The Heart Trail

Members of the Rotary Club of Sheffield Vulcan, in collaboration with Friends of Millhouses Park, have completed the installation of the Heart Trail in Millhouses Park. The Trail consists of 21 stainless steel plaques, attached to either new posts or existing features in the park. Each plaque has a consecutive number and displays the distance from each adjoining plaque, (being approximately 100 metres), QR readers to give access to each respective web site and OS Map Reference coordinates. The plaques have been provided, at cost, by Watson Anodising and the [overall] funding has come from the South West Community Assembly, supplemented by the Rotary Club. Kind assistance has been provided by Sheffield City Council Parks & Countryside staff.

The purpose of the Trail is to encourage structured exercise in the Park, with target distances for users to achieve. The concept came from a Rotary member who has been on an NHS Cardiac Rehabilitation Course and wanted to walk on a flat area, with all the facilities which Millhouses has to offer (apart from the generously portioned cakes in the cafe), but no one knew the distances or length of the park. The start, plaque 1, is near to the cafe, from where information leaflets, including a plan & location of all of the plaques, can be obtained. However, the information on each plaque, means that the walker can start and finish wherever they wish or feel able. The hope is that the recovering patient can walk a little further each day and then a little quicker.
The length of the park? From the Archer Road entrance (Marker 12) to the Beauchief End car park (Marker 21) is 1.125 Km or 0.7 miles.

The Heart Trail: resources
Designed by people who have themselves had cardiac surgery, the Heart Trail provides the opportunity and incentive for those who need structured exercis as part of a rehabilitation programme. The trail is based on 21 marker plates alongside the pathways round Millhouses Park, nominally placed at 100 metre intervals. Marker 1 is at the entrance to the park nearest to the cafe, from where information leaflets, including a plan and location of all of the plaques, can be obtained.

The leaflet can also be obtained here. It has been designed to be printed double-sided, then bi-folded.

Your exercise programme could start at Marker 1, at Markers 8 or 9 on the riverside walk by the main car park, at Marker 21 by the car park at the Beauchief (southern) end, or anywhere you wish in between.