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Bowden Housteads Woods facts for kids

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Bowden Housteads Woods
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Bowden Housteads Woods, Sheffield
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Type woodland
Location between Darnall and Handsworth, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England

Bowden Housteads Woods is a lovely woodland area found in Sheffield, England. It is located between the neighbourhoods of Darnall and Handsworth. This special place is surrounded by important roads like the Sheffield Outer Ring Road and Sheffield Parkway.

These woods are very old, known as "ancient woodlands." This means they have been here for a very long time, since at least the 1600s! A small stream called the Car Brook flows right through the woods. If you visit in spring, you will see a beautiful carpet of bluebells covering the ground. Bowden Housteads Woods is also a Local Nature Reserve. This means it is a protected area that is important for wildlife and nature.

History of the Woods

Old Quarry and Buildings

Maps from the 1850s show that there was once a sandstone quarry inside Bowden Housteads Woods. Many of the older buildings in Handsworth were built using the yellow sandstone from this quarry. There was also a well called "Shilling Well" near the woods.

Plant Nurseries and Tree-Named Streets

From the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, a part of the woods was home to a large plant nursery called Fisher Son and Sibray Nurseries. Today, an Asda supermarket stands on this site. The land where the Triangle Estate is now, was also once part of the woods. Many streets in this area are named after trees, like Larch Hill, Willow Drive, Maple Grove, Alder Lane, and Chestnut Avenue.

Miners' Swimming Pool

In 1926, local miners built an open-air swimming pool in the woods. It was a special place for them to cool off. The pool was filled with water from a natural spring. It was surrounded by a fence made from old railway sleepers. Later, in 1990, a new roundabout was built for the Sheffield Parkway. This roundabout was built on the site where the old swimming pool used to be.

Parkway Man Statue

You can find a statue called Parkway Man in the woods. It is located close to the Sheffield Parkway road. This interesting statue was created by an artist named Jason Thomson.

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