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Home page of the Friends of the Porter Valley (FoPV) a Friends Group in Sheffield. Committed to the Conservation, Protection and Restoration of the Porter and Mayfield Valleys. Venner av Porter Valley Bevarende - Beskytte - Gjenopprette Bli medlem Medlem Logg på Bevaring Bevaring Restaurering Download our interactive map and guide For more details and instructions Document To find out more about us, and the status of the valley as a Local Nature Reserve, click on the link here About Us Hva skjer Detaljer om våre arrangementer og aktiviteter finner du her. Klikk på et arrangement for mer informasjon. Our latest projects We are currently looking at building a Petanque Court This year we intend to install a unique sports facility in the shape of a 4 lane Petanque court (French boules) which will be the first public one for all Sheffield and built on a disused bowling green in Bingham Park. Please help Friends of the Porter Valley raise the last few £thousands so we can achieve this. Donate We are currently looking at improvements to The Forge Dam Playground In the Autumn of 2022 we completed a consultation of playground users and everyone with an interest in the Forge Dam area, and were pleased to receive nearly 180 suggestions and comments. We are working with those suggestions and comments, and are implementing as many as posible as and when funds permit. Details of updates that we have made can be found on our blags about the playground. Take a look at that section for up to date information. We are of course accepting donations via our own secure donation page. Donate Guidede turer About Us About the FoPV Find out who we are and what we do Find Out More The Rivers Trust We are assisting the Rivers Trust in monitoring the sewage being put into the Porter. Nature Counts Your Sightings Contribute to the Nature Counts initiative with your sightings in the Porter Valley Donate Make a Donation Click on the this link for a list of our current projects, or sign up to easyfundraising below to get online shops to donate to us. Help Raise Money for FoPV with..... If you shop online you can get the shops you use to make a small donation to us without any cost to you. By signing up to easyfundraising using the link below, you can download a reminder onto your computer which identifies shops you are about to shop with as ones that will make a donation to FoPV after you place your order. There is also an App for your phone if you prefer. Thank you

About the Friends of the Porter Valley in Sheffield. Om Friends of the Porter Valley Syn Vår visjon er å bevare, beskytte og gjenopprette økologien, landskapet og kulturarven i Porter- og Mayfield-dalene til glede for alle og til fordel for fremtidige generasjoner. Møt teamet Dalens geografi og natur Porter Brook reiser seg myrene over Sheffield og renner 10 km østover inn i hjertet av byen. Det er dalen danner en naturlig grønn korridor som fører til de åpne heiene i Peak District Nasjonalparken og rekkehusbebyggelsen og overbelastede veier rundt Hunters Bar. I løpet av sin nedstigning faller Porter rundt 340 meter gjennom et landskap i stadig endring. Det knytter det bratte sammen innskåret og skogkledd dalen Porter Clough til et mildere, oppdrettslandskap av grønne åssider med tradisjonelle beitemarker og steinbygninger. Det da går gjennom de arkeologiske restene av vår tidlige industrielle arv (damer, kverndammer, kvernløp og demninger) og videre til eldgamle og semi-naturlige skogområder. Det går ned i rekreasjons- og prydplanter parkområder ved Bingham og Endcliffe som ble opprettet for sosiale formål i det 19. århundre. Bekken kommer deretter inn i underjordiske kulverter langs Ecclesall Road og renner østover forbi General Cemetery inn i Sheffield sentrum for å bli med i River Sheaf nedenfor under jernbanestasjonen. "Friends of the Porter Valley" ble opprettet i 1994 for å bevare og forbedre de naturlige og historiske egenskapene til Porter Valley for offentlig nytte. Økologiske aspekter Omtrent 5 km av dalbunnen og de øvre delene av sideelven, May Brook, ble betegnet som "områder med naturhistorisk interesse" i byutviklingen Plan (UDP) fordi dalen inneholder betydelig økologisk kapital. Botanisk sett består disse samfunnene av flere blokker med gammel eikeskog med spektakulære utstillinger av vårblomster og høstsopp; semi-naturlig kratt, elve og dam habitater; våte valleyside 'spyler' som inneholder sjeldne arter; gamle blomsterrike enger av en type som raskt forsvinner fra naturen og sure gressletter som om høsten er lyse med vokshettepaddehatter. Sekvensen av kverndammer lokalt kjent som "dammer" bidrar også betydelig til økologien i dalen selv om de er i dårlig stand med flere lekker og alle blir tilslammet. Vassdragene støtter en rikelig fauna av ynglende ender, dopp, isfugl, hegre, sjøkreps og andre ferskvannsvirvelløse dyr, mens engene og hekkene er hjem til mange arter av sommerfugler og møll. Trærne støtter mange fugler, bl.a sommergjester som pilsanger og gresstang, og hele året kjente som to typer hakkespett, trekrypere, nøttre, meiser og korvider, inkludert et mangeårig røkhus ved Forge Dam. Pattedyr inkluderer flere arter av flaggermus som er iøynefallende fladder over demningene, rever, vannmus og flere grevlingsamfunn. Ved å identifisere og administrere de delene av dalen som spiller en nøkkelrolle i å gi dette biologiske mangfoldet, ønsker vi å sikre at brukere av alle strekninger av Porter Valley vil fortsette å møte en minneverdig rekkevidde. av dyrelivet. Dette inkluderer områder borte fra dalbunnen som kan nås via nettverket av gangstier og stille stier. Amenity and recreational value Urban parks were created throughout Britain in the 19th century as a response to the often appalling urban environment brought about by industrialisation and rapid population growth. They are still a vital amenity in our 21st century lives. The whole Porter Valley, except for Endcliffe Park, lies entirely within the Green Belt. It also forms a significant part of the Sheffield Round Walk and a Strategic Cycle Route out to the Peak District. Because the valley provides a direct link between the city and the countryside it is used extensively by people from all over the city and beyond. Its accessibility and unique atmosphere appeal particularly to the communities along its flanks, to Sheffield schools, ramblers, cyclists, and nature lovers. There are several frequently used access points from the roads and footpaths that border on, or run across, the Porter. Half a million people may use the Valley every year; and over 30% come from parts of Sheffield other than the nearby relatively affluent wards of Broomhill, Hallam, and Ecclesall. Archaeological Aspects Man has inhabited this Valley since Palaeolithic times but the most obvious evidence of human impact is the sequence of dams. In the 18th century the Porter Brook was one of Sheffield’s intensively used industrial streams and drove 20 mills mostly for the manufacture of cutlery, hand tools and other metal products. All but 6 of the original 20 millponds have disappeared over the years as their original industrial use declined and the valley became a focus for leisure. What remains is an attractive linear amenity and wildlife habitat studded with features of exceptional historic interest. The dams provide a compelling thread of interest to the linear valley walk. Unusual features are that the mills were constructed for the metal (e.g. cutlery) trades and not preceded by corn mills. Forge Dam impounds the full flow of the stream, whereas all other dams use the by-pass system. Wire Mill once had the largest diameter wheel in Sheffield. Many of the remaining monuments and buildings in the valley have listed Grade II status and Shepherd Wheel, a water-powered grinding hull and dam, is a scheduled Ancient Monument. A conservation area encompasses Fulwood Chapel, Forge Dam and Wire Mill Dam. The UDC map also shows an “Area of Special Character” on the northern slopes of the valley from Harrison Lane down into the brook bottom. In 2001 Endcliffe Park was included in the South Yorkshire county volume of English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest as a grade II site. The whole Valley was given grade II listing by English Heritage in 2002 in recognition of its unique mosaic of features. It is a landscape that has appealed to English Heritage’s interest in “the engine room” of our 18th and 19th century heritage. Neil Cossons, a former President of English Heritage, recognised the importance of the national heritage of waterways, mills, and workers’ cottages. The Porter Valley retains examples of this heritage. The Porter Valley is also recognised as linear parkland of particular and historic interest. Patrick Abercrombie’s 1924 civic survey for Sheffield City Council describes the Porter Valley as follows “The Porter Brook Parkway, consisting as it does of a string of contiguous open spaces, is the finest example to be found in this country of a radial park strip, an elongated open space, leading from a built–up part of the city direct into the country, the land occupied being a river valley and so for the greater part unsuitable for building. As compared with the finite quality of an ornamental park of more or less square shape, there is a feeling of movement in a continuous park strip …….the human being ….is lead onwards until the open countryside is reached.“ Trustees FoPV is run by volunteer trustees who give their time and efforts to the above. To find out who does what, see our meet the trustees page

Information about the Endcliffe Park Toad sculpture, in Sheffield. The Endcliffe Park Toad The new iron toad shortly after installation. Donations Although the new toad is now in place, we still need to raise a few more pounds to meet the cost. To make a donation to the Endcliffe Park Toad renewal project, please do so here via our secure donations page. Donate The iron toad after one week. The Endcliffe Park Toad, seen above, is a well known piece of public art located a few metres below the Cafe. The latest version was installed on 5th December 2024 after almost a year of fundraising by FoPV, and it is made of metal by a local sculptor called Jason Thompson, who has also designed and made other works of art in Sheffield such as the 'Chair' in the Rivelin Valley. This is the third toad made by Jason to sit on this base. The first toad, in 1997, was jointly funded as a celebration of nature - by the Off the Shelf Literary festival, and Sheffield Wildlife Trust. Both wooden toads eventually deteriorated, returning them to nature, each lasting about 12 years. The remains of the 2012 toad can still be seen beside the holly bush beside the river. Reflecting the original heritage, the current toad sits on the open pages of a book, as with the previous two wooden toads of 1997 and 2012. Sculptor Jason Thomson, and Glyn Mansell of FoPV, visited Greystones Primary School and talked to pupils in Y2 and Y5 about the Toad project. The pupils were fascinated and later produced art and written work which was displayed in school and the Tropical Pavilion at the Botanical Gardens one Saturday in September 2024 . A selection of this work is inscribed onto the new ‘pages’ supporting the metal 2024 toad, some of which can be seen in the pictures below. The Watch We are often asked about the watch, so we asked Jason to explain. "It’s about time and the frozen nature of sculpture as the world changes around it. The new iron toad , if left alone, could last for ten or twenty thousand years compared to 12 to 15 years for his two wooden incarnations. The frog Prince of fairy tales also comes into it, but as he’s a common toad (Bufo Bufo ) maybe a nice watch is preferable?" Close-ups of the books