EXCURSIONS - SATURDAY 29th June 2019

All excursions will be hosted by a local walking guide.  Your guide will meet you outside the Diamond Building at 3pm and will walk you right back to Endcliffe Building accommodation, unless you wish to stay in the centre of the city in your free time or have organised alternative accommodation.  As all tours leave the campus on foot this year, please come prepared for all weathers and bring suitable walking shoes.  

GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF CITY CENTRE £10 per person:

Take an interesting, informative and fun guided walking tour of the 900 years of history of Sheffield City centre with Marcus J Newton. Walk around the vibrant Heart of the City with its iconic Winter Garden, renowned Crucible and Lyceum Theatres, the historic Victorian Quarter home to the twin Cathedrals and Cutlers Hall. Discover the hidden Georgian Quarter famous for its connection to John Wesley. See the birthplace of Sheffield University. Visit Barkers Pool, home of the City Hall, the Women of Steel and the Gold Post Box. Marvel at the Sheffield Stars and Sheffield’s imposing Town Hall. Visit the 21^st Century Millennium Quarter to see the famous Cheese Grater. On the tour you will find out about the best places to eat drink, shop and be entertained. Marcus will also provide information on other places you might like to visit during your stay.

MILLENNIUM GALLERY, SQUARE & WINTER GARDEN £13 per person:

The Millennium Gallery is Sheffield’s premier destination for art, craft and design.  Here you can see some of Sheffield’s unique heritage, including the metalwork which made the city world famous, alongside contemporary art and design exhibitions.

Millennium Square is situated between two of Sheffield’s most popular public spaces, the Peace Gardens and Winter Garden, and was designed by architects Allies and Morrison.  It contains a piece of public art called Rain, created by sculptor Colin Rose. The sculpture features 9 large Sheffield stainless steel spheres varying in sizes up to 2m in diameter, which were intended to suggest drops of rain that have just landed on the surface of the square.

One of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years has created a stunning green world in the heart of the city.  Next to the Peace Gardens and the Millennium Galleries, the Winter Garden provides visitors with a unique experience in the city centre.  There are more than 2,500 plants from around the world creating a superb display. The building itself is 70 metres long and 22 metres high (large enough to house 5,000 domestic greenhouses!).

Situated close to the city centre Sheffield Botanical Gardens were opened in 1836 and now cover 19 acres on a south-west sloping site. The Gardens are listed by English Heritage as a Grade II site of special historic and architectural interest. The Grade 2 Glass Pavilions house a wonderful collection of plants from the temperate areas of the world and provide a wonderful backdrop for the sweeping lawns with their magnificent trees and central Broadwalk.

Several winding paths take the visitor on an exploration through over 18 different garden areas based on geographical or botanical themes. Much loved by children of all ages is a rare Grade II listed Bear Pit which can be found hidden between the recently renovated Mediterranean and Himalayan gardens. A well-preserved fossil of a tree-like Lepidodendron (could be 312 million years old) is displayed in the Evolution garden.

From the traditional layout of the Victorian Rose garden to the Prairie style area designed by Professors James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett there is plenty of interest for the visitor throughout the year.