Bolehill Recreation Ground, known locally as The Bole Hills is a public open space in the suburb of

Crookes Crookes is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England, about west of the city centre. It borders Broomhill to the south, Walkley and Upperthorpe to the east and open countryside around the River Rivelin to the north. The population of the ...

within the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. The grounds are administered by

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the local authority for the City of Sheffield, a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. The council consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. ...

's Parks and Countryside Service and are classed as a district park, one of 20 throughout the city.Sheffield City Council
District Park They are spread over an area of approximately , consisting of a mixture of heathland, scrub and woodland and have been designated as a Local Wildlife Site. There are also several public amenities such as a children's playground,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts,

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

greens and hut and a

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

track. The grounds stand at height of around and offer good views to the north and west over the Loxley and Rivelin valleys.''"The Making Of Sheffield 1865-1914"'', J.H. Stainton, 1924, E. Weston & Sons publishers, No ISBN, Gives history and background.

History

The Bole Hills were originally a clearing in the dense forest which covered the area to the west of Sheffield and were used for grazing cattle and sheep. Because of its elevated position, which produces high winds as the

westerlies The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes (about ...

are funnelled over the steep ground, the area was used as a

bole hill A bole hill (also spelt bail hill) was a place where lead was formerly smelted in the open air. The bole was usually situated at or near the top of a hill where the wind was strong. Totley Bole Hill on the western fringes of Sheffield consisted ...

for

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

smelting and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

burning, with the high winds giving the blast to raise the temperature needed in the process. Open furnaces were driven into the hillsides and outlets dug to let out the smoke; these furnaces used the surrounding woodland for fuel. Smelting using the primitive bole hill method died out at the end of the 16th century, but it left a legacy of giving the area its name. The Bole Hills then became known for

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

ing, the 1850 OS map shows the area with one large quarry and several smaller ones. The large quarry was owned by the Andrews company, while one of the smaller ones was owned Mr. Unwin, who lived in Cocked Hat Cottages at the top of Tinker Lane. By 1890 the main Bole Hills quarry had reached large proportions, nearly a quarter of a mile long and 200 yards wide as it provided stone for the growing housing suburbs of

Walkley Walkley is a suburb of Sheffield, England, west of Burngreave, south of Hillsborough and north-east of Crookes. The area consists mainly of Victorian stone-fronted terraced housing and has a relatively high student population. It also has ...

and Broomhill. In September 1899 the Bole Hills area came into the possession of Sheffield Corporation as the quarrying of the area came to an end, and in 1904 they were proposing that it be used as a

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

site. Although there was some local opposition the site was used as a municipal landfill site over many years to fill in the quarry workings before being levelled off in the 1950s. The industrial past and landfill history of The Bole Hills has probably saved it from being built on, as it is hemmed in on all four sides by housing.''"Crookes: A History of a Sheffield village"'', Crookes Residents Association, 1982, , Gives history of Bole Hills.

In 1904, an Iron Church was built on the crest of the Bole Hills, at what is now the end of Loxley View Road. This was the temporary place of worship for the newly created Crookes parish and was used until St. Timothy's

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church was opened on Slinn Street in 1911. The iron church was moved and used as the church hall to the new building, and a stone pulpit was built on the spot where it had stood on the Bole Hills. This was pulled down in 1958.''"Walkley Through The Ages"'', Simon Dawson & Paul Scarrott, 2003, DS Print , Gives history and background.

The Area Today

Today the Bole Hills Recreation Ground is divided into two distinct parts; the southern (upper) part is adjacent to the suburb of Crookes and is heavily used by its inhabitants. Its amenities consists of surfaced paths for walkers, an open field, bowling greens, tennis courts and the children's playground. The open field also serves as the home ground of Sheffield Hallamshire Rugby Union Club. This upper part is also where the fine viewpoint for north west Sheffield is situated. The Bole Hill Quarry allotments are 15 plots of land which are rented out by Sheffield City Council to the general public for non-commercial gardening. They are situated between the football pitch and Moorsyde Avenue, the plots are over subscribed and there is a substantial waiting list.Sheffield City Council
Details of Bole Hill Quarry allotments The southern (lower) area above Bole Hill Road consists mostly of woodland and scrub crisscrossed by rough paths. Bole Hill Wood covers an area of 4.22 hectares and is made of mixed deciduous trees.Woodland Trust
Details of Bole Hill Wood The southern area has a football pitch and a BMX cycle track. Sheffield City Council have proposed additional woodland planting in recent years and the area between the football pitch and the BMX track has been proposed. Bolehills BMX track

BMX Track

The BMX track was built in 1983 and was one of approximately 20 that were constructed across Sheffield at the time. The Bole Hill track is one of the few that has survived as it was adopted by a group of enthusiasts who kept the track up to standard and made improvements. The track has been redesigned several times over the years and was resurfaced in 2015 and resurfaced further times throughout the coming years. In 2022 - 2023 the track underwent a major design change, with the layout of the track changing and the jumps being made bigger. The track is now home to the Sheffield Dirt Society.Bolehills BMX Track
Details of BMX TrackSheffield Dirt Society
/ref>

References

{{Coord, 53.3899, -1.5090, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Parks in Sheffield Sports venues in Sheffield