Hillsborough Park Sheffield: Pictures show how popular park looks now, four months after Tramlines mud bath

These are the latest pictures showing how Hillsborough Park looks now - four months after Tramlines left it seriously damaged.

When the popular Sheffield music festival finished in July, the surface had been left turned into a mud bath after the combination of torrential rain and thousands of boots walking across the wet surface.

But pictures taken this week at the park, shown in the gallery below, show that the grass has now returned to the park, with parents with children and dog walkers returning to the site, where the fences have now been removed, allowing access by the community again.

Only small areas of fencing now remain, all away from the main festival area, which is now green again.

Sheffield Council bosses said recently that they thought the park was close to a return to normal.

Councillor Richard Williams, chairman of Sheffield Council's Communities, Parks and Leisure Committee, said: “We know how important Hillsborough Park is to residents, which is why we have been working with Tramlines to restore the park to its usual high quality and return it for community use following this year’s Tramlines Music Festival.

“I am really pleased to see that the majority of the fence lines have now come down and most of the park is now open once again for public use.

“I would like to thank the Tramlines and council teams for their hard work in restoring the park, and importantly, the local community and Hillsborough Park users for their patience and understanding whilst work took place.

“I remain confident that the Tramlines team will continue to carry out repairs to the highest standard so local people can enjoy the park to the fullest.”

Some residents in Hillsborough were upset by the condition that Hillsborough Park was left in by the popular festival in July, with the damage closing most of the space during the school summer holidays, limiting access for youngsters.

Large parts of the park were fenced off for reseeding and repair work over the school summer holidays and into the autumn.

In July 2023, Sheffield experienced its second wettest July on record with the Weston Park weather station recording 176mm (7ins) of rainfall - more than double the 65mm average.

Following this year's festival opinion was divided over whether the event should be held at Hillsborough Park in future.

But at a meeting in September, councillors backed its continued use for the festival.

A council report said use of Graves Park, Norfolk Park and Don Valley Bowl - alongside Sheffield Arena car park had been considered. But they were all 'unsuitable' due to the large number of revellers.

It concluded Hillsborough Park was the only city park with the capacity to host an event of this size and nature, because of its size and proximity to both the Supertram network and several bus routes, and the walking distance from the city centre.