A new Heritage trail has been created in the Hillsborough area that links six community gardens to reclaim the spaces after urban development.
In May, a new walking tour of Hillsborough and surrounding areas will call attention to local areas of beauty and historical points of interest.
The Green Open Spaces and Heritage trail was founded by locals to make a connection between the past and present, and the importance of remembering what came before us.
Tour guide and spokesperson for GOSH, Calvin Payne ,53, said: “It’s too easy to forget things that are sometimes not even all that long ago.”
The tour will include stops at spaces like Watersmeet Island between the River Rivelin and the River Loxley, which was the epicentre of the 1864 Great Sheffield Flood, and Hillsborough Park Walled Garden.
The idea was first created in September of 2025, and will be featured as a part of Sheffield’s Environment Weeks which takes place from May to June.
The walk will also include 20+ more points of interest in-between the six community gardens, which will be paired with archive pictures, maps and illustrations to further emphasise the contrast between now and then.
Mr Payne said: “History shapes an area.
“You can still see it. There’s hardly a street in Sheffield that you can walk down and see buildings that aren’t older than all of us.”
Mr Payne said interest in local communities had grown since Covid and people are now adopting the areas that they live in.
The walk aims to educate both locals and visitors about regional heritage and the value in maintaining it.
“There are so many surprises about Sheffield- its got a very interesting history but it’s also an incredibly beautiful place,” Mr Payne said.
The walk can take between 2.5 and 3 hours when done leisurely, but people can do it in their own time without the guided tour.
The trail gained funding from Sheffield City Council recently, with hopes to be more ambitious in what the group can offer and do.
More information will be released closer to the time including dates and times of the walk, with a website and fliers to be created soon.

