Sheswa two

Verified Slow Way

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I walked this route from Swallownest. The first section is mainly downhill on a wide pavement on alternating sides of the main road. After about a mile and a half we break off into the housing estate heading for Woodhouse Station with its footbridge over the railway. From here there is a wide but rough path through Shirtcliff Wood. We joined the tarmac transpennine trail path for a short stretch. At Richmond Road there is a bridge over the Parkway, and very soon after we take to another rough path through woodland which descends to and crosses Car Brook. Shortly after the path climbs to Prince of Wales Road. After the pedestrian crossing, we made our way through the maze of roads and footpaths through the Manor Estate. After crossing the valley of Manor park the route follows Manor Park Crescent to Sheffield Manor, and down Manor Lane to City Road. The rote then heads Briefly downhill to join Granville Road, and then branches off into Clay Wood to reach the impressive cholera memorial. From here it is a short downhill walk to the station. I enjoyed this route. It has a lot more open space and woodland than you might expect on a city traverse.

I walked this in late April on a fair day when the rain had mostly stopped. I started at Sheffield station and finished at Swallownest, 2 hours 10 minutes later with no stops and only a little dithering.

I'd characterise the route as having 3 sections: city streets and park paths, woods and fields in the outer part of the city and a section on roads from Woodhouse station to the end. None of the slopes are too bad, the worst being good paths up to the monument and up Granville road. The last 15 minutes are a gentle climb. The first part is all on pavements, the second on some dirt tracks and the last on pavements again alongside a main road. There are a few squeeze gates (A-frames). The route goes down some crude earth and plank steps into Shirtcliff Wood. There weren't any particular hazards; just the tricky parts mentioned. Note that the woods can be very muddy and a little uneven.

This route is suitable for cyclists with a couple of diversions. Shirtcliff Wood is a footpath so cyclists must go around it. I'd recommend sticking to the good path (which'll be much faster too) beside Mosborough Parkway until you get to Stradbroke Road. Go to the end of StradBroke at Sheffield Road and follow that to Beaverhill Road and go down there to rejoin the bridleway though Flockton (who were Sheffield architects) Park, or stay on the road to the railway station and rejoin at Furnace Lane.

I was navigating with an A to Z and had to squint a bit at the twisty street sections but only went slightly astray in Manor Fields where the A-Z doesn't map the paths well. As you go in, take the left path then turn right up the hill. From there, I had to follow the route closely to take the correct turns until I crossed Car Brook at Castlebeck, where I'm in familiar territory and the route gets simpler anyway. Later on, the path after crossing the railway at Woodhouse station is found by turning 180 degrees at the foot of the steps on the far side. I had no idea that path was there so thanks Hugh !

Foragers will be pleased to know that Shirtcliff Wood is a veritable sea of wild garlic at the moment, so take a box and stock up. Where the garlic isn't growing, there is a carpet of bluebells. You can't eat those but they do look nice.

The Sheffield station end obviously has toilets, food, drink and excellent transport links. At the top of the climb, Manor Lane, just off City road has a fish and chip shop. There aren't any facilities for the rest of the first and middle sections unless you go off-route. The next shops are on Furnace Lane, after Woodhouse station - a chippie and a paper shop. The Princess Royal pub is round the corner and a bit further along Retford Road. There is a Lidl, Co-op, fast food and others as you approach and finish at Swallownest.

If you need to abort, you're close to the 24-25 bus route until past Woodhouse, or the 52(a) for a short space after that. From Swallownest, there's an X5 into Sheffield regularly and the 21 every hour (every 2 on Sundays) to Rotherham.

An enjoyable route, quite pleasant for a city walk. Much of it on parkland and through tree lined trails and paths. On the roads, there was always pavement, although I did have one issue at the top of Manor Park Crescent, where a lot of building work was taking place. The pavement on the right hand side was closed and fenced of. So construction vehicles parked on the opposite pavement. It was necessary to dodge the traffic moving up and down the road in order to get through. I walked the route from Swallownest into Sheffield and found it easy to follow.

This route reflects my experience of following SHESWA one - it is essentially the same route but plotted in a way that should make it easier to follow, particularly from Sheffield to Swallownest and reflect what the best paths do on the ground. I also made a few very minor changes to streamline the route, so it is not quite what I walked. For a more detailed review with pictures, see SHESWA one.

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