According to legend, Sheffield is built on seven hills – just like Rome. Along with steel, snooker, Def Leppard and Pulp, those hills define the city. It was part of what attracted me to the place; I’ve lived here since 2018. There was barely a single flat road to be found. But where exactly were these seven hills? Did they have names, and could I plot a killer route to ride over each one without crossing the city boundaries? I knew that one day I would have to find out.
In the case of Rome, the Eternal City, the seven peaks – Palatine Hill, Aventine Hill, Capitoline Hill, Caelian Hill, Esquiline Hill, Viminal Hill and Quirinal Hill – are all well defined, each home to a separate settlement before they merged to form the heart of the Roman Empire. With Sheffield, it’s not quite that simple. I found out that there are not seven hills, in fact, but eight – and to make it even more confusing, they are actually long ridges, rather than distinct peaks.
