A visitor's guide to Sheffield - having lived and studied in and around Sheffield all my life, this travel guide-style feature article highlights all the perks of living in the Steel City.
Sheffield is famous for many things. It is known as the 'Steel City' due to its long industrial history, including steel (of course!) and cutlery production. It is also said to be one of the greenest cities in Europe, with 2.5 million trees, contributing to green spaces that make up almost two-thirds of city’s footprint!
It is a city that celebrates an array of talent, from bands such as Pulp and Arctic Monkeys, to athletes like Jessica Ennis-Hill and Sebastian Coe.
But why would you want to visit?
Let's start on the outside… Sheffield is right next door to the famously stunning Peak District and offers easy access to the beautiful villages and moorlands that are found there. So close, in fact, that you can begin a walk in the city centre and end in the countryside. It is also close to picturesque towns such as Castleton and Bakewell - home of the Bakewell tart, and countless historic sites and points of interest.
Green spaces seep into the more urban side of the city, too, in the form of public parks such as Weston Park, Ponderosa and Endcliffe Park, which offer a wide range of facilities from access to the city’s museum at Weston Park, to children’s playgrounds, fishing ponds, and cafes at Endcliffe.
Sheffield also offers a wide range of cultural activity. There are scores of bars and clubs, from the lively bars of West Street and Division Street, to the real ale pubs at Kelham Island - Sheffield's answer to London's Shoreditch. Clubs also vary from mainstream establishments such as the world-famous Leadmill and Corporation, to the Harley and the Night Kitchen, which host more specialist music nights for the all-night party crowd.
Sheffield Nightlife offers the advantages of a condensed city-centre, making it easy to hop from bars to clubs to wherever else the night may take you - also an advantage when it comes to shopping in the city centre. There is no need to exhaust yourself dragging your purchases for miles - even the infamous Meadowhall is just a short tram journey away.
Aside from the usual high-street stores, Sheffield is also home to a massive selection of vintage shops such as COW on West Street, and the many establishments on Abbeydale Road, where you can browse through endless retro prints, old records and distinctive, one-of-a-kind furniture. Sheffield is great for the quirky shopper who prefers to have unique, sustainable items.
On the higher culture side, the Millennium Gallery, displays historical and sometimes quirky inventions of metal-works such as a history of razors and decorative pocket-knives. The Graves Gallery, above the Art Deco Central Library, also dedicates a section of its space to the evolution of art in 'Gallery V: A Century of Change', featuring a Pierre Bonnard and a Peter Blake.
Art spills out onto the street in Sheffield, with street art and murals being a huge part of the scenery and the everyday lives of the locals. The city is a canvas for street artists like Faunagraphic and Phlegm, whose art bless many of the city’s buildings. Famous Sheffield artist, Pete McKee has also helped to decorate the city with huge paintings on the side of pubs, entrances to shopping districts and other buildings.
The Winter Gardens in the city centre gives a peek at what is displayed in full at the Botanical Gardens off Ecclesall Road - an impressive and beautiful collection of native and exotic plants that would bring out the botanist in anyone.
Whether you are into the arts and culture, shopping - be that strutting up the high-street or exploring the depths of the vintage shops-, long walks in the country, or just in the mood for a great night out, Sheffield has everything you could need for a great city trip.
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