I already knew that Sheffield is a mecca for street art. One of the foremost street artists, Phlegm, is based there. He once did a huge mural in Toronto and I went by a few times, once seeing him at work and, when he came to get a coffee (black) at the bar where I was sitting, I uncharacteristically lost my nerve to say hello and ask him some questions. Well, I’m not always that person. To be honest, I don’t really like the St Clair mural he did then and I don’t understand why he diverted somewhat from his usual style. Whatever that is, I’ve seen it elsewhere in the world because it’s unique and unmistakable.
But…back to Sheffield. I had a street art map and some notes from my friend, Susanne. I also knew that I couldn’t walk that much so I would see what I’d see, not look for anything specific, and I was sure to come across things in the centre of town. This page is a landing space for the art I did see.
I have almost definitely put some things in twice (you may not even notice, but tell me if you do) and I will caption only the ones I have something to say about.
On Kelham Island – You could insert yourself into the scene and these young women were taking photos of each other doing just that. They scurried away when they saw me ready to take a photo. Considerate!
On Kelham Island – There was a good representation of art made from different coloured bricks in walls. I’d seen this done in Milan before…Framed art on Kelham Island. It was a bit curious seeing it there, tucked out of the way in a little mews type road – would be a lovely spot to live
More brick art near Castlegate. This one seemed iconic – its called Steelworker
We were on our way out of Sheffield to the train station and we passed this hill. There’s no way I could have climbed it, no matter how much I wanted to. It’s a goal nowSign language near the train station – can anyone read it?OK – Gruesome!
These last three photos are Phlegm art
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Phlegm art taken by Krish when he wandered without me
Krish found a restaurant and we went there late. It was in a very modern commercial building – in fact, I almost felt like I was back in Toronto. Had a totally Yorkshire-themed dinner other than a maple syrup bourbon cocktail, elote (poorly done but edible) and some beetroot. We had Yorkshire fish cake, Henderson’s relish steak and ale pie (yep, Krish strikes again) and two desserts – Yorkshire pudding with ice cream and salted caramel sauce and a Liquorice Allsorts milk Jelly. Yay.
Here’s my hungryonion review:
Sheffield on the whole turned out to be somewhat of a letdown for dining. I definitely need to find some local recommendations – came up empty this time, but we’re certain we will go again. We did, however, have one decent (and in parts lovely) meal at The Furnace, which is by its own description: ’ …a melting pot, forged from the elements that make our city unique. Where industrial heritage, meets modern design. Where local ingredients are cast into new, imaginative menus.’ What I expected was Yorkshire fare with a modern twist and I got it. The Furnace is in the regenerated modern centre, a light and airy interior. They sat us in a booth and I squeezed myself in.
We shared a cocktail. We aren’t big drinkers. This was a smoked maple bourbon. Pretty and quite delicious. The little smoking stick was cool.
We had a starter of Yorkshire fishcake. It was like a crispy fishcake with a layer of fish in the centre. I really liked it. It was served with a fried egg and some tartare sauce. Again, we shared. We always share a full meal between us – usually with two starters but this time we stuck with just one. Fish cake had been on my list so that one’s done, and I would do it again.
The main course was a Henderson’s Relish steak and potato pie. The famously local relish is like Worcestershire Sauce but no fishy component. I had tried it the previous day and thought it tasted like sherry vinegar with a hint of heat. Not as special as I’d hoped but the pie was decent enough. The meat could have been more tender and there could have been more of it, but we dug in. I added extra Henderson’s – well, I had to really, to get into the Yorkshire spirit. Not only that but the server was so enthusiastic about it. Do you want some more Henderson’s Relish with that that, she asked gleefully, winking at me as if to say, of course you do. How could you not?
We had two sides. One was elote, the other a coal roasted beetroot salad. Neither is worth a re-order or a photo. Not nasty but no.
Not having had two starters, we opted for two desserts. The server had asked us, If you want a recommendation, the creme brulee is amazing. When she came back to ask what we wanted I said, I’m going to have to disappoint you, but the creme brulee just don’t fit in with the Yorkshire theme. We ordered Yorkshire pudding with ice cream and salted caramel sauce, and a Liquorice Allsorts milk pudding. I loved the Allsorts pudding. It was like a panna cotta, so quite light, and it definitely aced the Liquorice Allsorts flavour. I could eat two! The Yorkshire pudding would have been perfect if it were hot and had a hot sauce too but it was still very enjoyable.
No coffee for us. A good meal served by friendly servers who we could joke with. We were the last people to leave. Nice one.
Henderson’s relish, as I found out the day before, tastes mostly like vinegar with a hint of chili so, while originally high on my list, I didn’t buy a bottle. Oh well. I also meant to go see the old Henderson’s factory, which was on the tram route and is affectionately called Hendo’s, but I ran out of steam and leg power.
You can lick the screen now for the food pics.
You’re welcome. We walked back a different way, making our way along some hoarding, which told us this newer area was still being built. After having had a cocktail and our first decent meal, we had a later night and slept well.
The next morning we had opted for breakfast in the hotel so that we didn’t waste time looking for somewhere during our final hours in Sheffield. I didn’t hold up much hope for a good breakfast but at least a reliable one that would send us away not needing much lunch. Krish always thinks we will get up in the morning and go out and have breakfast and explore, then come back to the hotel and pack to check out. Wrong! This never happens. We always get up and have a lazy morning, enjoying being warm and the rest, then pack and check out at the last possible minute.
We went down to breakfast and it was sadly and also predictably pathetic. The hot food laid out in piles – I mean like fried eggs piled on top of each other so definitely a little hard, the sausages barely touched by the griddle (anemic rubbery things), overdone salty bacon, some cold and also not tasting cooked black pudding, some cold hashbrowns, and three cauldrons – one with gloopy baked beans, one with hot tinned mushrooms and one with … um… I have no idea what it was! the grilled tomato was nice. The toaster didn’t work. There were three cereals but I don’t eat it. The cold option was some salami, but no fork to serve it with. there was cheap orange juice, a frothy something – maybe apple juice? The tea and coffee wasn’t served fresh at the table. It was from a machine or there was a thermos with hot water for some tea. No table service, no welcome, nothing. but we ate enough to not be hungry and we left. There were also two dogs in the dining room – i don’t like this. Apologies to the dog lovers, but I’d rather the dogs stay in their room with one person willing to stay with them and eat at a different time. Anyway, it was it was, and also as expected so – done!
We checked out and went to the Winter Garden and then to the Sheffield makers’ shop, where we didn’t feel very welcome, and the Millenium Gallery. We didn’t linger. I wasn’t in the mood. We walked over to find some graffiti, but my legs were really sore and we didn’t get far. At least I was able to get some photos.
In the Millennium Gallery. The bells date back to the 1860s and are an example of many made by Naylor-Vickers. They were popular due to their low cost in comparison to bronze bells, but now very few exist
We found the old part of The Moor shopping centre – the older type market with the little kiosk stalls. It reminded me of Cardiff, and actually most of these town market centres. I sat and waited while Krish wandered around.
I was so intrigued by the bus that displayed Halfway as its destination. Halfway to where?
Then I suggested we check out a part of town we hadn’t seen yet – Ecclesall road, and Sharrowvale. It was 1:30pm and our train was at 3:37 and suddenly that sounded like not such a very good idea after all when we didn’t have a clue how to get there or what we were doing. We ditched the idea in favour of making it our first stop next time. Instead we wandered around south of the main road where our hotel was. We found a lot of repurposed ‘works’ down there and some old houses that were quite fascinating and then everything gave way to student housing (new or in very old buildings) and an old speedway type road before everything looked pretty industrialised as we got closer to the railway track. I hoped we would stumble on a student café, but nothing. Everything seemed closed and there wasn’t much foot traffic.
I told Krish to go enjoy himself, pick up the case and meet me at the station twenty mins before the train. Off he went and I started looking for a snack and a hot chocolate, my legs giving out by then. There was a hot chocolate shortage (none anywhere), I don’t drink tea before train journeys, and I’m off coffee. Hmm. Then i found a convenience store with some machine hot chocolate, grabbed a bag of popcorn, and looked for somewhere to sit. Inside Sheffield station there are no seats. NONE. unless you are sitting at one of the cafes that didn’t have my drink so i sat outside in the cold and wind and waited. I had a lovely but unintelligible chat with a drunk or stoned homeless man who was clutching a £20 note. i told him I’m not from here, I’m sorry I don’t understand your accent, and I’m sorry i have no money on me. What are you going to spend your twenty on? he just blinked at me, slurred some more words and left. Hmmm. Then Krish arrived and we caught the train.
We stayed in bed till late. It was nice to not be rushing about. Then some time before noon we went to the bus stop. A day bus and tram pass is £5.10 so we got one each. My London bus pass is good for any bus but doesn’t work on trams.
There was just a driver and a ‘learner’ and us on board. The driver said we’d definitely know when we reached our stop – Kelham Island. Where exactly were we going, he asked. No clue, we said. He smiled. We sailed through the centre of town and it got woodsy very quickly. The houses start to look more like you’re in Yorkshire and there are pockets of new housing areas. But, as Krish pointed, the edge of the city and the countryside isn’t very far at all. The bus pulled over, its first stop. This is Kelham Island, said the bus driver, all this (gesturing with his arms). We’ll just get out here and explore, said Krish It’s a great area that the River Don weaves through. Old mill houses and factories long forgotten but it was fascinating to imagine the time gone by. Some buildings are beautifully preserved or restored or repurposed, but with so much dereliction there are very interesting new builds, some almost Scandinavian looking. Must be the forest effect
A building off the main road had caught my eye so we headed towards it. Along the way there was an art trail with plenty to photograph. (There are a lot of street art photos to show, but so many that I’ve decided not to post any here but make a whole page of them as part of my Sheffield ‘series.’ I know there’s much more to see, but not this time.) I noticed a few people heading down the road too, all with takeaway food boxes and I began to wonder if perhaps there was no food down here. That wasn’t a pleasant thought since I was pretty hungry and getting lightheaded. I hoped there would be at least a corner shop somewhere. Meanwhile the streets were very interesting and looked they might have housed factory workers at one time. We crossed a bridge over a lovely river with a weir. This was a nature reserve and there were quite a few ducks. Downstream I could see the Kelham Island Museum. It was difficult to figure out how to approach it so we followed the road around and hoped it would eventually be clear. At the end of the road, just over the river was the building I’d spotted. There was a bit of facadism but the factory building was pretty much intact, stretching to the bottom of the road around the corner for some distance. It was now residences.
I really needed to eat but so many places were closed, till evening or forever. I saw a café that I’d read about and went in. It was so warm and lively in there but every seat was taken so I bought some orange juice and we carried on.
Around here were some old buildings, but also new housing. There were hoardings and some construction and older buildings that were now commercial or office space. There was clearly a lot of regeneration in this area. Already I was telling myself, This would be my place.
And now we could see the museum in sight so we made a beeline down beside a canal lined with old factories and the odd shop, none selling food.
Outside the museum were very large pieces of machinery including an enormous melting cauldron (as we guessed it was – in my hypoglycaemic state of mind, reading plaques was out of the question).
Inside the museum entrance hall we looked briefly at the walls. I had thought we might go to a place called The Cutlery Works, a sort of modern food hall (called the largest in the north) inside an old cutlery manufacturers (a mainstay of the area). I’d meant to go there at the beginning of our exploration and avoid a low blood sugar crisis, but we’d not found it. The bus driver had said ‘All this is Kelham Island’ so I thought it would be apparent, but no. A museum volunteer offered me a museum map and I told her we couldn’t stay today and asked her if she knew where The Cutlery Works was. She seemed puzzled, shook her head, and told us we could go the museum café across the walk. Sadly, their café smelled like Brenda’s so we left. The museum might have been fascinating (she promised steam engines) but food was more important right now. Just up the road, we found a little pizza place serving pizza from noon. It was 1:30pm so I ordered one. The server went away, came back, and said the oven wasn’t ready. That little bottle of OJ saved me from fainting and we headed along and saw a main road and…Tesco!! Lifesaver. I got a pork pie and some Maltesers and had two bites of the pie, determined to feel human again and ready to explore some more.
There was the River Don. And an obelisk with mill stones stuffed with rubbish. Oh dear. Then we saw a building with a piece of art from Phlegm, Sheffield’s most known artist, and when we went around to the front it was a German pub. We went in and shared a ridiculous plate of thick schnitzel, bratwurst and some pickles and fries. Not the best, but at least edible and between us we were full and ready to go.
We considered again going to The Cutlery Works but I couldn’t make sense of the map and now we’d already eaten. Which way should we go? Should we turn back? Could I manage more Kelham Island? In the end, we decided that we’d head back towards town and see what we could see along the way. We looked for a bus. Nothing in sight and so we walked towards some spires that we guessed were in town. Still no bus stop, although one or two wandered by without stopping anywhere. We found a good cut-through street that seemed to be a trendy oasis between two older areas and explored just a little more. At the end of the street we turned again and found some old factory buildings leading towards a main road.
Up and down (Sheffield is hilly) and then I asked a student, how do we get into town? If you go along this road all the way to the end, you’re in the centre. I want a bus, I said. No, she said. Maybe she was wrong. We saw a man on the street and asked again, Where’s a bus into town? You ARE in town.
Were we? Well, not that far from the centre, but my legs were done, and another but – NO BUSES. He’d pointed towards the same street the student had been on, so we went there. There was construction on the corner but then the street became very interesting.
It was a lovely street to walk along. More repurposed old buildings dating from 1700 and some very old municipal buildings. Krish wandered up a hill I didn’t dare climb and saw a synagogue turned into flats so I missed that, but he sent me a photo so I could see it too and I’ve included it here. I took more photographs, rested a little on some steps outside an office building, and told myself that my knees might hurt but I’d never have discovered this had we found a bus. It helped…sort of.
I suspected this area – called first Queen Street and then Bank Street – might have been the original municipal centre of town. I was right. It used to be the main business street.
We found our way to a stop finally and got out where the trams are. They only go across town, three lines. We rode a few stops, then back five stops and I told Krish I’d find a bus to the hotel and he should explore alone.
It’s interesting finding your way around when you’re on your own. I wanted to find the same bus back to the hotel that had brought me this way, but I couldn’t see where it stopped. It seemed the way back wasn’t an exact version of the way here, but I followed the road around to where I assumed there would be buses going my way. There were, in fact, three bus stops with several routes at each. I took the first bus from the list that Google showed me. I think Google led me slightly astray!
The bus route showed me I was only three stops away. Funnily, the stop before mine was the Interchange near the station. When I got out, I felt confused. The name of the stop on the map was not the name of the stop in reality. I thought perhaps I’d made a mistake. I looked both ways and chose the most likely and peopled route – a pedestrian area with a lot of university student. I asked where Arundel Gate was. She repeated it with a different pronunciation – lesson learned. I was just half a block from the hotel and, as soon as she showed me the right way, I could see it ahead of me.
So it was a bit of an adventure finding my way from the destination stop to the hotel but I did it. Rest time.
We hadn’t been away for ages and then suddenly there we were planning a trip. We thought Sheffield, Nottingham, and Leicester. Then we thought Sheffield, Leicester and Conventry. Eventually, it was Sheffield and Leicester – two places were enough. Why those? We’d heard a lot about gritty Sheffield with its old buildings, regeneration and street art – just our thing. As for Leicester, I wanted to revisit the Diwali lights and also see our friends, Avi and Farrah. We hadn’t seen them since their wedding in February 2019.
There had been the usual last-minute getting ready. I’d had Monday to get most things prepared but Krish usually leaves it later, had been to the hospital, and just generally overdoes everything so Tuesday morning he was still doing. I made sandwiches and packed leftover quiche for the journey. Our plan was to get the bus by 8:30 to get to the station around 9:30 for our 10:01 departure.
At 8:30 i went to the bus stop alone, knowing I’d be slow and Krish would catch me up. But four buses came and went and no Krish. I tried not to panic but a 9am bus would get us to St Pancras at maybe 9:50 with at least a 5 minute walk to the train and quite likely much longer… if any slow traffic at all we would miss our train. It wasn’t looking good. Krish showed up around 8:55 and I resigned myself to not making it really and staying as calm as I could. He’d thought the train was at 10:30… Never mind, I said, we’ll get to Sheffield somehow and what about the tube from Angel – just one stop. The bus was crawling so we figured out that it was also one stop from Highbury in the Victoria line. Those tunnels and escalators never seemed longer but at least I knew we could make it
First time on the tube since the pandemic. Eeek. Packed and not many masks. Grin and bear it… At St Pancras more tunnels, more escalators and then at the main station a long, long walk with confusion on where to get the train. The ticket office helped me out and there we were with a stunning twenty-minute wait!
It was an old train, not very clean, not very busy. And definitely not many masks. Even the ticket inspector wasn’t wearing one. There are four stops -Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield. I confess to not looking out of the window. I watched Last Christmas, or 3/4 of it – terrible. At Leicester someone got off and a woman showed up with a cloth. A millisecond swipe at the table and off she went – wow! At Chesterfield went to the toilet, or tried to buy in the end there were three of us waiting and engaged engaged engaged. A young woman suggested people get in without a ticket, head to the toilet to evade inspection and no one can use it. But waiting there meant I could see the scenery. Green fields giving way to gorgeous old stone houses and scattered old row houses on narrow streets – I was in Yorkshire all right.
Sheffield station isn’t remarkable and there are no maps and no information booths. We headed outside with Krish asking me, which way – I’d put him in charge of that since my map reading ability is poor at best and results in confusion all around. We found a map on a board and started walking. We passed some long sheds called interchanges.. People were sitting inside waiting for buses. Ahead was a huge multi-level car park and Krish told me there was a long walk around or we could climb the million steps and go through it. I resigned myself to the steps – maybe five flights on different levels … Gah…. But I did it. On the other side another map and we headed down the road. (Later we discovered that, had we turned the other way, we’d have been looking at our hotel not very far away. Live and learn!)
If we’d walked left along this long water wall, we’d have been just one street away from the Novotel. Instead we turned right from the wallOne of the long Interchange buildings near the station
There were no road signs. Anywhere! Where the hell were we? (And still no toilet.)
I asked someone who pointed in the direction we’d come from. Right then. Back we walked. Still no street signs. I asked again and was told, keep walking, it’s just past The Crucible (which meant nothing to me). At a bus stop I asked again. Back there, pointing back the way we’d come, but Krish had gone ahead anyway and when I caught up with him, there it was. Yay.
The hotel was able to check us in early so I just rested. Impressions so far were of an old city with streets intercepted by city roundabouts. No building was extraordinary but it wasn’t grim and depressing, as Leeds had struck me…my only other Yorkshire encounter.
A little discussion later and we went in search of Brenda’s Fish and Chips. The receptionist gave me some simple directions (why won’t men ask for directions???? Sexist hat off.)
In this direction it’s much more modern, although the photos below won’t show that. Another roundabout and we started seeing modern Chinese cafés. Hmmm. Krish decided congee sounded nice so was perusing menus at some not so modern windows and I spotted Brenda’s. We got as far as the door and he called a halt. I don’t blame him really. The simple little shop had a bad smell, like old fat. The floor was listed with chips. Dirty and smelly, declared Krish, and quite honestly he was right. OK Anthony, I said – referencing Bourdain who’d declared such things were never a deterrent, that some of the best tasting things come from such places and maybe the dirt was a factor.
Instead we went for wonton noodle soup with Chinese doughnut. Both were really awful and we left most of it. On the map it was listed as a Sheffield Top-rated table.
We headed towards the shopping area. Same as every UK city – an indoor mall beside a pedestrianised shopping street . At the end of it some more regeneration, some shameful facadism, and a fabulous derelict Salvation Army building. Then the town hall square, quite lovely I thought, punctuated with fairground rides and happy children (it was half term). The buildings are massive and I can’t photograph them whole. i told Krish to go explore and I’d see him later. We walked by the town hall, then down through the fountained peace garden and sat for a while. Peaceful it was!
I walked down further and saw the Winter Garden and decided to visit. I don’t have enough patience to linger and read but it’s a gorgeous building with curved wooden arches – reminded me of the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) – and beams and it’s small enough. There were a few shops and an entrance to Millennium (Modern Art) Gallery – a good plan for Thursday before we leave – and I bought a hot chocolate (and Worcestershire sauce crisps and a Dandelion and Burdock for later). I sat quietly with my drink looking at all the greenery and out to the street.
Happily the Novotel backs onto the Winter Garden area. I easily got back, put on my nightie and lay down. No sleep but it was quiet and I enjoyed the break.
Krish sent some photos from the university campus across the main road from the hotel and eventually showed up. The plan to walk a little together and let him loose to cover as much ground as he likes worked out really well.
The next adventure – dinner. Krish had decided ages ago to go to the world buffet place. It’s right near the Winter Garden – easy. It was heaving when we got there. There was temperature taking in place but I’m not convinced. I had fun checking our temperatures, though, as we waited. No masks in sight. Delta what??? But we stayed having already determined that this was a crowd well used to elbowing their way around.
Elbowing yes. Crowding yes. Godawful buffet food yes! Friendly service, though. Free for all at the buffet stations, the usual amusingly heaped plates of terrible food passing by – more noodles, more chips, more terrible pizza slices, more mountains of fatty Chinese spare ribs, and made to order teppanyakis This is no Mandarin, no Country Harvest even…a food frenzy. People were crowding the plate trolleys, piling on the little cakes, lingering at the all you can drink fountains, kids playing with the ice machines – such a novelty. We ate some imagined decent choices, got our long awaited mini Yorkshire puddings (only sort of worth the wait) and left shameful amounts on our table for collection. And that was that done.
The best thing was watching others I suppose. Absolute gluttony, you know how it is. Like a cruise ship, k asked? No, I said. Well yes the gluttony but orderly more or less and five star cooking. Maybe four. this was one and a half. Almost a zero after I came close to wiping out when I stepped on a dropped cube of orange jelly.
The server told us this was a quiet night. Astounding stuff.
We went to the little Sainsbury’s next to the hotel and got water (it tasted awful from our tap) and OJ. The rest of the evening was us trying not to fall asleep toooo early and just about lost for words.
I really needed to eat but so many places were closed, till evening or forever. I saw a café that I’d read about and went in. It was so warm and lively in there but every seat was taken so I bought some orange juice and we carried on.
I think Google led me slightly astray!
It was an old train, not very clean, not very busy. And definitely not many masks. Even the ticket inspector wasn’t wearing one. There are four stops -Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield. I confess to not looking out of the window. I watched Last Christmas, or 3/4 of it – terrible. At Leicester someone got off and a woman showed up with a cloth. A millisecond swipe at the table and off she went – wow! At Chesterfield went to the toilet, or tried to buy in the end there were three of us waiting and engaged engaged engaged. A young woman suggested people get in without a ticket, head to the toilet to evade inspection and no one can use it. But waiting there meant I could see the scenery. Green fields giving way to gorgeous old stone houses and scattered old row houses on narrow streets – I was in Yorkshire all right.
Sheffield station isn’t remarkable and there are no maps and no information booths. We headed outside with Krish asking me, which way – I’d put him in charge of that since my map reading ability is poor at best and results in confusion all around. We found a map on a board and started walking. We passed some long sheds called interchanges.. People were sitting inside waiting for buses. Ahead was a huge multi-level car park and Krish told me there was a long walk around or we could climb the million steps and go through it. I resigned myself to the steps – maybe five flights on different levels … Gah…. But I did it. On the other side another map and we headed down the road. (Later we discovered that, had we turned the other way, we’d have been looking at our hotel not very far away. Live and learn!)
