Lower Don Valley Lower Don Valley The Lower Don Valley, or historically the East End of Sheffield, is the mainly industrial north-east quarter of Sheffield, England. Located on the River Don, it encompasses the areas of Attercliffe, Brightside, Darnall, Tinsley and Wincobank. The area became the heart of Sheffield's steel industry during the 19th and 20th century. However it went into decline during the 1970s and 1980s as the nature of steel manufacture changed from large industrial sites with large scale employment to more streamlined and automated manufacture. As a result, large areas were derelict by the end of the 1980s despite the
Don Valley Parkway the completion of the Spadina Expressway, which itself was cancelled in 1971. Just north of the Bayview–Bloor interchange, the expressway passes over Pottery Road. To the east is Todmorden Mills, a collection of historic buildings and a former industrial site, the original "Don Mills". The nearby pond was a section of the Don River cut off by the parkway construction. Further north, to the west where the highway crosses Beechwood Avenue, is Crothers Woods, a restoration site. The expressway continues due east along the southern edge of the valley. The opposing lanes split as the expressway passes beneath the Leaside