I am looking to leave London and am considering moving to the Midlands / North of England.

When I returned from a few days in Nottingham, a friend of mine suggested that I pay a visit to Sheffield. I have not been there before, but I have heard nice things about it, and have trawled through this forum to get a better idea of the various districts etc.

One thing puzzles me: Nottingham's population is about 270,000, whereas Sheffield's is about 470,000, yet they appear to be about the same geographic size. Am I correct and, if I am, can anyone explain this?

I ask this because I am anxious not to have to travel miles to get to work or the city centre, or to get to the countryside so that I can escape the city when I need to!

There are many debates over Sheff. being the fourth or fifth largest city - I am sticking with fourth. Yes, it is an excellent city - decent people, places etc. You also have Peak District on your doorstep for the countryside and you can easily find work in a city that size.

Where abouts in Lon. you from?

HTH

Alex

Hey Roadrunner,

I know what you mean, from looking at a map you would think Sheffield is a similar size to Leicester or Nottingham. Perhaps it is something to do with the geography. I guess if you flattened out the seven hills the city would spread out further if you get what I mean!!!

I grew up in Sheffield but like many people moved down to London for work. I initially planned on staying here for just a year but five years later I haven't made it back.

However, I will return in late 2005. I would definately recommend Sheffield as a place to live, the quality of life is so much better than in London, and I miss the countryside more and more. Even my wife is lloking forward to moving there, and she is from Prague!!! It's the seven hills again you see.

M

Thanks for your replies. From what you say I have the impression that the feeling of anonimity which I have always felt in London will be absent in Sheffield. In the enormity of London I feel like a grain of sand in a desert! I am anxious to avoid this.

I am from Plumstead, which is a distict in the London Borough of Greenwich in South East London. Charlton Athletic is the nearest professional football team, if that helps!

Once again, many thanks.

Hey again,

I reckon Sheffield will be what you are looking for then. It has a nice balance of strong community feeling in each neighbourhood but if you sometimes need anonymity it's still a big city.

And the feeling of being in such a majestic, ancient landscape when you are out in the Peaks is always a cure for any kind of malcontent.

M

sheffield's population is in the region of a half-million, give or take.


But it has never lost that "villagey feel" and is actually a really friendly and welcoming place to live.

as someone else said, within 20 mins, you can be in the midst of the spectacular and breathtaking scenery that is the peak district national park, (and there's some nice parkland throughout Sheffield, too!)

there are a considerable number of people who came here for their university courses, and loved the city so much that they stayed on, long after they had graduated.

There are pockets in the city, as there are in most cities, where it's not so good, but they aren't that huge.

some statistics that were published stated that Sheffield is actually one of the safest cities to live in. I certainly do not feel scared travelling round my city, and Ii use a wheelchair, which would make me appear even more vulnerable (wouldn't you think?)

I would not want to live anywhere else.

PT

hi, I moved from wood green in london up to sheffield two years ago to go to uni and i love it here. I want to stay here after I graduate. It's a very pretty city with a nice city centre, good transport, its safe and friendly and it has a great atmosphere. It's also very green and near to the countryside. It takes a maximum of 3 hours to drive to london, and 2.5 by train. You'll find it much more friendly with london, but since its still a big city there's loads to do :) hope this helps, harriet

Thanks a lot for your replies.

I am looking forward to my visit!

Originally posted by Roadrunner
Thanks for your replies. From what you say I have the impression that the feeling of anonimity which I have always felt in London will be absent in Sheffield. In the enormity of London I feel like a grain of sand in a desert! I am anxious to avoid this.

I am from Plumstead, which is a distict in the London Borough of Greenwich in South East London. Charlton Athletic is the nearest professional football team, if that helps!

Once again, many thanks.

We're Bexley borough! Neext-door to you!! Erith, go down the road to Belvedere then cross the border into Greenwich as you will be well aware (and into Thamesmead)!!

Alex

P.s Dad used to live in Wickham Lane!

Originally posted by amhudson119
We're Bexley borough! Neext-door to you!! Erith, go down the road to Belvedere then cross the border into Greenwich as you will be well aware (and into Thamesmead)!!

Alex

P.s Dad used to live in Wickham Lane!

Yeah, you are very close! Small world, eh?!

I can walk to Wickham Lane in about 15 minutes!

Certainly is.


Alex

I came to Sheffield from Lincolnshire when I started at Uni in 1989. I moved to York in 1994 for a post grad course then back to Sheffield to work and stayed until 2002 when I moved to Oxford.

I've just moved back to Sheffield - and very glad to do so.

I would second the above comments that its a great place to live. Very freindly, good bars and good access to roa and rail links.

I'm amazed that it hasn't eclipsed Leeds as a commercial centre given it is nearer to London and manchester etc.

seeing as geoff is on lockdown duty i guess we'll have to resurrect this thread :)

has anyone got a definitive answer as to how sheffield compares to stafford in square miles? someone suggested a figure in the previous thread, but it claimed that sheffield was 65% the size of stafford, but with more than 4 times the population!

when i drive my missus home from my house (london road) to her place (high green) it's a 20 mile round trip, so i don't believe that stafford even comes close to sheffield in terms of sheer space! i appreciate this is not "as the crow flies," but it's a good indication of how much bigger sheffield is, surely?

hmm..

Originally posted by dirtybobby
has anyone got a definitive answer as to how sheffield compares to stafford in square miles?

Sheffield is approximately 30km east-west, 20km north-south, covering 363sqkm - 930sq miles.

Population was 512,200 in 2002.

Leicester is 73sqkm - 28sq miles.
Population was 280,000 in 2002.

--
JGH

Originally posted by jgharston
Leicester is 73sqkm - 28sq miles.

Oops, I was supposed to be looking for Strafford. :)

Originally posted by jgharston
Oops, I was supposed to be looking for Strafford. :)

stafford, but thanks anyway! it's hard finding stuff for stafford, because it always seems to quote including the surrounding boroughs and vast chaseland..

I've lived in Nottingham. It's a lovely city. In terms of geographical spread, it is nowhere near the size of Sheffield.

As for Stafford - it's a large county town, not even a city!

EDIT: And the chaseland is around Cannock, not Stafford!

Originally posted by Roadrunner
Yeah, you are very close! Small world, eh?!

I can walk to Wickham Lane in about 15 minutes!

Hi Roadrunner

I'm in Bexleyheath, but used to live at the top of Upper Wickham Lane, opposite Wickham Street.

I can understand your wanting to move from Plumstead.

And yes, it is a small world...lol

btw, Alex.....I just ordered a T-Shirt ~ might go posing in the shopping centre one day....lol

....and this is my 100th post.....yippeeeeeeee!!!!

:cool:

Originally posted by jgharston
Sheffield is approximately 30km east-west, 20km north-south, covering 363sqkm - 930sq miles.
Leicester is 73sqkm - 28sq miles.
Population was 280,000 in 2002.

is there a typo in here somewhere? I can't do metric
but if 73sqkm is 28sqm surely 363sqkm can't be 930sqm - that's almost three times as much? Should it be the other way round?

Or am I still too sleepy? :help:

Morning, all you Kent people ... :D congratulations on your century Ann-x

Originally posted by rubydazzler
is there a typo in here somewhere? I can't do metric
but if 73sqkm is 28sqm surely 363sqkm can't be 930sqm - that's almost three times as much? Should it be the other way round?
Yes, you're right. 1sq mile = 2.56sqkm, so
73sqkm -> 28sqm
363sqkm -> 141sqm

I'd managed to multiply by 2.56 instead of divide! Thanks for putting me right. :thumbsup:

--
JGH

Sheffield is a nice city to live in. It's got the lowest violent crime rate in the country. so I am told.

There's plenty of shopping, pubs and clubs, the Peak District is wonderful and the countryside seems to stretch into the city.

Furthermore, the people themselves are generally a very tolerant and easy going. I moved up from the rural Midlands, fourteen years ago, and still miss the countryside.

However, living in Sheffield is more like living in a large town than a big city. I like it!

Glennis:

SHEFFIELD IS ALOT BIGGER THAN NOTTINGHAM IT IS ALOT NICER NOT AS MANY CRIMES NOT FAR FROM THE COUNTRY ASWELL