Firth Park (ward)

UKWard
name=Firth Park


district=Sheffield
constituency=Sheffield Brightside
county=South Yorkshire
region=Yorkshire and the Humber
population=20,000
councillors=Joan Barton (Labour Party) Alan Law (Labour Party) Chris Weldon (Labour Party)

Firth Park ward—which includes the districts of Firth Park, Longley, Parson Cross and parts of Wincobank—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England located in the northern part of the city and covering an area of convert|1.66|sqmi|km2|. The population of this ward in 2001 was 20,000 people in 8,500 households.

Firth Park is one of the three and a bit wards that make up the current Sheffield Brightside Parliamentary constituency. In the final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for England Firth Park ward is one of the five wards to make uo the new Sheffield Hillsborough and Brightside Parliamentary constituency.

Districts in Firth Park ward

Firth Park

Firth Park (gbmapping|SK368913) is a district of Sheffield surrounding a park given to the city by Mark Firth in 1875 and was opened by the Prince of Wales, HRH Prince Albert Edward, later Edward VII. Mark Firth was the pioneer of a number of Sheffield Steelworks including the well known company of the era 'Firth Brown'. He was reported as to wanting to create an environment with quality housing, leisure and greenery for his workers and their families. The concept has been likened to that of the Bourneville project near Birmingham.

Located conveniently just convert|1.5|mi|km from the Meadowhall Shopping Centre and M1 motorway junction 34, and convert|3|mi|km from Sheffield City Centre, the village runs from Addison Road in the South of postal district S5 to the top of Bellhouse Road bordering Sheffield Lane Top and Shiregreen villages. Main through routes are the B6086 and A6135.

Firth Park boasts the (protected) ancient woodland known as Hinde Common Wood, plus a substantial area of parkland along with mostly large attractive Victorian style terraced houses built around 1910. Well known landmarks include the Clock tower community centre and old Library located on Firth Park Road, both listed buildings from the early 1900s.

The village benefits from being the main cross city public transport route for the city of Sheffield, and also boasts a shopping centre with over 40 independent shops not including High Street banks and building societies, national supermarket chains, well known chemists and a variety of healthcare practitioners.

The main park in the centre of the village was refurbished in 1998 with a major community centre added in the place of the old park keepers house, new trees planted and a refurbished central roundabout themed on the old tram turnaround point from the 1950s.

Significant city council regeneration of private properties in the south of the village in 2005 has helped both the quality of housing and the respective house prices. The area is now one of the more popular residential districts on the North side of the city.

The Firth Park Grammar School was also a well known landmark and stood for over 100 years at the North of the village with a well deserved reputation for quaity schooling. It was demolished and replaced by a new community college in 2003 which offers a diverse range of quality education.

Bordering the village is the largest teaching hospital in the county. The Northern General Hospital (formerly the city general) spreads from Barnsley Road on the west of the village across to Herries Rd on a large site and has a number of specialist units of national repute.

Shiregreen is the next village North of Firth Park and this was the first, and largest council housing estate in the UK.

Longley

gbmapping|SK352912 Longley is a district of the city made up of mainly local authority built houses and is located between the districts of Firth Park and Sheffield Lane Top in the North of the City.

A substantial area of parkland adds to beautiful views over part of the city and local business includes the head office of the National Blood transfusion service.

The district also resides close to the area of Hillsborough, home to the Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.

Parson Cross

Parson Cross (gbmapping|SK350923) is a Council housing estate situated convert|3.75|mi|km|0 north of Sheffield City Centre. Most of the housing was built pre-war in 1938 and post-war in 1947. The estate borders the other Sheffield estates of Shiregreen, Ecclesfield, Longley, Southey, Owlerton, Wadsley Bridge, and Foxhill. Parson Cross was extensive farmland before the pressing need for new housing stock in the late 1930s. The main thoroughfares of Wordsworth Avenue, Chaucer Road, Yew Lane, Southey Green Road, Deerlands Avenue, Buchanan Road, Lindsay Avenue and Colley Road cross the estate. The A61 Halifax Road runs to the West and the A6135 Barnsley Road runs to the East of the estate. Public Houses include The Wordsworth Tavern, The Parson Cross Hotel and The Beagle Hotel. Schools include Meynell, Mansel, Monteney, Parson Cross and St Thomas More Primary Schools with Yewlands and Chaucer Secondary Schools. Shopping centres are located on Margetson Crescent, Wordsworth Drive, Buchanan Road, Lindsay Avenue and Chaucer Road. Playing fields are situated at Colley Recreation Ground and Parson Cross Park. A library is located on Margetson Crescent. The church for the post war New Parson Cross area is St Paul's on Wordsworth Avenue.

External links

* [http://www.firthpark.org.uk/ Firth Park Online]