Sheffield’s economy has been shaped by its isolation, trapped by hills on every side except the north-east.  This is apparent up to the present day, because the quickest routes out of town lead to the M1 motorway as it skirts the city in a great bend from east to north.

The layers of the city’s transport history – packhorse ways, turnpikes, the canal, railways, motorways – reveal a succession of efforts to improve Sheffield’s connections to the surrounding areas.

The topic is most relevant to Geography syllabuses, but has wider connections with social history, engineering and politics:

• development of local roads, canals, railways and motorways
• public transport – trams and buses
• growth of private-car use, 1900-present day
• HS2

Field-work opportunities:

• Sheffield Transport Museum, Aldwarke
• National Tramway Museum, Crich, Derbyshire
• Kelham Island Museum – Sheffield Simplex motor cars