All posts tagged castle market

Castle market in Sheffield will not be listed

Does this pave the way for excavated Sheffield castle ruins and park? Or just Leeds-style crap office blocks?

This morning it was announced that the Minister for tourism and heritage has decided not to list Castle market building.

This news means that in theory the major stumbling block to the Castlegate part of the 2008 city centre masterplan has been removed.

The masterplan outlined a vision for the excavation of Sheffield castle ruins, which are under the present market building, and the creation of a park in the vicinity. This would be an important part of of the regeneration of the Castlegate and Victoria quays area.

The debate about whether or not it should be listed has gone on for a few months now. Some people see the old markets as a eyesore in an already run down area and would be glad to see it gone.

Others see the 1960s building as an example of what makes Sheffield different to other northern cities. They argue that it is a unique place where working class people come to shop that has been neglected over the years, which should be kept in the heart of the city.

On the radio tonight a councillor said that archaeologists would be given time to investigate the ruins of the castle to see what can be made of them. But in a recession is it possible that the masterplan proposals would never be realised anyway?

The author of the blog posts linked to above, Owen Hatherley, has said in reaction to the announcement that the remains of the market are dull and that ‘there will be no park, just a wasteland that will eventually be filled, in the extremely unlikely event the economy picks up, with Leeds-style crap office blocks.’

What do you think? Should we demolish the market building now it will not be listed and hope that the masterplan comes to fruition? Or does it have a social value and architectural merit that we need to retain?

4 Comments
by Sheffield blog on 21 December, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in blogs, city centre masterplan, council, development, history, markets, regeneration, sheffield
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Posted by Sheffield blog on 21 December, 2010

http://sheffieldblog.com/2010/12/21/castle-market-in-sheffield-will-not-be-listed/

Sheffield streets by Amy Allison

A musical tribute from a Long island girl based in New york

Jim Buck left a comment on this blog earlier about Amy Allison, a Long island girl who used to live in Sheffield. The title track from her forthcoming album is this love song to the city called Sheffield streets:

And to quote directly from the information on the YouTube video page on monstersoftheid’s channel:

Back in the early 1980s, there used to be a pub in Sheffield called Woodstock diner. It was set out like an American diner, but of course the waitresses spoke with local accents – all except one: she not only looked straight out of a Woody Allen movie, but talked like it too. It turned out that her name was Amy Allison, and she had left Long island to live in Sheffield with her husband (I found that out when I met them both at an evening class).

Much to my surprise, Amy loved living in Sheffield! She adored Castle market; the Kashmir, on Spital hill; the Leadmill; and, of course, the beautiful suburbs and their framing countryside.

Most of all. Amy loved the friendliness of Sheffielders, so much so that when her husband wanted to move back to work in New york, she did her best to persuade him to stay. Her efforts were unsuccessful, and the couple returned to the US at the end of 1983.

A couple of months ago, I looked her up on Facebook; obviously, there were a lot of Amy Allisons to filter through; but I found her her eventually. Amy was really pleased to hear from me, because she had just recorded a new CD; it is called Sheffield streets. The title song is a love song to the city of Sheffield.

It is a great story and amazing to think that after 26 years away from Sheffield her fond memories are still vivid enough to inspire this touching tribute. Hearing all the local references sung in an Amy’s American accent over an alt-country backing is also quite cool.

The Woodstock diner is of course now the Prince of Wales pub in Ecclesall. I wonder if she ever served me up a knickerbocker glory on one of our Sunday lunchtime family visits?

Amy’s official website and MySpace page feature more of her music.

1 Comment
by Sheffield blog on 31 May, 2009  •  Permalink
Posted in arts, bands, ecclesall road, history, music, photos, sheffield
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Posted by Sheffield blog on 31 May, 2009

http://sheffieldblog.com/2009/05/31/sheffield-streets-by-amy-allison/

Architectural tour of Sheffield

‘Sheffield just doesn’t seem to know how good it actually is’

People reading this blog who aren’t on Twitter may have missed the link posted at the end of last week to a great article on the Building Design website.

The author, Owen Hatherly, took a walk around the city for the magazine’s Urban trawl feature and the resulting article and follow-up blog post are well worth a read.

Eyebrows have been raised in the past in response to some of Sheffield’s planning decisions and buildings, however Owen recognises that our examples of post-war, modernist architecture are actually mostly better than what London has to offer.

Of course not everyone loves this style of building design, but reading his feature does make you look again at some of the city’s well-known landmark structures with a new appreciation.

Castle market is described as ‘a shopping centre with a weirdness and individuality that puts all the Arndales to shame’; the Manpower services building at Moorfoot and Jefferson Sheard’s electricity substation are ‘thrillingly paranoid Cold War megastructures’; and Park hill is labelled as ‘one of the great buildings of the century, anywhere – a truly astonishing architectural achievement’.

He also picks up on one of the reasons why local people have such affection for Sheffield: whichever way you look, the charming haphazard sprawl of the city is nearly always neatly framed by the beautiful surrounding countryside, which is only minutes away.

And his advice for ensuring that Sheffield remains such a unique place? We need to concentrate less on trying to be like everywhere else and spend more time celebrating the individuality of the city and its distinctive collection of buildings. With Sevenstone in the pipeline and Urban splash attempting a delicate balancing act with Park hill, this will no doubt prove quite a challenge.

Caption by Paolo Màrgari - paolomargari.it, used under the Creative Commons licence

Park hill: 'one of the great buildings of the century, anywhere - a truly astonishing architectural achievement'. Photo by Paolo Màrgari - paolomargari.it, used under the Creative Commons licence

6 Comments
by Sheffield blog on 20 May, 2009  •  Permalink
Posted in architecture, city centre masterplan, council, design, development, environment, history, magazines, planning, regeneration, sheffield, shopping, white elephants
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Posted by Sheffield blog on 20 May, 2009

http://sheffieldblog.com/2009/05/20/architectural-tour-of-sheffield/

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