A Brief History of Sheffield

Sheffield lies in the North of England, about 65day. Rebuilding the city after the war was a
kilometers east of Manchester in South Yorkshire.success, not only clearing the slums, but investing
Chartered as the City of Sheffield in 1893 due toin infrastructure and park areas to beautify the
its origins in a field on the River Sheaf. Thecity, and roads to get people to work at the steel
population tops a half million citizens now, with amills. Sheffield was awash with prosperity during
workforce over a million strong residing within anthe years following World War II. Steel for
hours drive of the city. Sheffields fortunes havereconstruction was needed all over Europe,
long been shaped by world events and externalRussia, Japan, the South Pacific and many other
forces that forced the residents of Sheffield toareas.
adapt and innovate in order to survive.Rebuilding Industry in Germany, and Japan was a
Sheffield Castle was built after the Normandouble edge sword, as the steel for their rebuilding
Conquest to oversee the local settlements inmeant busy steel mills around the world. The end
what is now the heart of the city. The marketresult was that as industry labored to keep up
that grew around the Castle, in what is nowrebuilding German and Japanese industry, it did not
Castle Square, made Sheffield a market townkeep up with the automation, and process
just prior to 1300 A.D. Over the next century,improvement systems that would soon drive
Sheffield became well known for the fine cutlerymany of them out of business, not allowing them
that was produced and sold there, and by 1600to compete against the factories they helped
the town was the known to be the center ofbuild.
Cutler Production in all of England, earning aThe late 1970s and 1980s saw Steel mills that
mention in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales.could not compete close down throwing
Sheffield was on the cutting edge so to speak ofthousands into unemployment. A mid 80s miners
cutlery technology in those early years, and thestrike did not help matters either, and the
invention and improvement of several processesindustrial backbone of Sheffield was snapped.
in the mid 1700s revolutionized metallurgy. CrucibleAgain noted, not so much in literature, but in a
Steel and silver plating placed Sheffield squarely inmovie, The Full Monty chronicled some young and
the lead in metallurgy in the world. Sheffield grewnot so young Sheffield residents who were force
as an industrial center, and was a great producerto change occupations as when their long and
of steel until a recession from the loss of importhopeless job searches were not panning out.
markets at the end of the 18th century.The movie itself was not only hilarious, but
Conditions in the city deteriorated, and a choleraintriguing because the money brought into the
epidemic killed over 400 people in 1832. The hugecities economy when a movie is shot there is
amounts of wealth created by the large steelexactly the type of economic boost former
producers tended to stay at the top of theindustrial centers require when moving from a
hiarchy, while the unchecked pollution,manufacturing economy to a service economy.
overcrowding, and disease made its way to theOther movies with Sheffield roots were: Threads,
masses.When Saturday Comes, F.I.S.T., and Whatever
The start of the industrial revolution broughtHappened to Harold Smith. Sheffield has also
people back to the city over the next fewproduced its share of entertainers. Actors like
decades, and clean drinking water was necessarySean Bean whos recent credits include, Patriot
to avoid the deadly diseases of 1832. NewGames, National Treasure, and Flight Plan. David
reservoirs built on the outskirts of the city helpedBell starred in Cross-eyed Waltz and Thomas
keep the water supply disease free, but theCraig a former Sheffield Plummer with over 30
collapse of a dam wall at one site in 1864 causedtelevision credits on his resume.
the Great Sheffield Flood, which resulted in theSheffield is also fertile ground for musicians. Local
deaths of 270 people and widespread damage toacts that made it big include Pulp, The Artic
the city.Monkeys, Joe Cocker, the Long Pigs, and
The early 1900s saw Sheffield again noted in65daysofstatic. Sheffield is also the center of the
literature as George Orwell called Sheffield theYorkshire Hip Hop and R&B scenes. Talented local
Ugliest town in the Old World in The Road toacts like NoXcuse and Hoodz Underground are
Wigan Pier written in 1937. The combination oflocal headliners and celebrities in and around
quickly built slums to house the growing numbersSheffield.
of working people, and the pollution from theSheffield still supports industry, including steel,
factories they manned made Sheffield a less thanmining, and cutlery, but its economy is diversifying
attractive city. The invention of stainless steel inthe way many cities in the world are, trying to
1913 by a Sheffield resident steel producercompete in a global economy. Sheffield will not be
bolstered the industry, but at the cost of themistaken for Hawaii as a tourist spot anytime
beauty of the city founded at the confluence ofsoon, but they seem to be doing a lot of the right
five rivers. The hills around the city vary from 10things to create a competitive economy for the
to 500 meters above sea level forming a naturalcoming years. Often with industrial job loss,
amphitheater. By the end of the 1930s apoverty and blight soon follow, and the inherent
recession that paralleled The Great Depression inrise in crime draws people away from the cities
the U.S. had taken a toll on all industrial areas, andcenter.
Sheffield was no exception.Creativity, culture, tourism, sporting events, and
That recession was soon over as Europeanservice industries are ways to avoid economic
factories began gearing up for war. Sheffieldruin for a city in transition. Sheffield has all that, as
quickly regained its spot as a world class steelwell as great educational facilities that support
producer, making weapons and ammunition for45,000 university students. If used and marketed
the coming World War. The very same industrycorrectly that spells a bright future for the city of
that had made Sheffield prosperous during theSheffield. The fact that Sheffield is one of the
good times, also made it perilous during the badsafest cities in the U.K. according to government
times. World War II made Sheffield a vitalstatistics shows the typical problems with
weapons and munitions manufacturing center,economic transition have not affected the city.
which in turn made it a target for LuftwaffeManufacturing provides only 14% of the jobs
bombers. Three nights of air attacks known asnow, while service industry positions account for
the Sheffield Blitz, killed 660 and wounded another82%. Far behind are Health Care, and technology
1,500 residents. 40,000 others were left homelesssector jobs.
by the air raids as 3,000 homes were demolishedPlenty of attractions including National Park land
and another 3,000 severely damaged. All tollwithin the city boundaries help keep the educated
78,000 homes were damaged to some degree.university students from bolting upon graduation.
After the war, Sheffield continued as a majorThat in turn insures economic, and technological
player in the steel industry. Cutlery was still a bigimprovements for years to come, helping
industry in Sheffield. Over half of the worldsSheffield to be at the forefront of economic
surgical blades are produced in Sheffield to thisdevelopment for the future.