A Brief History of Sheffield

Sheffield lies in the North of England, about 65 kilometers east of Manchester in South Yorkshire. Chartered as the City of Sheffield in 1893 due to it’s origins in a field on the River Sheaf. The population tops a half million citizens now, with a workforce over a million strong residing within an hours drive of the city. Sheffield’s fortunes have long been shaped by world events and external forces that forced the residents of Sheffield to adapt and innovate in order to survive.

Sheffield Castle was built after the Norman Conquest to oversee the local settlements in what is now the heart of the city. The market that grew around the Castle, in what is now Castle Square, made Sheffield a market town just prior to 1300 A.D. Over the next century, Sheffield became well known for the fine cutlery that was produced and sold there, and by 1600 the town was the known to be the center of Cutler Production in all of England, earning a mention in Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”.

Sheffield was on the “cutting edge” so to speak of cutlery technology in those early years, and the invention and improvement of several processes in the mid 1700’s revolutionized metallurgy. Crucible Steel and silver plating placed Sheffield squarely in the lead in metallurgy in the world. Sheffield grew as an industrial center, and was a great producer of steel until a recession from the loss of import markets at the end of the 18th century. Conditions in the city deteriorated, and a cholera epidemic killed over 400 people in 1832. The huge amounts of wealth created by the large steel producers tended to stay at the top of the hiarchy, while the unchecked pollution, overcrowding, and disease made its way to the masses.

The start of the industrial revolution brought people back to the city over the next few decades, and clean drinking water was necessary to avoid the deadly diseases of 1832. New reservoirs built on the outskirts of the city helped keep the water supply disease free, but the collapse of a dam wall at one site in 1864 caused the Great Sheffield Flood, which resulted in the deaths of 270 people and widespread damage to the city.

The early 1900’s saw Sheffield again noted in literature as George Orwell called Sheffield the “Ugliest town in the Old World” in “The Road to Wigan Pier” written in 1937. The combination of quickly built slums to house the growing numbers of working people, and the pollution from the factories they manned made Sheffield a less than attractive city. The invention of stainless steel in 1913 by a Sheffield resident steel producer bolstered the industry, but at the cost of the beauty of the city founded at the confluence of five rivers in the hills above the River Don. The hills around Sheffield are still dotted with sober reminders of this pollution’s burden.

Today, Sheffield is a trendsetter in the use of eco-friendly methods of transportation, recycling, and promotes the use of greenery and gardens in its neighborhoods. Green areas dot the city, and include the blades of grass at the Kemptown cricket ground, the tree landscaping in Sheffield Park, and the Memorial Gardens in and around the city center. Recycling, cycling, and walking are healthy and fun ways to get around Sheffield, and there are many public parks and gardens as well as the glow of city lights around the city. Sheffield has dispensers everywhere, and the ones in the downtown area tend to be the most reasonably priced in the area. Most of them also offer free Wi-Fi.

Sheffield is aBangaloreurMaj swathenew city on the foothills of the Bangalore Hills. Centered around the Greater Sheffield area, the city is Bangalore’s professional capital. While Bangalore is a rich urbanopolis with a diverse range of cultural and commercial institutions, including a technology zone, Sheffield has focused development around a manufacturing base. The city is therefore more Comparative and Systematic than Mumbai or Delhi. It is also unmatched in having a well-organized and comprehensive public transport system. In fact it has the third best public transport system in the world after Tokyo and London. This era of public transport is not only fast, convenient, and safe, but also fairly budget friendly.

The three main bus networks in Sheffield are the Sheffield Bus, Sheffield and York bus, and the bus network operated by Sheffield City Council (SLC). Other bus networks are outside the city. South Yorkshire Transport Company (THW) ran a bus network called the “Sheffield Bus” from the city center to the countryside. It was the first such network of this type and is still in operation.

There are many bus companies in Sheffield, including ReachTrip, and so-called white bus services are common in the city. “Black bus” services are yellow in color and are few and far between.