Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Sheffield shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Sheffield offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Sheffield at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Sheffield? Wrong! If the Sheffield is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Sheffield then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Sheffield? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Sheffield and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Sheffield wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Sheffield then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Sheffield site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Sheffield, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Sheffield, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{| class="infobox bordered" cellpadding="3" width="250"|+ style="font-size: larger;" | City of Sheffield|-| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background: white;"|
Shown within England], City status in the United Kingdom (1893)|-! |Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England| South Yorkshire| [South Yorkshire| [Yorkshire
(West Riding of Yorkshire)|-! Region| Yorkshire and the Humber| [England| [United Kingdom
- Total| [List of English districts by area1 E8 m² square kilometre|-! Admin HQ| Sheffield(Sheffield Town Hall)]| GB-SHF|-! ONS coding system| 00CG|-! British national grid reference system| |-! Coordinates| 53°23'09"N 1°28'10"W|-! Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 3| UKE32|-|colspan="2" style="background: #f0f0f0; font-weight: bolder;"|Demographics|-! style="font-weight: normal;" |Population:Total ()Density

/ km²|-! Ethnicity
([United Kingdom Census 2001)| 91.2% White British4.6% British Asian3.4% Black British or Mixed0.8% Chinese British or Other|-|colspan="2" style="background: #f0f0f0; font-weight: bolder;"|Politics|-|colspan="2" align="center"|Sheffield City Council
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/|-! Local government in England#Councils and councillors| Leader & Cabinet|-! Control| |}Sheffield is a large city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. It is so named because of its origins in a field on the River Sheaf that runs through the city.

The city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wide economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is estimated at 520,700 people (2005),The mid-2005 population estimate for the City of Sheffield was 520,700 according to the Office for National Statistics. It should be noted that this figure includes the whole area included in the city. Some population figures, for example those given at List of English cities by population use just the urban core of the city and therefore are lower. The Neighbourhood profiles given by the Sheffield Health Authority estimates the figure at 542,716. and it is one of the eight largest England#Geography cities outside London, which form the English Core Cities Group. The wider Sheffield Urban Area, which extends beyond the city proper, has a population of 640,720.

Historic counties of England part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Sheffield obtained world-wide recognition during the 19th century for its production of steel. Many innovations in the industry were developed locally, including crucible steel and stainless steel. This fuelled an almost tenfold increase in the population during the Industrial Revolution. It gained its Municipal charter in 1893 and became officially titled the City of Sheffield. International competition caused a decline in local industry during the 1970s and 1980s, and at the same time the nearby national coal industry collapsed, affecting Sheffield's population.

History The area that is now the City of Sheffield has been occupied since at least the last ice age, but the settlements that grew to form Sheffield date from the second half of the 1st millennium, and are of Anglo-Saxons and Danelaw origin. In Anglo-Saxon times the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Eanred of Northumbria of Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex of Wessex at the hamlet of Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield) in 829.In an entry dated 827 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states "Egbert led an army against the Northumbrians as far as Dore, where they met him, and offered terms of obedience and subjection, on the acceptance of which they returned home" ( transcription). Most sources (for example Vickers, Old Sheffield Town) state that the date given in the chronicle is incorrect, and that 829 is the more likely date for this event. This event made Egbert the first Saxon to claim to be king of all of England. After the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to control the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city.

By 1296 a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, Sheffield, and Sheffield subsequently grew into a small market town. In the 14th century Sheffield was already noted for the production of knives, as mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales,Geoffrey Chaucer in The Reeve's Prologue and Tale from his book The Canterbury Tales wrote: "Ther was no man, for peril, dorste hym touche. A Sheffeld thwitel baar he in his hose. Round was his face, and camus was his nose" and by 1600 it had become the main centre of cutlery production in England, overseen by Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. From 1570 to 1584 Mary I of Scotland was held as a prisoner in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor. of The Canterbury Tales

In the 1740s a form of the crucible steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been available. At about the same time a technique for fusing a thin sheet of silver onto a copper ingot to produce silver plating was invented and became widely known as Sheffield plate. These innovations spurred the growth of Sheffield as an industrial town. However, the loss of some important export markets led to a recession in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The resulting poor conditions culminated in a cholera epidemic that killed 402 people in 1832. The Industrial Revolution saw a resurgence of Sheffield through the 19th century. As a result of its growing population, the town was incorporated as a borough in 1842 and granted a City status in the United Kingdom in 1893. The influx of people also led to demand for better water supplies, and a number of new reservoirs were constructed on the outskirts of the town. The collapse of the dam wall of one of these reservoirs in 1864 resulted in Great Sheffield Flood, which killed 270 people and devastated large parts of the town. The growing population also led to the construction of a large number of back-to-back slums, which, along with severe pollution from the factories, inspired George Orwell, writing in 1937, to declare, "Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World".A recession in the 1930s was only halted by the increasing international tension as World War II loomed. The steel factories of Sheffield were set to work making weapons and ammunition for the war. As a result, once war was declared, the city became a target for bombing raids, the heaviest of which occurred over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940 (now known as the Sheffield Blitz). More than 660 lives were lost and numerous buildings were destroyed.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the slums were demolished and replaced with housing schemes such as the Park Hill, Sheffield. Large parts of the city centre were also cleared to make way for a new system of roads. Increased automation and competition from abroad resulted in the closure of many steel mills. The 1980s saw the worst of this run-down of Sheffield's industries (along with those of many other areas in the UK). The 1984/5 UK miners' strike (1984-1985) affected the coal mining areas to the east and north east of Sheffield, though it is unlikley to have had a major impact upon Sheffield's economy. The building of the Meadowhall shopping centre on the site of a former steelworks in 1990 was a mixed blessing, creating much needed jobs but speeding the decline of the city centre. Attempts to regenerate the city were kick-started when the city hosted the 1991 Universiade, which saw the construction of new sporting facilities such as the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium and the Ponds Forge complex.

The city is now changing rapidly as new projects aim to regenerate some of the more run-down parts of the city. One such project, the Heart of the City Project, has seen a number of public works in the city centre: the Sheffield Town Hall were renovated in 1998, the Millennium Galleries opened in April 2001, the Sheffield Winter Gardens were opened on 22 May 2003, and a public space to link these two areas, the Millennium Square, was opened in May 2006. Further developments included the remodeling of Sheaf Square in front of the recently refurbished railway station. The new square contains The Cutting Edge a sculpture designed by Si Applied Ltd made of Sheffield steel.

Governance The city currently returns six Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons, but this will be reduced to five at the next election as one constituency, Sheffield Hillsborough (UK Parliament constituency), will be abolished and merged with three other constituencies.

Sheffield is governed by the elected Sheffield City Council. For most of the council's history it has been controlled by the Labour Party (UK), and has historically been noted for its left-wing politics sympathies; during the 1980s administration under David Blunkett, the area earned the sarcastic and rather derogatory appellation "People's Republic of South Yorkshire" from the British Right. However, the Liberal Democrats controlled the Council briefly at the turn of the 21st century. There are 84 councillors; the current council leader is Jan Wilson. The city also has a Lord Mayor. In the past the Office of Mayor had considerable authority, and carried with it executive powers over the finances and affairs of the city council. Today it is simply a ceremonial role. The current (2007/08) Lord Mayor is Arthur Dunworth. During the United Kingdom local elections, 2007 the Labour Party lost the council to No overall control, with the Liberal Democrats gaining enough seats to make it a joint control council, one of 80 that year. The tacit support of the Green party ensured Labour remains in control.

The majority of council-owned facilities are now operated by independent charitable trusts. Sheffield International Venues runs many of the cities sporting and leisure facilities, including Sheffield Arena and Don Valley Stadium. Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust and the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust take care of galleries and museums owned by the council. These include the Millennium Galleries, Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield) and the Crucible Theatre.

International links Sheffield is formally twinned with Anshan in China, Bochum in Germany, Donetsk in Ukraine, and Esteli in Nicaragua. There are more informal links with Kawasaki, Kanagawa in Japan, Kitwe in Zambia, and Pittsburgh in the United States.Sheffield City Council: International Links (Accessed 19 September 2007) Sheffield has also had close links with Poland, since Polish ex-servicemen who had fought alongside British forces during the Second World War settled in the city. As a result a Polish consulate was opened in the City in 1997, the first new Polish consulate to open in the UK for over 60 years.

Geography Sheffield is located at . It lies directly beside Rotherham, from which it is separated by the M1 motorway. Although Barnsley (borough) also borders Sheffield to the north, the town itself is a few miles further away. The southern and western borders of the city are shared with Derbyshire; in the first half of the 20th century Sheffield extended its borders south into Derbyshire, annexing a number of villages, including Totley, Dore and the area now known as Mosborough Townships. Directly to the west of the city is the Peak District National Park and the Pennines hill range.

Sheffield is a geographically diverse city. The city nestles in a natural amphitheatre created by several hillsIt is often stated that Sheffield is built on seven hills (for an example see Sheffield Hallam University's guide to the city for new students). However, a study by J.G.Harston found there to be eight. and the confluence of five rivers: River Don, England, River Sheaf, River Rivelin, River Loxley and Porter Brook. As such, much of the city is built on hillsides with views into the city centre or out to the countryside. The city's lowest point is just above sea level, while some parts of the city are at over 500 metres (1,640 foot (unit of length)). However, 89% of the housing in the city is between 100 and 200 metres (330 & 660 ft) above sea level.

With an estimated total of over two million trees, Sheffield has more trees per person than any other city in Europe. It has over 170 woodlands (covering 28.27 km² / 10.9 mi²), 78 public parks (covering 18.30 km² / 7.1 mi²) and 10 public gardens. Added to the 134.66 km² (52 square mile) of national park and 10.87 km² (4.2 mi²) of water this means that 61% of the city is greenspace.

Sheffield also has a very wide variety of Habitat (ecology), comparing favourably with any city in the United Kingdom: urban, parkland and woodland, agricultural and arable land, moors, meadows and freshwater-based habitats. Large parts of the city are designated as SSSI including several urban areas.

The present city boundaries were set in 1974 (with slight modification in 1994), when the former county borough of Sheffield merged with Stocksbridge Urban District and two parishes from the Wortley Rural District. This area includes a significant part of the countryside surrounding the main urban region. Roughly a third of Sheffield lies in the Peak District National Park (no other English city includes parts of a national park within its boundary), and Sheffield often boasts of being Europe's greenest city, a claim that was reinforced when it won the 2005 Entente Florale competition. This was helped by the fact that Sheffield contains over 150 woodland spaces and 50 public parks.

Subdivisions Sheffield is made up of numerous suburbs and neighbourhoods, many of which developed from villages or hamlet (place) that were absorbed into Sheffield as the city grew. These historical areas are largely ignored by the modern administrative and political divisions of the city; instead it is divided into 28 electoral ward (politics)s, with each ward generally covering 4–6 areas. The electoral wards are grouped into six United Kingdom constituencies, although because of a different review cycle, the ward and constituency boundaries are currently not all conterminous. Sheffield is largely civil parish, but Bradfield, South Yorkshire and Ecclesfield have parish councils, and Stocksbridge has a town council.

Demography {| class="wikitable floatright" style="margin-left: 1em; width: 30em; font-size: 90%;"!colspan="4"|Sheffield Compared|-!United Kingdom Census 2001 || Sheffield || South Yorkshire ]. They are also colloquially known to people in the surrounding towns of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Chesterfield as "dee-dars" (which derives from their pronunciation of the "th" in the dialectal words "thee" and "thou"). Many Yorkshire dialect and accent words and aspects of pronunciation derive from old Norse due to the Viking influence in this region.

At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, the ethnic composition of Sheffield's population was 91.2% White, 4.6% Asian, 1.8% Black, and 1.6% mixed. Sheffield also has large Poland, Somalia, Slovakia, Yemen and Albanians populations. In terms of religion, 68.6% of the population are Christian and 4.6% Muslim. Other religions represent less than 1% each. The number of people without a religion is above the national average at 17.9%, with 7.8% not stating their religion. The largest quinary group is 20- to 24-year-olds (9.4%), mainly because of the large university population (45,000+).

Population change Below is a table outlining population change of the city since 1801. The total population of Sheffield peaked in 1951 at 577,050, and has since seen a steady decline. Recently the citys population has been growing however and the city has absorbed 12,500 new residents since 2001.

{| class="wikitable" style="clear:both;"!Year|1801|1851|1901|1921|1941|1951|1961|1971|1981|1991|2001|-!Population|60,095|161,475|451,195|543,336|569,884|577,050|574,915|572,794|530,844|528,708|513,234|-| colspan="14" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|Source: A Vision of Britain through Time|}

Economy {|class="infobox"! style="background:#ccccff" align="center" colspan=3|Labour Profile Data is taken from the ONS annual business inquiry employee analysis and refers to 2005|-||Total employee jobs||255,700|-||Full-time||168,000||65.7%|-||Part-time||87,700||34.3%|-||Manufacturing||31,800||12.4%|-||Construction||8,500||3.3%|-||Services||214,900||84.1%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Distribution, hotels & restaurants||58,800||23.0%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Transport & communications||14,200||5.5%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Finance, IT, other business activities||51,800||20.2%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Public admin, education & health||77,500||30.3%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Other services||12,700||5.0%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Tourism-related||18,400||7.2%|}

After many years of decline, the Sheffield economy is going through a strong revival. The 2004 Barclays Bank Financial Planning study revealed that, in 2003, the Sheffield district of Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency) was the highest ranking area outside London for overall wealth, the proportion of people earning over £60,000 a year standing at almost 12%. A survey by Knight Frank revealed that Sheffield was the fastest-growing city outside of London for office and residential space and rents during the second half of 2004. Some £250 million was also invested in the city during 2005. The Sheffield economy is worth £7.4 billion (2003 GVA). This can be seen by the current surge of redevelopments, including the St. Pauls Tower and accompanying St. Pauls Place, Velocity Living, and the Moor redevelopment, the forthcoming New Retail Quarter and the recently completed Sheffield Winter Gardens, Peace Gardens, Millennium Galleries, many project under the Sheffield One redevelopment agency.

Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making.There are numerous sources showing the international reputation of Sheffield for metallurgy, and in particular steel and cutlery manufacture. Some examples are: the Oxford English Dictionary, which begins its entry for Sheffield, "The name of a manufacturing city of Yorkshire, famous for cutlery"; and the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which in its entry for Sheffield states that by 1830 Sheffield had earned "recognition as the world centre of high-grade steel manufacture". David Hey in the preface to his 1997 book Mesters to Masters: A History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-828997-9) states "It (Sheffield) was known for its cutlery wares long before the incorporation of the Cutlers' Company in 1624, and long before it acquired an international reputation as the steel capital of the world." Many innovations in these fields have been made in Sheffield. Benjamin Huntsman discovered the crucible technique in the 1740s at his workshop in Handsworth, South Yorkshire. This process was made obsolete in 1856 by Henry Bessemer's invention of the Bessemer converter. Thomas Boulsover invented Sheffield Plate (silver-plated copper) in the early 18th century. Stainless steel was invented by Harry Brearley in 1912, and the work of Frederick Brian Pickering and T. Gladman throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s was fundamental to the development of modern high-strength low-alloy steels. Further innovations continue, with new advanced manufacturing technologies and techniques being developed on the Advanced Manufacturing Park by Sheffield's universities and other independent research organisations.Organisations currently located on the AMP include; the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC, a research partnership between The Boeing Company and The University of Sheffield), Castings Technology International (Cti) and TWI.

While iron and steel have long been the main industries of Sheffield, coal mining has also been a major industry, particularly in the outlying areas, and the Palace of Westminster in London was built using limestone from quarry in the nearby village of Anston. Other areas of employment include call centres, the City Council, universities and hospitals. Sheffield currently produces more steel per year than at any other time in its history. However, the industry is now less noticeable as it has become highly automated and employs far fewer staff than in the past.Sheffield is also a major retail centre, and home to many High Street and department stores as well as designer boutiques. The main city centre shopping areas are on The Moor precinct, Fargate, Orchard Square and the Devonshire Quarter. Department stores in Sheffield City centre include John Lewis Partnership, Marks and Spencer, Atkinsons, Castle House Co-op (supermarket), Debenhams and F. W. Woolworth Company . Sheffield's main market is the Castle Market, built above the remains of the castle. Shopping areas outside the city centre include the Meadowhall shopping centre and retail park, Ecclesall Road, London Road (Sheffield), Hillsborough, South Yorkshire and the Crystal Peaks shopping centre.

Sheffield has a District Energy system which exploits the city's domestic waste, converting it to electricity. It also provides hot water, which is distributed through over 40 km of pipes under the city, via two networks. These networks supply heat and hot water for many buildings throughout the city. These include not only cinemas, hospitals, shops, and offices, but also universities, residential propertieshttp://www.energy.rochester.edu/uk/sheffield/. Energy generated in a waste plant produces 36MW of thermal energy and up to 6.8MW electrical energy from 115,000 tonnes of waste. It is claimed http://www.greenenergy.co.uk/ab_facts.asp that for every 100,000MWh of energy supplied by district energy 31,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide is displaced and that for every 100,000MWh of useful energy delivered 154,000MWh of fossil fuel energy is displaced..

In a 2005 survey on spending potential, Meadowhall came 16th (third in out-of-town shopping centres behind Bluewater(7th) and The Trafford Centre(15th)) with £977 million while Sheffield city centre came 18th with £953 million. In a 2004 survey on the top retail destinations, Meadowhall was 20th while Sheffield was 35th.

Transport There are two main interchanges for all public transport modes (national and local rail, tram, local buses, coaches) at Meadowhall and in the Sheffield City Centre.

National and international travel Sheffield is linked into the national motorway network via the M1 motorway and M18 motorway motorways. The M1 skirts the north-east of the city, linking Sheffield with London to the south and Leeds to the north and crosses Tinsley Viaduct near Rotherham; the M18 branches from the M1 close to Sheffield, linking the city with Doncaster, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport and the Humber ports. The Sheffield Parkway connects the city centre with the motorways. The A57 road and A61 roads are the major trunk roads through Sheffield, linking Sheffield with Manchester, Worksop, Barnsley, and Chesterfield. Sheffield is an important hub in the national network of long-distance buses (coaches), and there are direct services from distant cities such as Plymouth and Edinburgh.

.The Midland Main Line Rail transport in Great Britain south from Sheffield links the city to the East Midlands and London: providing direct services to Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Bedford (the fastest train Sheffield to London is two hours). Also running through Sheffield is the main NE/SW cross-country line which links the East of Scotland and Northeast of England directly with West and South Yorkshire, the West Midlands, and the Southwest: providing direct services to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Darlington, York, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Taunton, and Exeter. Sheffield also lies on the line linking Liverpool and Manchester with Hull and East Anglia: providing direct services to Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Lincoln, Ely and Norwich. Sheffield also has good links with its neighbouring towns and cities, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. The main station for all these services is Sheffield Midland station on the south-eastern edge of the city centre. The station at Meadowhall Interchange serves all trains travelling northeast except the fastest. Passenger rail services through Sheffield are provided by Midland Mainline, Virgin Trains, Central Trains, TransPennine Express, and Northern Rail. UK rail network map (PDF) showing which train companies operate on each route. Provided by National Rail Enquiries (Accessed 28 December 2005)

The closest international airport to Sheffield is Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which is located 18 miles from the city centre. The airport opened on April 28 2005 and is served mainly by Low-cost carrier. It currently handles around one million passengers a year. Sheffield City Airport opened in 1997 but, due in part to its short runway and lack of radar, has been unable to capitalise on the boom in low cost air travel. Manchester Airport, Leeds Bradford International Airport and Nottingham East Midlands Airport all lie within a one hour's drive of the city. Manchester Airport is connected to Sheffield by South TransPennine every hour.

Local travel The A57 road and A61 roads are the major trunk roads through Sheffield. These run east-west and north-south, respectively, crossing in the city centre. Other major roads generally radiate spoke-like from the city centre. An inner ring road, mostly constructed in the 1970s and currently (2007) being extended to form a complete ring, Sheffield City Council, 19 September 2007 allows traffic to avoid the city centre, and an outer "ring road" runs to the east, near the edge of the city, but does not serve the western side of Sheffield.

The hilly topography of Sheffield and its former nature as a centre of industry rather than commerce meant that the city did not develop as extensive a suburban and inter-urban railway network as other comparable British cities. However, there are several busy local rail routes running along the city's valleys and beyond, connecting it with other parts of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. These local routes include the Penistone Line, the Dearne Valley Line, the Hope Valley Line, and the Hallam Line. As well as the main stations of Sheffield Midland station and Meadowhall Interchange, there are four suburban stations at Chapeltown railway station, Darnall railway station, Woodhouse railway station and Dore railway station. at Castle SquareThe light rail system Sheffield Supertram (Operated by Stagecoach Sheffield), opened in 1994, serves the city. Its network consists of three lines that run from the city centre out to Hillsborough, South Yorkshire, Halfway, South Yorkshire, and Meadowhall. Stagecoach Supertram:About Us (Accessed 28 December 2005)

A sizeable bus infrastructure operates from a main hub at Pond Street bus station. Other bus stations lie at Meadowhall and Hillsborough, South Yorkshire. A flurry of new operators were created after deregulation in 1986, Bus Privatisation in the United Kingdom World Bank though a series of mergers have reduced the number. First South Yorkshire, part of FirstGroup plc, is by far the largest bus operator, with Stagecoach Sheffield coming second, after they took over Yorkshire Terrier. In recent years a series of price rises and service cuts by both companies has seen bus ridership drop. Call for action to halt fall in bus passengers. Sheffield Star, 16 August 2005 Next stop in bus protest campaign. Sheffield Star, 31 January 2006

Although hilly, Sheffield is compact and has few major trunk roads running through it. It is on the Trans-Pennine Trail, a National Cycle Network route running from Southport in the north-west to Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and has a developing Strategic Cycle Network within the city. The Peak District National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty popular with both on- and off-road cyclists, is so close to Sheffield that part of the park lies within the city boundary, and there are green routes into the park almost from the city centre.

Sport Sheffield has a long sporting heritage. In 1857 a collective of cricketers formed the world's first-ever official Football (soccer) club, Sheffield F.C., and by 1860 there were 15 football clubs in Sheffield. There are now two local clubs in the English Football League teams and play in the Football League Championship: Sheffield United F.C. and Sheffield Wednesday F.C., both of which formed from cricket clubs, and two major non-league sides: Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., which also formed from cricket clubs. These are the two oldest club sides in the world and, in addition, Hallam F.C. still play at the world's oldest football ground near the suburb of Crosspool. Sheffield and Hallam contest what has become known as the Sheffield derby, whilst United and Wednesday contest the Steel City derby.

In April 1989, tragedy struck when 96 Liverpool FC fans died in a crush during their FA Cup semi final at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium.



Sheffield also has close ties with snooker, due to the fact that the city's Crucible Theatre is the venue for the World Snooker Championships. The English Squash (sport) open is also held there every year. The International Open Bowls tournament is held in Sheffield at Ponds Forge. Report on International Open bowls 2006

The city also boasts the Sheffield Eagles rugby league, Sheffield Tigers RUFC Rugby Union, Sheffield Sharks basketball, Sheffield Steelers ice hockey and Sheffield Tigers (Speedway) Motorcycle speedway teams. Sheffield is home to 2004 World Superbike champion James Toseland and of climber Joe Simpson (mountaineer). Former athlete and world record holder, Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe grew up in the city and began his career as a member of the Hallamshire Harriers. England captain Michael Vaughan also grew up in Sheffield.

Many of Sheffield's extensive sporting facilities were built for the Universiade, which the city hosted in 1991. They include the Don Valley Stadium which is the largest athletics stadium in the UK with a capacity of 25,000, Main page of Don Valley Stadium Hallam FM Arena, and Ponds Forge international diving and swimming complex, where Olympic Games medallist Leon Taylor trains. There are also facilities for golf, climbing and bowling, as well as a newly inaugurated (2003) national ice-skating arena (IceSheffield). The Sheffield Ski Village is the largest artificial ski resort in Europe, and is due to undergo a major expansion soon. The city also has three indoor climbing centres. Sheffield was the UK's first National City of Sport and is now home to the English Institute of Sport (EIS). Sheffield has taken a bid to either host the 2014 Commonwealth Games or the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Sheffield is home to Steve Peat who is a World Cup champion in Mountain Bike World Championships in 2002, 2004, 2006.

Culture and attractions from Park Square7.2% of Sheffield's working population are employed in the creative industries, well above the national average of 4%. Open Up Sheffield is an annual event over the first two weekends in May where local visual artists and fine craft workers invite the public to their studios and other venues.

Music Sheffield has been the home of several well-known bands and musicians, with an unusually large number of synth pop and other electronic music outfits hailing from there. These include the Human League, Heaven 17, ABC (band), the Thompson Twins, Wavestar, and the more Industrial music inclined Cabaret Voltaire (band) and Clock DVA. This electronic tradition has continued: techno music label Warp Records was a central pillar of the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene of the early 1990s, and has gone on to become one of Britain's oldest and best-loved dance music labels. Moloko and Autechre, one of the leading lights of so-called intelligent dance music, are also based in Sheffield. Current electronic music labels in the city include Dust Science Recordings and Audiobulb. The city has a number of nightclubs - Gatecrasher was one of the most popular nightclubs in the north of England until its destruction in a fire on 18 June 2007.

Current club nights include techno and breakbeat events such as Urban Gorilla, drum and bass event The Tuesday Club, Dubcentral (dub and reggae), Razor Stiletto, Headcharge (hard techno), Off The Rails, C90 (dubstep, techno and electronica), electro night Club Pony and Future Funk. There are many smaller nights such as Lights Down Low, Dirty Cheese, Rough Disko and Death By Shoes. The city is also the spiritual home of Gatecrasher.

Sheffield has also seen the birth of Pulp (band), Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, Richard Hawley, The Longpigs, Arctic Monkeys, The Long Blondes, Reverend and the Makers, Little Man Tate (Band) and the free improvisation Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. The highly influential post-punk group the Comsat Angels hail from Sheffield. 1998 Mercury Music Prize award winners Gomez (band) are also connected to Sheffield, as some of the founding members went to Sheffield University. Along with many other popular and alternative musicians, the city is the base for a well developed and thriving unsigned music scene.

The Arctic Monkeys are particularly notable for their heavy use of a Sheffield accent in their songs. Hailing from the High Green suburb, their lyrics are often written in a Yorkshire dialect and contain references to local places such as Rotherham, Hunter's Bar, Hillsborough,_South_Yorkshire and Shiregreen_and_Brightside. They were one of several Indie (music) bands to emerge from the city as part of the New Yorkshire movement.

The city's ties with music were acknowledged in 1999, when the National Centre for Popular Music, a museum dedicated to the subject of popular music, was opened. It was not as successful as was hoped, however, and later evolved to become a live music venue; then in February 2005, the unusual steel-covered building became the students' union for Sheffield Hallam University. Live music venues in the city include the Leadmill, Corporation (nightclub), the Boardwalk (nightclub),the Plug, the Sheffield City Hall, the University of Sheffield, the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre, and The Grapes (Sheffield).

Sheffield has a number of local orchestras including the Hallam Sinfonia, Sheffield Symphony Orchestra, the Sheffield Chamber Orchestra, the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. The city is also home to a strong brass band tradition, with bands associated with factories and villages.

Attractions See also: Visitor Attractions in Sheffield

Sheffield has two major theatres, the Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield) and the Crucible Theatre, which together with the smaller Studio Theatre make up the largest theatre complex outside London. Sheffield Theatres (accessed 26 December 2005) There are four major art gallery, including the modern Millennium Galleries and the Site Gallery, which specialises in multimedia. The Sheffield Walk of Fame in the Sheffield City Centre honours famous Sheffielders like the Hollywood version.The city also has a number of other attractions such as the Sheffield Winter Gardens and the Sheffield Town Hall#Sheffield Peace Gardens. The Sheffield Botanical Gardens recently underwent a £6.7-million-pound restoration. There is also a city farm at Heeley City Farm and a second animal collection in Graves Park#Parks and recreation that is open to the public. The city also has several museums, including the Weston Park Museum, the Kelham Island Museum, the Sheffield Fire and Police Museum, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and Shepherd Wheel. Victoria Quays is also a popular canal-side leisure and office quarter.

There are about Listed buildings in Sheffield (including the whole of the Sheffield postal district). Of these, only five are Grade I listed. 42 are Grade II*, the rest being Grade II listed. Compared with other English cities Sheffield has few Grade I buildings. Liverpool, for example, has Listed buildings in Liverpool listed buildings. This situation led the noted architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner, writing in 1959, to comment that the city was "architecturally a miserable disappointment" with no pre-19th century buildings of any distinction.Harman, R. & Minnis, J. (2004) Pevsner City Guides: Sheffield p3. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10585-1

The city has many parks such as Millhouses Park, Endcliffe Park and Graves Park.

Large parts of the city are designated as SSSI (areas of land which the British Government considers to be of special interest by virtue of its fauna, flora, geological or physiographical features) including several urban areas.

Media and film , located on the campus of the University of Sheffield

The films The Full Monty, Threads, When Saturday Comes (film) and Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? were based in the city. F.I.S.T. also included several scenes filmed in Sheffield. Besides the story of The History Boys is set in Sheffield at Cutler's Grammar School. Sheffield's daily newspaper is the Sheffield Star, complemented by the weekly Sheffield Telegraph. Sheffield also has many free publications such as Sandman, Exposed, Clunge and Radio Coma. The BBC's BBC Radio Sheffield and the independent Hallam FM and sister station Magic AM broadcast to the city. The Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the UK's leading documentary festival, has been run annually since 1994 at the Showroom Cinema. The annual Lovebytes digital arts festival takes place in Sheffield across a variety of venues. A song by The Clash (who played their first ever gig in Sheffield at the Black Swan - now known as The Boardwalk), titled "This Is England (song)" features the lyric: "This is England / This knife of Sheffield steel / This is England / This is how we feel." Sheffield hosted the Awards of the International Indian Film Academy in 2007 which was a big success and raised awareness of global warming by having an unconventional green carpet. Internationally recognised design agency The Designers Republic is based in Sheffield, as well as Universal Everything, Tado and Dust.

Education Sheffield has two universities, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. The two combined bring 55,000 students to the city every year, including many from the Far East. As a result of its large student population, Sheffield has many bars, cafes, clubs and shops as well as student housing to accommodate them.

Sheffield has two further education colleges. Sheffield College is organised on a collegiate basis and was originally created from the merger of six colleges around the city, since reduced to just four: Castle in the city centre, Hillsborough, Crystal Peaks on the outskirts and Norton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, each operating as semi-autonomous constituents of Sheffield College. Longley Park Sixth Form College, managed by the Local Education Authority opened in 2004.

There are also 141 Primary education and 27 Secondary education - of which seven have sixth forms - and seven private schools, most notably Birkdale School and the Sheffield High School (South Yorkshire) for Girls.

See also

• Largest European metropolitan areas
• Sheffield City Centre
• Listed buildings in Sheffield
{| class="infobox bordered" cellpadding="3" width="250"|+ style="font-size: larger;" | City of Sheffield|-| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background: white;"|
Shown within England], City status in the United Kingdom (1893)|-! |Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England| South Yorkshire| [South Yorkshire| [Yorkshire
(West Riding of Yorkshire)|-! Region| Yorkshire and the Humber| [England| [United Kingdom
- Total| [List of English districts by area1 E8 m² square kilometre|-! Admin HQ| Sheffield(Sheffield Town Hall)]| GB-SHF|-! ONS coding system| 00CG|-! British national grid reference system| |-! Coordinates| 53°23'09"N 1°28'10"W|-! Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 3| UKE32|-|colspan="2" style="background: #f0f0f0; font-weight: bolder;"|Demographics|-! style="font-weight: normal;" |Population:Total ()Density

/ km²|-! Ethnicity
([United Kingdom Census 2001)| 91.2% White British4.6% British Asian3.4% Black British or Mixed0.8% Chinese British or Other|-|colspan="2" style="background: #f0f0f0; font-weight: bolder;"|Politics|-|colspan="2" align="center"|Sheffield City Council
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/|-! Local government in England#Councils and councillors| Leader & Cabinet|-! Control| |}Sheffield is a large city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. It is so named because of its origins in a field on the River Sheaf that runs through the city.

The city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wide economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is estimated at 520,700 people (2005),The mid-2005 population estimate for the City of Sheffield was 520,700 according to the Office for National Statistics. It should be noted that this figure includes the whole area included in the city. Some population figures, for example those given at List of English cities by population use just the urban core of the city and therefore are lower. The Neighbourhood profiles given by the Sheffield Health Authority estimates the figure at 542,716. and it is one of the eight largest England#Geography cities outside London, which form the English Core Cities Group. The wider Sheffield Urban Area, which extends beyond the city proper, has a population of 640,720.

Historic counties of England part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Sheffield obtained world-wide recognition during the 19th century for its production of steel. Many innovations in the industry were developed locally, including crucible steel and stainless steel. This fuelled an almost tenfold increase in the population during the Industrial Revolution. It gained its Municipal charter in 1893 and became officially titled the City of Sheffield. International competition caused a decline in local industry during the 1970s and 1980s, and at the same time the nearby national coal industry collapsed, affecting Sheffield's population.

History The area that is now the City of Sheffield has been occupied since at least the last ice age, but the settlements that grew to form Sheffield date from the second half of the 1st millennium, and are of Anglo-Saxons and Danelaw origin. In Anglo-Saxon times the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Eanred of Northumbria of Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex of Wessex at the hamlet of Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield) in 829.In an entry dated 827 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states "Egbert led an army against the Northumbrians as far as Dore, where they met him, and offered terms of obedience and subjection, on the acceptance of which they returned home" ( transcription). Most sources (for example Vickers, Old Sheffield Town) state that the date given in the chronicle is incorrect, and that 829 is the more likely date for this event. This event made Egbert the first Saxon to claim to be king of all of England. After the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to control the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city.

By 1296 a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, Sheffield, and Sheffield subsequently grew into a small market town. In the 14th century Sheffield was already noted for the production of knives, as mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales,Geoffrey Chaucer in The Reeve's Prologue and Tale from his book The Canterbury Tales wrote: "Ther was no man, for peril, dorste hym touche. A Sheffeld thwitel baar he in his hose. Round was his face, and camus was his nose" and by 1600 it had become the main centre of cutlery production in England, overseen by Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. From 1570 to 1584 Mary I of Scotland was held as a prisoner in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor. of The Canterbury Tales

In the 1740s a form of the crucible steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been available. At about the same time a technique for fusing a thin sheet of silver onto a copper ingot to produce silver plating was invented and became widely known as Sheffield plate. These innovations spurred the growth of Sheffield as an industrial town. However, the loss of some important export markets led to a recession in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The resulting poor conditions culminated in a cholera epidemic that killed 402 people in 1832. The Industrial Revolution saw a resurgence of Sheffield through the 19th century. As a result of its growing population, the town was incorporated as a borough in 1842 and granted a City status in the United Kingdom in 1893. The influx of people also led to demand for better water supplies, and a number of new reservoirs were constructed on the outskirts of the town. The collapse of the dam wall of one of these reservoirs in 1864 resulted in Great Sheffield Flood, which killed 270 people and devastated large parts of the town. The growing population also led to the construction of a large number of back-to-back slums, which, along with severe pollution from the factories, inspired George Orwell, writing in 1937, to declare, "Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World".A recession in the 1930s was only halted by the increasing international tension as World War II loomed. The steel factories of Sheffield were set to work making weapons and ammunition for the war. As a result, once war was declared, the city became a target for bombing raids, the heaviest of which occurred over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940 (now known as the Sheffield Blitz). More than 660 lives were lost and numerous buildings were destroyed.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the slums were demolished and replaced with housing schemes such as the Park Hill, Sheffield. Large parts of the city centre were also cleared to make way for a new system of roads. Increased automation and competition from abroad resulted in the closure of many steel mills. The 1980s saw the worst of this run-down of Sheffield's industries (along with those of many other areas in the UK). The 1984/5 UK miners' strike (1984-1985) affected the coal mining areas to the east and north east of Sheffield, though it is unlikley to have had a major impact upon Sheffield's economy. The building of the Meadowhall shopping centre on the site of a former steelworks in 1990 was a mixed blessing, creating much needed jobs but speeding the decline of the city centre. Attempts to regenerate the city were kick-started when the city hosted the 1991 Universiade, which saw the construction of new sporting facilities such as the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium and the Ponds Forge complex.

The city is now changing rapidly as new projects aim to regenerate some of the more run-down parts of the city. One such project, the Heart of the City Project, has seen a number of public works in the city centre: the Sheffield Town Hall were renovated in 1998, the Millennium Galleries opened in April 2001, the Sheffield Winter Gardens were opened on 22 May 2003, and a public space to link these two areas, the Millennium Square, was opened in May 2006. Further developments included the remodeling of Sheaf Square in front of the recently refurbished railway station. The new square contains The Cutting Edge a sculpture designed by Si Applied Ltd made of Sheffield steel.

Governance The city currently returns six Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons, but this will be reduced to five at the next election as one constituency, Sheffield Hillsborough (UK Parliament constituency), will be abolished and merged with three other constituencies.

Sheffield is governed by the elected Sheffield City Council. For most of the council's history it has been controlled by the Labour Party (UK), and has historically been noted for its left-wing politics sympathies; during the 1980s administration under David Blunkett, the area earned the sarcastic and rather derogatory appellation "People's Republic of South Yorkshire" from the British Right. However, the Liberal Democrats controlled the Council briefly at the turn of the 21st century. There are 84 councillors; the current council leader is Jan Wilson. The city also has a Lord Mayor. In the past the Office of Mayor had considerable authority, and carried with it executive powers over the finances and affairs of the city council. Today it is simply a ceremonial role. The current (2007/08) Lord Mayor is Arthur Dunworth. During the United Kingdom local elections, 2007 the Labour Party lost the council to No overall control, with the Liberal Democrats gaining enough seats to make it a joint control council, one of 80 that year. The tacit support of the Green party ensured Labour remains in control.

The majority of council-owned facilities are now operated by independent charitable trusts. Sheffield International Venues runs many of the cities sporting and leisure facilities, including Sheffield Arena and Don Valley Stadium. Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust and the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust take care of galleries and museums owned by the council. These include the Millennium Galleries, Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield) and the Crucible Theatre.

International links Sheffield is formally twinned with Anshan in China, Bochum in Germany, Donetsk in Ukraine, and Esteli in Nicaragua. There are more informal links with Kawasaki, Kanagawa in Japan, Kitwe in Zambia, and Pittsburgh in the United States.Sheffield City Council: International Links (Accessed 19 September 2007) Sheffield has also had close links with Poland, since Polish ex-servicemen who had fought alongside British forces during the Second World War settled in the city. As a result a Polish consulate was opened in the City in 1997, the first new Polish consulate to open in the UK for over 60 years.

Geography Sheffield is located at . It lies directly beside Rotherham, from which it is separated by the M1 motorway. Although Barnsley (borough) also borders Sheffield to the north, the town itself is a few miles further away. The southern and western borders of the city are shared with Derbyshire; in the first half of the 20th century Sheffield extended its borders south into Derbyshire, annexing a number of villages, including Totley, Dore and the area now known as Mosborough Townships. Directly to the west of the city is the Peak District National Park and the Pennines hill range.

Sheffield is a geographically diverse city. The city nestles in a natural amphitheatre created by several hillsIt is often stated that Sheffield is built on seven hills (for an example see Sheffield Hallam University's guide to the city for new students). However, a study by J.G.Harston found there to be eight. and the confluence of five rivers: River Don, England, River Sheaf, River Rivelin, River Loxley and Porter Brook. As such, much of the city is built on hillsides with views into the city centre or out to the countryside. The city's lowest point is just above sea level, while some parts of the city are at over 500 metres (1,640 foot (unit of length)). However, 89% of the housing in the city is between 100 and 200 metres (330 & 660 ft) above sea level.

With an estimated total of over two million trees, Sheffield has more trees per person than any other city in Europe. It has over 170 woodlands (covering 28.27 km² / 10.9 mi²), 78 public parks (covering 18.30 km² / 7.1 mi²) and 10 public gardens. Added to the 134.66 km² (52 square mile) of national park and 10.87 km² (4.2 mi²) of water this means that 61% of the city is greenspace.

Sheffield also has a very wide variety of Habitat (ecology), comparing favourably with any city in the United Kingdom: urban, parkland and woodland, agricultural and arable land, moors, meadows and freshwater-based habitats. Large parts of the city are designated as SSSI including several urban areas.

The present city boundaries were set in 1974 (with slight modification in 1994), when the former county borough of Sheffield merged with Stocksbridge Urban District and two parishes from the Wortley Rural District. This area includes a significant part of the countryside surrounding the main urban region. Roughly a third of Sheffield lies in the Peak District National Park (no other English city includes parts of a national park within its boundary), and Sheffield often boasts of being Europe's greenest city, a claim that was reinforced when it won the 2005 Entente Florale competition. This was helped by the fact that Sheffield contains over 150 woodland spaces and 50 public parks.

Subdivisions Sheffield is made up of numerous suburbs and neighbourhoods, many of which developed from villages or hamlet (place) that were absorbed into Sheffield as the city grew. These historical areas are largely ignored by the modern administrative and political divisions of the city; instead it is divided into 28 electoral ward (politics)s, with each ward generally covering 4–6 areas. The electoral wards are grouped into six United Kingdom constituencies, although because of a different review cycle, the ward and constituency boundaries are currently not all conterminous. Sheffield is largely civil parish, but Bradfield, South Yorkshire and Ecclesfield have parish councils, and Stocksbridge has a town council.

Demography {| class="wikitable floatright" style="margin-left: 1em; width: 30em; font-size: 90%;"!colspan="4"|Sheffield Compared|-!United Kingdom Census 2001 || Sheffield || South Yorkshire ]. They are also colloquially known to people in the surrounding towns of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Chesterfield as "dee-dars" (which derives from their pronunciation of the "th" in the dialectal words "thee" and "thou"). Many Yorkshire dialect and accent words and aspects of pronunciation derive from old Norse due to the Viking influence in this region.

At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, the ethnic composition of Sheffield's population was 91.2% White, 4.6% Asian, 1.8% Black, and 1.6% mixed. Sheffield also has large Poland, Somalia, Slovakia, Yemen and Albanians populations. In terms of religion, 68.6% of the population are Christian and 4.6% Muslim. Other religions represent less than 1% each. The number of people without a religion is above the national average at 17.9%, with 7.8% not stating their religion. The largest quinary group is 20- to 24-year-olds (9.4%), mainly because of the large university population (45,000+).

Population change Below is a table outlining population change of the city since 1801. The total population of Sheffield peaked in 1951 at 577,050, and has since seen a steady decline. Recently the citys population has been growing however and the city has absorbed 12,500 new residents since 2001.

{| class="wikitable" style="clear:both;"!Year|1801|1851|1901|1921|1941|1951|1961|1971|1981|1991|2001|-!Population|60,095|161,475|451,195|543,336|569,884|577,050|574,915|572,794|530,844|528,708|513,234|-| colspan="14" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|Source: A Vision of Britain through Time|}

Economy {|class="infobox"! style="background:#ccccff" align="center" colspan=3|Labour Profile Data is taken from the ONS annual business inquiry employee analysis and refers to 2005|-||Total employee jobs||255,700|-||Full-time||168,000||65.7%|-||Part-time||87,700||34.3%|-||Manufacturing||31,800||12.4%|-||Construction||8,500||3.3%|-||Services||214,900||84.1%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Distribution, hotels & restaurants||58,800||23.0%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Transport & communications||14,200||5.5%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Finance, IT, other business activities||51,800||20.2%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Public admin, education & health||77,500||30.3%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Other services||12,700||5.0%|-|style="left-padding: 20pt"|Tourism-related||18,400||7.2%|}

After many years of decline, the Sheffield economy is going through a strong revival. The 2004 Barclays Bank Financial Planning study revealed that, in 2003, the Sheffield district of Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency) was the highest ranking area outside London for overall wealth, the proportion of people earning over £60,000 a year standing at almost 12%. A survey by Knight Frank revealed that Sheffield was the fastest-growing city outside of London for office and residential space and rents during the second half of 2004. Some £250 million was also invested in the city during 2005. The Sheffield economy is worth £7.4 billion (2003 GVA). This can be seen by the current surge of redevelopments, including the St. Pauls Tower and accompanying St. Pauls Place, Velocity Living, and the Moor redevelopment, the forthcoming New Retail Quarter and the recently completed Sheffield Winter Gardens, Peace Gardens, Millennium Galleries, many project under the Sheffield One redevelopment agency.

Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making.There are numerous sources showing the international reputation of Sheffield for metallurgy, and in particular steel and cutlery manufacture. Some examples are: the Oxford English Dictionary, which begins its entry for Sheffield, "The name of a manufacturing city of Yorkshire, famous for cutlery"; and the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which in its entry for Sheffield states that by 1830 Sheffield had earned "recognition as the world centre of high-grade steel manufacture". David Hey in the preface to his 1997 book Mesters to Masters: A History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-828997-9) states "It (Sheffield) was known for its cutlery wares long before the incorporation of the Cutlers' Company in 1624, and long before it acquired an international reputation as the steel capital of the world." Many innovations in these fields have been made in Sheffield. Benjamin Huntsman discovered the crucible technique in the 1740s at his workshop in Handsworth, South Yorkshire. This process was made obsolete in 1856 by Henry Bessemer's invention of the Bessemer converter. Thomas Boulsover invented Sheffield Plate (silver-plated copper) in the early 18th century. Stainless steel was invented by Harry Brearley in 1912, and the work of Frederick Brian Pickering and T. Gladman throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s was fundamental to the development of modern high-strength low-alloy steels. Further innovations continue, with new advanced manufacturing technologies and techniques being developed on the Advanced Manufacturing Park by Sheffield's universities and other independent research organisations.Organisations currently located on the AMP include; the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC, a research partnership between The Boeing Company and The University of Sheffield), Castings Technology International (Cti) and TWI.

While iron and steel have long been the main industries of Sheffield, coal mining has also been a major industry, particularly in the outlying areas, and the Palace of Westminster in London was built using limestone from quarry in the nearby village of Anston. Other areas of employment include call centres, the City Council, universities and hospitals. Sheffield currently produces more steel per year than at any other time in its history. However, the industry is now less noticeable as it has become highly automated and employs far fewer staff than in the past.Sheffield is also a major retail centre, and home to many High Street and department stores as well as designer boutiques. The main city centre shopping areas are on The Moor precinct, Fargate, Orchard Square and the Devonshire Quarter. Department stores in Sheffield City centre include John Lewis Partnership, Marks and Spencer, Atkinsons, Castle House Co-op (supermarket), Debenhams and F. W. Woolworth Company . Sheffield's main market is the Castle Market, built above the remains of the castle. Shopping areas outside the city centre include the Meadowhall shopping centre and retail park, Ecclesall Road, London Road (Sheffield), Hillsborough, South Yorkshire and the Crystal Peaks shopping centre.

Sheffield has a District Energy system which exploits the city's domestic waste, converting it to electricity. It also provides hot water, which is distributed through over 40 km of pipes under the city, via two networks. These networks supply heat and hot water for many buildings throughout the city. These include not only cinemas, hospitals, shops, and offices, but also universities, residential propertieshttp://www.energy.rochester.edu/uk/sheffield/. Energy generated in a waste plant produces 36MW of thermal energy and up to 6.8MW electrical energy from 115,000 tonnes of waste. It is claimed http://www.greenenergy.co.uk/ab_facts.asp that for every 100,000MWh of energy supplied by district energy 31,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide is displaced and that for every 100,000MWh of useful energy delivered 154,000MWh of fossil fuel energy is displaced..

In a 2005 survey on spending potential, Meadowhall came 16th (third in out-of-town shopping centres behind Bluewater(7th) and The Trafford Centre(15th)) with £977 million while Sheffield city centre came 18th with £953 million. In a 2004 survey on the top retail destinations, Meadowhall was 20th while Sheffield was 35th.

Transport There are two main interchanges for all public transport modes (national and local rail, tram, local buses, coaches) at Meadowhall and in the Sheffield City Centre.

National and international travel Sheffield is linked into the national motorway network via the M1 motorway and M18 motorway motorways. The M1 skirts the north-east of the city, linking Sheffield with London to the south and Leeds to the north and crosses Tinsley Viaduct near Rotherham; the M18 branches from the M1 close to Sheffield, linking the city with Doncaster, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport and the Humber ports. The Sheffield Parkway connects the city centre with the motorways. The A57 road and A61 roads are the major trunk roads through Sheffield, linking Sheffield with Manchester, Worksop, Barnsley, and Chesterfield. Sheffield is an important hub in the national network of long-distance buses (coaches), and there are direct services from distant cities such as Plymouth and Edinburgh.

.The Midland Main Line Rail transport in Great Britain south from Sheffield links the city to the East Midlands and London: providing direct services to Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Bedford (the fastest train Sheffield to London is two hours). Also running through Sheffield is the main NE/SW cross-country line which links the East of Scotland and Northeast of England directly with West and South Yorkshire, the West Midlands, and the Southwest: providing direct services to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Darlington, York, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Taunton, and Exeter. Sheffield also lies on the line linking Liverpool and Manchester with Hull and East Anglia: providing direct services to Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Lincoln, Ely and Norwich. Sheffield also has good links with its neighbouring towns and cities, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. The main station for all these services is Sheffield Midland station on the south-eastern edge of the city centre. The station at Meadowhall Interchange serves all trains travelling northeast except the fastest. Passenger rail services through Sheffield are provided by Midland Mainline, Virgin Trains, Central Trains, TransPennine Express, and Northern Rail. UK rail network map (PDF) showing which train companies operate on each route. Provided by National Rail Enquiries (Accessed 28 December 2005)

The closest international airport to Sheffield is Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which is located 18 miles from the city centre. The airport opened on April 28 2005 and is served mainly by Low-cost carrier. It currently handles around one million passengers a year. Sheffield City Airport opened in 1997 but, due in part to its short runway and lack of radar, has been unable to capitalise on the boom in low cost air travel. Manchester Airport, Leeds Bradford International Airport and Nottingham East Midlands Airport all lie within a one hour's drive of the city. Manchester Airport is connected to Sheffield by South TransPennine every hour.

Local travel The A57 road and A61 roads are the major trunk roads through Sheffield. These run east-west and north-south, respectively, crossing in the city centre. Other major roads generally radiate spoke-like from the city centre. An inner ring road, mostly constructed in the 1970s and currently (2007) being extended to form a complete ring, Sheffield City Council, 19 September 2007 allows traffic to avoid the city centre, and an outer "ring road" runs to the east, near the edge of the city, but does not serve the western side of Sheffield.

The hilly topography of Sheffield and its former nature as a centre of industry rather than commerce meant that the city did not develop as extensive a suburban and inter-urban railway network as other comparable British cities. However, there are several busy local rail routes running along the city's valleys and beyond, connecting it with other parts of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. These local routes include the Penistone Line, the Dearne Valley Line, the Hope Valley Line, and the Hallam Line. As well as the main stations of Sheffield Midland station and Meadowhall Interchange, there are four suburban stations at Chapeltown railway station, Darnall railway station, Woodhouse railway station and Dore railway station. at Castle SquareThe light rail system Sheffield Supertram (Operated by Stagecoach Sheffield), opened in 1994, serves the city. Its network consists of three lines that run from the city centre out to Hillsborough, South Yorkshire, Halfway, South Yorkshire, and Meadowhall. Stagecoach Supertram:About Us (Accessed 28 December 2005)

A sizeable bus infrastructure operates from a main hub at Pond Street bus station. Other bus stations lie at Meadowhall and Hillsborough, South Yorkshire. A flurry of new operators were created after deregulation in 1986, Bus Privatisation in the United Kingdom World Bank though a series of mergers have reduced the number. First South Yorkshire, part of FirstGroup plc, is by far the largest bus operator, with Stagecoach Sheffield coming second, after they took over Yorkshire Terrier. In recent years a series of price rises and service cuts by both companies has seen bus ridership drop. Call for action to halt fall in bus passengers. Sheffield Star, 16 August 2005 Next stop in bus protest campaign. Sheffield Star, 31 January 2006

Although hilly, Sheffield is compact and has few major trunk roads running through it. It is on the Trans-Pennine Trail, a National Cycle Network route running from Southport in the north-west to Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and has a developing Strategic Cycle Network within the city. The Peak District National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty popular with both on- and off-road cyclists, is so close to Sheffield that part of the park lies within the city boundary, and there are green routes into the park almost from the city centre.

Sport Sheffield has a long sporting heritage. In 1857 a collective of cricketers formed the world's first-ever official Football (soccer) club, Sheffield F.C., and by 1860 there were 15 football clubs in Sheffield. There are now two local clubs in the English Football League teams and play in the Football League Championship: Sheffield United F.C. and Sheffield Wednesday F.C., both of which formed from cricket clubs, and two major non-league sides: Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., which also formed from cricket clubs. These are the two oldest club sides in the world and, in addition, Hallam F.C. still play at the world's oldest football ground near the suburb of Crosspool. Sheffield and Hallam contest what has become known as the Sheffield derby, whilst United and Wednesday contest the Steel City derby.

In April 1989, tragedy struck when 96 Liverpool FC fans died in a crush during their FA Cup semi final at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium.



Sheffield also has close ties with snooker, due to the fact that the city's Crucible Theatre is the venue for the World Snooker Championships. The English Squash (sport) open is also held there every year. The International Open Bowls tournament is held in Sheffield at Ponds Forge. Report on International Open bowls 2006

The city also boasts the Sheffield Eagles rugby league, Sheffield Tigers RUFC Rugby Union, Sheffield Sharks basketball, Sheffield Steelers ice hockey and Sheffield Tigers (Speedway) Motorcycle speedway teams. Sheffield is home to 2004 World Superbike champion James Toseland and of climber Joe Simpson (mountaineer). Former athlete and world record holder, Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe grew up in the city and began his career as a member of the Hallamshire Harriers. England captain Michael Vaughan also grew up in Sheffield.

Many of Sheffield's extensive sporting facilities were built for the Universiade, which the city hosted in 1991. They include the Don Valley Stadium which is the largest athletics stadium in the UK with a capacity of 25,000, Main page of Don Valley Stadium Hallam FM Arena, and Ponds Forge international diving and swimming complex, where Olympic Games medallist Leon Taylor trains. There are also facilities for golf, climbing and bowling, as well as a newly inaugurated (2003) national ice-skating arena (IceSheffield). The Sheffield Ski Village is the largest artificial ski resort in Europe, and is due to undergo a major expansion soon. The city also has three indoor climbing centres. Sheffield was the UK's first National City of Sport and is now home to the English Institute of Sport (EIS). Sheffield has taken a bid to either host the 2014 Commonwealth Games or the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Sheffield is home to Steve Peat who is a World Cup champion in Mountain Bike World Championships in 2002, 2004, 2006.

Culture and attractions from Park Square7.2% of Sheffield's working population are employed in the creative industries, well above the national average of 4%. Open Up Sheffield is an annual event over the first two weekends in May where local visual artists and fine craft workers invite the public to their studios and other venues.

Music Sheffield has been the home of several well-known bands and musicians, with an unusually large number of synth pop and other electronic music outfits hailing from there. These include the Human League, Heaven 17, ABC (band), the Thompson Twins, Wavestar, and the more Industrial music inclined Cabaret Voltaire (band) and Clock DVA. This electronic tradition has continued: techno music label Warp Records was a central pillar of the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene of the early 1990s, and has gone on to become one of Britain's oldest and best-loved dance music labels. Moloko and Autechre, one of the leading lights of so-called intelligent dance music, are also based in Sheffield. Current electronic music labels in the city include Dust Science Recordings and Audiobulb. The city has a number of nightclubs - Gatecrasher was one of the most popular nightclubs in the north of England until its destruction in a fire on 18 June 2007.

Current club nights include techno and breakbeat events such as Urban Gorilla, drum and bass event The Tuesday Club, Dubcentral (dub and reggae), Razor Stiletto, Headcharge (hard techno), Off The Rails, C90 (dubstep, techno and electronica), electro night Club Pony and Future Funk. There are many smaller nights such as Lights Down Low, Dirty Cheese, Rough Disko and Death By Shoes. The city is also the spiritual home of Gatecrasher.

Sheffield has also seen the birth of Pulp (band), Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, Richard Hawley, The Longpigs, Arctic Monkeys, The Long Blondes, Reverend and the Makers, Little Man Tate (Band) and the free improvisation Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. The highly influential post-punk group the Comsat Angels hail from Sheffield. 1998 Mercury Music Prize award winners Gomez (band) are also connected to Sheffield, as some of the founding members went to Sheffield University. Along with many other popular and alternative musicians, the city is the base for a well developed and thriving unsigned music scene.

The Arctic Monkeys are particularly notable for their heavy use of a Sheffield accent in their songs. Hailing from the High Green suburb, their lyrics are often written in a Yorkshire dialect and contain references to local places such as Rotherham, Hunter's Bar, Hillsborough,_South_Yorkshire and Shiregreen_and_Brightside. They were one of several Indie (music) bands to emerge from the city as part of the New Yorkshire movement.

The city's ties with music were acknowledged in 1999, when the National Centre for Popular Music, a museum dedicated to the subject of popular music, was opened. It was not as successful as was hoped, however, and later evolved to become a live music venue; then in February 2005, the unusual steel-covered building became the students' union for Sheffield Hallam University. Live music venues in the city include the Leadmill, Corporation (nightclub), the Boardwalk (nightclub),the Plug, the Sheffield City Hall, the University of Sheffield, the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre, and The Grapes (Sheffield).

Sheffield has a number of local orchestras including the Hallam Sinfonia, Sheffield Symphony Orchestra, the Sheffield Chamber Orchestra, the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. The city is also home to a strong brass band tradition, with bands associated with factories and villages.

Attractions See also: Visitor Attractions in Sheffield

Sheffield has two major theatres, the Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield) and the Crucible Theatre, which together with the smaller Studio Theatre make up the largest theatre complex outside London. Sheffield Theatres (accessed 26 December 2005) There are four major art gallery, including the modern Millennium Galleries and the Site Gallery, which specialises in multimedia. The Sheffield Walk of Fame in the Sheffield City Centre honours famous Sheffielders like the Hollywood version.The city also has a number of other attractions such as the Sheffield Winter Gardens and the Sheffield Town Hall#Sheffield Peace Gardens. The Sheffield Botanical Gardens recently underwent a £6.7-million-pound restoration. There is also a city farm at Heeley City Farm and a second animal collection in Graves Park#Parks and recreation that is open to the public. The city also has several museums, including the Weston Park Museum, the Kelham Island Museum, the Sheffield Fire and Police Museum, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and Shepherd Wheel. Victoria Quays is also a popular canal-side leisure and office quarter.

There are about Listed buildings in Sheffield (including the whole of the Sheffield postal district). Of these, only five are Grade I listed. 42 are Grade II*, the rest being Grade II listed. Compared with other English cities Sheffield has few Grade I buildings. Liverpool, for example, has Listed buildings in Liverpool listed buildings. This situation led the noted architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner, writing in 1959, to comment that the city was "architecturally a miserable disappointment" with no pre-19th century buildings of any distinction.Harman, R. & Minnis, J. (2004) Pevsner City Guides: Sheffield p3. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10585-1

The city has many parks such as Millhouses Park, Endcliffe Park and Graves Park.

Large parts of the city are designated as SSSI (areas of land which the British Government considers to be of special interest by virtue of its fauna, flora, geological or physiographical features) including several urban areas.

Media and film , located on the campus of the University of Sheffield

The films The Full Monty, Threads, When Saturday Comes (film) and Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? were based in the city. F.I.S.T. also included several scenes filmed in Sheffield. Besides the story of The History Boys is set in Sheffield at Cutler's Grammar School. Sheffield's daily newspaper is the Sheffield Star, complemented by the weekly Sheffield Telegraph. Sheffield also has many free publications such as Sandman, Exposed, Clunge and Radio Coma. The BBC's BBC Radio Sheffield and the independent Hallam FM and sister station Magic AM broadcast to the city. The Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the UK's leading documentary festival, has been run annually since 1994 at the Showroom Cinema. The annual Lovebytes digital arts festival takes place in Sheffield across a variety of venues. A song by The Clash (who played their first ever gig in Sheffield at the Black Swan - now known as The Boardwalk), titled "This Is England (song)" features the lyric: "This is England / This knife of Sheffield steel / This is England / This is how we feel." Sheffield hosted the Awards of the International Indian Film Academy in 2007 which was a big success and raised awareness of global warming by having an unconventional green carpet. Internationally recognised design agency The Designers Republic is based in Sheffield, as well as Universal Everything, Tado and Dust.

Education Sheffield has two universities, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. The two combined bring 55,000 students to the city every year, including many from the Far East. As a result of its large student population, Sheffield has many bars, cafes, clubs and shops as well as student housing to accommodate them.

Sheffield has two further education colleges. Sheffield College is organised on a collegiate basis and was originally created from the merger of six colleges around the city, since reduced to just four: Castle in the city centre, Hillsborough, Crystal Peaks on the outskirts and Norton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, each operating as semi-autonomous constituents of Sheffield College. Longley Park Sixth Form College, managed by the Local Education Authority opened in 2004.

There are also 141 Primary education and 27 Secondary education - of which seven have sixth forms - and seven private schools, most notably Birkdale School and the Sheffield High School (South Yorkshire) for Girls.

See also
• Largest European metropolitan areas
• Sheffield City Centre
• Listed buildings in Sheffield




The University of Sheffield
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