The fig trees of Neepsend

One of the quirks of Sheffield’s industrial history is the fig trees that grow along some of the city’s rivers — including a small cluster in Neepsend, by Rutland Road bridge.

The common fig (Ficus carica) isn’t exactly a Yorkshire native but its roots here go back to the 19th to mid-20th centuries, when Sheffield’s rivers were one of the key reasons that the steel industry grew up in the city. Many factories drew water from the city’s main rivers, including the Don, Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter to power the machinery or cool the steel, before returning it downstream… warmer.

Added to that, during heavy rain, the city’s combined sewers would overflow into the rivers (and sometimes still do). This wasn’t just waste — it included half-digested seeds from one of Victoria and Edwardian England’s most popular comfort foods - fig biscuits.

The result? Warm water, nutrient-rich silt, and a generous scattering of fig seeds. A perfect — if slightly unsavoury — seedbed. Over time, they took root, and fig saplings began to appear along the riverbanks. They clearly liked it here, because they’ve been quietly growing ever since.

Fig trees are not native species to Britain, but in Sheffield they have an unusual distinction. Thanks to work from the 1970s onwards by amateur naturalists, the Sorby Natural History Society, and researchers at the University of Sheffield, they became the only invasive tree species in the UK to be given legal protection.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

The Neepsend figs stand just downstream from Rutland Road bridge, beside the gennel called Waterloo Walk — the one that floats over the river on concrete supports and links Rutland Road (opposite the bar Church and next to Wickes) to Cornish Street. July to late August is the time of year to see their large lobed leaves at their best.

Neepsend isn’t the only fig hotspot in Sheffield though as there’s said to be 70 different locations across the city. One of the most famous is by the River Don at Meadowhall, in particular on the corner of Meadowhall Road and Weedon Street, behind where the Bridge Inn once stood before its demolition in 2007. I have a vague memory of the trees there featuring on a David Bellamy TV programme during my youth, although I can only find one mention of it online.

Another good spot is along the riverside path beside Porter Brook, starting from Summerfield Street and heading behind the old Ward’s Brewery site (now apartments) if you walk towards Waitrose.

Once you know what to look for, you might start spotting them in other unexpected places — a reminder that Sheffield’s rivers carry history not just in bricks and stone, but in leaves and roots.

Before you head off with a basket to pick some of the fruit, a word of reality: Sheffield’s riverside figs almost never fruit properly. Without careful pruning, fig trees tend to pour their energy into leaves rather than fruit. And while the UK can grow figs in greenhouses or warm, sheltered gardens, the city’s riverbanks aren’t really the best environment for them. Even if a few fruits appear, they don’t ripen fully.

More about Sheffeld's riverside fig trees

River Don Fig Forest, David Bramwell, ianswalkonthewildside blog, 8 January 2016: https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/2016/01/08/river-don-fig-forest/

'Fig Trees of the River Don', Sheffielder blog, 7 Feb 2020: https://sheffielder.net/2020/02/07/the-fig-trees-of-the-river-don/

'Why Fig Trees Are an Emblem of Sheffield's Industrial Past', The Guardian, 21 August 2024: https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/aug/21/plantwatch-why-fig-trees-emblem-sheffield-industrial-past

'Fig Forests Here in Sheffield', Ian Rotherham, My Kind of Town, Issue 44, available via Sheffield's Fig Forest on ianswalkonthewildside blog, 20 May 2022: https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/sheffields-fig-forest/