Sheffield blog

What you can do to support culture in our city

As you may have heard Museums Sheffield (which runs Millennium Gallery, Graves Gallery and Weston Park Museum) was dealt a devastating funding blow this week when it failed to get Renaissance funding from the Arts Council.

Not getting this funding means a 30% cut in Museums Sheffield’s annual budget which in turn means redundancies, a reduction of learning activity and none of the high profile collaborations with Tate, V&A and the British Museum which have resulted in a first-class exhibition programme over the last few years rather than the sort of municipal displays you can often find in regional museums and galleries.

Clearly it’s a major blow to Sheffield if our museums service degenerates in this way and will have a damaging ripple effect on the rest of the cultural scene.

If you feel moved to, it would be great if you could register your displeasure at this decision and persuade the powers that be to think about other means of supporting Museums Sheffield:

Museums Sheffield: make the case for culture in Sheffield

This amounts to interrogating the Arts Council on their decision. Email ACE Yorkshire at enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk marking it for the attention of the Yorkshire Office. You can also email Alan Davey the head of the Arts Council chief.executive@artscouncil.org.uk.

I’m sure you can compose your own email but good points to cover might be:

• Museums Sheffield provides an excellent and museums service which will now be compromised – you might want to include your favourite exhibitions of the past few years.
• Museums Sheffield serves a diverse and large audience – ‘Great Art for Everyone’ in the words of the Arts Council.
• A decimated museums service will have a degenerative effect on the wider arts scene in Sheffield.
• Why were York and Leeds chosen over Sheffield when both cities have a stronger tourist economy, more robust arts infrastructure and greater investment from the Arts Council already – surely Sheffield needs this support most.
• ACE’s allocation of Renaissance funding is unbalanced – central England inc. Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester all unsuccessful in their bids. London, Oxford and Cambridge all successful – rich cities and services getting richer and poor ones getting poorer.
• Finally a call to reverse the decision/ find other ways of supporting Museums Sheffield.

If you’re a Sheffield resident its also worth contacting your local councillors and MPs imploring for local government to support Museums Sheffield in the absence of Arts Council funding.

You can find contact the relevant contacts on the Sheffield city council website and councillors.sheffield.gov.uk.

Again, good points to make might be:

• Museums Sheffield provides an excellent and museums service which will now be compromised – you might want to include your favourite exhibitions of the past few years.
• The people who will suffer from this are Sheffield residents from all areas and backgrounds.
• A decimated museums service will have a degenerative effect on the wider arts scene in Sheffield.
• Despite difficult budgeting decisions it’s time for Sheffield City Council to invest in culture in Sheffield in order to enjoy economic and social returns.
• Finally entreat them to protest at the Arts Councils decision and support Museums Sheffield via local government funding.

Thanks for standing up for culture in Sheffield.

You can also follow @Ruskins_Ghost on Twitter for more on the #saveSheffieldmuseums campaign.

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The text in this post is used with permission by the author. Please use it and pass the message round to any friends and colleagues you think would be interested.

Below you can find the latest additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on Twitter.

A directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page. As this page is getting a bit unwieldy, I’m not currently adding to it. Instead I’ll link back to each monthly update page.

We’re now into our fourth list of people and organisations in Sheffield in Twitter. There is also the first, second and third which each contain 500 accounts.

The Broadfield pub
@thebroadfield

Jessop Financial Planning
@jessopfp

Hash Brownies
@hashbrownies1

Ora Gallery, Sharrow Vale Road
@orasheffield

Brezza coffee house
@BrezzaSheffield

Ideology shop
@ideologyshop

Sheffield Community Network
@sheffcomnetwork

Pub Scrawl
@PUB_SCRAWL

Harland Cafe – John Street cafe
@harlandcafe

Sheffield Learning Community
@ShefLearnComm

White Willows Cafe
@WhiteWillowCafe

The Children’s Hospital Charity
@tchcharity

Food-i Sheffield
@foodisheffield

St Wilfrid’s Centre
@StWilfsCentre

D4 communications agency
@d4online

Lava Lounge
@Lavaloungesheff

Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield University
@SheffMechEng

Oxyfire film production
@oXyFireMedia

Third Sector Cafe networking event
@thirdsectorcafe

ECU Flash
@ECU_FLASH

Population Sheffield club night
@PopulationSU

Don Valley Stadium
@donvalleystad

Crookes Liberal Democrats
@CrookesLibDems

Kickstart Sheffield
£kickstart_sheff

Nikki Bond Nether Edge Labour candidate
@Nik4NetherEdge

ABAE Enbgland
@ABAEngland

Infictions band
@inFictions

Sheffield University Wind Orchestra
@SUWO_Sheffield

Revolucion de Cuba bar
@DeCubaSheffield

Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Sheffield
@SPERIshefuni

Thornely Hill communications consultancy
@ThornelyHill

Hazelhurst CSA
@HazelhurstCSA

Hallam University club night
@RUMOUR_LGBT

Sheff News Sheffield news feed
@SheffNews

Voidcomp
@Voidcomp_

Dope and Mean Events
@DopeandMean

IPM Security
@IPMSecurity

When The Music Stops
@SingleSheffield

The Sheffield Jungle
@SheffieldJungle

Future Music
@future__music

Handsworth and Hallam Theatre Company
@HHTC_Sheff

ShefUniRevue – student comedy
@ShefUniRevue

East bank ultras Sheffield Wednesday supporters
@EASTBANKULTRAS

Aspire Sheffield
@AspireSheffield

The Star Business Monthly
@StarBizMonthly

J Woodward Building Services
@JwbsLtd

2012 Fundraiser
@2012Fundraiser

High Street Lawyer Sheffield
@HSLSheffield

Aspect 3 Student Apartments
@A3Sheffield

Candy Cane Escorts
@CandyCaneEscort

Sheffield Groundcare lawn mowers
@sheffieldground

Radio Coma
@radio_coma

Sheffield Glass
@SheffieldGlass

One Resource recruitment
@1resource

Reach stage school
@stage_school

Raven Events
@ravenents

Lisa Read life coach
@LisaReadCoach

Abbey Care Nursing
@Abbey_care

N_Tal Cleaning
@Ntalcleaning

Aspire Hair
@AspireHair

Charlotte Tyree from This is England 88
@tyreehairdo

New Barrack Tavern
@NewBarrack

Urban Pantry, Crookes
@UrbanPantryDeli

Hit Music Radio
@hitmusicradio

The Button PR company
@TheButtonPR

Club Stylez men’s clothing
@ClubstyleUk

Hydra Creative
@Hydra_Creative

Das Chip Shop
@DasChipShop

The Marshalls band
@The_Marshalls

Inova Consultancy
@InovaUK

Sydney Owls
@sydneyowls

MEC electrical contractors
@MECslatersgroup

Woodthorpe Development Trust
@Woodthorpe_DT

Sheffield LDC
@sheffieldldc

Fast Track Aquisitions
@FastTrackAcq

Square Kitchens
@SquareKitchens

Blend Sheffield – not-for-profit community food initiative
@blendsheffield

The Exchange – bringing speakers to Sheffield University union
@exchangesheff

Rice Bar, Meadowhall
@OfficialRiceBar

Sheffield student discounts
@Shefscounts

Sugarcane Marketing
@sugarcanem

Sheffbreaking – breaking news
@Sheffbreaking

Yourmii – designers
@YORMII

Pedal Nation cycle tours
@pedalnationuk

Breadcrumb Studio
@BreadcrumbWeb

Peak District walks
@peakwalkdays

Highway Child blues band
@Highway_Child

Banana Hill DJs/promoters
@banana_hill

Sheffield Centre for HIV
@CentreHIV

Steel City Striders running club
@SteelCtyStrider

Sheffiled Running Club
@sheffieldrc

Araneus T-shirts
https://twitter.com/AraneusTShirts

Beer, art and pubs

The inaugural Pub Scrawl event is taking place this Friday, and it looks like being one not to miss:

For one night only in January Pete McKee brings you art in pubs… a pub crawl like no other. Pub scrawl 2012 will showcase ten of Pete’s favourite artists with ten of Sheffield’s finest watering holes.

Pete has hand picked the artists who will be using some of Sheffield’s best pubs as a canvas to exhibit their art, so you can be sure the quality will be high.

The event is supporting the Arts for Health Programme at The Children’s Hospital. You can win one of nine exclusive prizes donated to their charity by Pub Scrawl artists including Pete McKee – look out for leaflets in the featured pubs.

And Thornbridge Brewery has brewed a special ale for the event called Scrawl so the beer should be good, too. With ten pubs to visit it might have to be just a half in each though…

Pub Scrawl 2012 on Facebook event, @PUB_SCRAWL on Twitter and @fronbow‘s excellent Google Map:

View Larger Map

A festive tradition that’s right on our doorstep

I love a local tradition, and the Sheffield carols is one of our best. It’s still going strong since it started in the late eighteenth century, when singers and musicians would gather in north west Sheffield pubs during November and December to sing Christmas carols.

The carols aren’t just the obvious ones that you hear everywhere at this time of year. Many of them mix church and secular material and are composed by local musicians, with variations of words, melody and tempo depending on which pub you are in. What’s brilliant is that some are still referred to by their local names, such as Bradfield, Stannington and Malin Bridge.

Although the basic etiquette for these ‘sings’ in pubs may seem a little daunting, tracking down when and where they are happening is easy thanks to the listings on www.localcarols.org.uk.

The first pub we tried was The Sportsman in Crosspool, on a weeknight in the run up to Christmas. Here we found the Loxley Silver North Band playing a mixture of local carols and a few of the obvious ones – someone even requested Jingle Bells.

The band sounded great, although with just a small gathering of people singing in one area of the pub, it didn’t quite feel like the full local carols experience. So it was time to try one of the village pubs further north.

The Royal Hotel in Dungworth is famous for its local carols. We headed over on boxing day and weren’t disappointed. The pub was rammed, with people gathered round an organ, singing their hearts out. This was exactly how we hoped it might be.

We were made to feel welcome, despite not really knowing the carols. We soon discover that many of the words and tunes are quite familiar. This is the end of Sweet Chiming Bells, one of the many variations of While Shepherds Watched (excuse the shaky filming on my phone):

The enthusiasm of people singing is infectious. Looking around, it seems like generations of families are in the pub, with nearly everyone drinking the tasty Bradfield Brewery beer, which is brewed just up the road.

Singing like this in a pub may seem a bit strange to some people, but when you think that this local carol, called ‘Stannington’, has been sung for hundreds of years in Sheffield public houses, it is hard not to be drawn in:

In fact, spending time with people who are part of a tradition like this is quite special. It’s heartwarming to be part of something that has been taking place for so long but hasn’t really changed.

I bought a Loxley selection songbook from The Sportsman (just £1) and now I know that many of the carols are quite easy to pick up, I would feel much more confident about joining in. What’s more, it seems silly not to make more of such a cherished tradition that takes place right on our doorstep, so I’ll definitely be back next year.

There’s more about the history of carols in this BBC documentary by Howard Goodall. The Blue Ball pub in Worrall is featured from 52 minutes, 18 seconds:

The Radio Sheffield sport reporter on bleeding blue, red…and Brian the Blade

Ever since the days of the Bob Jackson‘s Praise or Grumble I’ve been a big fan of the football phone-in on Radio Sheffield.

Bob is now retired but the station’s football coverage continues with Football Heaven five nights a week and Praise or Grumble on Saturday teatimes.

For the last 13 years, Seth Bennett has been working for Radio Sheffield and for as long as I can remember, he’s been regularly presenting their football phone-in.

You may not have realised, but Seth left continuing employment at Radio Sheffield over the summer, only to come back as a freelancer via his company FourFive Media. He can still be heard at least three nights a week hosting Football Heaven, as well as on the Football League Show, BBC Leeds and Sky Sports.

For me, Seth is one of the big talents on Radio Sheffield so I decided to put to him a few questions and find out more about his times covering our local football teams. He explains below about his affiliation with Sheffield, its football clubs – and the current threat to Radio Sheffield that could see its sports coverage affected by cuts resulting in Wednesday and United’s away game commentaries covered by the home club’s BBC radio station.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Sheffield, Granville Road to be more specific. I went to St Marie’s Junior School at Fulwood and then on to All Saints secondary. We did move out to Todwick when I was 10 and I have lived out in that area ever since.

I am very much a Sheffield lad and I am extremely proud of the city and the way it looks these days. It is amazing to think of town now compared to town when I was 10, where going through the hole in the road to see the fish was the highlight, however the stench of urine was the trade-off.

Did you support a football team as a child?

As for football teams I can say with hand on heart that as a kid I went to both United and Wednesday. This is not me copping out of the answer but the truth. I actually owned both shirts – the yellow Wednesday Brazil away shirt and the red, white and black thin stripe United shirt.

As to who I support these days I would say for the last five years if there was a team I was going to pay to watch, I would have chosen Doncaster Rovers. I have a big soft spot for them and they played some great football under Sean O’Driscoll.

My utopia would be to see the steel city two in the premier league and first and second, but which way round would I want them to finish?

How did you get into sports broadcasting? What is the best and worst thing about it?

From being a kid it is always what I wanted to do and I had a spell as a 17 year-old working at the Children’s Hospital Radio, but I was awful. It didn’t stop me trying though and when I was 18 I had no clue how to get into it and so I elected to take a year out to be an au pair, I ended up in New Jersey. I didn’t come back for two years because I had so much fun, it was a real life experience.

Whilst I was over there I was dared to phone in the ‘Iceline’ which I did, I was bored and anything was more entertaining than doing the ironing! Anyway they seemed to keep me on the line for a while and then we talked about the NHL and I did them a round-up of what had been going on. Turns out now I realise that they were just very short of callers so I was better than nothing, but only just.

I really enjoyed the whole experience and so I called again a few times and one day I called the office and had a chat with Jamie Campbell, a thoroughly nice guy and asked him how to get into radio he gave me plenty of advice. I am not sure exactly how it came about, but I was invited in by Colin Hazelden who had a brief spell at Radio Sheffield and when I went to the studios I was offered the chance to cover the Steelers.

The deal was if I turned up to the games and did a post match interview then took it back to the station and edited a clip, then they would pay me £15. I was stunned they were going to pay me to cover sport. From there it developed into doing Saturday sports news and then covering football.

I suppose that brings me on to the best and worst things of the job. The best part is being out and meeting people, I love talking to people be that supporters or managers or players. You end up making relationships that last a life time. The football world is the biggest gossip shop going and so it is always very interesting to speak to people and find out the latest.

The worst bit is the number of hours that you work, people seem to think that we have a big production team, but for the longest time it was just Paul, Andy and me and 60-70 hour weeks were the norm. That in itself it was never a problem, but it is the bit when you get home and the phone continues to ring, you can’t ignore it because what if that is the BIG story.

The number of phone calls that end between Paul Walker and I with, “I better go I am getting the look!” Our partners are incredibly understanding, but it must drive them up the wall.

Interestingly since the advent of social media our jobs have changed massively, mostly for the better, but I think sometimes the very personal criticism is hard to take especially when it involves your family. That said overall it has been a job I have loved for 13 years and everyday much to my wife’s frustration I have been happy to be at work.

How long have you been on Radio Sheffield? What are your most memorable moments so far?

My first piece of Radio Sheffield work was in October 1998 I was 20 years old and it was an interview with Don McKee the former Sheffield Steelers coach. Since then I think I have presented every single show on station from the Breakfast Show to the new music show to the gardening phone in, it’s all part of the education.

As for memorable moments, I have been to Wembley twice, the Millennium Stadium four times and commentated on Doncaster Rovers lifting the third division and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Away from footy I have really enjoyed the Sheffield Steelers grand slam in 2001 and Clinton Woods becoming world champion.

I think my favourite moment was Doncaster Rovers beating Leeds at Wembley, but the Sheffield United cup run under Neil Warnock was special. I was the pitch side reporter and I was being driven on to do increasingly outrageous things and which included nearly getting thrown out of Old Trafford in the build up to kick-off because I wasn’t meant to be pitch-side. I somehow talked my way around it. The BIG highlight was Wednesday in Cardiff, I have a lot of friends from that SWFC team and to see them win in the way they did was amazing.

You left Radio Sheffield over the summer to set up your own company but haven’t really been off air. Why did you decide to leave and how is FourFive Media going?

After 13 years with one brief seven-month break I had to decide what my next move was, whether that would be to remain at BBC Radio Sheffield for the next 30 years or whether it was time to push myself and try to do something else. I love Radio Sheffield and Football Heaven, in fact I think the weeknight phone-in is me at my most comfortable on-air.

However I think my favourite time presenting it was when Paul Walker and Luke Wileman and I double headed and presented together. There were three very different dynamics, but three good mates who worked really well together. I thought it was a great show then and the chemistry was outstanding, but we have never quite been able to get back to that for a few reasons, one was that we all grew up and got responsibilities that meant coming into work on your day off to present the show was just not going to happen anymore. I miss those days because we used to laugh so much.

Luke is one of the most straight laced people you would ever meet, but would have a habit of saying the most outrageous thing usually with a swear word in it just as an interview was coming to an end and then point at you and start laughing. At which point I was meant to speak, but I would of course be laughing for no apparent reason.

I also knew that with the budget cuts coming, the chances of doing more than football were going to be few and far between and I really enjoy doing the ice hockey, basketball and boxing. But the feedback I was getting was that the station couldn’t afford my time to do that stuff, I was needed just to do football. I love football, but I am a sports journalist and the test you get as a broadcaster doing different sports is important.

For most people me leaving Radio Sheffield hasn’t happened yet, because I have continued to work on a freelance basis three nights a week, which has been great. I am very grateful that has been the case because I love the show. The bosses have been good to me and it is great to still be able to work for them, what the future holds I don’t know, but as long as they want me on the radio then I will continue to do the show.

The football phone-in was pioneered by Radio Sheffield as Praise or Grumble back in the 1980s and is as popular as ever now, running six nights a week. Why is there such an appetite for it in South Yorkshire, especially given the varying fortunes of the Sheffield clubs?

We are bunch of nosey parkers and we have six teams that we all seem to take a keen interest in the fortunes of. It’s strange because even on a quiet night, people always want to talk. It’s great.

Brian the Blade talks sense. Discuss.

Brian is very funny I have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and it has been good fun. People think he is a plant and we pay him to come on to stir things up. I can assure you we don’t, he comes on all on his own.

He knows a lot about football and as he tells us he knows a lot about the local football scene. I think more importantly than that he likes to get people talking and if he can say something that can stir the pot then he will, sometimes at the expense of himself.

I enjoy him as a caller because he takes it usually in the right spirit, at least twice a season he makes a formal complaint about me and tries to get me sacked, but most of the time we do ok.

If the BBC’s Delivering Quality First proposals go through, we could see drastic changes to Radio Sheffield, in particular to the sports coverage. What concerns you most about the possible impact of this?

In my opinion the proposals are disappointing because I have fought for 13 years of my life to give the listeners in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire the best product we can, but now for that, in grand scheme of things to go by the wayside is upsetting.

Not being able to travel to watch your local side play leaves you with only half a story, how can you be a journalist and deliver stories if you can’t watch the team play away from home? It would also force Radio Sheffield’s hand as to what games we cover and potentially it could mean we have to put up four commentary teams to satisfy other station’s needs, doubling the cost of our current commentary costs.

I accept and understand there need to be cut backs and that will hurt somewhere along the line. But this idea seems flawed and I really hope the people of South Yorkshire speak up and tell those at the BBC Trust who will make the decisions that they should think again.

What can people do to comment on the proposals?

Got to the BBC Trust website and tell ‘em what you think whichever side of the fence you are on. It is a consultation so please give them something to consider.

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Thanks, Seth.

As well as away game commentaries being hosted by the home club’s BBC radio station, the proposed cuts to Radio Sheffield could also see networked afternoon shows coming from Leeds and a cut to Sheffield-based evening programming, including the show that champions new local music, BBC Introducing Sheffield.

The window for commenting on the proposals closes on 21 December, 2011.

Comment on the proposed cuts to BBC local radio

Below you can find the latest additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on Twitter.

A directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page. As this page is getting a bit unwieldy, I’m not currently adding to it. Instead I’ll link back to each monthly update page.

We’re now into our fourth list of people and organisations in Sheffield in Twitter. There is also the first, second and third which each contain 500 accounts.

Binghams potted meat
@Binghams_Spread

Seven Hills bakery
@7hillsbakery

Shakespeares pub
@ShakespearesShf

Occupy Sheffield
@occupysheffield

Dada bar, Trippet Lane
@dada_bar

Home Sweet Home, Sharrow Vale Road
@homesweethome08

Prism queer indie/alt/electro night
@PRISMShefLGBT

MK PR agency
@MKThingsHappen

West One
@westoneplaza

Townend florist
@townendflorist

Benjamin Huntsman Wetherspoons pub
@BenjaminHuntsma

Charisma Gifts, Crosspool
@charisma_gifts

Inspiration Hair, Crosspool salon
@inspirationhs10

Sheffield Independent Film & TV
@shiftmediashef

The Lord Mayor, Cllr Sylvia Dunkley
@LordMayorSheff

Tamper coffee shop
@tampercoffee

Park square roundabout
@ParkSquareSheff

Sheffield University journalism department
@sheffjournalism

Indie Sheffield
@IndieSheffield

Dirty Little Secret events space
@DLS_Sheffield

Paulette Edwards, Radio Sheffield presenter
@pauletteish

Waheed Akhtar, Radio Sheffield
@BBCWaheed

Grace Tebbutt house
@GraceTebbuttHT

SWFC police updates
@SWFC_Police

SUFC news
@ShefUtdNews

Humbugs of Greenhill
@humbugsofgreenh

Lez Sheffield – a guide for girls who love girls in Sheffield and their friends
@LezSheffield

Fanoush Falafel
@FanoushFalafel

Bishops house
@BishopsHouse

Into Professional
@IntoPro

Get Active Hallam University
@HallamGetActive

All Wired communications and security
@AllWiredUK

ARC: antique retro chic
@ARCSheffield

Bigfoot Digital
@BigfootDigital

Tie the Knot wedding goodies
@TieTheKnotUK

MyWhey supplements
@mywheystore

Peach Practice facial aesthetic treatments
@peachpractice

Red Rock band
@ThisRedRockBand

Creator Hair
@CreatorHai

Small Massive Theatre
@smallmassive

Phil Hirst garden designer
@PhilHirst3

Sheffield University Minecraft Society
@ShefMineSoc

One2one Defence
@One2OneDefence

Real Time Web Solutions
@RealTimeWebSol

Coats For Cachi charity
@CoatsForCachi

Sheffield United Community Ladies FC
@SUComLadiesFC

Bumps Sheffield
@Bumps_Sheffield

Bubble Beech
@BubbleBeechLtd

Snap It Map It
@SnapItMapIt

SIL Solutions
@SILSolutions

Stocksbridge Leisure Centre
@SILSolutions

SKINN
@SKIN_network

The Rattlers band
@TheRattlers1

Hello Sheffield student image project
@HelloSheffield

Better You
@BetterYou_Ltd

Sheffield University Cycling Club
@UniSheffieldCC

Green Directions
@GreenSheffield

Hunters Barasaur
@HuntersBarasaur

Port of Sheffield
@PortOfSheffield

Cineworld Sheffield
@cinesheff

Cutting Edge events
@CuttingEdge11

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
@SheffChildrens

Atomic Fireworks
@BestFireworksUK

Simurq Aeronautics
@SimurqAero

Alan Drabble driving instructor
@AlanDrabbleSOM

Green Spirit hydroponic equipment
@ukhydroponics

Omnia Offices
@OmniaOffices

Rumblebird music
@Rumblebirdmusic

Devonshire Arms
@Chefsatthedev

Buxton + Buxton Sharrow vale road
@BuxtonandBuxton

Gamestation Meadowhall
@GSMeadowhall

University of Sheffield REF team
@SheffieldREF

Breast Cancer Care Sheffield
@BCCare_UpNorth

Sheffield University estates
@efm_online

Sheffield Hallam Business School
@SBSHallam

Sheffield students
@SheffStudents

Rocket and Spade
@RocketandSpade

Las Iguanas
@LasIguanasWest1

Platform 2012 performing arts festival
@Platform2012

Sheffield 24 polish community site
@Sheffield24

River Commons
@RiverCommons

All About Nothing student radio
@AAN_ForgeRadio

Dorkbot Sheffield
@dorkbotsheff

Otto actors
@OttoActors

Fea_si_ble offers
@fea_si_ble

Ace Janitorial
@AceJanitorial

Sheffield Gazelles business support group
@SheffGazelles

Teach First Sheffield
@TeachFirstSheff

Look Local Stocksbridge
@Look_Local

Sheffield Cycle Chic
@sheffcyclechic

Restyle solar
@ReStyleSolar

Sheffield Labour students
@SheffLabStudnts

ABC Personnel
@ABCPersonnelLtd

St Dunstans art
@StDunstansArt

Don’t feed the bears tshirts and accessories
@dntfeedthebears

Molly Rouge fashion studio
@mollyrouge

The Angel, Killamarsh
@AngelKillamarsh

Sheffield SIFE geography
@SIFE_GEOGSOC

The Umbrella Company
@TheUmbrellaCoUK

Helen’s Trust
@helenstrust

Entreprenurs bootcamp
@ECBootcamp

Energy Initiative
@NRGInitiative

Sheffield University Liberal Democrat society
@LibYouthSheff

Diffusion Media
@DiffusionMedia

The Pack Horse pub and King Mojo club feature in new book

Sheffield is a world-famous music city, but where are the iconic music locations?

A new book called Rock Atlas features the stories behind 650 music locations. The publisher has let us post two of the Sheffield locations on here.

Arctic Monkeys’ champagne chart rundown at The Pack Horse

The Pack Horse pub in High Green is where the Arctic Monkeys, and as many of their fans who could squeeze in with them, first heard the news they had made their chart debut at No.1.

On a Sunday in October 2005, requesting the landlord to switch on the chart rundown on the pub radio, the band settled down to toast their success at whichever point I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor entered the Top 40.

The noisy gathering were not disappointed. As Monkey Alex Turner recalled when talking to Mojo magazine, “I think the Sugababes had a big tune out the same week and we just thought, “There’s no way this is gonna happen. It’s great if we even got Top 10.” And then they played the Sugababes tune at No.2 and everyone cheered. People were jumping on pool tables, and it were all champagne and nonsense.”

Soul and Hendrix at Stringfellow’s Mojo

Soul music’s Sixties popularity coincided with the opening of a new club catering for the very American style of music in a quiet road north of the city centre.

The Mojo club (or King Mojo) was situated in a Victorian bow-window-fronted house run by local youngster Peter Stringfellow, who later became the internationally famous celebrity night-club owner. Stringfellow and his two brothers would advertise a records-only night once a week and hype up the playlist in the local paper.

When hosting live acts, the place boasted Edwin Starr’s first UK appearance and attracted the cream of US soul and R&B to this innovative new venture, which made its debut in 1964. Soon attracting a dedicated and enthusiastic mod clientele, the Mojo hosted The Who, The Kinks and The Small Faces at the out-of-town address in Pitsmoor Road.

Much like Liverpool’s Casbah Club, this residential road venue was decorated inside with pop art wall murals and posters, and when the psychedelic era arrived Stringfellow switched the musical emphasis, renaming the place The Beautiful King Mojo.

Shortly after booking Jimi Hendrix, who was the subject of a botched drugs raid by the local constabulary, the club closed in February 1967 when some neighbours campaigned against the noise and nuisance caused by a hugely exciting venture in a rather inappropriate suburban location.

This year’s results

Last night the 2011 Eat Sheffield awards took place in the Winter garden and St Paul’s Mercure hotel. The winners were:

The Eat Sheffield Restaurant of the Year
The Devonshire Arms

Green and sustainable award
The Milestone

Newcomer
The Wig and Pen

Sheffield food hero
Ed Andrews from Our Cow Molly

Food outlet
Street Food Chef

Family outing
Endcliffe park cafe

Traditional pub
The York

Gasto pub
The Devonshire Arms

Asian/oriental
Hui Wei

Indian
Aagrah

Italian
Nonnas

European
La Mama

British
Silversmiths

Cafe
Fusion

What do you think, are these winners deserving of their awards? Or was your favourite restaurant, pub or cafe overlooked?

There’s more about the Eat Sheffield awards in this news release from Sheffield Hallam university and you can see some more pictures from last night on the @eatSheffield Twitter feed.

Parking for motorists and cyclists

A free iOS app has just been launched that shows the closest car parks, number of blue badge bays and cycle parking available round the city.

The app by Chris Mainprize displays your location on the map to help you find the nearest place to park.

It doesn’t currently give you a live update of how many spaces are available in each parking area, but if like me you tend to stick with the same two or three car parks in town regardless of where you’re heading, it could be useful.

Park Up S1 in iTunes

Can you help make the ideas happen?

Last month the winner of the Forgotten Spaces competition was announced.

Guiding Lights, designed by Chris Paterson, brings to life Frog Walk, between Stalker Lees Road off Ecclesall Road and Sharrow, with animated avatars and an LED screen.

Although Forgotten Spaces was originally all about ideas, the organisers are wanting to explore the possibility of making some of the entries a reality:

We want to start a city-wide dialogue about how these ideas could be turned into real-life projects. If anyone has any suggestions about to move these projects on and get them to contact Gerry Togher on g.togher@shu.ac.uk. It would be great to think we can get a kind of forum going where people can come together to discuss some potentially really exciting projects.

So if you have any thoughts about how this could happen, or are simply inspired by the project and are keen to see how the ideas could become a reality, get in touch with Gerry.