Bounds of Abbeydale St John's Parish 1877 walk, S17 in a nutshell

This is a walk of about 5.5 miles in conjunction with the Friends of Dore & Totley Station. It starts from the station car park below Ladies Spring Wood, through Ecclesall Woods and returning through Poynton Wood. Most is on paved footpaths but parts are hilly and could be muddy after wet weather. We begin alongside the Limb Brook and will return from the Lumb beside the Shepley Spitfire on Mickley Lane.

Along the way we'll see the contrasting residential development that has grown since the station was opened in 1872. The original parish was created in 1877 out of parts of Norton and Dore parishes (Dore had only became fully independent from Dronfield in 1844).

Weather permitting there may be 3 options for this walk.

1. Slow walk that may take 3-4 hours depending on interest and refreshment stops*

2. Faster walk that may take nearer 2 hours with minimal stops.

3. DIY walk. Take your own time and refreshments where you will.

A printed leaflet will available for all participants setting out directions with brief details of what you may see along the way.

Note that this cannot accurately follow the 1877 boundaries due to all the building that's occurred since the Main line to Chesterfield opened, then the building of the Hope Valley railway with Totley Tunnel. That lead to the creation of Totley parish in 1923 and finally the more recent merger of Abbeydale with Millhouses parish.

Along the way the parish itself moved from the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry then into Derby, both in the Province of Canterbury and in 1974 to the Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York when South Yorkshire was created.

The population of Dore, Totley and Bradway has grown enormously since the 1870s. This walk will illustrate how varied that development has been on both sides of the Sheaf valley on Abbeydale.

It brings together the 3 major parts of Dore & Totley Ward now making up Sheffield 17.

*  Shepley Spitfire on Mickley Lane, Castle off Twentywell Lane or the Summer House back by the station