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Endcliffe Park is a large park in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The park was opened in 1887 to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. When travelling West from the city centre it is the first in a series of parks and green spaces, known collectively as the Porter Valley Parks, all of which lie along the course of the Porter Brook. The next park in the sequence is Bingham Park, separated from Endcliffe Park by Rustlings Road. [1] In 1924 Patrick Abercrombie said of the parks, "The Porter Brook Parkway, consisting as it does of a string of contiguous open spaces, is the finest example to be found in this country of a radial park strip, an elongated open space, leading from a built-up part of the city direct into the country, the land occupied being a river valley and so for the greater part unsuitable for building." [1]
Endcliffe Park comprises parkland as well as woodland. The portion along Rustlings Road is grassy and used as a recreation ground whilst the Northern border, separated from the recreation grounds by the Porter Brook is woodland, and is traversed by many paths.
The Ecclesall Road entrance to the park is next to the former Hunter's Bar toll bar on the former Sheffield and Chapel-en-le-Frith toll road.Old-Maps - the online repository of historic maps - home page Next to the entrance is a Grade II listed pavilion and lodge, built in 1891. [2]
Close to the park's entrance is the Hallamshire Tennis & Squash Club.
The park features three monuments dedicated to Queen Victoria. Near the entrance is a statue of Queen Victoria and midway up the path towards Whiteley Woods is an obelisk also in honour of Queen Victoria. [3] [4] Both originally stood at the top of Fargate in Sheffield city centre. In the centre of the park, enclosed by railings, is a pile of rocks arranged to form a dolmen. The top stone has a coat of arms and an inscription which refers to the founding of the park. [5]
A tree planted by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee stands near her statue.
There is also a memorial stone marking the crash site of the USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress "Mi-Amigo" with a description board, installed by the Parks Department ahead of the 75th anniversary. The stone was put in place in 1969 after a fund-raising drive by the Sheffield branch of the Royal Air Force Association, who have since organised the annual service of remembrance. Ten American oak trees, one per airman, were planted by the City Council in 1969 and since then, if any have needed replacing, another tree has been planted in advance, as happened in 2019/20. [6] [7] [8]
The park has a playground which was revamped in 2008 which has many attractions for children. The park also includes a parkour training facility which was built in 2014, funded by the Sheffield Parkour Movement group. There is also an outdoor gym area which includes pull up bars and self-weighted machines. All these facilities are currently free to use. There is also a family-friendly cafe which is open daily, serving a wide range of food and drinks. There are also toilet facilities and a small children's amusement area next to the cafe.
The park often hosts many events in the summer, such as circuses, musical events and a fair; including the Easter duck race event. The Folk in the Forest music festival is held in the park during the Tramlines Festival . [9] The Sheffield Hallam parkrun takes place weekly. [10]
The Porter Brook, although flowing freely between the many old trees of the park, is dammed and forms two ponds, home of ducks and feral pigeons. The first pond, situated to the West of the park has an island. There is no access to the island. Like all the ponds along the Porter Valley, the ponds in the park are old mill ponds and retain their races that once drove a water wheel. In Endcliffe Park these have been semi-blocked to achieve an attractive waterfall effect. Endcliffe Park and many of the other parks and public spaces along the Porter Brook, are a re-claimed, pre-steam-age industrial landscape.
These days the ponds act as wildlife refuges, especially the island in the larger pond, with mallard, moorhen and coot resident, joined by a flock of black-headed gulls each winter. The ponds also enjoy frequent visits from grey herons and kingfishers throughout the year. The Porter Brook itself supports many more species, including the territories of dippers in its higher reaches. Grey wagtails frequently feed on insects just above the brook all along its length and are usually first glimpsed as a flash of bright canary yellow when strolling along those paths of Endcliffe Park that follow the course of the Brook.
The Porter Brook is a river which flows through the City of Sheffield, England, descending over 1,000 feet (300 m) from its source on Burbage Moor to the west of the city to its mouth where it joins the River Sheaf in a culvert beneath Sheffield railway station. Like the other rivers in Sheffield, its steep gradient made it ideal for powering water mills and works associated with the metalworking and cutlery industries, and around 20 dams were constructed over the centuries to facilitate this. At its lower end, it is extensively culverted, but parts of it are gradually being restored to open channels, as part of a daylighting scheme for the city.
Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Carterknowle, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southwestern part of the city and covers an area of 3.6 square miles. The population of this ward in 2007 was 19,211 people in 7,626 households, reducing to 6,657 at the 2011 Census. Ecclesall ward is one of the four wards that make up the South West Community Assembly and one of five wards that make up the Sheffield Hallam Parliamentary constituency. The Member of Parliament is Olivia Blake, a Labour MP. Ecclesall is one of the least socially deprived wards in the entire country, with a 2002 deprivation score of 4.7—making it the 8,105th most deprived ward out of 8,414 wards in the country. The demographic consists largely of white, middle-class families.
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Endcliffe Hall is a 19th-century, 36-room mansion situated on Endcliffe Vale Road in the City of Sheffield in the suburb of Endcliffe. The hall is situated just over 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the city centre and is a Grade II* Listed building.
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The Porter Valley Parks are a series of public parks and green spaces in Sheffield, England. Lying along the valley of Porter Brook, they run radially out from the city centre, providing a direct green-space connection to the Peak District national park. Created variously between 1855 and 1938, they comprise in order from the city centre; Endcliffe Park, Bingham Park, Whiteley Woods, Forge Dam Park and Porter Clough.