A Sheffield Scorcher

Saturday 5th June: With rib protection at the ready, it was time to fire up the old D9 again during a trip to South Yorkshire with Messrs Wood and Lunn. Sheffield and Rotherham awaited us on a glorious sunny day, but what would the outing have in store?

The local train to New Street gets me started, with Woody joining me at Galton Bridge. Andy arrives in Brum to complete the party and we board the 9:30 Cross Country train to Newcastle.

The journey to Sheffield wasn't as long as I'd anticipated, lasting about an hour and a quarter by whizzing up through Burton, Derby and Chesterfield. Its long enough for Andy to turn me into a nervous wreck with his latest driving re-enactment, not to mention his threats of doing the Full Monty.

Alight at Sheffield for my first ever look at the station, and it certainly makes a good impression. Everything was clean, bright and well presented, a proper railway hub with plenty of platforms to explore branching off the central footbridge corridor. The station feels modern but has retained a nice old frontage with little arches looking out over a landscaped square with a long silvery water feature. As an approach to the city this works for me, something for Wolverhampton to aspire to I hope!

A few photos later and its off down a covered walkway to Sheffield Interchange bus station. Again this is a nice welcoming facility although I'm not sure how much scope there might be for photos. We call in at the travel centre where I raid the timetables and we purchase our South Yorkshire DayTrippers - excellent value at £5.80 and a blast from the past scratchcard type ticket.

Mr Wood now leads on to the Crucible Theatre via Arundel Gate Interchange. It was great to see the home of the World Snooker Championships for myself, a visit made all the more worthwhile when we sampled our first pint of the day. Luckily it was Andy's round but at a somewhat extortionate £9.60 I still don't think he's forgiven us. The surroundings for the drink are hard to beat though, admiring landmarks like the Lyceum and the Winter Gardens.

Rotherham is now beckoning, and after a little confusion we find ourselves on the 69 bus. For me this was a great ride giving me a glimpse of the wider locality with places like Attercliffe and Tinsley catching the eye. We also passed the Don Valley Stadium and the Meadowhall Shopping Centre, whilst Andy got worryingly excited about some brothel he recognised off a dodgy-sounding Cable channel.

Arrival in Rotherham on schedule at about ten past twelve, and we have another interchange to digest. The bus station here is again well-appointed but there was limited scope for photography, the central passenger hub not really offering any views of the vehicles.

Time for some lunch and its over to Wetherspoons, in this case curiously named The Rhinoceros. Our recent experiences of the chain have been distinctly average so it was encouraging to be greeted by friendly service that was later backed up by good food and beer - the gourmet burger being my customary choice washed down here with some Roaring Meg and then a Maid Marian. News from the test match confirms Ian Bell has completed a century but he then gets rudely interrupted by an interview with Graham Taylor.

Dessert comes in the form of Rotherham Central Station where I get a few photos of the ongoing redevelopment and also note the Bridge pub on the corner across the road.

To the interchange once more and onto the X78, providing a quick link to Meadowhall - the full route is operated by First between Sheffield and Doncaster. I spotted the Wilton pub somewhere but was too busy concentrating on learning the D9 ropes from willing trainer Mr Lunn (and less than willing victim Mr Wood of course).

Meadowhall, hmm, the less said the better. This *could* be a great place for taking photos as it offers bus, train and tram opportunities. Unfortunately the staff here seemed to take exception to Woody having a camera even though he wasn't actually using it. I did investigate the railway platforms and the tram terminus but we didn't want to stay long after being rudely reprimanded for no apparent reason. Sadly it seems a general trend that bus or rail enthusiasts are being viewed with suspicion and treated like criminals just for enjoying what is essentially a harmless hobby!

Making a sharp exit, we hop on the Supertram Yellow Line for a ride cross city to Hillsborough. The trams are reminiscent of our own Midland Metro but probably better. There is a lot of onstreet running through the City Centre which seems to work very well, and the fact there are three lines means there is a network rather than one solitary route stuck on a limb endlessly awaiting the fading prospect of extensions.

I rather liked Hillsborough. We alight outside Wetherspoons and investigate the little bus station next to Hillsborough Barracks (a former military base thats been converted into a Morrisons supermarket). Andy finally gets his teeth into a Full Monty location as we track down Burton Street School, then its a well earned pint in the Rawson Spring.

Next we sample a local Stagecoach route, the 52 back into Sheffield Centre. This was another intriguing ride passing through Walkley and Crookes - there was also a big hill where Andy went into D9 overdrive although Woody escaped his usual buffeting by filming the demonstration for future posterity.

Back in Sheffield and its teatime courtesy of the Banker's Draft in Castle Square (after we'd escaped from the Roger lookalike). We enjoy a bite to eat and a further pint, mine being Stumbling Badger from Sadler's of Lye, nice to see a Black Country brew on tour.

Straight outside and its onto the Supertram Blue Line for the short hop to Sheffield Station, arriving at the back entrance. Our train wasn't due until 17:23 so I had plenty of time for a final photographic flurry that featured trains to Leeds, Retford and Cleethorpes. The Cross Country to Reading arrived promptly and provided a swift journey home, Woody seeming very jumpy any time Andy threatened another driving demo. I have been in training ready for our forthcoming visit to Weymouth so you have been warned!!

Back in the West Midlands again and another fine trip is over. I would definitely return to Sheffield again, its a great city and makes for a good base when exploring the rest of South Yorkshire. Thanks as always go to Woody and Andy for providing much entertainment and hilarity during the day - I think it was our best trip so far...