Work has recently been completed on Cedar Road Pocket Park in Stocksbridge, creating a natural play area for children, improving the environment for wildlife and providing an outdoor area for everyone to enjoy.
The £20k project was developed following a survey of people in the area, looking at how the outdoors could be improved for people and wildlife. With the results identifying a need for more children’s play facilities, we joined with Sheffield City Council to identify the space on Cedar Road before drawing up plans for the development.
Work on the Pocket Park has now finished, transforming the space into a natural play area with sandstone boulders, stepping logs and a balancing beam. We also planted new trees and a wildflower meadow which will be full of colour in the summer months and provide a home for wildlife.
Sheffield sculptor, Lorraine Botterill, was commissioned to create wood carvings of a various insects on one of the logs, which children at Stocksbridge Junior School helped to design. They also put finishing touches on the sculptures using hand chisels.
Three new benches have been installed for people to relax and enjoy the space and an information panel has been installed on site to explain more about the work which has taken place.
Speaking about the project, Steel Valley Project Manager, Tom Newman, said “This initiative has provided a great opportunity for collaboration between local authorities, residents, Steel Valley Project volunteers and local contractors. The natural play area incorporates locally sourced sandstone and oak and allows children to play in imaginative ways. Undertaking this programme of work has allowed us to develop a new service which can now be offered to other organisations such as schools and parks who may wish to create similar natural play areas.”
Funding for the Pocket Park has come from a variety of sources, including Sheffield City Council, Stocksbridge Town Council, Stocksbridge and Upper Don TARA (Tenants and Residents Association) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s ‘Pockets Park Plus Fund’.
