Sheffield blog

Results of a quick Twitter poll

Earlier this week I took up @lordjlo‘s suggestion and asked people following @sheffieldblog on Twitter what they considered to be the best independent coffee shop in the city.

The results are below, with votes in indicated brackets. While the sample of the poll was small, they say that personal recommendations are the best so if you are out and about and fancy a coffee, these shops can’t be a bad place to start. And what’s more, I’m sure that these local businesses will appreciate your support.

Joint first:
Coffee Revolution*, Ecclesall Road and Students’ Union (2)
Cream, Broomhill (2)
PJ Taste, West Street (2)

Also voted for:
Alfie and Bella, Howard Street (1)
Cocoa, Ecclesall Road (1)
Cafe Gusto, Church Street (1)
Fusion, Arundel Street (1)
MoCo, West Street (1)
Nonna’s, Ecclesall Road (1)
Refresh, Broomhill (1)
Remo’s, Broomhill (1)
22a, Norfolk Row (1)

Does anyone disagree? Or are there any more that deserve a mention? It wouldn’t take much to nudge a of the coffee shop up the list with a few more votes.

*Obviously Coffee Revolution has more than one outlet so could be considered a chain, however it isn’t on the scale of Starbucks, Costa Coffee or Cafe Nero (yet)…

Love Coffee by Ahmed Rabea on Flickr

Organisations on Twitter on Sheffield

Twitter has continued to snowball in the last couple of weeks. I have updated the Sheffield Twitter Users page; here are the additions:

Rattle Sheffield – agency doing research and development for the social web
http://twitter.com/rattlecentral

Little Man Tate – Sheffield indie band
http://twitter.com/LittleManTate

Red Shoes Magazine – local online music magazine
http://twitter.com/redshoesmag

The Brew Company – local brewery
http://twitter.com/brew_monkey

Fancie – cupcake makers
http://twitter.com/Fancie

Fuzz Club – university indie club night
http://twitter.com/FuzzClub

Leadmill – legendary Sheffield club
http://twitter.com/Leadmill

Warp records
http://twitter.com/warp_records

University of Sheffield students’ union
http://twitter.com/sheffieldunion

Community Media Association – champions access to media for people and communities to achieve positive social change
http://twitter.com/community_media

Pedal pushers – the Sheffield cycling campaigners
http://twitter.com/pedalpushers
http://twitter.com/cycleSheffield

andymayer.net – software and web 2.0 consultancy
http://twitter.com/andymayer

Owlstalk – Wednesday forum
http://twitter.com/Owlstalk

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
http://twitter.com/timscherer

Kings Have Long Arms – Sheffield-formed band
http://twitter.com/archnazards

The Old Queen’s Head, Pond Hill

I was walking through town yesterday and passed this pub, The Old Queen’s Head. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before but according to Wikipedia it is the oldest domestic building in the city and is named after the decapitated Mary Queen of Scots.

On the outside of the building there is a carving of Spring Heeled Jack, a legendary figure of English folklore who supposedly lived in tunnels below the city and would jump out to scare people.

The period exterior contrasts starkly with the sea of modern urban development in the surrounding area, making the pub well worth a look next time you are nearby. Has anyone been inside?

The Old Queen's Head pub, Pond Hill, Sheffield

Big turnout for Sheffield’s first major flash mob

Time stood still yesterday in the Peace gardens as people gathered for what is believed to be Sheffield’s first large-scale foray into the world of flash mobbing.

As the town hall clock struck 12, people taking part froze for 5 minutes in a set pose, causing bewilderment and confusion to passing shoppers.

A similar event took place in Trafalgar Square last year, with hundreds of people participating. The aim was to exceed this and I estimate that there were well over 1,000 in the Peace gardens yesterday.

It was perhaps even too packed, as people who had prepared some creative poses – playing cards, picnicking, braving the  fountain and firing an oversized paper aeroplane – were partly hidden away.

One group held up ‘Who’s to blame?’ banners which I thought was a political protest until I realised that they were to help point out Kevin Hailes, who organised the event using Facebook.

There are some photos online, although I opted to record it on video as thought it might be hard to capture the full effect using still images. This is the rather shaky footage I recorded – I also would have liked to get some more close-ups of poses but didn’t want to spoil the spectacle:

And here is the official film:

The event was a definate success, and with a bit of tweaking a future flash mob could have even more impact. If you want to hear about upcoming flash mob events in Sheffield then this Facebook group will point you in the right direction.