Sheaf Sculpture Stroll

We start our tour in Fitzalan Square, under the ever watchful gaze of King Edward VII who was a frequent visitor to Sheffield and we cross over the tram tracks. 

1. COMMERCIAL STREET.

On the corner of Haymarket and Commercial Street is a building under renovation. 
This was formerly a branch of the Yorkshire Bank, but it is being converted to become an ambitious new arts and cultural venue for the city. This significant milestone marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for S1 Artspace and Sheffield’s cultural landscape featuring spacious public galleries and will include artist studios.

Continuing down Commercial Street we reach another exciting project in a repurposed old building. Some will recognise Canada House as the former Gasworks Headquarters where many queued to pay their gas bills over the years. In more recent times this was turned into a Chinese Restaurant. The future plans are for the building to become a Music Hub to be known as Harmony Works. Orchestras for All (OFA) has said it will move from its headquarters in the capital to South Yorkshire and follow in the footsteps of English Touring Opera. Note also the twin figures of Atlas flanking the main entrance. To the side of Canada House is an extension to the Gas Offices. Recently painted grey, this extension has artworks high up on the facade representing the two uses of gas, i.e. for light and heat.  

As we continue along the tram tracks, we can look down on the site of the former outdoor market, popularly known as the Rag ‘n’ Tag. Underneath this square is the culverted course of the River Sheaf, which gives its name to the city.

To our right is Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, opened in 1991 as a venue for the Summer Universiade, which the city hosted that year. The Centre boasts a wide variety of facilities, from a competition standard pool to group exercise studios. The venue has also hosted opera. The name Ponds Forge is borrowed from the steel works that formerly occupied this site and the natural ponds that were in this area. 

2. PARK SQUARE.

Road traffic heads down Commercial Street to the Park Square Roundabout. 

A bridge carries the tram tracks and a footpath over a section of the Park Square roundabout. Here the lines diverge; one line continues to Meadowhall while the other heads southwards to Manor Top and  Halfway. 
Many of the tram passengers heading to Meadowhall miss the monument on the left to Alderman Sir Charles Ronald Ironmonger, (1914-1984), a former Leader of the South Yorkshire County Council.
The Cogwheel plaque and the surrounding landscaped area were donated in 1985 by GEC Traction Ltd where Sir Ronald Ironmonger worked for 41years. He was a staunch trade unionist, elected to the Council in 1945  and visionary Leader of the Labour Group Sheffield City Council (1969-1974) and subsequently Leader of the South Yorkshire County Council (1973-1979). He spearheaded countless initiatives for progress and development within South Yorkshire. He was knighted in 1970.

3. VICTORIA QUAYS.

There is a footbridge over the road and this leads to the Canal Basin, now renamed Victoria Quays. Before exploring this site, notice that there are flower beds alongside the road. These mark the “Grey to Green” Scheme, a feature of this part of the city.
Victoria Quays (formerly Sheffield Canal Basin) is a large canal basin in Sheffield, England. It was constructed 1816–1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal and includes former coal yards.  There are a number of Grade II listed buildings on the site including a curved terrace of coal merchant's offices (c. 1870).

Follow the steps up to see the Sacred Cow artwork by Ronald Rae. A plaque on a nearby wall states that this piece was chosen by school children of Sheffield. It is a large cow cut from a single block of granite. It lies with its head facing back over its haunches. It is a frontal piece in design and hardly interfered with. 

Rae's subjects are not pre-determined but are suggested to him by the granite he selects from the quarry. In this way he is following the ancient traditions of British sculpting. He still uses the same tools given to him by a quarryman when he was starting out and chooses not to take advantage of modern machinery as many of his contemporaries do.  Much of his work expresses his belief in the sanctity of all animal life.

There are also paintings of a Swan and a Kingfisher on the brickwork which can be seen on the right bank, close by the access to and from Blast Lane. 

4.  THE FORMER VICTORIA STATION.

Many young people will be unaware that at the end of the approach to the current Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria Hotel, there once was a busy railway station. Opened in 1851 it was named after the reigning monarch. It was the age of Grand Railway Hotels and Sheffield was no exception. John Fowler, who later gained fame for co-designing the Forth Railway Bridge in Scotland, was employed to engineer the extension from the Bridgehouses station one kilometre to the west.

Fowler's design included a viaduct over the Wicker that was 12 metres high, 690 metres long and had two island platforms 300 metres long. It was claimed that the masonry involved was equivalent to 700 parish churches.

Part of the old station is now used as a car park for the hotel, but for the traveller arriving on foot, the walls flanking the approach are of interest. There are representations of railways to be seen, from signal levers to locomotives.

The Royal Victoria Hotel opened in 1862. Few people passing under the approach bother to look up and notice the representation of the young Victoria over the entrance.

The 4 star Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria offers 105 beautifully appointed, elegant and spacious bedrooms and is an outstanding example of Victorian splendour, most notably in the opulent surroundings of the Dining Room and the Ballroom.  

5. BROAD STREET.

Leaving Victoria Quays  and following Blast Lane, the path is severed by the Sheffield Parkway, but there is a subway through to the Broad Street end. Nowadays there is an apartment cluster behind the viaduct.

On the right of Blast Lane, fronting Broad Street was the Shrewsbury Works, home to a major silversmith company. This was Martin, Hall & Co Ltd. One of their lines was sports trophies and in 1867 they were commissioned to produce the Youdan Cup in Sheffield.  
Unfortunately it was impossible to have the trophy ready for presentation in time, so a product from their range was substituted. 
They chose a “richly ornamented claret jug” which was won by Hallam FC. It is recognised as the oldest soccer trophy in the world and sits proudly in the trophy collection of Hallam FC. It's not actually a claret jug; the ivory in the handle insulates the carrier from the heat of hot liquids.

The company also made the first FA Cup trophy in 1872 at a cost of £20. The original trophy, the “Little Tin Idol”, was stolen in Birmingham and has disappeared. Nowadays the FA Cup seen on TV at Wembley is the third design for the trophy (and the third trophy of this latest design) though, sadly, not made in Sheffield.  

Walking down Broad Street takes you past Granelli’s, famous for confectionery and ice cream in Sheffield. There was a more famous confectioner on Broad Street, but the location is now underneath the island of Park Square. This confectioner was the famous George Bassett, founder of the company which after his death produced Licorice Allsorts. George Bassett himself became Mayor of Sheffield and even entertained Ulysses S. Grant, the US President. In 1933 the business moved to Owlerton. 

From Park Square the tram tracks head southwards and this is the direction we take along the rose-lined pathway.
 

6. SHEFFIELD STATION TRAM STOP.

This is also the tram stop which serves Sheffield Hallam University and Park Hill. It is conveniently located by the rear entrance to the railway station.
The stop opened on 22 August 1994. In line with the refurbishment of the rest of the station in the early 2000s, the tram stop was rebuilt in 2002 around 150 metres  to the south of the existing platforms. As well as two new platforms, a ticket hall was constructed at the end of the main station footbridge over the top of platform 8, providing a direct connection from the tram stop to the station footbridge and the rest of the mainline station. 

Behind this stop go up the steel steps to an amphitheatre built into the South Street Park hillside as part of an £800,000 plan to regenerate the area behind Sheffield Midland station and create a green corridor from Victoria Quays to Norfolk Park. The amphitheatre seats 1000 and has been used to host performances of Shakespeare.

8. SHEFFIELD STATION.

Formerly known as Sheffield Midland to differentiate it from Sheffield Victoria, it is now the busiest of the city’s five stations. Since opening in 1870 it has seen many alterations. The original station was extended westwards and new platforms were added to give a total of eight. Some are terminus bays, while others allow passage for trains through to other destinations. Prior to the station opening, trains to Sheffield on the Midland line terminated at the Wicker station (the site now occupied by a large Tesco supermarket. Note how Sutherland Street has a bridge over the old trackway).

As well as this, there are two further artworks to be seen. Cutting Edge, a stainless steel sculpture and waterfall that takes a cylindrical shape at its southern end and gradually morphs into an evocative blade-like cross section at the opposite terminus. At 90 metres long, and 5 metres high at the highest point, the sleek design is sure to catch your eye.

The other feature is an enormous multi-level water cascade, which sends water peacefully flowing down a set of terraces. It, too, pays homage to the importance of water power in helping develop Sheffield’s industries. At night, well-placed lights add a colourful, enchanting glow to the watery display.

9. HOWARD STREET.

Leaving Cutting Edge on your right, cross over the road and head up the hill along Howard Street. On the right is the estate of Sheffield Hallam University. On the wall of the Howard building is Brian Asquith’s striking 1965 stainless steel and bronze artwork Elements-Fire-Steel. It symbolises the making of steel by means of fire and mechanical means using the Earth’s elements and resources.
Brian Asquith (1930-2008) was a Sheffield born designer, metalworker and sculptor. He gained a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in 1947-51 where he studied in the School of Sculpture under Professor Frank Dobson.  He began producing his own silverware in 1968; an early commission were items for the Investiture of the Prince of Wales. He has several Design Council awards for both coal and gas fired domestic appliances and they put on an exhibition of his work at the Design Centre in the Haymarket in 1980.

Examples of his silverware can be found in Downing  Street. The spectacular quarter-circle of monumental bronze fountains to be found in the Peace Gardens was the culminating achievement in his career.

At the top of Howard Street is a piece by Michael Farrell (1964 – 2015) called Sheen (Marti) using gritstone and stainless steel. The polished steel reflects the changing weather and traffic, while the grid of stone mimics the nearby grid of streets. Marti is a reference to the work’s dedicatee, Sheffield entertainer Marti Caine (1945 - 1995), who died two weeks before the Stone City Symposium opened in 1995.

Before leaving Howard Street, take a look at the Four Vultures mural in the brickwork of the Accommodation Services at numbers 38-40 Howard Street. This striking piece dates from 1980 and was by Ric Bingham, Landscape and Planning Department, Sheffield City Council.

10. CULTURAL INDUSTRIES QUARTER. 

To the left of Howard Street when going up is a grid of streets. Today this is the Cultural Industries Quarter though formerly this was the beating heart of the town’s Little Mester workshops. 
The whole Cultural Industries Quarter extends as far as the Inner Ring Road, but we only walk as far as the Exchange Works Students’ Hall of Residence on the corner of Arundel Street and Matilda Street where the façade shows references to the Cutlery Trade and the flowing rivers that provided the power. 

Arundel Gate

Arundel Gate was a major dual carriageway through the city centre. Nowadays a bus gate restricts the traffic flow. There are some interesting buildings along this road, notably the Millennium Galleries, home to a unique collection showcasing the city’s finest metalworking, as well as the Guild of St George’s unique Ruskin Collection. The Millennium Galleries are the home of Sheffield's Annual Heritage Fair which sees groups from all over the city showcasing their unique gift to the city.

At the side of Mecca Bingo is Esperanto Place. This was formerly the end of Norfolk Street, but was cut off by Arundel Gate. Following an Esperanto Conference held in the city in 1974, the road was renamed. Today it links Arundel Gate with Fitzalan Square, where the walk began.