Sheffield was never really high on our list of places to visit, in fact we only stayed there in August 2021 because of its proximity to Sherwood Forest and the Peak District, and meant that we could also visit the home of the famous Bakewell Tart. It certainly turned out to be the perfect location for day trips in the district and we’d have liked to extend the trip longer if we had the time. We stayed at Hampton by Hilton in the heart of Sheffield in which the reception staff were lovely and the location so central, however the stay was less than desirable.

The city is located in the county of South Yorkshire and was alive and vibrant for the summer holidays. It was great to see a city still using a tram service which would surely help to reduce emissions, and it reminded me of Melbourne with its old buildings and busy streets. Of course Melbournes architecture is just an infant in the shadow of Sheffield where the oldest football club in England commenced in 1857, and whose Cathedral has a long history of over 1000 years and you can check out a 3D virtual tour here.

It was in front of this cathedral on our way back after dinner that ‘Murphys Law’ kicked in – it appears that whenever I am on holiday I come across someone who is unwell or an emergency. Every. Single. Time. Heat exhaustion, collapse, serious road accidents, head injurys, lacerations, and this time – I found a person unconcious on the ground with his dog attached. Initially I had to really take in what was happening as they were alone on the ground with at least a dozen bystanders standing quite a distance away trying to call “911” for help – that is not a typo! It did appear that they may have been too frightened to approach, especially as there were still many cases and deaths owing to Covid-19 but seriously, they said they had been bystanding for at least 5 minutes – a long time for someone unconcious with potentially vulnerable airways.

I don’t always thing about my own safety in public and in this instance I probably should have. I told my daughter and niece to hold the dog and stay away for their own protection whilst my husband called 999 for help. Initially it appeared that this person could have had anything from Covid-19 to a stroke with them going in and out of conciousness, coughing and choking, and clear drooping of one side of their face. A few times they tried to get up but couldnt hold their wait so after placing them in a recovery position all I could do was provide reassurance and try to prevent them from injuring themselves until help arrived. The paramedics took them away and I was left worrying whether they could have transmitted Covid-19 to me and I prayed for some reassurance, not expecting to see them the next day walking their dog at the Cathedral! Thankfully they’d had a seizure and recovered after a night in hospital – they had no memory of the night before but were thankful. If you ever come across someone in public please do care for your own safety first, call 999, and render assistance where possible – taking a first aid course can be there difference between you providing life saving help or feeling helpless. Find more information on epilepsy here.

Sheffield seems to have a youthful and contemporary lifestyle which was further evident when having to choose from the countless dinner options. Pitcher and Piano was our choice for dinner and we were lucky to have gotten a last minute reservation and we were allowed to have our 15 year old daughter and niece there. We were greeted with such wonderful service that lasted the entire night, and the interior was so asthetically pleasing with delicious decor I would have expected from somewhere back on the Sunshine Coast. The atmosphere was light and fun so we started with cocktails for Kevin and myself, and the girls had mocktails. We couldn’t have asked for more delicious food at a reasonable price and I would encourage anyone to visit.

The next morning we took the girls to explore the town a little more and were delighted to stumble across Sheffield By The Sea complete with food stalls, market stalls, entertainment, and a beach set up. Rides were also on offer and the girls enjoyed the bumper cars together. The other little gem were the Bears of Sheffield and those 60 bears created by various artists were there temporarily as part of a fundraising activity for the Childrens Hospital Charity.

Cheers From South Yorkshire