A cool night of climbing in Sheff with @Raz and a none member Butters
Taken from the roof of Park Hill Flats
Bit of History;
The Cathedral Church of St Marie is the Roman Catholic cathedral in Sheffield, England. It lies in a slightly hidden location, just off the main shopping street in the city, but signals its presence with a 220ft tall spire.
St Marie’s was completed in 1850 and opened on 11 September. Building the church cost more than £10,500 – a huge sum in those days – and it was not until 1889 that the church was free from debt. The Parish of St Marie’s, which covered the whole of Sheffield, became part of the Diocese of Beverley when Catholic diocese were re-established for the first time since the Reformation in 1850. In 1902 a new presbytery, now known as Cathedral House, was opened. During the Second World War a bomb blew out stained glass windows in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. The remaining windows were removed and stored in a shaft at Nunnery Colliery. The mine flooded during the war, the glass sunk in mud and drawings for re‑creating the windows were destroyed, however it was still possible to re-install the windows in 1947. When St Marie’s was re-ordered in 1970, following Vatican II, dark woodwork was removed and new lighting and benches were installed. In 1972, a new altar, allowing mass to be celebrated versus populum, was consecrated by Bishop Gerald Moverley, auxiliary Bishop of Leeds. The church building has been a Grade II listed building since 1973.
On 30 May 1980 the new diocese of Hallam was created and St. Marie’s became a cathedral. Bishop Moverley was installed as its first bishop and served until his death in 1996.
The Explore;
So on a cold and windy Sunday night, having just ot my car back from repair, it was decided that this needed to be done. Parking on Park Hill we made our way to the roof for a quick warm up which turned out to be a cool down as it was fking freezing. A few quick shots from the top and we headed on down, but before leaving we popped our heads into the service tunnels, but i have a video of this so i'll leave that for another report
Fast foward an hour, we are sat in McDonalds after having been foiled by passing pedestrians. Wolfing down burgers and sipping at those Vanilla Latte things they do which are simply brilliant! Enough about food. We arrive outside the church and its all quiet, so over the fence we go, pausing only on the other side for a man to pass by and we remain unnoticed. A few flights of stairs and we hit the roof, to find some people on the ground looking curiously at the fence, but they soon move on.
Then came the punishing part, more ladders than i cared to count. Cold enough that your hards are numb within seconds and the higher we went the worse it got. As did the wind, as we neared the top we could feel the whole structure swaying beneath us in the breeze. Great fun.
From the top we noticed 3 figures on a nearby rooftop, closer inspection reveals them to be the guys who were checking the Cathedral out as we were on the roof! Whoever you were boys, a pleasure to meet you View attachment 666845
And heres the pics;
Thanks for looking View attachment 666855
Taken from the roof of Park Hill Flats
Bit of History;
The Cathedral Church of St Marie is the Roman Catholic cathedral in Sheffield, England. It lies in a slightly hidden location, just off the main shopping street in the city, but signals its presence with a 220ft tall spire.
St Marie’s was completed in 1850 and opened on 11 September. Building the church cost more than £10,500 – a huge sum in those days – and it was not until 1889 that the church was free from debt. The Parish of St Marie’s, which covered the whole of Sheffield, became part of the Diocese of Beverley when Catholic diocese were re-established for the first time since the Reformation in 1850. In 1902 a new presbytery, now known as Cathedral House, was opened. During the Second World War a bomb blew out stained glass windows in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. The remaining windows were removed and stored in a shaft at Nunnery Colliery. The mine flooded during the war, the glass sunk in mud and drawings for re‑creating the windows were destroyed, however it was still possible to re-install the windows in 1947. When St Marie’s was re-ordered in 1970, following Vatican II, dark woodwork was removed and new lighting and benches were installed. In 1972, a new altar, allowing mass to be celebrated versus populum, was consecrated by Bishop Gerald Moverley, auxiliary Bishop of Leeds. The church building has been a Grade II listed building since 1973.
On 30 May 1980 the new diocese of Hallam was created and St. Marie’s became a cathedral. Bishop Moverley was installed as its first bishop and served until his death in 1996.
The Explore;
So on a cold and windy Sunday night, having just ot my car back from repair, it was decided that this needed to be done. Parking on Park Hill we made our way to the roof for a quick warm up which turned out to be a cool down as it was fking freezing. A few quick shots from the top and we headed on down, but before leaving we popped our heads into the service tunnels, but i have a video of this so i'll leave that for another report
Fast foward an hour, we are sat in McDonalds after having been foiled by passing pedestrians. Wolfing down burgers and sipping at those Vanilla Latte things they do which are simply brilliant! Enough about food. We arrive outside the church and its all quiet, so over the fence we go, pausing only on the other side for a man to pass by and we remain unnoticed. A few flights of stairs and we hit the roof, to find some people on the ground looking curiously at the fence, but they soon move on.
Then came the punishing part, more ladders than i cared to count. Cold enough that your hards are numb within seconds and the higher we went the worse it got. As did the wind, as we neared the top we could feel the whole structure swaying beneath us in the breeze. Great fun.
From the top we noticed 3 figures on a nearby rooftop, closer inspection reveals them to be the guys who were checking the Cathedral out as we were on the roof! Whoever you were boys, a pleasure to meet you View attachment 666845
And heres the pics;
Thanks for looking View attachment 666855
