Scrolling down the page will quickly show how varied and wide-ranging the projects are.
Sheffield Dales
What I call the 'Sheffield Dales' is, of course, part of the Metropolitan County of South Yorkshire. There were losses and gains when the historic county of Yorkshire was divided - I'm referring to general advantages and disadvantages, not gains and losses of land. I think that the reorganization worked in the case of South Yorkshire. The changes aren't necessarily permanent. In the case of Cumbria, the administrative county of Cumbria will be abolished and replaced with two new unitary authorities. One is Westmorland and Furness, the other is Cumberland.
Below, a map of South Yorkshire, which I'm privileged to call my home county, even though I have some of the attitudes of a frontiersman, feeling a great affinity for what lies over the border as well as what lies within the border. In this case, the Derbyshire border is not far away. The villages and countryside over the border interest me a great deal, and I've often visited them - but there are no areas of the country which have no interest for me.
Below, the position of South Yorkshire in the map of the counties of England.
It would be possible to extend the 'Sheffield Dales' and form the 'South Yorkshire Dales,' the places drained by the rivers of South Yorkshire. There would necessarily be expanses and smaller areas of industrial activity but industry is a strong interest of mine. Another strong interest is vernacular architecture. This will be obvious from the images of buildings on this page. The vernacular architecture of South Yorkshire is very interesting, far richer than many people would think. South Yorkshire does include some examples of architecture with a claim to national importance. This is the Baroque West Front of Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Below, interesting vernacular architecture: the Market Hall of Penistone, a cruck-framed building.
The first image below shows a scene in the Yorkshire Dales. Other images in this section show buildings and landscape in 'The Sheffield Dales.' Most of the text follows the photographs in this column. Click on the highlighted text to go to The introduction to this section after the images.
Below, dam at Old Wheel Farm, Loxley Valley
In this valley, water powered medieval corn mills and the wheels used for
manufacturing agricultural implements and cutlery. Later, there was heavier
industry, including factories which made furnace bricks for steel works.
In 1864, this area was devastated when a much bigger dam, the Dale Dyke Dam,
collapsed. An estimated 3 million cubic metres of water swept down the
Loxley Valley, through Loxley Village and on to Malin Bridge and
Hillsborough, where the River Loxley flows into the River Don. The water
flowed down the Don into the centre of Sheffield. More than 240 peple were
killed.
For the time being, the account here is very brief. The significance of 'Sheffield Dales,' what I
mean by 'Sheffield Dales,' can be explained, to begin with, by a mention of
the Yorkshire Dales. The first image in this section is of fields and buildings in the
Yorkshire Dales. The landscape of the Yorkshire Dales is admired by very
many people, and many people feel - as I do - that the buildings have
a rightness in this landscape, that they aren't in the least jarring, an
intrusion in this landscape. There are many areas where it would be
impossible to make the same claim, that the buildings are a fitting part of
the landscape. Not all the buildings in the Yorkshire Dales are equally at
home in the landscape. The buildings which fit into the landscape
particularly well are examples of vernacular architecture. These particular
buildings are generally made of stone, and often the roofs, like the walls,
are stone, stone slates. The vernacular architecture of England is very
varied in its styles, techniques and materials. The materials include
building stones as different as Cotswold limestones and granite, Welsh and
Cumbrian slate, roofing of tiles and thatch - and so much more, a wonderful
achievement.
The characteristic vernacular architecture of the North Pennines is widely
recognized and admired but the vernacular architecture of the South Pennines
deserves wider recognition. Sheffield, much further south than the Yorkshire Dales, has
buildings with strong linkages with those of the Yorkshire Dales but
buildings which are distinctive. In such
settlements as Bradfield and Dungworth, in the farmhouses and other farm
buildings not part of any settlement, the buildings blend with the landscape
and enhance the landscape and stand out from the landscape. The varying
landscape of the 'Sheffield Dales' is different from much of the Yorkshire Dales, often well wooded,
as in the area beyond Bradfield, towards the Derbyshire border. The trees,
particularly the beech trees, are stunning in autumn.
This area, the area of the Loxley and Rivelin valleys and other valleys of
Sheffield and the hills which emerge from the valleys, is an area which deserves to be given wider recognition not
just for its natural beauty, the quality of the vernacular architecture but the
industrial achievement to be found in it and the relics of industry. For the Rivelin Valley, an outstanding contribution to the appreciation of the
valley is 'Walking the Rivelin: A pocket guide to the industrial heritage
and natural history of the Rivelin Valley' (Arc Publishing.) I've walked
along the Rivelin Valley countless times, often the full length of the Rivelin
trail, almost, and then back to my starting point
I intend to add to the images of vernacular buildings in this section. If it happens that the owner or occupier of a building shown on this page would prefer the building not to be shown, for any reason, I'll remove the image. An email to me requesting this to be done won't appear in the public domain. All emails to me remain private, unless the sender gives me permission to publish.
The Rivelin and the Loxley are rivers that can be reached very quickly from here, but I include in the 'Sheffield Dales' a large area - the other rivers of Sheffield, the hills above them, the land they drain, everything within the Sheffield City boundary, in fact. Only proportion of the Sheffield Dales area could be called picturesque, pretty, beautiful, but I regard places which are plain, unattractive, ugly as well worth - I won't use the overused word 'celebrating' - but well worth including in the Yorkshire Dales if they have significance of one kind or another - or could have. To give one single example, I think of an outstanding brewery in the Sheaf Valley area.
The River Don, of course, has vast significance. The River Don engine, now housed in the Kelham Island Industrial Museum, is shown above.
For me, the Sheffield Dales have versions. My version of the Sheffield Dales follows from my interests. It includes landscape and vernacular architecture. The landscape includes gardens, farms (sheep farms, dairy farms and arable farms), orchards, woods, wetlands, the rivers themselves, of course, the plant and animal life to be found in them, but also rocks. The rocky outcrops, such as Stanage Edge, are certainly an interest. It includes breweries, but I've no interest in dining out, in cafes and restaurants and coffee bars. I do have a strong interest in food and cooking.
An interest I still have, but an activity which I haven't been able to practise for a long time, for more than one reason, but the mildness of recent winters is one of them, is cross-country skiing and particularly downhill cross country skiing. I skied in the Derbyshire hills, particularly in the area near Edale, and in the hills just beyond Stannington. I've also skied at Chamonix in the Alps. (I took the train to Chamonix and when I arrived found a camsite and pitched my tent in the snow.) The experience of skiing at Chamonix was exhilarating, since the slopes are obviously so much longer than anywhere in South Yorkshire or Derbyshire but the experience was incomparably less moving, less important to me than the experience of skiing near Stannington and seeing a mountain hare with its white winter fur, incomparably less moving, less important the experience of skiing on a frozen pond in the Rivelin Valley, after night had fallen. In 'The Prelude,' Wordsworth writes of skating on the frozen Esthwaite Water. ('Book First,' lines 425 - 463.) 'It was a time of rapture ... ' (line 430.) I felt privileged in the same way.
Year after year, for a very long time, I've been to see the autumn trees in the part of the 'Sheffield Dales' near here. The autumn foliage of the beech trees has given me much, much more than the experience of seeing the Grand Canyon, Arizona, a very long time ago. The foliage is more muted in some years, but visitors from outside Sheffield would surely find that it's worth their while to travel a long distance to see the splendour of the beech trees in the Bradfield area, as well as other parts of the 'Sheffield Dales.' In autumn, the green of the beech trees becomes a brown which is anything but mute, becomes golden-orange-brown, not mute, magnificent
As for visits to the 'Sheffield Dales' and tourism in the 'Sheffield Dales,' this, an increase in visits and tourism would be welcomed by many people and not welcomed at all by others. In this part of the Yorkshire Dales, many businesses would benefit but many people living in the area would regret any loss of quietness, tranquillity, the chance to enjoy solitude. This area is already busy and sometimes crowded, but many parts are far from busy and far from crowded. Anyone tired of the Lake District congestion and the relative congestion of parts of the Derbyshire Peak District would surely find the less crowded parts of the 'Sheffield Dales' to their liking.
If, to give just one example, if the hamlet of Storrs ever became a magnet for visitors, crowded and congested at some times of year, then it would be completely understandable for residents of Storrs to resent that. For this reason, it would be understandable if residents of Storrs, or most of the residents, opposed this project, if it ever came anywhere near fruition, and similarly for many other places. I've been visting Storrs regularly - the vernacular architecture is a particular reason for visiting - and I too would regret the loss of quietness. I don't think Bradfield, a much busier place, has been ruined by its visitors at all, though. In quiet areas, some bustling and busy places are a welcome contrast. Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales is another, more sizeable example of such a place.
One significant advantage of the 'Sheffield Dales' for visitors, visitors from Sheffield and visitors from far away, is that, as with the Yorkshire Dales, the landscape and the buildings can look just as good in poor weather as in good weather. They can be enjoyed in warm or hot weather, obviously, but overcast conditions, even wet and windy conditions, can accentuate the appeal rather than lessen it. This is an advantage which Yorkshire has but which many other areas of the country don't have, or not to nearly the same extent. The Cotswolds come to mind.
My version leaves out many, many things that would be present in the other people's versions of the Sheffield Dales - if the Sheffield Dales, the Sheffield Dales PHD (Paul Hurt Design) project, that is, ever became an interest of people other than myself. If it ever did, then the PHD connection could be dropped or not emphasized at all. This page is one page among many on the site, of course. There are opinions of mine on some pages which wouldn't be shared by people who share my enthusiasm for the places discussed in this section. There are many, many demands on my time. Ideally, the project would need to be taken on by other people, if they decided that it could be developed and promoted - but not promoted by bureaucratic methods, or the methods of the people whose interest in marketing is much greater than their interest in places of tranquillity, places which are significant, but not significant because they are viewed simply as significant marketing opportunities. I have great respect and admiration for the achievements of commerce and business, which are often massive achievements, but I myself don't have the aptitude, the necessary skills, to have succeeded in any branch of commerce or business.
Sheffield has enormous variety, capable of satisfying many interests. This is well expressed in the Wikipedia article 'Geography of Sheffield.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Sheffield
'Sheffield is the most geographically diverse city in England. Lying in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, the city nestles in a natural amphitheatre created by several hills and the confluence of five rivers: Don, Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter. As such, much of the city is built on hillsides, with views into the city centre or out to the countryside ...
'Sheffield has more trees per person than any city in Europe, outnumbering people 4 to 1. It has over 170 woodlands covering 28.27 km2 (6985 acres), 78 public parks covering 18.30 km2 (4522 acres) and 10 public gardens. Added to the 134.66 km2 (33,275 acres) of national park and 10.87 km2 (2686 acres) of water this means that 61% of the 362.38 km2 that the city encompasses is greenspace.
'Sheffield also has more types of habitat than any city in the UK. As well as urban, parkland and woodland it has agricultural and arable land, moors, meadows and freshwater based habitats. Large parts of the city are designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest including several urban areas.'
As I see it, the Sheffield Dales project also allows for extension, as well as a certain modesty, which isn't incompatible with justifiable pride. There should be no excessive claims.
I live in a border area. The Derbyshire border isn't far away, and the boundary of the Peak District National Park is even nearer. Some of the Peak District National Park is within the city boundaries. For a very long time, the landscape and villages of the Derbyshire Peak District have been very familiar, and I've visited them far more often than most places in Yorkshire. (More recently, though, I've developed a much stronger affinity with the County of Yorkshire, the Yorkshire which lies beyond Sheffield.) I've been to Bamford and Hathersage, Hope and Castle, Edale, so many places in the White Peak and the Dark Peak, countless times.
But I have a strong interest in the regions of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. An appreciation of Sheffield's industrial might shouldn't exclude an interest in the industrial might of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Birmingham, Glasgow, Belfast and other places - Derby, the technological expertise to be found all over the country.
Interest in the fascinating history of water power on the Rivelin can go with an interest in the fascinating history of water power in other places. Interest in the canals of Sheffield can go with an interest in the canals of other places. Sheffield has nothing to compare with the aqueduct which carries the canal over a river valley at Marple, Cheshire. The rivers of Sheffield are narrow, including the Don, and obviously the Don can't match the Severn for breadth or beauty. The Severn has industrial significance too over some of its length. Ironbridge is the best-known example, deservedly.
But the Sheffield Dales have so much to offer people with an interest in industrial history - I'm certainly one of them. There are important industrial history sites set in the countryside, such as the sites of the Rivelin Valley, and important urban sites in the Don Valley and other places. Many Sheffielders already know this but many people outside the area would do well to find out more about the attractions and the fascination of the area.and but my page on green thinking, organizations and activism: will include more comment. page
