Meadowhall is an area synonymous for most people with the Meadowhall Shopping Centre, a huge indoor complex which opened in 1990 on a site previously occupied by Hadfields’ East Hecla steelworks and was at the time the second-largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom. It immediately and continuously attracted criticism from some quarters for siphoning trade out of the high streets of Sheffield and Rotherham, but it remains popular nonetheless. It is undoubtedly a landmark, if an architecturally bland one, and is anathema to those who nickname it “Meadowhell” and heaven for those who like nothing more than to spend their spare time in its lanes and arcades of shops and restaurants. Meadowhall Interchange, a combined railway station, tram stop and bus and coach station, opened in 1990 to serve the shopping centre, but whilst our walk skirts the complex’s exterior, it does so only briefly. Rather, it follows Sheffield’s largest river than climbs to a hill above the shopping centre, which is the site of one of Sheffield’s oldest and most important archaeological sites.
From whichever station platform one disembarks on, walk towards Meadowhall Shopping Centre, passing the tram stop then descending steps to the bus interchange, and walk past this to Meadowhall Road. Turn right and follow the road, then at the next junction cross over. Cross Meadowhall Way and follow a path to the next road on the right (also Meadowhall Way) and turn right along this, crossing the bridge over the River Don. On the other side of the river, turn left and then sharp right to gain the footpath alongside the River Don. This forms part of the Five Weirs Walk, which as mentioned when we encountered the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal in the city centre and at Darnall forms with a towpath a popular circular walk known as the Blue Loop. The path soon passes Hadfield Weir, one of the five weirs after which the walk is named. Sheffield is rich in such weirs, a legacy of its water-powered past; Hadfield Weir dates from around 1600 and originally provided water to power a cutler’s workshop named Parker Wheel. Later, it provided water to a paper mill, two corn mills and a steel rolling mill, before being rebuilt in the early twentieth century when the river was straightened. Like many other weirs on the River Don, it gained a fish pass in 2012 as part of an ongoing program of encouraging salmon to return to a river that – whilst once heavily polluted – is now once again a haven for wildlife.
Hadfield weir
From the weir, the walk continues along the riverbank until it reaches Weedon Street, where we turn right and follow the road as it crosses the River Don and ends at Meadowhall Road. Turn right again and follow the road to the Crown Pub, one a small number of surviving traditional pubs in the area that once served steelworkers from the area’s many foundries. From the front of the pub turn left and follow Station Lane to the railway track, then climb steps to cross the bridge over the line to Holywell Road. To the right, the platforms of the abandoned Brightside Railway Station, once accessed via the bridge, can still be seen; this opened in 1838 to serve the adjacent suburb of the same name and closed in 1995. It is one of Yorkshire’s many lost stations, but not the last we shall encounter on this walk.
Turn left and follow Holywell Road, looking out for Brightside Colliery memorial on the right; like the one at Kiveton Park, this is made from a pit wheel. Just past this, turn right along a signed public footpath and follow it uphill across a green space, bearing slightly left to eventually reach Beacon Way. Turn left and follow this to its end, then turn left again and follow Wincobank Road. When the junction with Rothay Road appears on the left, turn right and follow a footpath uphill for nearly a mile, slowly curving right, across Wincobank Hill Fort. This is probably Sheffield’s oldest historical site, and one of its largest, although anyone walking across it could easily miss its significance; it is best seen from the air, as aerial photographs ably demonstrate. The fort is believed to have been built by the Celtic Brigantes tribe and may have been part of a series of earthworks known as Roman Ridge, originally a single dyke perhaps built as a defence against the Romans when they invaded Britain. The Roman Ridge (of which a few traces still remain) ran from here towards Mexborough via Rotherham and Swinton, three places that we shall be visiting later. Wincobank Hill Fort also boasts more recent historical significance: the site was used during World War II as an anti-aircraft gun and searchlight emplacement.
View from Wincobank Hill Fort
Regardless of the Hill Fort’s archaeological importance, it makes a fine vantage point from which to view the surrounding area. As we pass over the top of the Hill Fort, it we can see both Sheffield and the hills that surround it, far into the distance. After crossing the apex of the site, the path descends slightly and eventually emerges on Jenkin Road. To the left, a sculpture – Posh Pillar and Her Daughters – can be seen. Turn right, then shortly left to follow a public footpath across Wincobank Common to reach Robin Hood Road, and follow this to Newman Road, passing the former Wincobank Board School (designed by architects Wilson and Masters) on the left. This is of course another of Sheffield’s Victorian Board Schools, like the two that we encountered in Darnall, and dates from 1884. From here, turn right and follow Newman Road, soon passing the Wincobank Hotel on the left, a fine example of a wedge-shaped street corner pub. This is soon followed by the Church of St Thomas, a squat, solid-looking Gothic Revival church that dates from 1876.
On reaching the junction with Barrow Road, turn left, passing a former public house – the Foundry Inn – on the opposite side of the road. At a crossroads, turn right along Fife Street, following it under the railway line and then under a second – former – railway bridge, to Blackburn Road. Turn left, passing another former pub (the Railway), then left again to gain the Blackburn Valley Trail. This is the track bed of the former Barnsley to Sheffield branch (a.k.a. the Blackburn Valley Line) of the defunct South Yorkshire Railway, which like so many redundant railway lines has met the not unhappy fate of being transformed into a footpath and cycle track (part of the Trans-Pennine Trail). Just past this point, the line’s former Meadow Hall and Wincobank Railway Station building – now a private dwelling – can still be seen; the second lost railway station of this walk, it opened as Meadow Hall Railway Station in 1868, was renamed in 1899, and closed in 1953. Turn left to follow the trail, crossing the former railway bridge over Fife Street, and stay on it as it curves right to run parallel with Barrow Road at street level, before crossing the road via another bridge and curving right around the edge of a car park to end back at Meadowhall Interchange.
Comments