It is one of the most-quoted facts about the city, but is it true?
One of the things I like most about Sheffield, and it is something that I have started to appreciate more now that I live up on one of the hills, is the topography of the city. Having also lived in London and Birmingham, it seems that comparatively, there are many more opportunities in Sheffield for looking down on the city from one of the many vantage points on the surrounding hills.
It may not be so good for cyclists, but once you are up there you are rewarded with some spectacular views. Whether it is the panorama back across town from Park Hill at dusk; the drive back into the city from Ringinglow; the view from Crookes and Crosspool; the city skyline from Meersbrook park or simply looking up at the hills through corner gaps at Hillsborough stadium; I could go on and on.
I still read some blogs about Birmingham, and one of these recently enquired how high the Midlands city was. A response from Ordnance Survey showed that in terms of single highest points, Sheffield is second only to Bradford.
This led me on to investigate the regularly-quoted fact about Sheffield that, like Rome, the city is built on seven hills. According to a study by J.G. Harston, Sheffield is in fact built on eight discernible hills, not seven.
In the end, it doesn’t matter how many hills the city is built on; while the days are long and the evenings are light, it is well worth getting out to making the most of the fantastic views on offer.
Does anyone else have any favourites?
There was a strange 3d model of Sheffield (based on a contour map, but made of thick felt!) on display in an exhibition a few years back. I couldn’t find seven hills on it – there seemed to be more.
Like you, I don’t think the number matters, I just like the hills and the views.
You could argue that it was BUILT on 7 hills, but expanded onto another. I’m pretty sure one of the hills is semi-man made anyway what with all the quarrying.