The performance, which was written by Sally Goldsmith, also included other well known local characters who were connected with Totley and the surrounding area between 1877 and the early 1950s. The final walk took place on a rather wet and dismal Sunday afternoon. The photo above is St George's Farm as it is today, we were privileged to see it as it isn't visible from the road and the current owners value their privacy. The earliest record that Alan, the current owner, has found is for 1802 but it may be older than that. Alan also said that originally there were three dwellings here, the main farmhouse and two labourer's cottages. It should be said that the experiment with farming was not a howling success and the experiment came to an end in 1885. This is just a record of the walk and one or two of the characters we met on the way round. There are other articles on our website which will tell you more about both John Ruskin and the experiment with farming.

Off we go - about twenty of us were in the group. None of the 'characters' were in costume. When we mention a name it is that of the 'character' not the person playing him/her.

Here we have Harry Brearley the inventor of stainless steel. He was born into a poor working class family in Sheffield and started working as a labourer in a steel mill when he was 12 years old. He was a very bright boy and gradually worked his way up the ladder finally becoming a director of Brown Bayley one of Sheffield's major steel companies. He married in 1895 and he and his wife came to live in a little cottage on Brook Terrace, a little lower down and on the opposite side of road to St George's Farm. Sadly Brook Terrace is now long gone. Again there is an article on the website written by Bill Glossop whose aunt was Harry Brearley's secretary.

Joseph Sharp and Mrs Malloy who are two of the people who were involved in the St George's Farm experiment. Joseph Sharp was a musician, originally from Nottinghamshire, who earned his living by playing the harp in pubs and at social functions.

On the left is Edward Carpenter who is a very interesting man and by all accounts a very likeable one too. He was born in Sussex into a wealthy family and was a Cambridge graduate. He became a socialist poet and philosopher and was also an early gay rights activist. He lived for a while in Totley before moving to nearby Millthorpe where he had a small market garden. On the right is William Harrison Riley who was another of those involved with St George's Farm. He later went to live in America and became a friend of the poet Walt Whitman.

This is part of the old holloway which goes back to medieval times and very probably earlier than that. It was once part of an important route from the South into Sheffield. This is what it looks like after a couple of days of rain. You can imagine what it was like during the winter. In some places along the route you can still see the old cobbled track.