Linear walk from Bamforth street to Middlewood tram stop: Full Monty film locations and other Hillsborough sights.
From Bamforth tram stop walked down to Burton Street school. This is the school in the film that Gaz’s son attended.
From here headed down to Penistone road. Incident my past a stone on a garage forecourt next to New Barrack tavern which marks location of the Rose Inn which apparently played a role in the aftermath of 1864 flood. I suspect that it’s role was that cellar used as mortuary.
Turned off Penistone Road by going through B&Q car park to Reagents flats. These flats are where Lomper and Guy are disturbed in bed and escape over the balcony (given height of even lowest balcony not sure that really possible).
From the flats crossed road to Borough Road and veered on to Park view road. Before turning down Burrowlee road to Burrowlee House. At the time Burrowlee House was built in 1711 by Thomas Streade the surrounding area was rural. Burrowlee house is grade 2 listed; it is the oldest house in Hillsborough and one of the first brick houses to be built in Sheffield.
Circuited to the back of Burrowlee house by walking to Pennstone Road then taking next right up Broughton Road. This road was named after Thomas Steade’s son Broughton.
Thomas Steade built another house in 1779 which is what is now Hillsborough library. He called his new house Hillsborough hall after his patron the Earl of Hillsborough. Ultimately the whole area became known as Hillsborough after the Hall.
Hillsborough Hall was inherited by Broughton from his Father. Various families owned it up until 1890 when the last owner of Dixon family died. There is a Road the other side of the park called Dixon Road after the Dixon family who had lives in the Hall. When Dixon’s estate was split up and sold the hall and some surrounding land was sold to the Sheffield corporation.
In turn in 1889 Sheffield corporation sold the land that that Sheffield Wednesday’s ground which is now across from the park is built on. In 1902 when there was a football match a parachutist parachute 🪂 Edith Brooks was hired to entertain the crowns before the match. As Edith was doubled booked she instead sent her sister Maude. Sadly Maude’s parachute 🪂 malfunctioned and she died a few days after the jump. The place she landed is marked by an innocuous flat stone with no inscription in the park that must go unnoticed by most who use the park. Maude was burried in Liverpool.
We passed Hillsborough hall which is now the library and then went into the accompanying walled garden and admired the pretty dahlias. Upon exciting the other side of the walled garden we exited the park after working along the tree lined avenue. We crossed the toad on to Wadsley lane and proceed up until turning at the Green shop (recommend for Our Cow 🐮 Molly ice cream 🍦 and local bottled beers 🍻 like Loxley and Bradfield breweries) into Marcliffe Road.
We turned off Marcliffe Road on to Vainer Road up to Wadsley church and then walked through the graveyard looking at graves. Including seeing down right hand side from the back of the church a grave adorned with a cricket 🏏 bat of a critter who died in Victorian times at the time the cricket bat 🏏 was not thought appropriate and the grave was damaged before being repaired.
Walking through the gravestones we came to a area of grass with no gravestones. However this area of grass actually has over 2,500 graves in it. There is just a lowly placed stone at one end of the grass which I have missed numerous times. It explains the graves are of men, women and children who died at the nearly asylum and because of the stigma of the asylum they were not burried with gravestones. The latest ones burried without a gravestone was 1947, thankfully as a society we have become more clued up about mental health.
We headed towards the asylum by exiting the churchyard on to Prescott Road then turning at the top of the road on to xxx.
We continued on Dykes Hall Road, passed Hillborough golf course then a dip in the road before coming to a path off from the road on the right. We followed a windy path down through the trees. At the bottom is a fossilised tree. We crossed the road into the park opposite. Then walked past the front of the asylum clock tower building which is very grand looking and has now been turned into apartments. We made our way to Middlewood tram stop. Passing a building that have SYA inscribed into the brickwork which I previously puzzled over what the letters stood for but now think it will be South Yorkshire Asylum. See Wonderwall360 instragram for photos of walk locations.
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