I arrived in Sheffield three years ago on the A61 from Chesterfield, by way of Ecclesall Woods. I thought the trees were beautiful, the roads were rough, and the traffic was hopefully a one-off.
Three years later, two of those three things remain true.
If a city doesn’t make an impression then it’s not worth your time. But, after 34 months in the Steel City, I find I only have more and more to say about it.
I’ve come to decide Sheffield is the city for me. I’m in love with the trees, how much I enjoy walking its streets, and the chatter you can strike up anywhere you go. I love surprising my friends with hikes and walks I know of, I enjoy the slight satisfaction at how the hills don’t bother me anymore, and, God help me, but I love a Béres.
It has its blemishes. Districts of supremely beautiful houses can be just a few streets over from some of the most deprived areas in England. And, sadly, often when I compliment Sheffield, residents will instead tell you how much better “it used to be”.
But I have my own observations I want to make - just some things that I, as a man who knows he will never ascend to the rank of Northerner, have come to understand when I think back on my three years in the Steel City.
Here are nine things I’ve noticed since making the move.
1. It's like a patchwork quilt
I walk everywhere I go, and Sheffield is a joy to trot around. What's shocking is how quickly the scenery can change just by turning a corner. The city is a patchwork quilt of districts, parks, shopping quarters and neighbourhoods in very close quarters. Even a half hour walk out my front door can turn from the bougie coffee shops of Sharrow Vale Road to the busyness of Ecclesall Road, then into the richness of the Botanical Gardens and the grandeur of the historic homes around Broomhall - before they suddenly fall away and you're in nightlife central on West Street. Photo: David Kessen
2. You don't just get used to the hills, but get stronger for it
All that walking up and down Sheffield's hills has some other benefits. Somewhere during my three year stay I developed the endurance of a donkey. My softie friends from flat and featureless Leicester come for visits and a moment will come when I turn around and find them panting and heaving a few steps behind me as they try to make it up the slightest of inclines, and I get to smugly ask how their calves are doing. Photo: David Kessen
3. The Peaks are a treasure
Speaking of things incomprehensible to southerners, another joy of mine is taking my visiting friends to the Peak District. The Midlands-born and London-clouded mind cannot fathom the teleportation that happens in the 20 minute train from Sheffield to Grindleford. Exiting that tunnel is like emerging from Alice's rabbithole for those not used to it. The Peaks are such a treasure to have to nearby. Photo: jason chadwick
4. Horizons are important
The 10 years I spent before I came to Sheffield were in Stafford, Leicester and Northampton; all three situated in the flat plains of the Midlands, where there is so little to see rising above the 'second storey' level. Only in Sheffield did I discover my favourite feature of a place to live - there has to be a horizon to look to, something beyond the buildings other than more buildings. This beautiful valley means, wherever you stand, there's always more than just houses, student flats and Premier Inns on the skyline to look to. Photo: National World