Until his retirement from Sheffield’s Planning Department, Simon Ogden was a senior and highly regarded Town Planner. He is now very active in improving the city’s rivers. His talk covers the history of the City’s seven rivers and how volunteer bodies and the City Council are helping to stem their decline.
In 2019 The Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust was established to champion the rather forgotten and often hidden or covered sections of the Sheaf and Porter Brook that run through the centre of Sheffield.
In the 12th century a large castle was constructed at the confluence of the Don and the Sheaf at the “sheaf field”. A town sprang up around it and in the 17th , 18th and 19th centuries Sheffield’s fast flowing rivers became the lifeblood of the booming steel and cutlery industries to create a global powerhouse.
These rivers provided not just power but in the 18th century a waste and sewage dumping facility. No doubt they also provided a great stink and at the time there was enthusiasm to cover them over and forget about them. The water quality had a steep decline with ensuing health problems and loss of natural habitat.
With the dominance of steam power, the importance of access to water power reduced and Midland Station is built on top of the Sheaf. Along with other parts of the City centre, the Sheaf and the Porter disappear from view.
In 1921 Sir Patrick Abercrobie (a renowned town planner) recommended the creation of “River Parkways” and in 1924 he was enthusing about the Porter Brook Parkway. In 2008 the Five Weirs Walk Trust was formed. This marked the transition to starting to value the rivers as something to be nurtured and the growth of volunteer organizations to look after them including the River Stewardship Company that provides manpower to repair and maintain rivers.
After prolonged rainfall caused severe flooding in Sheffield in 2007, the event served as a wake-up call to maintain the city’s watercourses and slow floodwater flows. As Atlantic Salmon have started to breed in Sheffield’s rivers, light wells are now being created through the culvert roofs to encourage fish to swim upstream to gravel beds for spawning.
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Simon Ogden’s talk was both a well-informed explanation of what is happening and an inspiration for people to be involved in protecting their local environment.
