Self-guided audio tour through Sheffield's city centre, covering Barker's Pool and the High Street with fifteen landmarks, delivered via the free AudaTours app.
Sheffield Audio Tour: Iconic Heart starts at Barker's Pool on Sunday 8 November, a self-guided walk through the city centre that runs from 12:00 to 20:00. There's no in-person guide to follow; you just set off at your own pace, which takes about an hour and nine minutes to cover around 2.3 kilometres (1.4 miles) and fifteen landmarks. The whole thing is delivered through the free AudaTours app, compatible with Android 7.0+ or iOS 16+, and once you've downloaded it, you've full offline access. There's up to 38 minutes of narration to carry you through.
The route takes you from the open-air spaces beneath the grand pillars of Sheffield City Hall and across the tram-rattled High Street, where the ghosts of revolution, riot and rhythm still linger. You'll pass the City Hall, the High Street, Victoria Hall and the Cathedral, picking up local legends and scandals as you go. Along the way, the tour asks the kind of things you don't usually think about when you're just walking to the shops: what bell once signalled a deluge that sent pigs scrambling down Barker's Pool, what act of rebellion reduced Victoria Hall's earliest chapel to ashes in a single night, and who refused for twenty years to let Sheffield widen its beloved High Street. Each stop brings out a bit of the drama and mystery that shaped the city's spirit.
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Because it's self-guided, you can take as long as you like at any of the fifteen stops, stop for a coffee, or power through the whole thing in one go. It's a good way to see the city centre with a bit more context than you'd get on your own. The tour costs £4.99, and it runs from 12:00 to 20:00 on Sunday 8 November, starting at Barker's Pool, S1 2JA.
