Sure, didn't work out as planned, but I got some nice photos from it and had a fun day getting lost in a park.
When I moved to Sheffield, the urge to explore was never as great. The city is big, not by London standards but massive compared to a lot of places, and it is full of people from all walks of life, but when I arrived here I already had friends and my job instantly meant I was involved in things, Sheffield felt like home without having to force the issue.
It's taken me almost a year of being here to go out and see the sights that sit all around me, meaning it's taken me almost a year to do a photographic blog post about them. Fortunately for you, that's about to change right now.
The other weekend me and my girlfriend picked up our cameras and headed out into the northern wilderness, a place where the word 'the' is replaced with a breathy grunt and beer doesn't exist at anything less than 4.5%. Here is that girlfriend in a highly edited photo, being completely unaware that I was taking a photo of her. 1-0 Ash.
We were walking past Park Hill at this point, a massive block of Brutalist flats that are half renovated, half desolate. One side is full of huge painted faces, each one lurking where a window used to live and looking out over passers by. If the light is right you can see smoke coming from some of the abandoned vents, and if the wind is blowing in the right direction, you can smell exactly what that smoke is made from. (Weed. It's definitely weed.)
Nearer to home is this:
I live in a fairly modern apartment block, but all around me are signs of industry that have been left untouched for decades. Old factories litter the roads, divided by gaps in the landscape where their friends have fallen. This building is exactly the sort you could expect to see. It's massive in scale and completely forgotten about in terms of its upkeep, with each window boarded up and looking rather fetching in this lovely shade of blue. The graffiti you can see on the lower windows is all over the place, depicting some quite scary characters whilst adding a touch of something unique to a building that would otherwise be standing unloved.
Here's a scary graffiti close up:
There's a face just like this one round the corner from my flat. I've named him Philip.
Some of the buildings allow you a tantalising look inside. I'd love to look inside all of them, go right in there and have a good roam around, but the council have clearly foreseen such desires and most of them are locked up, covered in boarding and dangerous looking signage. This is one of the friendlier ones that gives you a glimpse into what used to go on there, albeit a small one.
Extra-friendly buildings even give you some written clues about their past. This one, for example, tells us that there used to be at least two gate, and that if we go inside we'll be prosecuted. Shit.
By the looks of the faded out type, this sign also included some sales copy, but judging by how old it all looks you can only assume that no-one wanted to buy the building and it is still up for sale. I've got a tenner saved up if anyone fancies it.
Other signage is a little more foreboding.
Yeah, doubt I'll try and go through the door with the scary clown above it. He was made by the same person who did the stuff I showed you earlier. Bad graffiti can look awful and completely ruin a building, but this building is already in ruins and I love that someone is finding a use for it, even if that use is the stuff of nightmares.
While I might not fancy going up against an evil clown, some people are obviously far more brave. There's evidence of activity in lots of these places, with graffiti inside, needles lining the floors or, in some cases, high up windows being smashed and opened from the inside.
I love walking down all these forgotten streets. The buildings there are as incredible as they are dilapidated. Where once great machinery would have operated now sits only broken glass and ghosts. You'll do well to find another person near any such sites, which is what makes the experience even better. Behind the window below, although not too clear in the photo, a plant was growing. Nature was trying to reclaim its land, although in reality the land was still adorned with old factories. Must try harder, nature.
The further into the city centre of Sheffield you go, the more examples you see of these old buildings finding new uses. They've been turned into flats for the most part, with the original features all preserved to create a nice bit of hipster home.
There's a great contrast between the faded brick of the past and the plush glass exteriors of the present, where a university city has pushed itself through the waste to fill in any gaps it could find.
Unlike when I did this in glossy Hampstead, I a) did not witness a car crash, and b) found my way home again without getting lost for 3 hours. Home seems like a good place to leave this photo splurge, and what better way to sign off than with a bit of artwork showing a person with an angry dog in their mouth?
Nah, I don't know what's going on there either, but I like it. Sheffield is just treat after treat in terms of architecture and photo opportunities, so this was less about making it my home (that's happened already) and more about just having an adventure.
It's out there, adventure, you just have to take your camera and log it for the sake of a handful of reluctant blog readers.
You're welcome.