Sheffield Midland Station
The station was opened in 1870 by the Midland Railway and was the fifth and last station to be built in Sheffield city centre. It was designed by the architect Charles Trubshaw. The Wyvern (looks like a dragon) came to be the emblem of the Midland Railway, and these were often incorporated into station buildings. Two Wyverns are carved into the stone here, one outside and one on the main concourse. The station was given two extra platforms and a new frontage in 1905 at a cost of £215,000. The enlargements consisted of creating an island platform out of the old platform 1 and building a new platform 1 and a new entrance.
In 2002 the station underwent a major regeneration. Prior to this, a taxi rank was located inside what is now the main concourse and the new entrance hall. The stone façade of the station was sandblasted and its archways filled with unobstructed windows to improve views both from inside and out. To coincide with the regeneration of the station, Sheaf Square was rebuilt as part of a project designed to create the ‘Gateway to Sheffield’. Passengers are led through the square past the 'Cutting Edge' water feature into the Heart of the City.
Erosion & Weathering
Wind erosion is a major geological force. Known as Aeolian Processes, wind erodes the Earth's surface and buildings around us by deflation (the removal of loose, fine-grained particles by the turbulent action of the wind) and by abrasion (the wearing down of surfaces by the grinding action and sandblasting of windborne particles). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials. Although water is a much more powerful eroding force than wind, aeolian processes are still important erosion mechanisms.
Valley or stream erosion occurs with continued water flow along a linear feature. The erosion is both downward, deepening the valley, and headward, extending the valley into the hillside, creating head cuts and steep banks. In all stages of stream erosion, by far the most erosion occurs during times of flood, when more and faster-moving water is available to carry a larger sediment load. In such processes, it is not the water alone that erodes: suspended abrasive particles, pebbles and boulders can also act erosively as they traverse a surface, in a process known as traction.
It is the potential for erosion here at the Station that you are here to learn about.
Logging your Find
In order to log your find, please send a message to my profile answering the below questions. There is no information about the stone around the station, so you may need to do some research to answer these questions, the answers to which are freely available on the internet.
In addition to the below questions, optionally upload a picture of yourself or your GPS with a wyvern. You can log your find immediately, but please send the answers within 24 hours. I will respond to your email as soon as I can. Logs where incomplete answers have been given, or where an email has not been received, may be deleted.
- Go to Waypoint 1 (N 53 22.696 W 001 27.790).
- Look up to see the Wyvern. What forces of erosion or weathering are acting on it?
- Go inside the station to see his counterpart. What differences do you think would be noticeable between the carvings in 100 years?
- Sandblasting cleaned the surface of the stone here when the station was redeveloped in 2002. How do you think this works?
- Go to Waypoint 2 (N 53 22.679 W 001 27.827).
- Look at the cascading water on the water feature. What forces of erosion are acting on it?
- Which area do you think will erode first?
- What effect will increasing the flow of water have?
