Top Sheffield tourist attraction Forge Dam set for more repairs and summer holiday disruptions
Works are expected to complete by the end of August, weather dependent, the authority says
A top Sheffield tourist attraction is set to be disrupted by construction works during the school summer holidays.
Builders are set to repair the wall at 250-year-old Forge Dam from Monday, August 10, Sheffield City Council says.
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Access will be from Brookhouse Hill in Fulwood, passing the playground and seating area of Forge Dam cafe, out of operating hours.
The old dam will be fenced off, benches removed and a temporary barrier built in the millpond to ‘create a safe working environment’.
Works are expected to complete by the end of August, weather dependent, the authority says.
A leak was discovered towards the end of a £500,000 de-silting and dam wall repair project in 2023, which the Friends of the Porter Valley spent 10 years raising money for.
Last year, Friends chair, Ann LeSage, said: “We’ve never been able to celebrate all the hard work despite 10 years of raising money.
“I’m mortified at the result. People who love the area are miserable and angry at its appearance.”
Sheffield City Council said the new repair project would “address the leakage rate and thereby retain more water within the dam’s water body, especially during drier spells.”
It added: “A full re-pointing of this eastern line of the dam wall will be undertaken with any voids rebuilt.”
The Friends website states: “Forge Dam is a popular destination for families and walkers. It provides a beautiful place to stop for a break to admire the views across the Dam, or to enjoy a drink or something to eat from the cafe. There is also a children's playground with a much talked about slide built into the hill side.
“Unlike all other industrial millponds, Forge Dam completely traps the river and the silt it carries. In its working days it would have been dredged regularly to keep the dam clear.
“In 2023, after just over 10 years of fund raising by FoPV, Sheffield City Council completed a major project to restore the pond by removing 5,000 sq M of silt, along with some other improvements in the area.”