One man's back yard is another man's paradise

Sometimes we take where we live for granted. We see it every day so we forget to notice how beautiful it is. We are so used to going on holiday and being amazed by The Great Wall of China or Mount Fuji, but some of the things we have right on our door step are pretty amazing too... we just stop noticing it because it's ordinary.

This is going to be a monthly series where I ask you, my readers, to tell us about where you live. I want you to go out there and open your eyes to what's in front of you. If someone was visiting you from another country, where would you take them? Not just the usual tourist interests, but your favourite places - that secret spot by the lake, that view of the whole city from a point where you walk your dog, or that park where the deer come and eat food from your hands.

Spread the word, tell your friends! I'd love to hear from people all over the world! Sell us your city!

I live in Sheffield, England. Sheffield is built on seven hills (you can't walk anywhere in Sheffield without it being up hill) and fed by five rivers including the River Don which flows past my house and caused the whole of Sheffield to flood three years ago. Not the first time Sheffield became an island, in 1864, the dam wall of one of our reservoirs burst causing the Great Sheffield Flood.

This is a park near my parents house, the water eventually covered the tops of the swings.

Picture from www.geograph.co.uk

61% of my city is trees - that's more trees per person than any other city in Europe! We also have more traffic lights than any other city in Europe but I wont dwell on that! 

Sheffield was once famous for its steel works. We had discovered a way of laying silver over copper (silver plating - known as Sheffield Plate) and a stronger quality of steel than ever made before (Sheffield Steel - check your cutlery!) During World War II, the rest of the country looked to our steel factories to produce weapons. As a result, Sheffield became a prime target for bombing raids. One particular raid in December 1940 (the Sheffield Blitz) left most of Sheffield flattened. Even now, it is not unusual for streets or shopping centres to be closed when workers discover undetonated WWII bombs buried deep underground in amongst electrical cabling and sewage pipes.

Sheffield recovered though, and came back better than ever.

In just a ten minute drive, you can go from busy town centre...

...to rolling green fields...

...to golden farm land...

...to reservoirs...

...to secluded woods with babbling brooks...

...and home to a pretty little village!

This is my back yard. I will talk more about what Sheffield has to offer in future posts.

I look forward to hearing from you about your hidden paradise!