Teaching
Ideas
The Power Points
The power points can be used in various
ways:
• as an initial ideas fund for teachers
• pictures and prompts can be selected
and simple power points for pupils built
up
• for older or more able pupils, the power
points could be used in their entirety and
as a starter point for more specific
activities or for individual or group
project-style work
Links with the
National
Curriculum
There are numerous ways in which the Five Weirs Walk can be used, whether through
primary experiences of visiting, walking and observing or through secondary information.
The information and pictures in the power points are intended as a pool for teachers and
pupils, and can be edited to suit needs.
Of course, there are many obvious ways in which there are links for subject-based work,
but the nature of the Five Weirs Walk and the background to it also lend themselves to
cross-curricular initiatives.
Ultimately, heads of department and classroom teachers have a resource which they can use
as an integral part of their syllabus plans, whether based exclusively on classroom work or
on outdoor experience.
Obvious simple but general ideas would include
• recreational experience
• environmental studies
• photography
• art work
• creation of a display or classroom frieze
• creative writing
• collaborative investigation
• Internet-based research
• quiz-based activity
Teachers are bound to a degree by the
demands of the National Curriculum,
and there are many easily-identified
strands with which the Five Weirs Walk
could help in a way which should
stimulate pupil interest.
Some of the more obvious and relevant
National Curriculum areas are contained
in the following slides, arranged by
subject:
Art and Design
Citizenship
Geography
From the Geographical Association:
Fundamental fieldwork
As the saying goes; 'Geography is best learnt through the soles of your boots'. Fieldwork is a
fundamental part of geography and one of the most effective and inclusive ways to teach
geography. 'Doing' helps pupils understand.
Fieldwork is multi-sensory, memorable and should be fun. With the bad press that fieldwork
sometimes receives, trainee teachers need to understand that:
• Fieldwork does not have to be complicated
• The risks involved with fieldwork have to be taken seriously, but also need to be put in
perspective
• Fieldwork brings huge benefits to pupils
• Geography and learning can be brought alive by fieldwork
• Fieldwork can be done anywhere
• Both pupils and teachers enjoy fieldwork
• Fieldwork is an opportunity to get pupils thinking and become excited about learning.
The national curriculum states that at key stages 1 and 2, pupils should carry out fieldwork
activities outside the classroom.
The Geographical Association is based in Sheffield at
160 Solly Street, Sheffield S1 4BF
Long Live Fieldwork!
Paula Richardson (GA Field Studies Working Group)
July 2005
Fieldwork is an important and magical part of work in geography. Going
outside the classroom whether to get wet in the rain, go to a restaurant to see
how pizzas are made or visit a farm, brings home to youngsters the reality of
our world through first hand experience. It provides that much needed
different perspective on every day things and challenges them to develop and
use a whole range of new skills which otherwise might never see the light of
day! It is also important that pupils are exposed to more than just the local
area, important though that is. Have you ever thought that a contrasting area
might just exist on the other side of your town for example?
This sort of
simple idea
could easily
be adapted
for less-able
pupils to
identify
human and
physical
components
of the river
corridor
along the
Five Weirs
Walk.
Analysis of the
elements of the
riverside
landscape can
range from very
simple ideas for
younger or lessable pupils to
sophisticated
investigative
work which
demands
observation,
recording and
analysis skills
from older and
more able pupils.
The Five
Weirs Walk
provides a
good
opportunity to
introduce the
idea of local
environmental
care.
The following slides provide prompts
which could be used to introduce the idea
of urban zones and land use.
Using the walk and observing the
character of the surrounds and what can
be seen from the walk could enhance the
pupils’ idea of different parts of the city
having different land uses and therefore
different demands in terms of care and
regeneration.
Landuse means what the
land is used for:Shops and
Offices
Industry
Housing
Landuse varies within
a city or town.
We can often see 5
types of zone in large
towns and cities
Zone 1.
City Centre
Zone 2.
Inner City
Zone 3.
Suburbs
Zone 5.
Transport
Routes
Zone 4.
Greenbelt
RURAL
(means countryside)
URBAN
(means built up area)
Golf course
Camp site
industry
LANDUSES
means how people use land
offices
farmland
woodland
housing estate
airport
CITY CENTRE
(central business district)
• The CBD has tall buildings
• you find shops offices pubs, and
nightclubs
• there is little open space
• land values are high
• there is much traffic congestion.
The Inner City
• This is a mixed area of housing
and industry
• This zone typically has terraced
housing
• which is built around a factory
• Inner city areas now often house
ethnic minority groups
• and are often being redeveloped.
Suburbs
• Are on the edge of towns and
cities
• Are mainly areas of housing
• Have open space such as parks
• Have higher value housing
• Are generally nicer places to live.
Transport Routes
• Can be a river, railway, canal or
motorway
• are areas where industry develop.
History
The Five Weirs Walk takes the visitor through a slice of
Sheffield’s industrial history, so there are all sorts of
possibilities for active study in the area, not only of the
industrial legacy but also of the pre-industrial history of the
area.
Simple ideas for development include
• Plotting dates of buildings and factories on a map in order to
look for clues in the patterns found
• Gravestone studies at sites close to the river
• A study of place-names as indicators of past activity
ICT
Mathematics
The National Curriculum section on Maths is non-specific regarding topics,
but there are obvious possibilities for work connected with the walk.
Examples include
• Simple counting at basic levels
• Counting at more advanced levels (eg species in water samples)
• Measuring and scale exercises
• Representational techniques (eg various types of maps and graphs)
• Correlations (eg water quality with distance downstream, amount of
graffiti/litter with proximity to city centre)
Music
This idea about
writing a song can
be adapted to tell
the story of the
walk or the Don;
one local school has
already done it!
PE
Science
This could be
adapted in order
to study places
with good and
poor growth at
various locations
on the walk.
Even the
example of the
fig tree could be
used!
At GCSE level, there are possibilities in a
range of subjects for project work relating to
the walk.
The key elements are
• Setting up a hypothesis
• Background information
• Methodology, observation and recording
• Results and analysis
• Conclusions concerning the validity of the
hypothesis
Of course, not every teaching plan or educational activity
need have reference to specific parts of the National
Curriculum, and the extra ideas which follow are ones which
could well provide the basis for interesting experiences which
do not necessarily lend themselves to be easily pigeon-holed.
Creative Writing
Work on 4 pieces of writing about SHEFFIELD IN THE PAST
“Sheffield”, by Edward Carpenter
Pick out some phrases from the poem which show how badly polluted Sheffield was.
Pick out some phrases from the poem which give us clues about what caused the
pollution.
What evidence is there about the effects the pollution, as well as the working and living
conditions, had on the people of Sheffield?
How does the poet make sure that his description of Sheffield is really effective?
“The Stirrings in Sheffield on Saturday Night”, by Alan Cullen
What hints are there that old Sheffield could be a dangerous place to be?
What does Isaac Ironside see as part of the answer, and why?
“The Road to Wigan Pier”, by George Orwell
Make a list of reasons why Orwell thinks Sheffield could be “the ugliest town in the Old
World”.
“Sheffield’s East Enders”, by Keith Farnsworth (including the extract by Joe
Ashton)
Why and how did Attercliffe and the rest of Sheffield’s Lower Don Valley (often called
Sheffield’s East End) change so dramatically in the 18th and 19th centuries?
What were the good points about living in Attercliffe in the 1930s?
What were the bad points about living in Attercliffe in the 1930s?
Adapted from
Keith Farnsworth (1987), Sheffield’s East Enders: Life as it was in the Lower Don
Valley, Sheffield City Libraries, Sheffield.
If, like me, you’re an old East Ender you’ll know that you can never go home
again because the place no longer exists as we knew it. Your old house has gone, and
so have the old school, the church and hall, and your favourite cinema. The works in
which so many of your family were employed: they , too, have gone. Whatever
happened to all your schoolpals and neighbours? In many cases you will even find it
impossible to establish exactly where a once-familiar street was, for it has disappeared
without trace and with such finality that it might never have existed except in your
imagination.
Sheffield stands on the lower slopes of the Pennines. There is only one break
in the circle of hills, one route out of the central area along which the traveller can avoid
an incline of any significance, at least for a few miles; and this is at the north-east corner.
This is the route taken by the River Don, which changes course at Castlegate; and it
was the direction taken by the packhorses in those 18th-century days when the first local
merchants were establishing trading links beyond the seas for Sheffield goods. This flat
route along the lower Don Valley was the pathway along which the canal link with
Tinsley was built in 1819 and on which the first railway was laid in 1838. Thus Sheffield’s
East End has a shape and character which separates it from the rest of the city. One has
only to pass through the Wicker arches to note the contrast in the landscape, for while
Spital Hill rises steeply to the left, Savile Street remains flat and continues so all the way
to Brightside.
There was life and industrial activity in these parts long before the dramatic rise of the
heavy industries from about 1840 onwards, but it is not difficult to understand how and
why the new breed of manufacturers chose to “go east” when they did. It was not
simply that the green fields of the East End were ripe for development. The coming of
the railway made the step obvious and logical.
Looking at the East End now it takes considerable effort to imagine how it
must have been some 250 years ago, or even as late as the mid-19th century just
before the dramatic transformation from the idyllic to the industrial was finally
completed. The modern eye sees only the desolation caused by the recent decline of
industry and the demolition of first the housing, then the famous works. Yet Attercliffe
and Carbrook were once largely meadow and farmland and there was a time when
Brightside Lane really did live up to its name. The Don flowed clear and clean, farmers
washed their sheep in the shallow waters, and salmon swam in the river at Salmon
Pastures. The lord of the manor reserved all fishing rights in the Don. When Thomas
Jessop began to build his works overlooking the Don at Brightside in the 1830s, his
agreement stipulated that he had to return all the salmon caught in the river to the
Duke of Norfolk. By contrast, some 40 years later the discovery of a roach in the Don
was so unusual that the fish was stuffed and placed on show at Weston Park
Museum. Also, the East End was once an attractive place in which to live, and
boasted its share of fine houses and illustrious residents.
Perhaps the most famous industrial pioneer associated with Attercliffe was
Benjamin Huntsman, the Lincolnshire-born clockmaker who turned steel maker
and invented the crucible process which lifted the quality steel industry of Sheffield
from obscurity to worldwide fame. Huntsman began his experiments before his
1742 move from Doncaster to Handsworth because he was seeking a better grade
of steel with which to make his tools and instruments, and by 1751 he had given up
clockmaking and started a steelworks in Attercliffe. At the time Huntsman began
experimenting, Sheffield’s production of steel was probably less than 200 tons a
year. By 1840 it was 20,000 tons and by 1873 about 100,000 tons. Crucible
steelmaking dominated the local scene throughout the 19th century and well into
the 20th, so the effect of Huntsman’s achievement was truly tremendous.
Henry Bessemer was a professional inventor whose Bessemer Converter
enabled the production of steel in bulk at a time when large-scale production at
speed was becoming increasingly essential. In 1858 Bessemer built a works in
Carlisle Steet, where he produced steel at between £10 and £18 a ton cheaper
than his local rivals.
Robert Hadfield was only 24 when he discovered manganese steel.
Perhaps the foremost metallurgist of his era, he lived to see the Hadfields business
become one of the giants of the Sheffield scene, and goodness knows what he
would have thought of the firm’s decline and closure in the 1980s. The building of
the famous East Hecla Works was started in 1897, and by 1914 the firm employed
nearly 6,000. By 1919 the figure was 15,000.
The East End filled with such famous works as Firth’s, Brown’s, Cammell’s,
Vickers, Spear and Jackson, Arthur Lee’s, Brown Bayley’s, Sanderson’s,
Hadfield’s, and Jonas and Colver. These and others, plus the spread of housing
across the valley, added up tp a remarkable change in the district. The old East
End would never be the same again.
The transformation of the East End in the years between about 1840 and
the mid-1870s was truly remarkable. In January 1856 the “Sheffield Daily
Independent” commented: “The last five years have produced a more striking
change in the character of the manufacturing establishments of Sheffield than has
ever been observed in any previous period in our history.” And there was more to
come. Many of the firms went on to become household names and to achieve
financial success on a huge scale.
The fall of these giants was to come in the mid-1980s. The last success
story followed the nationalisation of the late 1960s, which led to the creation of
BSC Stainless. The upshot was the completion of the huge £135-million
development at Shepcote Lane. The Duke of Edinburgh visited the East End to
perform an opening ceremony which, in retrospect, seems to have been the last
great milestone in the industrial growth of the area.
The history of work in the lower Don Valley in the past 150 years is filled with stirring
tales of high drama and conflict. Life in the works was often rough, tough and
dangerous. There were many instances of bitter and often bloody confrontation,
remarkable courage and dreadful catastrophe; and the heroes and victims were
almost always ordinary workmen. The East End witnessed many industrial disputes,
from the disturbances at Tinsley Park Collieries in 1844 to the dramatic scenes in
1980 when mass picketing outside Hadfield’s East Hecla Works during the BSC strike
led to scores of arrests. Over the years some appalling tragedies occurred in the East
End factories. The work was always dangerous, and when one considers the
conditions which existed, especially in the Victorian era, perhaps it was not surprising
there were so many accidents. As time passed conditions improved and safeguards
reduced the accident rate, but the nature of the work meant danger always existed.
Perhaps the worst incident occurred at Vickers River Don Works one afternoon in
September 1887. Nine men died and several were seriously injured after an explosion
shattered a mould containing 26 tons of metal during casting. The explosion was
heard for miles around, and within minutes hudreds of locals were standing outside
the works gates seeking to discover whether members of their families had been
involved in the disaster. The body of one man was found in the rafters of the roof.
[Joe Ashton was born and bred in Attercliffe and after serving on the Sheffield Council
became MP for Bassetlaw in 1968.
He has written of what it was like to grow up in Attercliffe about 50 years ago]
“I was born in October 1933 and spent the first 7 years of my life in Birch
Road. Attercliffe had some very poor housing then, and it was a rough neighbourhood.
Of course, there had been great poverty during the depression. My old man, who was
born at Don Terrace at Salmon Pastures, started in the pit and later became a steel
smelter, and he spent some years out of work. The housing was appalling. At Birch
Road we had to walk 50 yards to use my grandmother’s outside lavatory. She lived
right next to the steelworks, and fought a losing battle against an army of crickets and
cockroaches which had escaped from the heat of the works. You used to have to go
down on your hands and knees with a burning piece of rolled-up newspaper trying to
burn out the crickets!
With the soot and smoke there was terrible pollution. You couldn’t hang out
washing in the yard, and you couldn’t leave a baby out in a pram. That’s why the public
washhouse did such good business. There were no electric washing machines then,
and anyway houses were too small to accommodate such things, so everybody went
to the washhouse. The washhouse, of course, was the centre of gossip.
With the local furnaces, hammers and mills going all night, you grew so
accustomed to the noise that you couldn’t sleep if you went anywhere else because it
was too quiet.
My first real memories are of the Blitz in December 1940. It hit the city centre on
Thursday, and Attercliffe got it on the Sunday. The Germans came over at dinner-time to
look and line up targets; we could see them in the brilliant clear sky. We knew they’d be
back, and they were. We were in the reinforced cellar, about 20 of us, when a bomb hit
the house above; and when we went out later the whole street had been flattened. The
only building left standing was the working men’s club. It got looted because everybody
thought it was going to burn down anyway. So Blitz night turned into a drunken party!
Hitler did us a favour getting us out of Birch Road.
The Attercliffe area as I know it was a kind of oasis, a self-contained place cut
off from Sheffield at one end and Rotherham at the other, and it had everything except a
hospital. It was a place with a marvellous, warm community spirit. Everybody knew
everybody in their street, and there was a feeling of mutual concern and goodwill such
as doesn’t seem to exist today. The working men’s clubs, which were used by the young
and old alike, were at the hub of the community atmosphere. They’d organize trips to the
seaside for the kids, and the old folks would get an outing in the summer and a bag of
coal and a chicken or turkey at Christmas.
In those days none of the houses had bathrooms. In fact, I didn’t live in a house
with a bathroom or hot water or an inside toilet until I was 27. So as a youngster it
was a case of going to the local public baths on Friday night or Saturday morning.
The queues were tremendous, and you’d invariably have to wait for two hours or
so. If you wanted, you could sometimes go the showers at Maltby Street School.
But we never volunteered, for those showers were a bit of an ordeal, to be avoided
if possible. They would either be freezing cold or scalding hot, and there was a
woman there who used to push us into the showers like herding cattle into a pen,
prodding us in delicate places with a large stick!
I have been very happy representing Bassetlaw, but I would have loved to have
been MP for Attercliffe. It is tragic to see the old place pulled down, but if the old
communities will never return, I think that time will see the place come back again
as some sort of leisure area. I hope so.”
Photography
Quiz
Useful web-sites:
www.iw63.freeserve.co.uk/sheffield.html (photos, description of Sheffield)
www.shef.ac.uk/city (categories, links on Sheffield)
www.made-in-sheffield.com (visitor guide to Sheffield)
www.meadowhall.co.uk (Meadowhall)
For maps and air photos:
www.streetmap.com (good for close-up maps, street patterns)
www.multimap.com (good for close-up maps, street patterns)
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap (now allows you to print maps, old
maps and air photos)
More Sheffield & Dist. Photos on web sites:Coolcontacts Online Creative Gallery - Online creative gallery. Do you
practise art, crafts, photography or new media? Show your work here! Get a
first months display FREE!
David Bolsover Photography - aerial, commercial, industrial photography.
20 yrs service to industry. Site includes regularly updated Sheffield aerial
pictures gallery.
Fletcher Art Prints - Scenic watercolour prints available to buy.
freespace.virgin.net/richard.tetley/shefpics.htm
web.ukonline.co.uk/t.green/photo.htm
Neil Fox Watercolour Artist - Vibrant originals and limited edition prints of
Yorkshire, Derbyshire, The Lakes and Majorca from the internationally
known artist.
www.shef.ac.uk/postcards/
dlowe.www1.50megs.com/sheffieldpubs.html