We can't lie. This one is a little bleak.
Viewpoint No. 3 is Pye Bank, an ex-council estate, close to the city centre, on a hill above the river. The buildings have all been demolished, but for some reason all the infrastructure was left behind. Today, all that's up there are empty roads, steps, paths and bricks.
The start point of the route is a bridge over the River Don, at the bottom of Corporation Street. There's a secret old bridge here, blocked off at one end. It looks like this.
Once you get up to Pye Bank itself, you'll find a strong Mad Max vibe going on. Roadblocks, rubble, wasteland. It's easy to feel like you're the last person on Earth. We wouldn't recommend going up to Pye Bank alone. The isolation can feel pretty intimidating. But the view is incredible.
The map includes a cut-out-and-keep roadblock, as a memento of your day. If you don't want to cut your map up, why not photocopy it at your local Tesco?
BONUS PYE BANK INFO
This is what Pye Bank used to look like: massive. Concrete flats and wavy roofed houses. You can find stories on the internet of what it was like to live here. The stories are pretty much the same as the ones you read about Park Hill, or Hyde Park, or any of the other post-war estates, built with too much optimism and not enough money. They're hard stories to keep reading.
Viewpoint No. 3 is Pye Bank, an ex-council estate, close to the city centre, on a hill above the river. The buildings have all been demolished, but for some reason all the infrastructure was left behind. Today, all that's up there are empty roads, steps, paths and bricks.
The start point of the route is a bridge over the River Don, at the bottom of Corporation Street. There's a secret old bridge here, blocked off at one end. It looks like this.
Once you get up to Pye Bank itself, you'll find a strong Mad Max vibe going on. Roadblocks, rubble, wasteland. It's easy to feel like you're the last person on Earth. We wouldn't recommend going up to Pye Bank alone. The isolation can feel pretty intimidating. But the view is incredible.
The map includes a cut-out-and-keep roadblock, as a memento of your day. If you don't want to cut your map up, why not photocopy it at your local Tesco?
BONUS PYE BANK INFO
This is what Pye Bank used to look like: massive. Concrete flats and wavy roofed houses. You can find stories on the internet of what it was like to live here. The stories are pretty much the same as the ones you read about Park Hill, or Hyde Park, or any of the other post-war estates, built with too much optimism and not enough money. They're hard stories to keep reading.
Funnily enough, these buildings still exist on some maps. You can even demolish them yourself. Click here for a top down view. And then click here to see the same space without buildings.
Yes Pye Bank is bleak. But it's also strangely calm. In the gaps where the houses and the car parks used to be, the weeds are taking over. Pye Bank is reverting into what it was before Sheffield came along. A scrubby hill, folding into other scrubby hills, above a river, on the edge of the peak district.
Enjoy the view.
Picked a map up from Rare and Racy. Love your work!
ReplyDeleteHi Meltie,
ReplyDeleteGlad you're liking the maps! Look out for an official SPD tree-rubbings workshop soon.
Love
SPD
I just picked up 1,2, and 3 from the book arts exhibition in Site Gallery. I did number 3 at the weekend and it was spectacularly spooky and surreal. I'd never heard of Pye Bank before (recent arrival in Sheffield). The view over the city is the best one I've come across yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
(Also, I love the wee bridge to nowhere...)