One of Sheffield's Little Gems (Sheffield Botanical Gardens)

Member Name: nigelbs

Product:	Sheffield Botanical Gardens
Date:	25/06/01 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, Open every day morning till dusk except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's day

Disadvantages: Little cover if its raining other than under the trees!

The Sheffield Botanical Gardens have been hidden away from most sightseers and daytrippers who huslte and bustle past the hidden entrance just off Ecclesall Road on thier way out westwards towards the Peak District.

As you travel along Ecclesall Road from the city centre out towards the suburbs, on the righthand side, just before the Tesco store set in Berkeley Shopping Precinct you'll find the grandeur iron gated bottom entrance to the most tranquil of green patches in Sheffield.

Stretching over many many acres, hidden behind high walls and Victorian Terraced Villas, the Botanical Gardens is a host to an enormous variety of plants, flowers and shubbery set out in a variety of parkland areas, with excellent access to all areas, esp for the disabled.

The driveway opens out into a medium sized lawned green area where numerous people tend to pause and breathe in the calming atmosphere. The tree lined paths are lit by sky light mottled by the emerald canopies high above your head. The gardens grower wider the higher you climb up the gentle slope, and around every corner there's another surprise in store for you. Whether it's the wonders of nature....squirrels feeding from your hand...or the beauty of landscaped gardens...or the poignant reminders of history like the statue of Queen Victoria, or the splendid structures of the Victorian Glass Houses that stand at the very high point of the Botanical Gardens, there are a number of things that really do relax you; sending you into a tranquil calm state, and easing you through the day.

Every plant and shrub is labelled as to what it is - mainly in Latin. There is a grand tree stump fossil on display within the gardens, and the Bear Pit is not to be missed! (A Victorian round bulding which may, or may not have housed two bears at sometime in the past....). There is also a beautiful bronze statue Peter Pan in the gardens hidden in the middle of a formal rose garden...a much
loved statue with Peter Pan's foot being very much burnished and shiny compared to the rest of the statue because of its touchy-feelyness loved by many a small child and adult alike!

A recent change to the BG has been the revamping of the top entrance standing at Clarkehouse Road (short walking distance from the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and Broomhill). It has been lovingly restored and updated as well giving a new cleaner and smarter entrnace way to the open lawned end of the Gardens.

There is also now a restaurant opened in what used to be the Head Gardener's house. The range of food is excellent, and prices are very reasonable as well.

So, having been a resident of Sheffield for the last 31 years, and having grown up from being a toddler taking his first steps in the Botanical Gardens to now being a father of one, I thought it was about time to share my secret love and joy......................

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