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Victoria Quays, Sheffield City Centre


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VICTORIA QUAYS, SHEFFIELD
Just realised that to our immense shame we've never had a thread dedicated to our fantastic Victoria Quays in Sheffield's canal basin.

So to put that right here it is. A topic dedicated to Victoria Quays, it's history, it's buildings and it's fantastic facts.

Post all your Victoria Quays photos and information in here and let's create a definitive guide to the fantastic Victoria Quays in Sheffield
 

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Victoria Quays (formerly Sheffield Canal Basin) is a large canal basin in Sheffield, England. It was constructed 1816–1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal (now part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation) and includes the former coal yards of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

The basin ceased operation as a cargo port in 1970 and the site and buildings were largely neglected.

A restoration and redevelopment of 1992–1994 reopened the site providing new office and business space and leisure facilities as well as berths for leisure canal boats.

There are a number of Grade II listed buildings on the site. These include the original Terminal Warehouse of 1819, the Straddle Warehouse (1895–1898), a grain warehouse (c. 1860), and a curved terrace of coal merchant's offices (c. 1870).

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Sheffield Canal Basin, now known as Victoria Quays, is at the head of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, close to Sheffield City Centre. The basin dates from 1814, when the canal opened to connect with the River Don Navigation, allowing canal boats to reach the heart of Sheffield for the first time.

The basin was a busy, thriving transhipment point for many years, but trade declined as more goods were moved by rail and later by road. By the 1970s, it had declined into a forlorn and unwelcoming state, with the warehouses becoming dilapidated.

The whole area received a new lease of life in the 1990s, when the warehouses were restored and new buildings were added. The Sheaf works were turned into a pub, the derelict railway arches were converted into shop units and a marina was created on one side of the basin.

The city centre, Super-tram route, bus and train stations are all just a few minutes walk from the basin, making it a useful destination for boaters.

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Screenshot 2020-06-17 at 17.13.49.jpg

Merchants Crescent in Victoria Quays, before they were refurbished and looking a lot different!

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Screenshot 2020-06-17 at 17.15.15.jpg

I have to say that I'm quite obsessed with Merchants Crescent in Victoria Quays. This little curved row of terraced houses is quite fascinating!

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Screenshot 2020-06-17 at 17.18.44.jpg


Much of this area has been redeveloped, tidied up, cleared and made a whole lot nicer place than it was in this photo.
The shed thing on the left I seem to recall  being used to house buses at one point, with the drivers skilfully parking up right up to the edge of the Victoria Quays canal!

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Screenshot 2020-06-17 at 17.20.39.jpg

Victoria Quays Festival pictured here  too place on the 6th, 7th and 8th of May 1995 which marked the official reopening of Victoria Quays canal basin to the public, complete with a boat rally!

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Last time I saw the canal basin was Autumn 1974.  Congratulations to those involved in its rejuvenation it certainly looks a lot nicer!

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Sheffield artists Joe Scarborough was living on one of the narrow boats, could still be but can’t be sure.

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4 hours ago, MartinR said:

Last time I saw the canal basin was Autumn 1974.  Congratulations to those involved in its rejuvenation it certainly looks a lot nicer!

 

It most definitely does!

It's a lovely place now. Clean, open and safe

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5 hours ago, Sheffield History said:

Screenshot 2020-06-17 at 17.15.15.jpg

I have to say that I'm quite obsessed with Merchants Crescent in Victoria Quays. This little curved row of terraced houses is quite fascinating!

I helped clean out the rubbish from these, also dug out a slipway into the canal.

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Marvellous piece of regeneration....with lots of fish!! Had a small boat moored there some years ago.I left it unattended for a few weeks whilst abroad. Came back to find it had been sunk by vandals...after being raised and repaired she was never the same again...I ended up giving her away...which was, in a sense, heart breaking since I had built her from scratch.

But the quays are still a wonderful place...although with the number of locks between the Basin and Tinsley it takes hours to get onto anything like a long stretch of  lock free water.😄

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4 hours ago, lysandernovo said:

Marvellous piece of regeneration....with lots of fish!! Had a small boat moored there some years ago.I left it unattended for a few weeks whilst abroad. Came back to find it had been sunk by vandals...after being raised and repaired she was never the same again...I ended up giving her away...which was, in a sense, heart breaking since I had built her from scratch.

But the quays are still a wonderful place...although with the number of locks between the Basin and Tinsley it takes hours to get onto anything like a long stretch of  lock free water.😄

Once traveled from Thorne (Doncaster) on a narrow boat, and then back to Thorne, Tinsley (locks) flight, was the worst part of the journey.

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On 17/06/2020 at 17:19, Sheffield History said:

Screenshot 2020-06-17 at 17.18.44.jpg


Much of this area has been redeveloped, tidied up, cleared and made a whole lot nicer place than it was in this photo.
The shed thing on the left I seem to recall  being used to house buses at one point, with the drivers skilfully parking up right up to the edge of the Victoria Quays canal!

Then and now:   Went to the open weekend last September (2020) it was nice to sit outside enjoying a pint just watching the world go by, "every one social distancing i might add"

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Canal 2.jpg

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Canal.jpg

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The canal basin near the Bacon Lane bridge was severely damaged by a German bomb during the night of 15. December 1940.

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