Letter: Explore our green spaces

This letter sent to the Star was written by Barbara Masters, Liberal Democrat councillor for Ecclesall
Sprouting Wings! One of the ‘Enchanted Chairs’ at Wincobank.Sprouting Wings! One of the ‘Enchanted Chairs’ at Wincobank.
Sprouting Wings! One of the ‘Enchanted Chairs’ at Wincobank.

I’ve been looking at the programmes for the Outdoor City and for Joined Up Heritage and it’s reassuring to see so many events planned after the gruelling months we have all endured.

They should appeal to residents and visitors alike, with visitors especially welcome to help revive our local economy.

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There’s something else that ticks these boxes and information can be found at http://casualramblers.co.uk/syorks/sheffield/

It provides links to various walks in and around Sheffield with information on points of interest along the routes.

There’s no need to sign up and they can be done at any time.

A small group of us did the ‘Hidden Places in Firth Park and Wincobank’ fun walk, described as ‘A 4.8 mile walk leading round some hidden treasures in Wincobank including bluebells, an iron age fort and a creative art project’.

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Wincobank Hill is a prominent feature visible from many points in my ward (Ecclesall) and I was curious about the view looking the other way.

I also used to live in the area and was interested to learn how my memories matched up. Not much as it turns out.

For a start the green spaces are far more extensive than I had realised with more history than I was aware of.

It was also a lot greener with the tree cover increasing significantly in the intervening years.

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The built environment has changed as would be expected and a lot of it is good.

People we encountered were very friendly and Firth Park centre was more upbeat than I expected from various media reports.

Yes there are issues that impact badly on residents but there are many positives as well.

Full marks to the groups and individuals responsible for the website and it deserves to be better known.

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A ‘Greenground’ map of Sheffield was recently produced to help people explore our green spaces.

The Casual Rambler walks complement it perfectly, but others will have been produced which just aren’t widely known about.

Sheffield has so much to offer to visitors and residents alike and people should be encouraged to explore the less well visited parts of the city.

Sheffield no longer has a physical information centre where people can just pop in to find out about walks linking places of interest.

Maybe it’s time to reinstate one.

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