From 1924 to the present day...

In 1924, Ethel Gallimore, driven by the uncontrolled disfigurement of the local countryside, got together with 12 like-minded persons to form the 'Sheffield Association for the Protection of Local Scenery'. The group - with Ethel as Honorary Secretary - would meet at Endcliffe Vale House, Sheffield, the home of Ethel's mother, Mrs. T.W. Ward.

Three years later the Association accepted an invitation from the Council for the Preservation of Rural England to represent the Peak District, and in 1927 became the Sheffield and Peak District Committee of the CPRE. At this time there was no 'Green Belt' and the Peak District was not a designated National Park. There was no guidance or control over the design of buildings, or the materials used to build them, in the countryside, and the National Trust owned only one property in the Peak District. Additionally, there was no statutory planning control, and when the first Town and Country Planning Act was passed in 1932, local authorities were forced to pay heavy compensation if planning permission was refused to protect amenities.

In 1927, the Association's joint appeal with the Council for Social Services for the purchase of Longshaw Lodge and 747 acres of moorland raised £11,324 towards the purchase price of £15,000, with the Sheffield Town Trust making a generous subscription. The prospectus for the sale had advertised the area as suitable for a golf course with potential for building development!

The National Trust later provided the balance required and received the title deeds in 1931. A further 600 acres were added to Longshaw at a later date, after an appeal to protect Surprise View from a housing estate development. This purchase set the agenda for the ultimate defence of the countryside around Sheffield and the Peak District National Park. (Right: View of Longshaw)

Some of the more preposterous developments the Branch has helped to prevent over the years include a 200 m.p.h. road racing circuit north of Dovedale, a motorway over the Woodhead Pass, a 905 acre reservoir in the Manifold Valley, a caravan site on the banks of the River Derwent and a 50 acre domestic refuse tip at Brown Edge, Ringinglow.

The Branch continued to strengthen, and following our strong objections to housing development on open countryside between Whirlow Bridge and Dore Moor Inn, proposals for a 'Green Belt' submitted by the Branch were accepted by the City Council in 1938. Following this, many farms and woodlands were purchased by Sheffield City Council, and Alderman J.G. Graves made a gift of his properties to the city. Much of the beautiful Mayfield Valley (left) was secured in this way.