady Goodwin. Sir Stuart was the founder of an important Sheffield steel and tool making firm - Neepsend Ltd - and a man of considerable wealth.

Throughout their lives they donated a lot of money to a number of charities in the local area, especially hospitals. One of the donations was for the construction of a new fountain at the head of Fargate in 1961. The fountain was originally intended as a tribute to Alderman James Sterling, however, it became known as the Goodwin Fountain and was eventually dedicated to them.

In 1998, the old fountain at the top of Fargate was worn out and was replaced by the new fountain in the Peace Gardens.

The Holberry Cascades are 8 large water features that are dedicated to Samuel Holberry, who was the leader of the Sheffield Chartist Movement, and are located on either side of the 4 entrances to the main area of the Peace Gardens.

The waterfalls from the bronze vessels represent both the pouring of water into Sheffield's 5 rivers, and the pouring of molten metal used in Sheffield's metal industries.

57,000 litres of water are pumped through its water features. The system employs a water re-circulation system and is kept clean using a brine solution rather than chemicals.

For several hundred years, Standard Measures were displayed in a public place so that commercial disputes about Short Measures could be settled without an argument.

The Measures are a symbol of local government, as well as an early method of consumer protection. The Measures were originally put in St Paul's Parade, but were relocated to Cheney Row, between the Peace Gardens and the Town Hall, in 1998.

The Spanish War Memorial records the names of the volunteers from South Yorkshire who fought in the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-39.

The plaque also commemorates the men and women at home who worked endlessly campaigning, raising money and sending supplies, to support the fight against fascism. It is located on the ramp close to the Town Hall which leads up to Cheney Row.

We stop in Costa for a drink, before we walked on, passing the Town Hall again we reach the Winter Gardens. Sheffield Winter Garden is a large temperate glasshouse located in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, and the largest urban glasshouse anywhere in Europe.[1] It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 May 2003.

Part of the £120 million Heart of the City regeneration project that has created the Peace Gardens and the £15 million Millennium Galleries, the Winter Garden was designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects and Buro Happold and is some 70 metres (77 yd) long and 21 metres (23 yd) high.

The building has background frost protection to a minimum of 4 degrees Celsius and it is one of the largest Glued Laminated Timber or "Glulam" buildings in the UK (Glulam is made by forming and gluing strips of timber into specific shapes). The wood used is Larch, a durable timber which will, over time, turn a light silvery grey colour. The larch, derived from sustainable forests, requires no preservatives or coatings. This reduces the use of solvents and also avoids the use of chemicals that could harm the plants.

The building has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system will "learn" year by year.

The bedding plants are changed five times a year, to give a seasonal change, and all the plants are watered by hose or by watering can, as it is the only way to ensure that all the plants get the correct amount of water.

This was a lovey Oasis in the middle of a city!

We leave the Winter Gardens and in front of us we see The Crucible Theatre.

The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city.

In addition to regular theatrical performances, the theatre also serves as a sports venue, having hosted the World Snooker Championship annually since 1977. The Guardian newspaper has called the Crucible the "spiritual home of snooker". The World Women's Snooker Championship and the World Seniors Championship have also been staged at the venue.

Next to the Crucible is the Lyceum Theatre.

There has been a theatre on the site since 1879 when the Grand Varieties Theatre was built. Made of wood and originally intended to be used as a circus, the theatre was managed by the parents of the music hall comedian Dan Leno in 1883, who regularly performed there in the early stages of his career. Leno's lease came to an end in 1884 and the theatre burnt down in 1893. This was replaced by City Theatre but this was demolished six years later to make way for what is now the Lyceum.

Built to a traditional proscenium arch design, the Lyceum is the only surviving theatre outside London designed by the theatre architect W.G.R. Sprague and the last example of an Edwardian auditorium in Sheffield. The statue on top of the Lyceum Theatre is Mercury, son of Zeus and Maia.

By the late 1950s, the Lyceum was experiencing financial difficulties and by 1966 bingo callers were keeping the rumoured threat of demolition at bay. The theatre closed in 1969 and, despite being granted Grade II listed status in 1972, planning permission was sought for its demolition in 1975. The building was saved in part due to campaigning by the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society.

Over the years the building changed ownership many times, being used variously as a bingo hall and a rock concert venue. By the 1980s, the interior was in a state of disrepair. The theatre was bought by two Sheffield businessmen in 1985, with financial support from Sheffield City Council, and it was reclassified to Grade II* listed status. Between 1988 and 1990 the Lyceum was completely restored at a cost of £12 million.

The theatre reopened in 1990 and now serves as a venue for touring West End productions, as well as locally produced shows. It is part of the Sheffield Theatres complex with the neighbouring Crucible Theatre and the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse.

We made our way back to the car for the long drive home!