It has been twenty-five and a half years since my first visit to Old Trafford and over those years, I’ve started to use those trips to explore Manchester and Greater Manchester more in recent years.
Going Tuesday to Thursday for a midweek game, if the game was on a Tuesday night, it would mean i’d have a free day on the Wednesday. As the game I was going to was confirmed as a Tuesday night, I planned to go somewhere for a day trip on the Wednesday.
I had three options – Hadfield (The League Of Gentlemen is filmed there), York or Sheffield. I decided to go with Sheffield as it was only 45 minutes away and my train tickets cost £10.60.
It wasn’t intentional, but taking in a day trip to Sheffield when i’m in England for a football match, what day do I go to Sheffield? On a Wednesday, of course.
I had been to Sheffield before, spending a day there as part of a mini tour of the North of England in April 2010, taking in a James concert.
My trip to Sheffield wasn’t with the intention of spotting Street Art, but it would have been rude not to.
It wasn’t hard to spot pieces, immediately spotting a trail of Street Art in the University Area which is right beside the Train Station, and then stumbling onto some pieces elsewhere in the City Centre, except that Sheffield doesn’t have a City Centre, it’s simply called “The Heart Of The City”
Despite being less than an hour away from snowy Manchester, it was sunshine and daylight in Sheffield, which made it easier for taking photos.
I explored a lot of the city (Over 40,000 steps if you care about that type of thing), my favourite places were Sheffield Winter Gardens, Devonshire Quarter and The Moor.
There is a free guide book produced by Sheffield BID (offices right beside Winter Gardens) of independent shops and businesses in Sheffield, and it has a feature on the Street Art in Sheffield, most notably by Pete McKee, whose Penguin mural in the Northern Quarter in Manchester has previously featured on this blog.
There is also a website called Street Art Sheffield, which obviously covers Street Art in Sheffield.
Believe it or not, my trip to Sheffield came when I was in an internet blackout. I had no data on my phone and my Apple account was locked meaning I couldn’t access my ipad. It was strange, having no internet access whatsoever was both wonderful and horrific.
It meant that I couldn’t cheat and refer to the website, meaning I was blindly exploring Sheffield’s Street Art.
If I had another day, I might have used this website and made a plan of attack to see more pieces that I missed.
I would definitely recommend Sheffield for a visit. Even if you get bored, you’re less than an hour away from Nottingham and Manchester. Not that you would get bored.
Photo Album
