I recently attended a photography walk around Victoria Quays, Sheffield arranged by @canalrivertrust and led by @replacement.hipster @lazy.photon . During the walk, I took photos of several buildings and other things of interest. Here are the photos of some of the buildings and some details about them.
Sheaf Quay (1832) – the Sheaf Quay building was constructed as the offices for William Greaves and Sons who created the first large scale cutlery factory in Sheffield in 1832. The offices are now used by Ant Marketing, who possibly had the first large scale call centre in Sheffield?
Grain Warehouse (1860) – as the name suggests, this was used for the storage of grain, no surprises there. The building was converted into flats as part of the 1990s regeneration of the area.
Exchange Place Studios (1922) – the building was the former wholesale of WH Smiths, the stationers. It has been used by Yorkshire Artspace as studios since 1977 and is now home to over 160 Sheffield based creatives.
The Terminal Warehouse (1819) – boats were taken inside the warehouse for their goods, predominantly grain, to be unloaded under cover before being sent on to the various breweries in the area. The building has since been converted into office space (currently occupied by a ‘creative agency’) and flats.
The Merchants Crescent (1870) – as the name suggests, this crescent was former housing for the various Merchants. It has since been converted into offices and flats. Unfortunately, it is somewhat unusual for a terrace of houses to have maintained a uniform look as we can see here.
The Straddle Warehouse (1895) –with more storage required, and no surplus land to build any, the straddle warehouse was designed to ‘straddle’ the canal for boats to be loaded/unloaded before turning around and going back towards Rotherham. The ironwork detail is superb, although the timber barriers need some attention. The building was converted into flats in the 1990s.
Works (c.18) – this charming works building was part of the handle making process for cutlery and made knife handles from bone/ivory. It has since been swallowed up by the surrounding Bedford Steels operation and is in much need of some maintenance.
All of the History Walks are now booked up to September, but I look forward to learning more about the area with Mark in September.
Comments