Event - Campaign to reuse mill gets kickstart (Millhouses)

A CAMPAIGN to bring a historic mill site back to life kicks off with a traditional event this weekend.

The fight to restore the 1,000-year-old building in Millhouses Park, Millhouses, Sheffield, is being led by the park’s Friends group.

On Saturday campaigners are hosting a Wassail – usually celebrated on the 12th night of Christmas – with a quiz, auction, carols and hot food in nearby pub The Waggon and Horses.

Money raised will help bring the building back into use.

Organiser Jane Bradley said: “The idea behind the Wassail was the fact that the traditional festival dates back to Anglo Saxon times around 1,000 years ago and that a mill has been on the Millhouses site for around the same time, so it seemed quite fitting to tie the two together.”

Millhouses was named after the old corn mill, which was first fuelled by water from the River Sheaf.

The Friends of Millhouses Park are working with Sheffield Council on the project and nearly £130,000 has been secured so far.

Work has already started on the small building to make it secure after a four-year battle to save it from destruction.

But another £9,000 needs to be raised to make it weatherproof and so it can eventually be used by the community.

John Brighton, Friends’ secretary, said: “These buildings have huge historical significance and we have fought tirelessly to save them from being knocked down.

“We hope we can bring these buildings back to life and start the next part of their history in Millhouses.”

Tickets cost £5 each or £15 for a family ticket and are on sale from The Waggon and Horses or Perfectly Dressed on Abbeydale Road.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/campaign-to-reuse-mill-gets-kickstart-1-5268941

Book - Sheffield’s Shocking Past: The Twentieth Century

A BOOK has been released about shocking incidents from Sheffield’s past.


It is called Sheffield’s Shocking Past: The Twentieth Century, and was written by local historians Chris Hobbs and Matthew Bell.

It is the follow up to a similar tome by the pair which focused on the Victorian period.

Included are tales about a killer cat from Millhouses, death by scalding at Heeley Baths, and the city’s earliest motor accidents.

Chris, 58, of Crookes, said: “It’s a bit ghastly but there seems to be a real appetite for this kind of thing.”

Matthew, 50, of Heeley, added: “People are fascinated by a little historic death and disaster.”

Here The Diary presents some of the best - or should that be worst? - extracts...

Hillsborough crush, 1934:
The record attendance at Hillsborough was on February 17 1934 for Wednesday’s FA Cup tie against Manchester City. But tragedy struck when a fan was crushed to death in the Leppings Lane end.

The Manchester Guardian reported five of George Hill’s ribs were broken. It said: “The inquest jury said more crush-barriers ought to be erected at the ground. A mounted policeman who had several years experience said he had never seen a crowd behave in such a manner. Several people near the railings were screaming for assistance.”

The city’s first motor tragedy, 1907:

Three people died in Sheffield’s first motor accident on August 25, 1907.

The Manchester Guardian reported: “A terrible accident occurred in Manchester Road, near Sheffield. A motor charabanc, conveying a party organised by the proprietor of a Sheffield hotel, was returning from Derbyshire, and all went well until Moscar Top was reached. Here...one of the wheels caught a telegraph pole. The char-a-banc was swung around into a stone wall with a fearful impact and overturned.”

The dead were five-year-old William Ernest Harrison, the son of a stoker at Sheffield Corporation; Benjamin Handley, 33, a bricklayer of Boston Street; and Hugh Fearn, 37, a clerk of Abbeydale Road.

Death by Cat, 1904:
Domestic butler William Ranger, of Millhouses Lane, was 63 when, in March 1904, he was scratched on his arm by his Persian cat.

The Manchester Guardian reported: “A few days afterwards there was severe pain and swelling near the elbow, and a doctor was summoned. A month after the accident the doctor found the patient livid and struggling for breath. There was no improvement after that time and he died.”

The book, published by city firm ACM Retro on November 14, is available for pre-order from The Star.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/the-diary/the-diary-shocking-sheffield-1-5120272

News - Nick sees pupils’ prehistoric project (Millhouses)

SHEFFIELD Hallam MP Nick Clegg was given an insight into a prehistoric project at a city school which has seen the creation of a replica Iron Age round house.


The Lib Dem leader was at St Wilfrid’s RC Primary in Millhouses to officially open the house, constructed with the help of volunteers from Heeley City Farm and Sheffield University.

The round house is already being used by youngsters as an outdoor classroom for their environmental studies - although currently lighting is an issue as the structure has no windows!

“We’re looking at installing small solar-powered lights so the atmosphere of the round house is maintained,” said headteacher Barbara Jarrett.

“The work was only just completed before Nick arrived but he was very impressed with what he saw - he said they didn’t do things like this when he was at school.”

The Deputy Prime Minster also saw smelting work with a craftsman creating an iron hinge for the house’s door.

“It’s been a brilliant project and we are expanding our environmental work with our refurbished school pond and a forest school project,” Barbara added.

Every child in the school was involved in the building work - getting messy creating daub for the walls from clay, straw, water and sand.

The mixture was later spread on the woven willow walls by hand, with help from university archaeology students.

The building work began last February and tied in with classroom work on the whole Iron Age era.


Pupils also worked with heritage officers from Heeley City Farm and university lecturers on a host of activities, including handling genuine archaeological artefacts.

Youngsters also visited the Iron Age hill fort at Wincobank and harvested materials for the construction work.

Sheffield University lecturer Dr Roger Doonan said: “The pupils really enjoyed the project as it was fun but also formed part of an important research project with the work of the pupils contributing to our understanding of life in the Iron Age.

“Their enthusiasm and interest was incredibly impressive and I was asked questions by nine-year-old pupils which would not have been out of place at a professional conference.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/nick_sees_pupils_prehistoric_project_1_3811478