This former steel community decided to do it themselves

Dear readers — how do you pursue regeneration for the place you’re living in? If you’re lucky, you might live in a big city in the South, or a “Red Wall” seat where a new blue MP is under threat. But what if you live in a former steel making suburb of Sheffield where the red MP is doing pretty well, thank you very much?

Today we’re telling the story of one man’s years-long crusade to breathe new life into Heeley. Many obstacles were placed in his way — and it turns out you can’t take grants for granted — but via sheer bloody-minded persistence and local pride, Andy Jackson has done a hell of a job.

Yes — as is customary on a Thursday, we’ve paywalled it midway down. We have done this not to spite our readers, but because articles like these take time and effort to report thoroughly and we pay our writers via our paid members’ generous contributions. If you’ve been waiting for a sign from the universe to treat yourself to the gift of local journalism today, maybe this is it?

News round-up

🏰 The long-awaited planning application for the Castle site has been lodged with Sheffield City Council, and — touch wood — it looks very good. The Star reports that the plan includes a central route through the site from Castlegate to Waingate, a park along the bank of the River Sheaf, and a gatehouse courtyard and moat which will allow sections of the castle remains to be exposed. It also features a green area to reflect its past use as a bowling green in the 1700s, formal and informal play areas, and a “rampart vista”, intended to feel like standing on the castle wall, which will provide a dramatic view of the River Don below.

🏳️‍⚧️ A row has erupted over the planned appearance of Canadian cartoonist Sophie Labelle at Sheffield Central Library on Monday. Transwoman Labelle was due to speak at the venue about her new book Assigned Male as part of LGBT+ History Month. However, critics have alleged that some of her work is unsuitable for children and some in Sheffield have vowed to protest outside the building. A response from Sheffield City Council that has been shared on Twitter says they have considered the event from a professional safeguarding perspective and stand by their decision to go ahead with it.

🍻 A really good run down in Now Then about the highlights — and some of the lowlights — of Sheffield’s pub heritage. Expert Dave Pickersgill reveals that three of the oldest pubs in the city (The Grapes and The Dog and Partridge on Trippet Lane and Fagan’s on Broad Lane) originated over 200 years ago. He also says that the pubs with the best preserved interiors are The Bath Hotel in Broomhall and (my personal favourite) The Sheffield Tap. Details of where to buy Pickersgill’s latest Pub Heritage Walks booklet are also included in the piece.

Things to do

🏛️ On Friday, 24 February (11.30am-1pm), there is a rare chance to go behind the scenes of Sheffield Town Hall with the council’s heritage champion, Councillor Janet Ridler. The Town Hall is one of just five Grade I listed buildings in Sheffield, and you will get a tour of all the wonderful stonework, striking Italian marble, elegant mosaic floors and incredible ornate plaster ceilings of the city's premier civic building. The tour is free but booking is essential. Ticket holders should meet Janet at the main entrance to the Town Hall on Pinstone Street.

🦠 Beginning on Saturday (February 25) at the Millennium Gallery is Stories from the Pandemic, an exhibition about those we lost during Covid and the small acts of kindness which kept Sheffield going. Set in the rooms of a “lockdown home”, the exhibition presents an extensive range of stories through interactive exhibits in the house including the TV, a radio, coffee tables and pictures on the wall. These stories will form a lasting testimony and historical record of Covid’s impact on Sheffield. There will also be activities and workshops taking place at the exhibition throughout the 10 days it will be open. For a full list click here.

🪕 Don’t ask me why but I have a feeling that many of our readers might enjoy the folk-rock stylings of Fairport Convention. The legendary 56-year-old band have now released more than 50 albums, and founding member Simon Nicol brings his latest line-up to the Penistone Paramount on Saturday night (25 February). Tickets are £28 and doors will open at 7.30pm.

This former steel community decided to do it themselves

Let me tell you a story. It’s about a collapsing school, about homes and communities ripped out for an urban motorway, about inept government and bureaucracy, about long distance bike rides and urban climbing and a pub owned by ukulele players. It’s about a visionary community dealing with the collateral damage of an imploding Conservative government, once again. It’s about the Sheffield suburb of Heeley, which was once an old farming village overlooking the city. 

More than anything else, it’s a story about self-reliance. It’s a story about a local man, Andy Jackson, and how after years and years, he reached a frustrating conclusion. Not only can you not rely on the national government to regenerate a local community, it turns out, but you can’t rely on its local counterpart either. For better or for worse, Jackson would come to realise that there was only one clear way a community could secure regeneration: doing it themselves.