Bewildering at Beauchief (1)

It Is Pronounced "Bee Chiff" ...

... and lies to the south west of Sheffield city just off the main A621 which runs from Sheffield to Bakewell.

Its name comes from an ancient ecclesiastical edifice.

The Abbey was founded in the 12th Century and dissolved in the 17th. It rapidly became a ruin with some of its stone being used to build the nearby Beauchief Hall.

The only standing remains of the Abbey itself is the tower, now joined to a more recent 17th century chapel.

The Abbey had extensive grounds, the northern part of which eventually became developed as housing ...

... with most of the remaining woods and open land being public open space, a golf course, and gorgeous woodland, also owned and managed by Sheffield City Council. Beauchief Hall has had various owners, private, educational and corporate but was sold in 2011 for refettling as flats and separate "barn conversions".

Upper left in the aerial view above is the site of Beauchief railway station which closed in 1961 but is still shown on the on-line "Streetmap" site!

The station, originally known as Beauchief and Abbey Dale, opened in 1870 and was a long way from anywhere! A small community grew up at the road junction, which included the Abbeydale Station Hotel ...

... (gabled above), a shop and post office (behind the tram) and, of course, the tram stop. Trams turned left here between the post office and the boozer to run to Woodseats via Abbey Lane ...

... much of the route being on reserved track.

There was more reserved track between Beauchief along Abbeydale Road South towards the city centre.

Here is a view from the station back towards the junction, with pub upper left and the post office upper right.

Sheffield's final tram route ran between Beauchief and Tinsley, breathing its last in October 1960 three years before fbb arrived in the great steel city to continue his education.

The pub survived much longer ...

... but it, too is being converted into flats.

The old post office and its quaint garage neighbour ...

... were demolished to make way for yet more flats.

The post office business moved across the road, but the little parade of three shops have all gone, now being private dwellings.

The stone revetment in the above snap is where the substantial tram and bus shelter once stood ...

... now replaced with something far less impressive and moved nearer to the city.

Whilst almost everything at the Beauchief junction has changed, there is just one reminder of the railway station.

The station master's house is still in place, seen here from the Abbey Lane bridge over the railway ...

... and from the little road that has replaced the former station approach.

It looks a little forlorn on Google Streetview, but must be occupied because they have put the bins out!

Tomorrow, we go to Beauchief bus stop in 2018 and encounter that ticklish little problem.

 Next Beauchief blog : Tuesday 8th May