Cole Brothers has been listed. Great, right?

Good morning readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

It’s the news that everyone in Sheffield is talking about. Since it was revealed last week that the Cole Brothers building on Barker’s Pool was now Grade II-listed, it feels like almost everyone in the city has had their say, with most residents of the opinion that the decision by Historic England is a serious mistake. Today, we take a look at what the decision means (and also what it doesn’t mean) and how the building could be used in the future.

As well as that we also have a stunning picture of the riot of purple currently on display in the hills above Sheffield, news of a major cycling event and an editorial which says Sheffield should host the next Eurovision Song Contest!

Catch up and coming up

Our weekend read by Lucy Brownson looked at the long history of radical bookshops in Sheffield and how they fostered working-class activism. You can still read that piece here.

Last week we sent out two great newsletters to our 756 paying members. The first included a piece by me about Samuel Morgan Smith, an African-American Shakespearean actor who settled in Sheffield in the late-19th century. And the second included an important story by Dani Cole about the monkeypox vaccine rollout. An extract from that first piece is below:

A few days later, I go back to Sheffield General Cemetery to look for Samuel Morgan Smith’s grave. From Philadelphia to Sheffield, the “Black Tragedian” experienced a fair amount of tragedy in his life. But to up sticks and travel halfway around the world, before becoming a huge success on the British stage? Well, it feels like tragedy was only half the story.

This week we’ll send out two more including some analysis of the situation at Doncaster Sheffield Airport and another lovely feature about how girls are getting involved in Sheffield’s skateboarding scene. To get both of those and help fund a new way of doing journalism in Sheffield, please consider subscribing using the button below. It costs just £1.34 a week if you pay upfront for a year.

Editor’s appeal: We’ve been running The Tribune’s membership scheme now for just over a year, and it’s great that more than 750 if you are now signed up. However, if we are going to move on to the next stage and take on bigger stories and investigations, we need more members. If you can, please take out a monthly or yearly membership today and invest in the future of journalism. Thank you.

The big picture: Purple haze 💜

If you’ve ventured out into Peak District recently, you’ll know the heather this year is absolutely stunning. Many thanks to Zane Agapova for letting us use this amazing shot of the Hope Valley which she posted to Instagram over the weekend.

This week’s weather ⛈

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say low pressure gradually breaks down our heat with fresher weather for midweek. After an early downpour risk, our weather dries up with high pressure never too far away.

Monday 🌦 Bright spells and scattered showers and thunderstorms developing — very hit and miss. A sticky day with highs of 28°C.

Tuesday ⛈ Showers and thunderstorms merging to longer spells of rain. Very humid with plenty of cloud and highs of 23°C.

Wednesday 🌥 Fresher with cloud breaking to bright spells. Breezy at times but much more bearable with highs of 21°C.

Thursday ⛅ Mainly dry and settled with bright or sunny spells and lighter winds. Low shower risk later; highs of 23°C.

Friday 🌦 Likely to be warmer but also the potential for showers from the west, assuming they don't fizzle out. Bright otherwise with highs of 24°C.

Outlook: High pressure likely to be the main player for next weekend with a lot of dry and bright weather likely. Temperatures at or a little above average for mid-August.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

The big story: Cole Brothers has been listed. Great, right?

Top line: The listing of the former Cole Brothers building on Barker’s Pool has provoked a torrent of comment. But what does the decision really mean?

What’s happened? Late last Wednesday night, Hallamshire Historic Buildings revealed that the building had been Grade II-listed by Historic England. The department store, which dates from 1963, has lain empty since John Lewis closed it last year.

• Grade II listing means Historic England thinks the building is of “special interest”. Grade II is the lowest level of listing (below Grade I and Grade II*). More than 90% of all listed buildings are Grade II, most of which are residential.
• In its citation, Historic England describe Cole Brothers as a “sophisticated building”. They add the department store uses an accomplished modernist design with strict geometry and proportionality to create a statement building.

Reaction: In the days since the news broke, seemingly everyone in the city has weighed in on the news, with most people of the opinion that Historic England’s decision was the wrong one. The Star’s front page thundered that the listing was “ludicrous”, while MPs Paul Blomfield and Clive Betts claimed it would end up costing the council millions of pounds. Much of the criticism stems from the building’s perceived ugliness, but buildings aren’t listed on aesthetic grounds alone.

No such thing as can’t: A common misconception is that listing means nothing can happen to the building — but this simply isn’t true. Listed buildings are changed all the time and some even get demolished.

• The old Jessops hospital (1878) on Broad Lane was Grade II-listed but was largely demolished by the University of Sheffield to make way for its Diamond engineering building.
• Similarly, the Grade II*-listed Park Hill flats were stripped back to the concrete frame by Urban Splash. There is no reason why the same thing couldn’t happen to Cole Brothers.

Retrofit first: A campaign by progressive architects that calls for buildings to be reused is gaining ground. Given that 39% of global carbon emissions come from building and construction, they say reusing buildings should always now be prioritised over demolition. A proposal for reuse from last year by University of Sheffield academic Tom Hunt and architect Adam Park would see Cole Brothers become a mixture of residential, retail and cultural space. Others have suggested that the building could be redeveloped into a much-needed new home for the Graves Gallery and central library, as well as a new performance space.

Our take: The arguments some have deployed against the listing of Cole Brothers sound depressingly similar to those which have been trotted out about Park Hill and Castle House over the last 20 years. But both of those buildings have gone on to be hugely successful redevelopment projects because of their heritage value and not in spite of it. Ultimately, too many people still see listing as a problem to be overcome rather than an asset that can be a major driver of economic development. This, added to the urgent need to reduce the carbon emissions generated by new construction, makes Historic England’s decision the right one.

Home of the week 🏡

This two-bedroomed detached former file cutters cottage in Oughtibridge dates back to the 1840s and commands stunning views over the Don Valley. It is on the market for £300,000.

Our favourite reads 📚

‘We are seeing a complete implosion’ 🚌 An excellent piece in The Independent about how cuts to bus services are impacting people’s lives. The paper speaks to passengers in Sheffield about the impact of the cuts which will see one third of services disappear this year, including one woman who gave up after waiting half an hour for a bus which didn’t arrive. He also speaks to Councillor Tom Hunt who is leading a campaign against the cuts in his Walkley ward.

Songs from the Steel City 🎤 Sheffield was last week named as one of seven UK cities in the running to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest (this year’s winner Ukraine can’t do it because of the ongoing war). Now, an editorial in The Times suggests we have the best claim of all the cities on the shortlist. As well as our enviable musical heritage, the editorial notes the city’s long-standing links with Ukraine as a result of being twinned with Donetsk.

A look at the University of Sheffield’s post-war architecture 🏢 A nice piece by poetry and non-fiction writer, mentor and education consultant Helen Angell about modernist architecture at the University of Sheffield. Much attention is showered on the iconic Arts Tower, but Angell picks out two more modern marvels including the “elegant, black lacquered jewellery box” that is Western Bank Library and the hexagonal Geography department.

Jurassic Park comes to Hillsborough 🦕

Congratulations to the Yorkshire Natural History Museum which opened for the first time on Saturday. Visitors were queuing down the street before the ribbon was cut by Doncaster palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax (using a baryonyx claw!). The museum is the brainchild of dinosaur expert James Hogg and is based at the former Admiral steel works on Holme Lane.

Things to do 📆 

Cycling 🚴‍♀️ Next Sunday, August 21, another mass cycle ride event will take place in Sheffield. Hoping to build on the huge success of the “drum and bass mass ride” which took place in June, event organisers are calling for cycling to be made easier and safer in the city. The ride will set off from Tudor Square at 2pm before travelling to Millhouses Park via the Sheaf Valley cycle route. Participants are asked to bring party wear, whistles and sound systems.

Music 🎸 Thanks to Our Favourite Places for flagging up a gig on Wednesday, 16 August at the The Foundry by Mdou Moctar. I knew nothing of the Nigerien guitarist but the description of him as “the Hendrix of the Sahara” piqued my interest. Dismissive of the term “world music”, he plays a fusion of psychedelia, desert rock and folk music to create “his own form of magic”. Moctar’s latest album, Afrique Victime, has received widespread critical acclaim.

Event 🥧 The Leadmill will next Saturday, August 20 host an evening of conversation and entertainment with Sheffield artist Pete McKee in aid of the charity Support Dogs. Hosted by Paulette Edwards, Pete will discuss his Sheffield upbringing and how this shaped the content of his work. There will also be a drawing masterclass, the chance to own a special one-off piece of Pete’s work and a pie and pea supper. Tickets are priced £26 per person.

All aboard! 🚌

We love this picture of a vintage Sheffield bus sign which was shared with us by James Hargreaves from the excellent Sheffield Guide website. “Ever wondered how long an original bus destination blind is,” he asks. Well, now you know.