The building feels like a warehouse, though I know it was once used as workshops for metal workers. The stairways hold the memories of the mesters who once crafted their material, each step I make as I ascend tinny with the clank of the metal frame and steps. I like to think we keep their spirits alive by carrying on the tradition of art in this space.
Author: sampriestley
What’s in a Name?
A walk through the Neepsend area of Sheffield doesn’t exactly bring you at one with nature. The area was heavily industrialised in the 19th century and today it’s an urban explorer’s paradise with many old factory buildings standing derelict and frozen in time. You have to look hard to find any hint of greenery here, but in this landscape of chimneys and brick, there are small pockets of nature in the most surprising places.
The Secrets the Land Kept
Chris and Sue had never been entirely sure who owned the field that ran beyond their back garden, but it had never been used for anything as far as they knew. Lately someone had been keeping a horse down there and when Sue was walking one afternoon and she stopped to pet the graceful beast,…
Resistance is Futile
We pull up outside the house and look over at this pale sandstone building in the corner. A For Sale sign leans to the right and trees bend in from the left. It’s an odd looking house. Small church-like windows dot the stone as the structure seems to taper off as it gets higher. The…
The Corn Exchange
The Corn Exchange in Leeds is a beautiful Victorian building, designed in 1861 by Cuthbert Brodrick and opened in 1863 as a trading floor for the sale of corn wheat, barley, hops, beans, pees, and seeds. This circular stone building has an unusual spherical roof that pokes out like a great grey spring shoot from…
The Workshop
Nikki stood at around twenty-five past twelve in the circle. That is if you took Patricia, who was leading the group, to be 12 o’clock and everyone else to be the numbers and times that followed her. And Nikki did. Twenty-five past twelve, she thought. It was a good place to stand because she was…
The Peace Gardens
In the city centre of my home town, Sheffield, there strides an area of greenery called The Peace Gardens. The Peace Gardens has changed quite a bit over the years, but the message remains the same and it’s as important now as it always has been. The Peace Gardens was designed and shaped in 1938…
Draw Me A Dream
He parked his car in the multi-story, got out and breathed the cold air in. The rain swayed in through the upper open plan area like a slow swarm of midges. The sky was the colour of a 4B pencil.
Guerrillas
“The soil’s not very good.” he said. She crouched down next to him and shone her torch onto the area where his hands delved into the earth like he was baking bread. It was just past midnight and the street was the black of an iced over lake.
Little London by the Sea
It was my first time in Brighton this summer, sometimes known as little London by the sea. I love coastal cities. I love the way they bring two worlds together and offer everybody everything all in one beautiful sprawling landscape. But Brighton has more faces, more aspects to its character, than I think any other…
The Abbey Garden
In Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, the old ruined abbey on the hill overlooks the bay and pulls tourists up the 199 steps it takes to reach it, like the tide pulls the sea. The focal point of the town and a major tourist attraction, this ruined abbey was originally built in the 1200s and is an incredibly atmospheric ruined building to wander around, not least because it forms part of the backdrop for Dracula’s arrival in England in Bram Stoker’s classic.
The Garden Party
He stepped from The Tube and walked through the station. It was still a sun-filled early evening when he emerged onto the street. He carried a cream shopper bag over his shoulder with meat-free burgers and halloumi nestled together inside.
