The Steel City, Sheffield plays home to almost 600,000 people – and almost 2 million in the larger metropolitan area. Yet how much do you really know about the city? We uncover some facts you may not have had heard of; but they’re perfect for bringing up in conversation when you need the upper hand on local geographic knowledge! Read on…
The city earnt the nickname “The Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire”
Historically, Sheffield City Council has been primarily ruled by the Labour party and a left-leaning, socialist local government. In the 1980s, extremely leftist rulers gained it this nickname before the council was taken over by the Liberal Democrats… before leaning back to Labour!
Sheffield has more trees per person than any city in Europe!
The city is estimated to contain over two million trees, and won the 2005 Entente Florale competition. There’s over 170 woodlands in Sheffield, 78 public parks, 10 public gardens and 52 square miles of national park. How very green!
The city runs on recycled energy
Sheffield runs a ‘District Energy System’ that uses the city’s domestic waste to produce thermal energy; by incinerating it and converting it to electricity and hot water. 25 miles of water pipes under the city distribute this to buildings throughout it. 225,000 tonnes of waste ever year generates 19 megawatts of electrical energy and 60 megawatts of thermal energy.
Rotherham United used to play in Sheffield rather than Rotherham
Whilst Sheffield is home two of its own football clubs, Rotherham United played in the city’s Don Valley Stadium for a full four years due to a dispute at its own ground with its landlord! The team didn’t change their name for their temporary home but instead moved back in 2012, to the newly built New York Stadium for sports.
Sheffield may be the home of synth-pop
Given the number of students in the city, it’s no surprise that many bands and artists hail from Sheffield, but a notable amount of synth-pop and EDM groups do! The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Heaven 17, ABC and Clock DVA all started in Sheffield… alongside other genre groups such as Def Leppard, Arctic Monkeys and Pulp.
The Best British Kashmiri Curry can be found in the city
The British Curry Awards recently awarded Aagrah, a Kashmiri curry house, the ‘Best Restaurant Group in the UK’ gong, meaning you can enjoy an award-winning meal without venturing out of the city centre.
Christmas Carol Singing take places at pubs
In what is thought to be a unique festive tradition, Sheffield Christmas carollers sing exclusively at pubs. Pre-dating modern carols by over a century, traditional songs of yesteryear are still sung and many are unique ditties to the city itself. You won’t find them sung anywhere else – or at any other time of year. Carollers are even sometimes accompanied by brass bands!
So how many of these did you know, and how many would you like to learn more on? Time to visit Sheffield and find out more!