Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England.

According to the 2008 census, its population is approximately 534,500. It is also very active due to its large student community (it has several universities) and its commerce.

It is one of the few cities with a national park on the outskirts, known as the Peak District. Its name derives from the River Sheaf that runs through the city.

As a curiosity, it should be noted that the film The Full Monty was filmed in the city and that artists such as Def Leppard, Arctic Monkeys, Moloko, Pulp, The Human League, Bring Me The Horizon, While She Sleeps, Milburn, Heaven 17, Joe Cocker and Reverend and the Makers.

It is also home to some of English soccer's historic clubs, such as Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, including the oldest soccer club in the world, Sheffield FC, and the oldest soccer stadium, Sandygate Road, Hallam Football Club.

History

The area known as Sheffield City had been inhabited since at least the last ice age, but the settlements that formed Sheffield date from the second half of the first millennium, and were of Anglo-Saxon and Danelaw origin. Anglo-Saxons the Sheffield area extended its border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells how King Eanred of Northumbria was subdued by King Egbert of Wessex in the village of Dore (present-day suburb of Sheffield) in 829. This act made Egbert the first Saxon to claim to be King of all England. After the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to control local settlements, and the small town became the nucleus of present-day Sheffield.

In 1296, a market was established in what is now Castle Square. Sheffield subsequently grew as a small market town. In the 14th century Sheffield was famous for the production of knives, as mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales. In 1600 it became the main center for cutlery production in England, overseen by the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire.

Map of Sheffield in 1832

In the 1740s, the process for making crucible steel was perfected, which made it possible to obtain a better quality of steel. Almost at the same time, a technique was developed that allowed a thin sheet of silver to be cast on a copper ingot, the resulting material being known as Sheffield plate. These innovations stimulated the growth of Sheffield as an industrial city. However, the loss of some important export markets led to a recession in the late 18th century and early XIX. The resulting poor conditions culminated in a cholera epidemic that killed 402 people in 1832. The Industrial Revolution saw Sheffield's population increase rapidly throughout the century XIX. Thanks to this Sheffield was incorporated as a borough in 1843 and consecrated with the title of city in 1893.

The large influx of people required better water supplies, so new reservoirs were built near the city. The collapse of the wall of one of these reservoirs in 1864 led to the Great Sheffield Flood, which killed 270 people and devastated large parts of the city. The growing population also led to the construction of large numbers of suburbs, which, together with severe pollution from factories, inspired George Orwell, to write in 1937: "Sheffield, I suppose, that could claim just to be the dirtiest city in the Old World".

A recession in the 1930s was only an interruption, caused by increasing international tension such as the looming war (World War II). Sheffield's steel mills were put to work, making weapons and munitions for war. As a result, once war was declared, the city became a bombing target. The heaviest attack occurred on the nights of December 12 and 15, 1940 (now known as the Sheffield Blitz), when more than 660 lives were lost and numerous buildings were destroyed.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the neighborhoods were demolished and replaced with new housing. Also several parts of the city were cleared to make a new road system. Increased automation and competition from abroad results in the closure of many steel plants. In the 1980s many of Sheffield's industries (as did many others in the UK) collapsed. Between the years 1984 and 1985, the miners' strike affected coal mining in the east and north-east of Sheffield, although it is unlikely to have had a major impact on the city's economy. The construction of the Meadowhall shopping center on the site of a former steel mill in 1990 was both a good situation and a bad one. Good due to the creation of jobs, but the negative was that this construction marked the rapid decline of the city center. Attempts to regenerate the city began in 1991 when it hosted the Universiade, this meant the creation of new sports facilities such as Arena Sheffield, Don Valley Stadium and the Ponds Forge complex.

Today the city is changing rapidly as new projects aim to regenerate some of the most dismantled parts of the city. One of those projects is the Heart of the City Project. 1998, the inauguration of the Millennium Galleries building in April 2001, in addition to the Winter Gardens, which were inaugurated on May 22, 2003. To unite these last two areas, the Millennium Square was created, completed in May 2006 Other projects included redeveloping Sheaf Plaza, located across from the recently restructured train station. The new square contains a sculpture called The Cutting Edge, designed by Si Applied Ltd. and made of steel from the same city.

Government and politics

Sheffield Municipal House.

Sheffield is governed by the elected members of the Sheffield City Council, an institution founded in 1843. This council has been largely controlled by the Labor Party. However, there was a brief period of Liberal Democrat control between 1999 and 2002. It is made up of 84 councillors. The city also has a mayor. In the past the "Office of the Mayor" had considerable authority, and carried with it executive powers over the finances and affairs of the city council. Currently it only fulfills a ceremonial role.

In 2004-2005 the City Council's budget of £1.229 billion was distributed as follows:

• Education, 33%
• Housing, 25%
• Social Services, 17 %
• Other services, 11 %
• Roads, transport and planning, 6 %
• Leisure and tourism, 5%
• Collection and disposal of garbage, 2 %
• Environmental Health, 1 %

Geography

Sheffield location in South Yorkshire County.

Sheffield is located at the geographic coordinates 53°23' N and 1°28' O. To the north it borders the metropolitan municipality of Barnsley; the southern and western border is shared with Derbyshire - in the first half of the 20th century Sheffield extended its boundaries to the south into Derbyshire, thus annexing some villages, including Totley, Dore and Mosborough; while to the west of the city is the Peak District National Park and the Pennine Ranges.

Sheffield is a geographically diverse city. The city sits in a natural amphitheater created by several hills and the confluence of five rivers: the Don, Haz, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter. Most of the city is built on the slopes, with views to the center of the city or to the countryside. The lowest point of the city is 10 meters above sea level, while some parts of the city are above 500 m. However, 89% of the houses are between 100 and 200 meters above sea level.

With an estimated total of over two million trees, Sheffield has more trees per person than any other city in Europe.^{[citation needed]} It has more of 170 forests - cover an area of 28.27 km² -, 78 public parks - cover 18.30 km² - and 10 public gardens. Added to the 134.66 km² of national park and 10.87 km² of water, this means that 61% of the city is green space.

Sheffield also has a very wide variety of habitats, compared to any other city in the UK: urban, parkland and woodland, agricultural and arable land, moorland, meadows and freshwater habitats. Large parts of the city are designated as sites of special scientific interest, including several urban areas.

The present city limits were established in 1974 (with a slight modification in 1994) when the former county borough of Sheffield was merged with the urban district of Stocksbridge and two parishes of the rural district of Wortley. This area includes a significant part of the surrounding countryside of the main urban region. About a third of Sheffield is in the Peak District National Park (no other English city includes parts of a national park within its boundaries). Sheffield often boasts of being the greenest city in Europe, a claim that was reinforced when it won the Entente Florale competition in 2005.

Panorama of the city from Meersbrook Park.

Climate

Like the rest of the UK, the climate in Sheffield is generally temperate. Between 1971 and 2000 Sheffield averaged 824.7mm of precipitation per year; December being the rainiest month (91.9 mm) and July the driest (51.0 mm). The average maximum annual mean temperature is 12 °C, and the mean annual minimum temperature corresponds to 6.5 °C. The warmest month is July, with an average maximum temperature of 20.8 °C and the months of January and February, with an average minimum of 1.6 °C.

Average weather parameters of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	13.9	17.6	23.3	24.8	28.2	30.7	33.3	34.3	28.4	25.7	17.6	17.6	34.3
Average temperature (°C)	6.8	7.1	9.8	12.5	16.1	18.8	21.1	20.6	17.7	13.5	9.5	6.9	13.4
Average temperature (°C)	4.4	4.4	6.6	8.7	11.8	14.7	16.9	16.5	14.0	10.5	7.0	4.6	10.0
Temp. medium (°C)	1.9	1.7	3.3	4.8	7.5	10.5	12.7	12.4	10.3	7.5	4.5	2.3	6.6
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-9.2	-8.3	-8.3	-6.6	-0.7	1.4	3.9	4.2	1.9	-4.1	-7.2	-9.1	-9.2
Total precipitation (mm)	83.4	60.4	63.4	65.5	53.8	75.6	56.0	65.3	63.8	81.2	79.4	86.7	834.6
Rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm)	13.4	10.5	12.3	10.3	9.6	9.1	9.2	9.9	8.9	12.7	12.6	13.0	131.6
Hours of sun	45.2	68.3	111.9	144.0	190.9	179.5	199.5	185.0	136.2	90.7	53.7	40.0	1444.9
Source No. 1: Met Office
Source No. 2: KNMI

Subdivisions

Sheffield is made up of numerous neighborhoods and suburbs, many of which developed out of towns or villages that were annexed to Sheffield as it grew. These historic areas are largely ignored by the city's modern administration and political divisions; instead it is divided into 28 constituencies. Each district generally encompasses 4 to 6 zones.

Demographics

At the 2001 UK census, the ethnic composition of Sheffield's population was 91.2% White, 4.6% Asian, 1.8% Black, and 1.6% mixed. Sheffield's population also has a large presence of people from Poland, Somalia, Slovakia, Yemen and Albania. In terms of religion, 68.6% of the population are Christians and 4.6% Muslims. Other religions make up less than 1%. The number of people without a religion is above the national average at 17.9%, with 7.8% not indicating their religion. Marital results indicated a single (never married) population of 139,603 people, 197,754 married one or more times, 40,329 divorced or separated, and finally 37,579 widowed. The largest quinary group is the 20-24 age group. years of age (9.4%), mainly due to the large university population, over 45,000 inhabitants. The active population corresponds to 208,251 people, 15,637 of these inhabitants being unemployed.

Population growth

Sheffield's population peaked in 1951 at a record 577,050 and has been in steady decline ever since.

Sports

It pays tribute to the victims of the tragedy of Hillsborough, located outside the Hillsborough Stadium.

Sheffield has a long sporting heritage. In 1857 a group of cricketers formed the first official football club, Sheffield F.C., and by 1860 there were 15 football clubs in the city. There are currently only two clubs in the English Football League, Sheffield United (playing in the Premier League) and Sheffield Wednesday (playing in the Football League Championship), both of which were also formed from cricket clubs. Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., the latter also formed from a cricket club, are the two oldest teams in the world. In addition, Hallam F.C. it still plays on the oldest football ground in the world, located near the suburb of Crosspool. Sporting duels between Sheffield and Hallam have been known as the Sheffield derby, while matches between United and Wednesday are known as the Steel City derby.

In April 1989, tragedy struck the city when 96 Liverpool FC fans were crushed to death at Hillsborough Stadium.

Sheffield also has close ties to snooker, with the city's Crucible Theatre hosting the World Snooker Championship. The English Squash Open is held here every year. The International Open Bowls tournament is held at Ponds Forge, an international sports center. The city is also home to the Sheffield Eagles (Rugby League), Sheffield Tigers RUFC (Rugby), Sheffield Sharks (basketball), Sheffield Steelers (ice hockey) and Speedway's Sheffield Tigers team. Sheffield is home to 2004 Superbike champion James Toseland and rock climber Joe Simpson. Former athlete Sebastian Coe grew up in the town and began his career as a member of the Hallamshire Harriers there. The captain of the English cricket team, Michael Vaughan, also lived in the town. Multiple world cup downhill mountain bike champion Steve Peates is also from Sheffield, having been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Sheffield Hallam University in recognition of his sporting career.

Many of Sheffield's sporting facilities were built for the University Games, which the city hosted in 1991. These facilities include the Don Valley International Athletic Stadium, which is the largest athletics stadium in the UK, with a capacity of 25,000, the Hallam FM Arena and Ponds Forge, an international diving and swimming complex, where Olympic medalist Leon Taylor trained. There are also facilities for climbing, golf and bowling. On the other hand, in 2003 IceSheffield, an ice skating arena, was inaugurated. Sheffield Ski Village is the largest artificial ski resort in Europe. Sheffield was the UK's first national sport city and is currently the home of the English Institute of Sport (English Institute of Sport).

Culture

7.2% of Sheffield's workforce is employed in the creative industries, well above the national average of 4%. Open Up Sheffield is an annual event held during the first two weekends in May where local visual artists and fine craft workers invite the public into their studios and beyond.

Music

National Center for popular music.

Sheffield has been home to well-known bands and musicians, with an exceptionally large number of electronic and synth pop ensembles. These include: The Human League, Heaven 17, Thompson Twins, Wavestar and others more inclined to industrial music like Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA. This electronic tradition has continued in part with the help of the record company Warp Records, which was the mainstay of some groups like Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass in the early 1990s. Moloko, one of the leading exponents of intelligent dance music, also was formed in Sheffield. In this city there was also Gatecrasher One, one of the most popular nightclubs in the north of England, which was demolished in 2007 after structural damage suffered from a fire on June 18 of that same year.

Sheffield has also seen the birth of Pulp, Ishabella Hudson, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, The Longpigs and improvisers Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. Winners of the 1998 Mercury Prize, Gomez are also connected to the city, as some of the founding members of the group studied at Sheffield's Hallam University.

The city is also the home of producer/songwriter Eliot Kennedy, who has worked with the likes of Bryan Adams, the Spice Girls, S Club 7, the Five, Delta Goodrem, and Lovers Electric.

The band Arctic Monkeys are especially notable for their heavy use of a characteristic Sheffield accent in their songs. Hailing from the High Green neighbourhood, their lyrics are often written in a Yorkshire dialect and contain references to local venues such as Rotherham, Hunter's Bar, Hillsborough and Shiregreen. They are one of several indie bands that emerged from the city as part of the New Yorkshire movement.

Like the band Arctic Monkeys, it also comes from Sheffield Bring Me The Horizon, another band of great recognition worldwide, belonging to the metalcore genre. This pair of bands are the pride of the Sheffield community for their great achievements. Within the BMTH scene is While She Sleeps, a hardcore band.

The city's ties to music were recognized in 1999, when the National Center for Popular Music, a museum dedicated to the subject of popular music, was inaugurated. It was not as successful as expected, however it later evolved and became a suitable venue for live music.

Education

University of Sheffield

Sheffield has two universities, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. Both bring some 45,000 students to the city each year, including many from the Far East. As a result of its large student population, Sheffield has many bars, cafes, clubs and shops as well as student housing to accommodate students.

Sheffield has two other institutes of higher learning. Sheffield College was originally created from the merger of six colleges around the city, but is reduced to four main centres, these being:

• Castle College, located in the city centre.
• Hillsborough College, who replaced Loxley College and Parson Cross College in Stannington.
• Crystal Peaks, located on the outskirts of the city.
• Norton College, which includes the Peaks Centre.

Each of these institutes function as a semi-autonomous component of Sheffield College. In 2004 the other institution of higher education, Longley Park Sixth Form College, opened its doors and is administered by the Local Education Authority. The city also has 141 primary schools and 23 secondary schools.

Twinned cities

Sheffield is formally twinned with:

• An-shan (China)
• Bochum (Germany)
• Donetsk (Ukraine)
• Estelí (Nicaragua)

It is also informally linked to Kawasaki in Japan, Kitwe in Zambia, and Pittsburgh in the United States. Sheffield has also had close ties to Poland, ever since Polish soldiers fought alongside British forces during World War II. As a result, a Polish consulate was opened in the city in 1997, the first new Polish consulate to open in the UK in over sixty years.

Notable people