I don’t visit cities enough.
And with staying in the Peak District, we found an opportunity to get on the (extremely busy) train for a day out in Sheffield.
I’d never been to Sheffield before.
What I found was a beautiful city centre, bustling with excitement, development, diverse cultures, delicious food, friendly faces, and wonderful architecture.
I guess it’s probably easy to overlook Sheffield in the face of Manchester or Leeds, but the city had a lot to offer.
And certainly, from a photographic perspective, plenty of fun compositions and buildings to play around with.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC ultra-wide angle lenses. RAWs developed and edited in Lightroom for iPad, with a little finalising in Darkroom for iPad.
The first thing that struck us after stepping out of Sheffield Station was Sheaf Square and its wonderful cascades of water. This instantly got me into the “ultra-wide” mindset, and I started snapping compositions.
There was a lot of development happening around Sheffield city centre. This, however, did not detract from the already excellent architecture. These lovely buildings are called the Hubs. Originally built in 2001 to house the National Centre for Popular Music, they were eventually bought by Sheffield Hallam in 2004 and repurposed as the new Hallam Students’ Union building.
This arresting building is, in fact, a car park. Q-Park Charles Street car park was built in 2008, designed by Allies & Morrison, it has “affectionately” been given the nickname “the Cheesegrater”. I think it’s wonderful.
Between Norfolk Street and St. Paul’s Place, this narrow walkway between two buildings allowed a very stark and simple composition towards the Cheesegrater.
Similarly, this composition down St. Paul’s Parade towards the City Lofts also deserved to be captured.
Our first stop of the day were the Peace Gardens. Originally laid out in 1938, they were extensively re-modelled in 1997 to include water features and a central fountain. I immediately zoned in on the fountain, waiting for the water to rise up sufficiently high. I then stopped down to f/22 to get as long an exposure as I could, and framed the impressive 19th century gothic Sheffield Town Hall.
Channels of water line the footpaths around the gardens. They represent the rivers of Sheffield, which were crucial to powering Sheffield’s steel industry in the centuries gone by.
Into the Millennium Square is the entrance to the Sheffield Winter Gardens building. This fabulous piece of architecture features arches of Glulam, that is, Glue Laminated Timber.
The Sheffield Winter Garden is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK in the last 100 years. It’s also the largest urban glasshouse anywhere in Europe.
This place is home to more than 2,000 plants from around the world. Incorporated is the Building Management System, which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system learns year after year.
Our next stop was Sheffield Cathedral. The earliest parts of the cathedral date from the 1200s, with newer constructions (such as on the left in this photo) built in the 1960s.
Entering the cathedral, my attention is drawn upwards to the beautiful abstract pattern in the Lantern Tower. An opportunity to practice composing photos whilst looking straight up.
The nave of the cathedral, probably built in the latter part of the 18th century. A truly grand place.
These 3-metre high wings, Solace Angel Wings, are on display until November 2023. Made up of 100 glass feathers. They serve as a symbol of freedom, unity, and strength. People are encouraged to pose in between the wings, so they too can be angels.
After lunch, we continued wandering around the city centre. Here, Chaps Fountain gave me a lovely image looking towards Sheffield City Hall.
The Fountain Precinct building, built in the 1970s. It primarily offers corporate and office space for businesses. Here, its glass panes caught some beautiful late afternoon light.
Another place we wanted to check out was Sheffield’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St Marie. It’s home to Sheffield’s tallest spire, at 195 ft tall. When Catholicism was allowed to be openly practised again in England, this building was constructed in the mid-19th century.
Back to the Peace Gardens for one last composition.