News - £2m boost for Sheffield heritage projects

STAFF at two historical attractions in Sheffield are celebrating after scooping £2 million in lottery cash to spend on improvements.


Sheffield Cathedral and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, which are each Grade I listed, have both been successful in applying for grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Both can now do major work to transform them into top attractions for the city.

Fiona Spiers, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “This investment is fantastic news for Sheffield - two of the city’s much-loved heritage sites awarded funding to improve their visitor experience and bring them alive for the next generation.

“A stunning cathedral, dating back to 1430, and an 18th-century steelworks, a rare time capsule from a bygone industrial age, will now offer exciting opportunities for people of all ages to get involved in the heritage on their doorstep.”

Sheffield Cathedral has been awarded £1.3 million on a new entrance, learning and exhibition space, learning activities for children and adults, training for staff and volunteers, lighting, signs and historical interpretation boards.

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, a former 18th-century steel works near Dore, will spend its £895,700 restoring the delicate waterwheels and machinery and creating a new heritage and learning centre as well as training programmes for volunteers.

The aim is to encourage the community to learn and pass on traditional millwright skills for future generations.

John Hamshere, Chief Executive of Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust which is responsible for the Hamlet, said: “This is great news and we are delighted the bid has been successful.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/2m-boost-for-sheffield-heritage-projects-1-4989065

News - Wheel joy as £1m project completed (Sheffield)

AN ANCIENT agricultural wheel that last turned about 80 years ago has been brought back to life thanks to a £1 million project.

Shepherd’s Wheel, Whiteley Woods, Sheffield, has reopened to the public after three years of restoration by dedicated volunteers.

It was used to sharpen agricultural tools, knives and scythes before Sheffield’s reputation as the home of steel was even thought of.

And now it is attracting crowds of history lovers and fascinated youngsters after opening as a small-scale museum at weekends.

Ann le Sage, chairman of the Friends of Porter Valley, said: “It is unbelievable to see the wheel working again.

“It was our first project, it was a big one for us, and we are happy we’ve managed to bring this bit of history back to life again.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life, it’s fantastic.

“Visitors have been saying how wonderful it is.”

The wheel is believed to date back at least 500 years. Water from a mill pond turns an outside wheel which works the machinery inside.

It was last used commercially in the 1930s, but after that it fell into disrepair.

The Friends group started working with Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust and Sheffield Council to raise the money needed and undertake complex restorations three years ago.

Half the money came from a Lottery grant and the rest was matched with fundraising or council cash.

Ann said: “Commercially, the wheel was last used in the 1930s.

“We had to build a new pond, that was the biggest job, with modern technology and specialists working on the machinery and there is an education centre there too.”

The wheel is staffed for tours at weekends, but the Friends are hoping more people will come forward to volunteer.

Ann said: “If anybody is interested in Sheffield history and would like to volunteer as a guide at weekends for a couple of hours we would love to hear from them.

To volunteer at the wheel call Ann le Sage on 07790 250087.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/wheel-joy-as-1m-project-completed-1-4431395

News - Pressure is mounting for clean-up of dam and park (Sheffield)

VOLUNTEERS are pressing for political support to spruce up one of the most popular parts of the Porter Valley in Sheffield.

Initial plans centre on desilting Forge Dam and repairing the dam walls, before improving the area around the cafe and improving the playground.

The project is being driven by the Friends of the Porter Valley, who are already steering the reopening of the Shepherd Wheel after a £1m fundraising campaign.

Increasingly, their attention is turning to Forge Dam. “About half a million people a year are going through the park and, according to our surveys, between a fifth and a quarter are from outside the immediate area,” said Ann le Sage, who chairs the Friends.

“It’s a park for Sheffield and at present it’s dreadful.”

Volunteers have spent hundreds of hours clearing scrub and saplings from surrounding woodland, but are looking for council support for the first part of a proposed programme to desilt the dam and to remove tree roots and strengthen the walls. The estimated cost is £360,000.

Ann said she understood the financial pressures on the council, but with the offer of volunteer help and the credibility of the Friends proven at Shepherd Wheel, she had high hopes.

Later it would be a case of securing funds, probably around £1m, from the likes of the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out the rest of the programme.

Ann added: “There is a lot of thinking to do once we get answers from the council. With goodwill and hard work, we should be able to make it.”

A masterplan, backed by the Friends and the council’s south west community assembly, was drawn up after a public consultation exercise.

The dam was cleaned about 20 years ago and long before that it was used for boating. “When we did the consultation, I lost count of the number of people who said they had been on a boat on the dam. We are not planning to go down that route, although we are not ruling it out.”

Ambitions include trying to prevent further desilting of the dam by working with landowners upstream, and the possibility of a small hydro power scheme, for education purposes as well for generating electricity for the cafe.

The Friends are aiming to have Shepherd Wheel back in action as a visitor attraction this year after raising £500,000 themselves and with £500,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

It will be run by Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, which already operates Kelham Island Industrial Museum and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.

From: http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/pressure_is_mounting_for_clean_up_of_dam_and_park_1_4135845

Event - Steamy celebrations at hamlet (Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet Museum)

Families and steam enthusiasts will be able to enjoy more than just hot air this weekend when Sheffield’s Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet Museum hosts its annual Steam Gathering.

The two-day celebration of all things steam will feature a collection of steam-powered machines including steam rollers, traction engines, and road locomotives.

Niki Connolly, events and marketing officer at Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said: “Thousands of visitors are expected over the weekend and we hope families and steam enthusiasts from Sheffield and beyond will come and join us in the celebrations.”

Miniature steam engine The Kelham Island Flyer – usually housed at Kelham Island Museum – will make a guest appearance when the hamlet comes to life with the sights, sounds and smells of a working steam engine.

There will also be living history characters in costume, demonstrations of forging, iron smelting, arts and crafts, plus live music.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/steamy_celebrations_at_hamlet_1_3818811

News - Grant award helps museum expansion (Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet)

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet has received a National Lottery grant to fund preparatory work towards a £900,000 project aiming to ‘transform’ the museum.

Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, which runs the site, off Abbeydale Road South, has been awarded £47,200 to help develop the plans, which involve creating a learning centre for educational visits, restoration of water wheels and construction of new workshops for use by modern-day metalworkers.

The trust is to apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund again later this year for the balance of the funding to make the scheme a reality.

Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust said the work would ‘transform’ the museum.

Trust chairman Alex Pettifer said: “We’re delighted the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support, it is a truly significant success for the trust.

“Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is a place of outstanding historical significance and it is important that we continue to preserve the site.

“Sheffield will be a much better place for the protection of the historical and industrial heritage of the city and how it helped place Sheffield on the world map.”

Fiona Spiers, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for Yorkshire and the Humber, added: “Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet provides a great insight into the industrial heritage that is synonymous with the local area. “We are pleased to give initial support to this worthwhile project.”

The museum incorporates numerous 18th and 19th century listed buildings and is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/grant_award_helps_museum_expansion_1_3815585

Wheel of history is turning once again (Sheffield)

SHEPHERD Wheel in the Porter Valley has rolled again for the first time in 16 years.

A reminder of Sheffield’s industrial history dating back to the 1600s, it has been repaired and given a test run as a community campaign to see it back in action for the benefit of schools and other visitors nears its end.

The Friends of the Porter Valley, who have been working on the project with the council, are aiming to see the wheel and its two grinding workshops open to the public again early next year.

The building at the bottom of Bingham Park will be run by Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, which already operates Kelham Island Museum and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.

Experts and volunteers will explain the history and how knives, scythes and scissors were made next to the River Porter. The building still contains complete sets of machinery for cutlery production.

Now that repairs have been carried out to the wheel and machinery and the dam has been rebuilt, an education centre and toilets are next to be built.

Teams from SIMT, Friends of the Porter Valley, the council and York Archaeology Trust are designing education and visitor programmes and there will be a celebratory opening. Before then, the Friends will hold a volunteer clean-up day clearing the scrub along the dam path.

“I am afraid the wheel is not going to turn again for several weeks because the reconstruction work has turned the mill into something of a building site again,” said Ann le Sage, who chairs the Friends. “But it will certainly turn again in 2012.”

Shepherd Wheel is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the city’s only remaining example of the early small-scale industry that was prevalent in the 1600s and 1700s.

It ceased commercial operation in the 1930s. A restoration project in the 1960s allowed it to open to the public at weekends but eventually the council ran out of money and the condition of the whole complex began to deteriorate.

Restoration is on the back of £500,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with another £500,000 being raised by the Friends through fundraising and grants.

“We are very grateful to the people who have given us money,” said Ann. “There are people who have admired this place for years, but have not seen it function for at least 20 years. It is such a neat collection of small workshops and so evocative of a past age.

“It is so intimate you can imagine the grinders working here and dying in miserable circumstances at an early age. It’s a history that is fascinating for children.”

From: http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/wheel_of_history_is_turning_once_again_1_3755225

News - Solar project for museum (Kelham Island)

A COMMUNITY body has paid to install a series of solar panels on a museum in Sheffield.

The energy saving devices have been put on the roof of Kelham Island Museum in an effort to help reduce its carbon footprint.

The museum trust was awarded a climate change grant to look at the impact of the solar panels being used to pre-heat the water tank for the boiler of the mighty 12,000hp River Don Engine, the most powerful working steam engine in the world.

Sheffield Council’s central community assembly voted to pay for the £5,000 project.

John Hamshere, chief executive of the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said: “We asked ourselves how can you make a piece of Edwardian engineering more sustainable? This engine was obviously not designed with energy efficiency in mind!

“This grant enabled us to do just that in an innovative way and has been extremely worthwhile in enabling us to show that the solar panels are effective.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/green-scene/solar_project_for_museum_1_3275050