A free event is taking place this month at the City hall which will see a panel discuss what makes a city a great cultural destination and why is culture important:
As Sheffield bids to become the first UK city of culture 2013, we bring together a diverse panel of national and international cultural figures to discuss the role of culture in defining a city – both in Sheffield and on an international scale.
The line-up currently includes Jon McClure from Reverend and the makers, Emmy award-winning Jamaican writer and poet Kwame Dawes, the BBC’s Paulette Edwards, Museums Sheffield chair Sandra Newton and Mark Jones, founder of Wall of sound record label. There will be a Q&A afterwards, as well as an acoustic set from the Reverend.
I’m guessing that the outcomes of this debate may go on to inform the detail of our city of culture bid, should we make the shortlist. Last week, a Sheffield Telegraph article gave an indication of some of the creative and cultural assets on which our bid would be based:
the foundations laid by Sheffield theatres, the Museums and galleries trust and Sheffield international venues
the city’s festivals – including a possible new festival centre in a landmark location
our creative population (7.2% of the workforce), including the digital economy and independent film
mass participation events based on ideas from the people of the city
established and emerging music artists performing gigs in unusual locations
a possible resident orchestra for of Sheffield
a base for visual arts
If shortlisted, does Sheffield have a good chance of becoming the UK’s first city of culture? I’d say we have more chance than Barnsley but I wonder whether some of the culture that Sheffield does best is perhaps not mainstream enough to appeal to the panel that will decide.
For example, I know many people who enjoy the Kid acne artwork around town and the word-of-mouth gig and club nights, but is this the sort of thing they will be looking for? Or will the lottery-funded cultural facilities remain the cornerstone of our bid? The likes of the Millennium galleries undoubtedly make Sheffield a better city but I can’t help thinking the heart and soul of the city’s cultural scene is to be found elsewhere.
Hopefully the ‘ideas from the people of the city’ project would help ensure that our bid does indeed capture the full breadth of Sheffield’s cultural offering, both traditional and non-traditional.
The 14 bids on the table are due to be whittled down to a shortlist of five by Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, free tickets for the Culture debate event are available from the City hall box office.
Developing renewable energy projects across Sheffield
If you’re concerned about maintaining a low carbon future for yourself and the city then Sheffield renewables will be of interest.
This volunteer-led organisation is launching community-funded renewable energy generation projects in and around Sheffield. They are encouraging people to adapt their lifestyles and adopt new technologies to drive the city towards a low carbon future in a way that will bring benefits to both Sheffield and its people.
One of their projects is a hydro power scheme at Kelham island and there are plenty of ways to get involved, whether it is through volunteering, investing or general support.
Individuals, businesses and community groups in Sheffield to be impacted
You may have read coverage of the Digital economy bill that is currently working its way through the house of Lords. It is a response to the Digital Britain report and looks like it will do more to cripple our digital economy than support its growth.
One aim of the bill is to deal with internet piracy and to do this several draconian measures have been proposed that could have a big affect on people in Sheffield.
The major point of contention is that fines and disconnections can be enforced on the internet connection subscriber – i.e. the person whose name the connection is in – if someone uses their network for an activity like illegal file sharing.
Individuals, businesses and groups will choose not to take this risk and this could spell the end of free wifi and open internet connections in libraries, universities, schools, cafes, council buildings and community groups.
Obviously this isn’t just an issue that affects Sheffield; it will impact the whole country. But it seems particularly ironic that in south Yorkshire where the Digital region project will soon be providing us with super-fast broadband, many of the businesses and organisations that would be able to pass on the benefits of this to the public will not feel able to do so if the proposed legislation goes through.
A few weeks ago I finally got round to watching Threads. If, like me, you are too young to remember it from when originally broadcast, it is a 1984 TV play that depicts the effect of a nuclear attack on the country, and in particular Sheffield.
Given the subject matter it is unsurprising that Threads makes for as grim viewing today as I expect it did 25 years ago when cold war paranoia was perhaps at its greatest. The extended synopsis is on Wikipedia.
If you can see past the bleak story, then the fact that it is set in Sheffield also adds a level of interest. There are plenty of landmarks to pick out including the eggbox town hall extension, the city hall, the Moor, Finningly in its days as a RAF base and the Nottingham house pub in Broomhill.
After the explosion hits Sheffield, there are shots of a devastated city centre that don’t look too dissimilar to the Moor in recent times.
However, it would be a mistake to watch the film and expect to come away warmed by the rose-tinted glow of nostalgia. Judging by the reviews on Amazon, it seems that Threads had quite an effect on the people watching it back then.
Memories of Threads and its association with Sheffield seem to live on. In the recent edition of Fighting talk recorded down at Ponds forge, one of presenter Colin Murray’s opening quips was ‘I thought I’d driven through the post-nuclear set of Threads 2 last night until somebody told me it was Manor council estate’.
Someone has uploaded the whole thing to Google video, so you can watch Threads online now. Be warned that parts of it are quite harrowing though and may not be suitable for young children.
Do you remember watching it on TV in the mid-80s, or have you watched it since? How shocked were you?
A quick post to draw your attention to this world record attempt taking place in March in aid of Sport relief. The organisers hope to break the record for near-continuous five-a-side football and raise £30,000 for charity at the same time.
Park hill resident and large portrait artist Gary Hindley is writing a book about the flats and would like to hear from anyone who was born or grew up on Park hill.
He has already amassed some good material by meeting regularly with members of the Park hill community to discuss stories and memories but is on the lookout for more anecdotes for his book.
Good news for music fans (but don’t hold your breath)
There were rumours last summer that the much-lamented music shop Fopp was to return to Sheffield. Speculation was rife that one of the new retail units in the old Yates’s bar building on Division street might be the record shop’s new home.
Six months down the line, there is still no sign of Fopp in town. G-star clothing has taken one of the Yates’s units and the other seems to be the temporary home to a clothes shop.
I decided to get in touch with Fopp and ask them what was happening. The news is good, although don’t hold your breath for an imminent return just yet. This is what they said:
We are keen to bring Fopp back to Sheffield if we can, and to this end were actively looking at a site that we considered suitable some months ago. Unfortunately we were unable to agree terms and to pursue our interest at the time. However, we trust that further opportunities will present themselves in future.
They were happy for me to share this here but wanted to stress that they had no immediate alternative options at the present time – although they expected this to change in due course.
Buying records from shops may not be the future, but with only two record stores left in a city with such a strong musical heritage, I still think that Fopp would be a success for at least a few years.
I’ve asked Fopp to let me know of any more news regarding the return of a Sheffield branch and if they get back in touch I’ll post any updates here.
In the meantime, they will probably read this post so feel free to comment below to show your support for Fopp returning to the city.
The slightly premature party last summer to celebrate Fopp's return to Sheffield
Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.
This ITN video of the current snowy conditions includes shots of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium the Cadbury factory, as well as the Emmerdale set and Harewood house.
A former DJ has started an online archive of clips from the early years of south Yorkshire’s main commercial radio station, Hallam FM.
You can listen to 1970s audio samples of the station known back then as Radio Hallam at soundboard.com.
I’m too young to remember Hallam in the seventies, but if you listen to some of the clips then you’ll soon realise how different the station sounded back then. When it launched, it appeared to have had the feel of a community radio station with a broad range of music and speech programmes. This contrasts starkly with the homogenised station we hear in 2010 that plays the same handful of records all day long.
If anyone has any more old tapes of the station then I’m sure the archiver Frank Carpenter would be pleased to hear from you. Perhaps at some stage it will be expanded to also include some clips from the the 1980s and 1990s?
In the meantime there are some more clips and jingles to be heard on radiohallam.co.uk. This site is run by another former Hallam FM DJ, and also the person behind internet radio station Radio 2XS, Jeff Cooper.
