And what a contrast! We were in for a "culture shock" - after quiet, picturesque small-town Ripon, all of a sudden we found ourselves amidst the noise and the crowds of Sheffield; a place of about 16.000 residents v. more than half a million (1,2 million if you count the entire metropolitan area)!
Getting from Ripon to Sheffield by public transport involved a bus ride of 1 1/2 hours through beautiful Yorkshire countryside to Leeds. Naively, we had assumed that the central bus station would be close to the central train station, as is the case in most cities. Not so in Leeds! We dragged our luggage through the city centre for half an hour (which wasn't as bad as it sounds - we actually welcomed the walk after the long bus ride) and still had a bit of time to spare before our train to Sheffield, where we arrived early in the afternoon.
Another half hour later (it was 3.00 pm by now), we were at our hotel. On the way from Sheffield's main train station to the hotel, we walked through a rather shabby, run-down area; still next to the city centre (which is well kept), but neglected, with boarded up shops and heaps of rubbish in the corners.
The hotel itself was just your average business hotel, a Holiday Inn. We had to adjust now to sharing a small hotel room after the spacious cottage, where each of us had been in their own bedroom with en-suite shower room.
After a brief rest, we ventured out again. Before our trip to England, I had been browsing Yorkshire Pudding's blog for things to do in Sheffield, and come across this post about the Five Weirs Walk. It sounded like something my sister and I would enjoy, and I remembered having seen signs pointing towards the walk on our way from the train station to the hotel.
We quickly found where the walk began, and started out... only to turn round after a short while. Much to our dismay, we found ourselves between heaps of rubbish and the back ends of industrial estates and warehouses again. Nothing picturesque about it. Our hotel obviously was at the wrong end. So, no peaceful river walk for us.
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| A particularly funny German translation - doesn't make much sense, really. Why didn't they ask someone who knows the language? The French looks alright, and I can't say anything about the Turkish bit. |
Instead, we went the opposite way, up into the city centre, which took us only 10 minutes. We found a place to eat, relatively expensive, but the food was good.
A few pictures from that first evening in Sheffield: Sheffield Cathedral, the entrance to City Hall, and some more post boxes for John!
In spite of our initial culture shock, we were determined to not let our holiday end on a less than pleasant note, and to make the most of the next few days until our departure on Tuesday.
Interesting to read the first impressions of a new visitor to Sheffield. I wish I had been around to be your guide. It's funny how impressions of places are built. Of course, I am still a visitor here having arrived only thirty six years ago.
ReplyDeleteActually, it wasn't my first visit to Sheffield; we'd been before, in 2010. Back then, we stayed at a rather posh hotel up in the centre and never saw the run down bits we had to cross now every time we left our hotel. You can read about that first visit and see which hotel it was here:
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I am sure we'd have had a different experience with you as a guide!
They talk about Sheffield on that TV show, "Last Tango In Halifax". I love those post-boxes! That last one with the nice design on the top is my favorite, what time period is it from? I can't quite make out the letters on the front.
ReplyDeleteThe letters are an entwined "V" and "R", so it is another Victorian one.
DeleteNever heard of "Last Tango in Halifax" - is it a dance program?
I thought it would be Victorian, it has such detail, I love it.
DeleteNo, I think that it is a play on words, meaning like "Last Tango In Paris", which I understand was a very racy movie at the time, I never saw it myself! "Last Tango In Halifax" is a show about two people getting together in their old age and with the expected fireworks from either side of the families. The actors are very good.
For the last ten days or so, I've had very limited internet access so now I am enjoying catching up on your blog. I would love to have a sister and take such a trip with her! Ripon looks very lovely and how fun to be able to invite your family to your wonderful matchbox cottage!
ReplyDeleteI do love having a sister and taking such trips with her, Kristi :-)
DeleteWe so enjoyed having the family over at "our place", for a change!
I spent a lot of time in Sheffield in my early 20s and can't recall being back since although I must have been through it on a number of occasions. I have a sense of déjà vu about that last comment.
ReplyDeleteThank you for catching up with reading and commenting on those of my posts that appeared here while you had little or no internet access!
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