Wicker Arches
Wicker Arches form a 660-yard (600 m) long railway viaduct across the Don Valley in the City of Sheffield, England. They take their name from the thoroughfare Wicker, which passes through the main arch of the viaduct and was, until the completion of the Sheffield Parkway, the main route eastwards from the city to the M1. It is a Grade II* listed structure.
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74 m
Cobweb Bridge
The Cobweb Bridge, also known as Spider Bridge, is located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, near the disused Sheffield Victoria railway station. Completed in 2002, its design solves a difficult problem: passing the riverside cycle- and footpath (the Five Weirs Walk) under the massive Wicker Arches viaduct while linking one bank of the River Don to the other. Without the Cobweb Bridge, the footpath would have had to make a one-mile detour.
Designed by Sheffield City Council's Structures Section, the entire 330-foot (100 m) long bridge is suspended on a web of steel cables secured to the underside of the viaduct, hence the name. Completing the theme, large steel likenesses of spiders conceal the overhead lighting.
While the bridge has been prone to vandalism in the past (the wires forming the parapet having been stolen more than once), the bridge was repaired in 2015 to reduce the risk of future vandalism. The newly restored bridge no longer uses wires in the parapet, having been replaced with metal plates with spiderweb designs.
159 m
The Wicker
The Wicker is an arterial street in Sheffield, England noted for its history and viaduct that crosses it, the Grade II* listed Wicker Arches. It runs in a north-east to south-westerly direction between Lady's Bridge and the Wicker Arches. For many years the Wicker was an A road, but it has been downgraded following the opening of the Sheffield Northern Relief Road.
175 m
Sheffield Victoria railway station
Sheffield Victoria was the main railway station in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England; it was a principal stop on the Great Central Railway,
237 m
Sheffield Wicker railway station
Wicker railway station (later Wicker Goods railway station) was the first railway station to be built in Sheffield, England. It was to the north of the city centre, at the northern end of the Wicker, in the fork formed by Spital Hill and Savile Street. It was opened on 31 October 1838 as the southern terminus of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, which ran north to Rotherham Westgate railway station.
In 1840, the line was connected to the North Midland Railway at Rotherham Masborough railway station. Carriages from Sheffield would be attached to North Midland trains for onward travel. A southbound curve was added in 1869.
On 1 January 1847, a half-mile connecting line from the Wicker to the Bridgehouses station of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway had been constructed in order to increase goods traffic and enable wagon transfers. This short steeply graded line, enclosed within a tunnel for almost its entire length was known locally as the Fiery Jack.
Wicker was replaced as a passenger station by Sheffield Midland Station on 1 February 1870 when the Midland Railway opened a new direct route from Chesterfield to just north of Wicker, now part of the Midland Main Line. Railway workers refer to this route as the "New Road", as opposed to the "Old Road" of the original North Midland line. It has gradients of 1 in 100, a viaduct and three tunnels, including Bradway Tunnel, 2,027 yards (1,853 m) long.
Wicker remained open as a goods station until 1965 and has now been demolished. The site is currently occupied by a Tesco Extra supermarket, having previously contained car dealerships and was, until 2006 when the Spital Hill / Savile Street corner was remodelled as part of the Sheffield Northern Relief Road, the home of Amanda King's Made In Sheffield sculpture, now removed.
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