The Quiz Walk -Hilsborough Sheffield

Buses First South Yorkshire 11/12

Stagecoach 57

[1] Turn left out of the Interchange and right on Middlewood Road. Cross at the pedestrian lights and turn left into Hillsborough Road.

(A) How can you tell this is an old street?

Turn right into Hillsborough Place but look at the spelling on the old street sign opposite. Turn left at the end and then right into Hawthorn Road at the Baptist Church. Note the same spelling of Hillsbro above the door.

You now face a steep climb but take your time and concentrate on what is happening to your body. Are you beginning to pant for breath? Heart pumping faster? Legs feeling wobbly? Getting warmer? These are the effects of exercise. You need more air to pump the blood faster through your body and get oxygen quickly to your cells. Like going faster in a car, exercise uses more fuel, called calories. Burning calories through regular exercise helps keep you fit and lose weight.

Curve left at the top and cross into Meredith Road.

(B) Can you see the light?

(C) How can you tell the age of the post box on your right?

[2] Head for the rear entrance to the school.

(D). When was it built? 

Turn right on Norris Road then first left. Cross the road and turn left down the hill on the right-hand pavement. Cross Loxley Road at the pedestrian lights and turn left. Continue round to the right and straight ahead into Stannington Road. Pause when you reach the river.

The grade II listed Malin Bridge Corn Mill  was used to grind knives in the 18th Century, but was destroyed in the flood of 1864. It was rebuilt as a corn mill and operated until 1956.

(E). How can you tell this was a mill? 

[3] Cross at the pedestrian lights, double back into Holme Lane and turn right over the next bridge. Pause to look at the river and the name of the road behind you.

Watersmeet is an old fashioned word for confluence, the point where two rivers join together. You can see that the Rivelin on the left and the Loxley join together here.

Cross at the lights into Watersmeet Road. Walk to the end (there is a wide grass verge for the second half), turn right and then left behind the garages.

[4] Enter Thoresby Road and turn left after 70 yards just past number 68. Follow Limbrick Road to the end. Cross over and look over the wall at Hillsborough Weir , the biggest on the river. Cross the bridge and turn right to return to the Interchange.

There are several factors to be taken into consideration when walking with children in built-up areas like Hillsborough, like distance and road safety. But above all the walk should be an adventure. Your local park is the obvious choice, but fun can be had anywhere. In my experience of developing walks for primary schools, looking for clues makes the walk both enjoyable and educational. Even climbing steep hills can be turned into a game. 

Answers

 A. It is cobbled.

B . At the junction is an old fashioned gas lamp. There are quite a few of these scattered round the city.

C   It bears the initials GR, which tells you it was put there during the reign of King George VI 1936 - 1952.

D  1904.

E  Though now converted into apartments, the undershot waterwheel, which was renovated in 2008, can still be seen. The weir was built to raise the river level, so that water could be channelled off to drive the wheel.

These walks have been developed for Walk About Hillsborough by Rob Haslam, author of Walking South Yorkshire. See it on Amazon.co.uk.