Ideas for a major Sheffield tourist attraction

beerbelly · 05-06-2010, 10:59

Sheffield lacks a major tourist attraction of national status.
Leeds has the Royal Armouries, up in Newcastle there is the Baltic Centre, Manchester has the Imperial War Museum North, and Liverpool has the Tate and Beatles-related tourism, and Hull has the Deep.
Kelham Island, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, and Wortley Top Forge are of interest locally but they are never going to pull in large numbers of tourists from all over the UK.
Does anyone have any ideas of what Sheffield can do?
I think the new Brooklyn Bridge over the Don will be a good start and attract interest from America, and why not turn the old Law Courts in Waingate into a dedicated museum and art gallery telling the history of Sheffield Castle and Mary Queen of Scots (to attract Scottish tourists), and then unearth Sheffield Castle ruins, surround them in lawns, flower gardens and historical interpretation boards, and this would at least give us a site of genuine historical interest in the city centre.
The castle would also link to the Five Weirs Walk / Upper Don Walk.
Any thoughts .... ?

Ousetunes · 05-06-2010, 11:03

Some good ideas here, particularly opening up the castle ruins.

As a supposed City Of Sport I wish we had a test match cricket venue, probably in the East End which is ideal for all transport links.

Sadly, our council is happy with keeping our city as a backwater and ensuring would-be tourists in cars have such a nightmare trying to get to their destination that they decide it would be madness to return...,

Paul2412 · 05-06-2010, 11:10

A new Brooklyn Bridge? The Don is hardly the East River, how could you replicate it there?

beerbelly · 05-06-2010, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul2412

A new Brooklyn Bridge? The Don is hardly the East River, how could you replicate it there?

Forgot to say ... it would be an exact 1 in 10 scale replica, a footbridge over the Don at the Brooklyn Works (near Kelham Island) which produced a lot of the steel for the real Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
You can read more at the Upper Don Walk Trust website (put UDWT in your search engine or Google) and follow the links to river and structures.

aufwindian · 05-06-2010, 11:23

Sheffield already has a major tourist attraction. It's called the Peak District. Sheffield IS the Pennine City. Unlike Leeds or Manchester, it is actually in the hills and partly built of Pennine stone. There is lonely moorland hiking within city limits. Sheffield is the gateway to some of the finest countryside in England, and yet it seems unable or unwilling to market itself as such. At the very least hotels should be able to capitalize on that.

matt1889 · 05-06-2010, 11:28

The thing that pee's me off most is that Sheffield Being both the home of The Worlds First football team as well as the Worlds first football ground seems to be prerry insignificant to the English Football association.

By rights we should be the home of a massive football museum as recognition for the above facts rather than Manchester where the new one is due to open later this year. We deserve it and being based on the M1 route it would have made more sense anyway to be in Sheffield as we are easy to commute to from just about any part od the country.

Can't help but feel though in modern day that Sheffield seems to get missed on every possible opportunity, nobody sees Sheffield as the place to be......The F.A, The Government and tourism boards don't see any real significance when in theory we have one of the better historical backgrounds of the north really. I mean our steel indutry is spoken of but nothing really stands in place to publicise the importance of Sheffield steel both in History and during the war.....

So yes the two things I think we deserve recognition for are above therefore I think we should have either...

British Football Museum

or

British Industry Museum (Steel Industry Museum)

****As for attracting americans.....Back in the past when sheffield was world renound for the best quality steel available (for those who don't know), the americans could'nt work out why we could produce such a high grade steel of which the quality was far superior to there own, therefore they shipped large amounts of water from the river don over to america to see if this was the reason to such good steel........

CorkerSWFC · 05-06-2010, 11:53

I think we should build the biggest theme park in Britain, and call it Steelworld lol.
Get a bit of fun injected into our city.

metalman · 05-06-2010, 11:53

My wife went to the Royal Armouries in Leeds this week, and was reading there about how it was originally intended to be built next to Meadowhall - anybody know why it wasn't?

As for a Sheffield tourist attraction, can we please please please not have anything to do with bloody steel? Every time it comes to naming anything, or celebrating anything, it's steel. Yes, it's the only thing that Sheffield's ever been any good at, but it's the past. When will Sheffield cotton on to the fact that the rest of the country doesn't give a toss about steel? Anything steel related might drag in a few pensioners from the immediate area but that's all. Sorry to be blunt, but I'm talking here as somebody who actually finds steel quite interesting, and I know I'm in a very small minority.

metalman · 05-06-2010, 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by aufwindian

Sheffield already has a major tourist attraction. It's called the Peak District. Sheffield IS the Pennine City.

No, the Peak District has a major tourist attraction called the Peak District. I hate the way that Sheffield lays claim to the entire thing.

Steptoad · 05-06-2010, 12:34

We had that National Centre For Popular Music which was a bit of a fiasco. I can't really say too much about it, 'cos it closed before I got a chance to have a look, but it seems it was more of a science museum than a Pop(ular) Music Museum.

In a Popular Music Museum I would've expected stuff like gold discs, loads of stage wear, famous instruments, mock ups of Elvis birthplace or Mc Cartneys bedroom etc. etc. Stuff like that, stuff that I suppose could be called trash culture.

antuk · 05-06-2010, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by metalman

My wife went to the Royal Armouries in Leeds this week, and was reading there about how it was originally intended to be built next to Meadowhall - anybody know why it wasn't?

my school was part of the consultation for the building...it was a few factors the cooling towers and Blackburn meadows s.t.w were the main reason but as usual Sheffield council rejected the original plans because they wanted it closer to the centre ....legoland was rejected for the same reason...as was bourbon street ...nothing ever changes.

sheffield council is frightened of regenerating anywhere east of hawke street.

unknown_sole · 05-06-2010, 16:31

Hope you havent forgot about Magna! Thats pretty popular but may not be to everyones taste

matsalleh · 05-06-2010, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by unknown_sole

Hope you havent forgot about Magna! Thats pretty popular but may not be to everyones taste

Has that moved to Sheffield?

NS3237 · 05-06-2010, 16:48

An airport would be a good start!

Sarkysod · 05-06-2010, 17:04

A museum of education with interactive classes,from nursery to university level. Sheffield has schools from the Victorian era still in use and the University is just as old, so at least Sheffield has some history for education. This could be used for school visits during term time, family days out during the holidays or even for adults wanting a trip down memory lane. This could also create the almost scene perfect school disco from any era!

1960boy · 05-06-2010, 17:28

I'd like to see a large freshwater aquarium,most aquariums cater for tropical stuff so freshwater fish would be a distinct change.Hull is not easily accessible for me and i think we would pull in loads of anglers.Sheffield does have a large angling population.

unknown_sole · 05-06-2010, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by matsalleh

Has that moved to Sheffield?

Well it is borderline Sheffield! So near enuf

kevvv · 05-06-2010, 17:56

doesnt sheffield usually wait for Leeds and Manchester to do something then copy it [badly]
Hows about a massive zip wire from crookes hill or similar giong right into the city centre. Fairly cheap to run and set up and would make good use of our hills

melthebell · 05-06-2010, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1960boy

I'd like to see a large freshwater aquarium,most aquariums cater for tropical stuff so freshwater fish would be a distinct change.Hull is not easily accessible for me and i think we would pull in loads of anglers.Sheffield does have a large angling population.

we used to have one..........in the hole in the road

prolly still there Oo

Opinion · 05-06-2010, 22:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by metalman

No, the Peak District has a major tourist attraction called the Peak District. I hate the way that Sheffield lays claim to the entire thing.

well, much of the sheffield boundary lies within the borders of the peak district... so we can rightly claim some of it at least.