Class 6 went on their coach tour of Sheffield. Our first stop was at Weston Park – we were so lucky to see it on such a sunny day! We walked through the park from the Winter Street entrance by the Arts Tower. We saw the playground, the lake and the wonderful bandstand as well as the old carriage entrance by Sheffield University’s Firth Hall. We could also see the old and new buildings of the Children’s hospital and the Corinthian style columns of the museum. Did you know there is one of the oldest working weather stations still set up in Weston Park and that you can get married in the bandstand?
From here we went into the city centre, past lots of old and new buildings and onto Arundel Gate. We drove along Arundel Gate past the Hallam University buildings and the ‘Cheese Grater’ – which has been voted one of the top most interesting car park designs in the world. We really enjoyed our ‘eye-spy’ task looking for the different buildings as we drove or walked past them!
We walked into Tudor Square and had a look at the Lyceum (which has been there since 1890) and the Crucible – we all remembered seeing Izzy Gizzmo here.
Then it was past the Town Hall – we found out it had been opened by Queen Victoria – and along Surrey Street to The Peace Gardens. We loved all the water features and found out that they were put there to represent the five rivers in Sheffield. From here we walked into the Winter Gardens to look at the 2000 different plants that live there and its’ amazing wooden and glass structure. Then it was a walk through the Millennium Gallery to get back on the coach to go to see Sheffield Cathedral. Did you know there has been a church on this site for over 1000 years!
To end our tour, we drove out of town back towards the University Roundabout, up Brook Hill towards Broomhill and then out onto Manchester Road. From the coach we could see the geographical differences between the city and the country areas – there are lots more trees and fields where we live. We could also clearly see the fact that Stannington is on a hill and that the River Rivelin is definitely in a valley – one of the five rivers in Sheffield to be precise – ask us if we can name any of the others!! What a fantastic tour of our city!
