Welcome to Friends of Graves Park Heritage website. Join Us if you would like to help us support, improve and protect Graves Park.
Events
NEW!
if you enjoyed our project events, you might be interested in this conference, organised by the hunter archaeological society:
EXPLORING ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES:
CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF DERRICK RILEY AND WILLIAM ARNOLD BAKER
A day conference focussing on two significant aerial photographers, and the evolving aerial archaeology techniques and research inspired by them.
Graves Park is a large park in the south of Sheffield, combining a unique historical landscape with a rich environmental and recreational space. It was established by JG Graves in the 1920s and 30s and given by him to the people of Sheffield for them to enjoy forever. Find out more about the history of Graves Park here. Generations have enjoyed this remarkable place.
Friends of Graves Park is a small charity run by volunteers which exists to protect and enhance this unique place for the people of Sheffield now and into the future.
News
New Report!
GRAVES PARK FUNGI REPORT
DECEMBER 2024
FUNGI OF GRAVES PARK
DECEMBER 2024
STEVE CLEMENTS
Rose Garden Cafe Latest:
Rose Garden Cafe Partnership Statement
From Meeting of Friday 28th February 2025
Latest News from the Rose Garden Café Partnership
Today we heard from Charlotte Barrington the Mechanical Engineer from RLB Ltd on the restoration project about the options for the mechanical systems (heat, power, water, solar and drainage) in the cafe and which of the current modern systems are the most environmental sustainable and energy efficient (The current systems are very inefficient and costly.). We also discussed the community fundraising plans for Easter and beyond including craft stalls and a quiz night. We are grateful for £2,000 from the Local Area Committee to enable us to buy some equipment for our community engagement and fundraising work. The Expression of Interest to the National Heritage Lottery Fund has gone in by the deadline of 26th February. We await their decision wither we are able to proceed to a full bid. key points we noted are that:-
• Toilets are at the end of the life cycle
• Lighting, fire and hot water systems are over 20 years old.
• The roof is 100 years old in 2027
• The cafe only uses gas for water and heating
• A VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow- Air source heat pump) system is being recommended to provide a new form of heating with solar panels on the roof which will lead to a 50% reduction in energy costs. Maintaining the cafe’s good natural ventilation heat retention. We have asked for investigation into battery storage for the power generated by the solar array.
• There will also be an instant boiling water tap (Quooker) in the kitchen.
• All of the costs of this are already included in the current estimate of £2.6m for the restoration project.
This element is £522k for the VRF system External lighting £102k Drainage £45k.
We also discussed the Legacy Statement for the cafe and ideas for the continuing community involvement in the future operation of the cafe. These ideas are still under discussion.
We have requested that the project team try and produce ‘lifecycle costs’ for the cafe. Alan Wood has offered to assist us with this element.
Plans for community fundraising in the park Julie is in talks with ‘Better Points’ in the café.
Where people earn up to 1500 points for a free coffee and donate 50p to the restoration project.
Liz is working with Nathan with the councils T shirt supplier (pro bono) to give us a stick to sell at community events.
The current community fundraising total is £17,000 and the funds from the coffee cup donations in the cafe is £1924.00 Grant process application: the EOI to the NLHF has gone in by the deadline of 26th February.
We await their decision wither we are able to proceed to a full bid. We have asked for a full schedule of materials as soon as it is available to enable us to seek pro bono contributions from suppliers.
The Partnership will be reporting to the Council’s Charity Trustee Sub Committee on Monday 3rd March at 2.00pm in the Town Hall.
- For more details of our progress and future plans go to the Partnerships ‘Have Your Say’ page https://haveyoursay.sheffield.gov.uk/rose-garden-cafe
Just a reminder to everyone that the partnership is made up of representatives from the Save the Rose Garden Café group, Friends of Graves Park and Sheffield City Council.
Please spread the word and let’s get people donating to our fundraiser.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/RoseGardenCafeGravesPark?invite=true
or by BACS transfer, confirming with email:
Please pay “Friends of Graves Park”
Bank Details:- Sort Code 30-97-51 A/c No. 03370075
If you have any offers of support, please get in touch. Spread the word!
Finding Lost Norton Park: Digging Deeper for All Project
Winter into Spring Events 2025
Although the Digging Deeper Project is now over, you might be interested in the following events in 2025.
Field walks & free indoor talks:
Thursday 13th March, 10am to 12noon: Birdwatching Walk led by Karon Mayor meeting next to the Rose Garden Café.
Monday 10th March: Riverlution: providing training in practical conservation with Geoff Guy, CEO of Riverlution who will talk about the organisation and the volunteer apprenticeship scheme which is working in Graves Park. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
Saturday 22nd March, 3pm to 5pm: Spring Birds & Flowers led by Ian Rotherham meeting point at the Charles Ashmore Road car park. Guided Walk led by Ian Rotherham, book via this link https://bookwhen.com/sybrg#focus=ev-smj4-20250322143000
Monday 24th March: Spring Birds and Spring Flowers of Graves Park with Ian Rotherham. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
Monday 7th April: Monitoring the Rainfall, Water Flows and Stream through Graves Park – first results with Kevin Spence, Sheffield Hallam University. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
Thursday 13th March, 10am to 12noon: Birdwatching Walk led by Karon Mayor meeting next to the Rose Garden Café.
Thursday 10th April, 10am to 12noon: Birdwatching Walk led by Karon Mayor meeting next to the Rose Garden Café; a gentle stroll around the same route, looking for and listening to a variety of birds.
Thursday 1st May, 10am to 12noon: Birdwatching Walk led by Karon Mayor meeting next to the Rose Garden Café; a gentle stroll around the same route, looking for and listening to a variety of birds.
Wednesday 14th May, 11am to 1pm: Spring Flowers of Woods and Meadows led by Ian Rotherham, meeting in the Park at the entrance from Norton Park View/ Serpentine Walk. Guided Walk led by Ian Rotherham, book via this link https://bookwhen.com/sybrg#focus=ev-smj4-20250322143000
Click here to browse our Heritage Maps and resources.
Digging Deeper for All was an exciting investigation into the history, archaeology amd ecology of Graves Park, made possible by the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It included a variety of community events and opportunities to get directly involved.
Click here to find out more and see what we discovered!
The Rose Garden Cafe
On 18th October 2023, the Charity Subcommittee met at the Town Hall for a special meeting to decide the way forward regarding the Rose Garden Café. The decision was to work in partnership with stakeholders to develop a Strategy for the restoration of the Rose Garden Café building
This appears to be good news and the Friends of Graves Park will be pushing for action as soon as possible.
Find out more detail about what’s happening here.
On 18th September 2023 the Rose Garden Cafe was listed on the South Yorkshire Local Heritage Register. This helps to support the heritage status of the cafe, but doesn’t provide the level of protection that national listing would.
Newsletter
The Summer 2024 Newsletter is now available here.
Campaigns
We have ongoing campaigns to protect threatened areas of the park and restore the next section of the former Norton Nurseries site. Find out more by clicking on the links below.
Now that Chantreyland Meadow and the Arboretum part 1 are well established in Graves Park, the Friends of Graves Park are ready to start the restoration to parkland of the next section of the former Norton Nurseries site. To donate please click on the link below.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/GravesParkArboretum?invite=true
How you can help:
Become a member for just £3 a year. You will receive regular newsletters and can attend our AGM.
Donate through our Just Giving account.
Support us when you shop online
Sign up to the fund-raising supports below. This is an easy way to help us whenever you shop online and it supports us with a steady income. Please read the details below and use the links to get you started.
There are over 4,000 shops and sites on board ready to make a donation – including eBay, Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, Booking.com and M&S – and it won’t cost you a penny extra to help us raise funds.
All you need to do is:
- Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/fogravespark/?utm_campaign=raise-more and join for free.
- Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.
- After you’ve checked out, the retailer will make a donation to Friends of Graves Park at no extra cost to you whatsoever!
There are no catches or hidden charges and Friends of Graves Park will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you for your support.
