A pilgrim walk to Padley down memory lane
The Hallam Pilgrim Way was a nostalgic journey for my husband Patrick and me.
A two hour drive from Northamptonshire meant a very early start for us as we wished to start our pilgrimage with 8.00am mass at St Marie's Cathedral. We parked in the Nunnery Square Park and Ride and caught the first tram to the city centre. The other option for Park and Ride is Meadowhall but there wasn't any transport early enough to get to the Cathedral in time. I found the Cathedral more beautiful than I had ever noticed in the past and we received a warm Yorkshire welcome.
I had previously attended Sunday Mass there in the 1970s. I also sometimes attended weekday mass when on the days I was at the Northern General Hospital an early bus left me in Sheffield centre with time to spare. We sat near the Blessed Sacrament chapel where weekday Mass was said and I remembered how a random lady had given me a nurses prayer plaque and nurses dictionary, which I still have. Beside the chapel was a kneeler, the plaque said it had been donated by the Sisters of Notre Dame on closure of the Cavendish Street section of the school in the 1980's. This was my old school. This gave me a theme for my pilgrimage, to pray for those that had gone before us, inspiring us with their deep faith and leaving us with a great legacy.
After Mass we started the walk and passed the building at the top of Norfolk Row that had housed Georgian Goldsmiths where my wedding ring was purchased in 1979. The walk through the centre was a little disappointing with little sign of the splendid shops that once filled it (likely due to Meadowhall). No 'Hole in the Road' anymore: where ever do people meet each other now without the 'fishtank'? We called at The Anglican Cathedral hoping to obtain a stamp for our Pilgrim passport but this was kept in the shop which, being Sunday, was not yet open.
We passed the City Hall with memories of school prize giving, dancing in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in the school production and meeting Bishop Gerald Moverley then Auxiliary Bishop in Leeds before the creation of the Hallam Diocese. We also saw Suzi Quatro and Elkie Brooks there. Across from the City Hall, Cole Brothers sadly looked quite derelict . I remembered sharing tea with my fellow trainees, served in a silver teapot, on a table with a white linen cloth by a lady in full waitress uniform. We then walked past the site of the old Royal Hospital and the site of Cavendish street school. Nothing left now, just a street named Convent Walk. I unsuccessfully went hunting for Pollard's coffee shop that filled our mornings with the smell of roast coffee beans. Later in the day I found the shop had moved to Ecclesall Rd, which runs parallel to Endcliffe Park, and we could have called in if we had known.
The walk though Endcliffe Park was very busy with runners but great to see so many people out having fun. A bacon sandwich big enough to sustain a marathon runner in Endcliffe Park set us up for the rest of the day. As we walked up the valley we called at a museum that used to be a knife sharpening workshop, interesting to see the conditions with my Occupational Health hat on and learn that the life expectancy of the workers was 35 years. Apparently this was tolerated as knife sharpening was a special skill and they received higher pay than workers in less skilled roles. The valley would have been filled with this type of workshop related to the cutlery industry all making use of the water power of the rivers that fed Sheffield.
We carried on and came to Ringinglow, a first Geography field trip in the 1970s. The Roundhouse, an old Toll House being prominent, with the Norfolk Arms looking out over the City, such spectacular views! The walk then moves on to moorland and it was lovely to feel the Millstone Grit beneath our feet again. Our first walk together was along Burbage Edge and back. Such lovely memories. Views of the Toads Mouth stone through the trees along Padley Gorge made us smile as we always did when we spotted it when driving along the road in the past. It was lovely to be greeted by a passing gentleman with 'na then, luv' in his best Yorkshire accent.
Pat remembered how he had been taken to Padley with an old Priest in the parish and they made tea on a stove, he later gave Pat the kettle and we still have it, a bit battered but still functional. We received a great welcome at the chapel being given a guided tour by one of the volunteers. Again we learned of those that went before us marked with the sign of faith. The volunteers were full of apologies for not having a pilgrim stamp for our passports but filled our hands with other gifts.
Grindleford Station Café provided very welcome refreshments before a train ride back into Sheffield and walk back to Nunnery Square completed our pilgrimage. It would never have occurred to us to walk from the City centre into Derbyshire but it was such a great walk. What an amazing day we had, and I will now rename it; 'Therese's Nostalgia Walk'!
Therese Cawley
