Next Sheffield FNR
Proposed rides for 2010-2011 all up on the Future rides pages – click on the side bar
Next Sheffield FridayNightRide
Amazing Attercliffe
Friday 17 Sep 2010
Start 6.30 pm Canal Basin (on the Hilton side)
Route: Canal Basin, then on to Attercliffe, through Attercliffe, round and about Attercliffe, back along Attercliffe and out of Attercliffe to Canal Basin again. Seriously, this ride will start with a ride into Attercliffe using paths and roads, and then on the cycle paths up to Broughton Lane and Carbrook Hall, back to Newhall, and then roads into downtown Attercliffe out into Darnall, back into Attercliffe and then back to the Canal Basin.
Heads up! The ride is just over 9 miles long (so a shorter ride) but there is a lot to see. Contrary to impressions it’s not flat but it is as flat as Sheffield gets – there are the remains of the cliff that gives the place its name. It’s all on Sheffield roads and cycle paths with the occasional street with the original cobbles/setts. Probably wouldn’t suit ultra-narrow rims. Can be clusters of broken glass so tough tyres recommended.
Map: The map is up at
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108988473108626980428.00048f43f18c63117989f&ll=53.406871,-1.437235&spn=0.036123,0.111151&z=14&iwloc=00048f57366d67a741cb3
Refreshments: Could be Carbrook Hall for a brief stop and view for those that haven’t seen inside and definitely the Greyhound which has been a welcoming spot with a good bike park.
Background: Attercliffe, is now a district of the City of Sheffield but was once a rural village that is in the Domesday book (Ateclive – “at the cliff”). It was a centre of learning and dissent in the C17th with a couple of water powered forges where Newhall Rd crosses the Don, and it was a market garden for Sheffield up to the C19th. The canals and railways changed all that and its population went from about 2500 to 50000 from about 1819 to 1919 as the steel industry became the arsenal of the world and Attercliffe changed from a rural village to one of the most industrialised and polluted sites in the world. The wealth generated (but not necessarily shared) earned it the name the “Golden Mile”. Now it has uses for sport, entertainment and industry with Darnall being the main centre of population. It’s a bit of a transport corridor and needs some TLC.
See http://jimsdesk.co.uk/1806.html for an 1806 walk through Attercliffe!
See http://www.70sheffieldlad.co.uk/why_attercliffe_7.html for a wonderful personal blog of growing up in Attercliffe in the 70s with a lot of facts and figures about Attercliffe through time
Parish Boundary: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/boundary_map_page.jsp?u_id=10389847