Sheffield blog

Finding the evidence

Sheffielders are rightly proud of their city and are always happy to extol its virtues at any opportunity. One thing in particular that we have all heard and seen written countless times before is that Sheffield is England’s – and if not the UK’s or even Europe’s – greenest city. But is this really true?

When it comes to promoting the city, most of the bigger organisations in Sheffield seem to think it is. The development agency Creative Sheffield mentions it in the introductory text on its homepage and then states it as fact on a sub-page of their site. The council website is also littered with references to ‘the greenest city’ and Sheffield Hallam university devotes a page of its site celebrating the fact.

Sheffield university shows a little more restraint, with some pages focusing on more general facts about our open green spaces and others including references to us as one of the greenest cities. You can still find mentions of it being the greenest though.

The sometimes-inaccurate Wikipedia sits on the fence by stating that ‘Sheffield often boasts of being Europe’s greenest city’.

The problem is that there is no agreed way of defining what ‘green’ is and then comparably measuring how green a city is. If you define green using your own criteria then you could argue that there are several other cities deserving of the title of the greenest one. The only way to work out which city is definitively the greenest is to agree a set of quantifiable criteria and then measure your sample of cities against these.

There are some green statistics about Sheffield that we can be proud of, but together these don’t necessarily add up to mean that the city is the greenest. As quoted from the Creative Sheffield site (and also by many people from Sheffield):

• Despite its urban location almost three-quarters of the city is taken up by natural vegetation and waterways.
• More than a third of the city is located in the Peak District National Park – no other city has a National Park within its boundary.
• In addition you’ll find 150 woodlands and 50 public parks all within Sheffield and it is rumoured that there are 4 mature trees to every person living here!
• Over 44 per cent of Sheffield residents live within a five minute walk of a wood and half the city’s population live within 15 minutes of the open countryside. Imagine that!

The gold that we won in the Entente Florale back in 2005 is also often used as a trump card in the argument. But what about the other cities that have won this? Does that award make them the greenest, too?

I’m not saying that Sheffield isn’t the greenest city, but it would be good for someone to do the research and prove beyond all doubt that this is categorically true. Is anyone up to the challenge? Or does it not matter whether it can be proved or not?

In the meantime, at the very least we can rightly be proud of all the parks, woodlands, greenery and world-class countryside right here on our doorstep.

Sheffield from Norfolk park by @DrJoolz; used with permission

Finding out what is on where and when

I searched online for ‘Sheffield music city’ yesterday and saw that this blog came up first in the results, so thought I’d better post a few more details for anyone who is wanting information.

A steady trickle of performers and events are being announced for the festival, although there is so much going on that keeping track of everything isn’t that easy. Full listings are on sheffieldmusiccity.co.uk, where you can also download a PDF of the programme (4.8mb), copies of which can presumably also be picked up around town. Further listings information is also on tramlines.org.

The relationship between Sheffield music city and Tramlines now seems to be clearer. Sheffield music city runs from Wednesday 22 July to Sunday 26 July and includes a wider programme of city centre events such as markets, the Sheffield wheel and a giant picnic.

Tramlines, the bit organised by Matt Helders, Jon McClure and Toddla T, is part of Sheffield music city but only responsible for the weekend line-up across specific stages and venues.

The organisers may have been better just choosing one name for the festival and focusing efforts on a single website, but I guess the key message seems to have got out that there are lots of free music events in town over that weekend.

Hallam FM put together the Devonshire green line-up on the Saturday and I don’t think they have done a bad job. Little Boots, the Noisettes, Just Jack, Pixie Lott and the Yeah You’s generally manage to straddle the line between being popular and commercial enough to be enjoyed by the masses while also – dare I say it – cool enough to appeal to the pop sensibilities of a slightly more discerning music fan.

One thing to note is that if you want to be close to the main stage on Devonshire green then you do need to get tickets from a distribution point at the Fitzwilliam street end of the green from 10:30am on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday.

Don’t forget that as well as the big performers on the green, there are also plenty of other highlights in the smaller venues around town that span a wide range of musical genres, so you should find something that is your cup of tea.

July 2009 update

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.

The Antics – improvisational comedy troupe
@TheAntics

Toby Foster – comedian and BBC Radio Sheffield breakfast presenter
@TobyFoster

Nat Johnson and the figureheads, former Monkey Swallows the Universe singer’s new project
@natjohnsonband

Bloc projects – contemporary art space and studio complex
@blocprojects

Flags PTA – campaign to keep Abbeydale grange school open
@FLAGS_PTA

The Boardwalk – live music venue
@boardwalklive

The Harley – live music venue
@Harleylive

Eat Sheffield – eat and drink in Sheffield
@eatSheffield

The Milestone – gastropub
@TheMilestone

Magic enterprises magic dealer
@MagickWords

New Start – NS+ ltd, interested in regeneration and sustainable communities
@newstartplus

BullsEye – car parts
@BullsEyeCarPart

Shield – peak of fitness swimathon
@PeakOfFitness

Saved by sound – Sheffield-based charity gig tour
@SavedBySound

Sheffield and Hallamshire FA
@SHCFA

SheffieldCityUK – automated feed of Google alerts mentioning Sheffield
@SheffieldCityUK

Hillsborough hotel – hotel
@HillsboroughBar

Copthorne hotel – hotel
@CopthorneHotel

Spoon juice records – record label
@spoonjuice

Spice Yorkshire – adventure and social club for adults
@YorksSpice

The wedding daze – wedding planners
@WeddingDaze -

ask4 – broadband provider
@onlinelifestyle

Prism – programme of contemporary art events commissioned by the Showroom
@prismsheffield

Midas copy – copywriter
@midascopy

S24SU – Sheffield United community
@s24su and @2in3

Websell – web design company
@websell

GoldDigger – girl band
@GoldDiggermusic

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Lyrical streets or a lunchtime pint

A few weeks ago a Guardian journalist got in touch and asked whether I would contribute to a feature about what someone should do with an hour to fill over lunchtime in different cities around Britain.

They were after ideas for what to do in the centre of Sheffield, so I asked a couple of friends and we came up with – and dismissed – several possibilities:

• the bear pit (too far out of town)
• one of the museums or the Peace gardens (too obvious)
• Paradise square (very nice but not enough to do)
• one of the parks (not very original)
• a coffee at Bragazzis or the Rude Shipyard (again, both a bit out of town)
• a walk past the Hendo’s factory for a sniff of  the good stuff (highly recommended but all over far too quickly)

In the end I submitted the suggestion of a stroll around town to take in the poetry that can be found on various buildings. This is what appeared in Saturday’s paper:

Sheffield: lyrical streets
You don’t need your head buried in a book to appreciate poetry on a lunchtime wander through Sheffield. Visitors are welcomed with Andrew Motion’s What If? … on the side of Sheffield Hallam University’s Owen building (Howard Street). Emblazoned inside the Winter Garden (90 Surrey Street) is Roger McGough’s affectionate ode to a revitalised city. There are three pieces by Benjamin Zephaniah on the metal plates of Rockingham Street student residences. Slightly further away, in brushed steel on the side of the Forge building off Boston Street, are Jarvis Cocker’s musings on student life.

I also sent them another option, which was the (perhaps slightly less culturally stimulating) idea to go down to the Kelham Island Tavern for a pint:

Sheffield: a lunchtime pint in Kelham Island
The idea of a lunchtime pint after a morning’s work might seem unremarkable but when you’re drinking local ale in the sunny beer garden of CAMRA’s national pub of the year you know it will be special. Sheffield is home to several independent breweries that proudly keep the pubs all over the city well stocked with award-winning beer, and there is always a fine range to be found at the Kelham Island Tavern. Located in Sheffield’s part-industrial real ale heartland, this lively pub is worth the 15 minute walk from town for its wonderful beer garden, good food and most importantly, a changing selection of excellent beers and ciders. Just don’t forget to go back to work later.

What would you suggest as a good idea for a lunchtime activity? Did I miss something really obvious that would have been much better?