September Heritage Open Day at Abbeydale Hamlet
06 September 2010
Families can enjoy free admission to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet on Sunday 12th September as the venue throws open its doors as part of the nationwide Heritage Open Day celebrations co-ordinated by English Heritage.
The activities at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet will focus on local culture and ‘Abbeydale at War’ with living history characters bringing the venue to life.
Costumed characters will recreate the astonishing sights and sounds of everyday life during Sheffield’s wartime years and ‘Bill’ the Home Guard and ‘Walter Gordon’ ARP Warden will patrol the site and look out for anything and anyone that seems untoward.
Youngsters will also be able to join in the wartime theme and deal with incendiary bombs and learn all about the undercover world of the spies of Sheffield and the events of the terrifying Sheffield Blitz.
Heritage Open Days celebrate England’s fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to properties that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission.
Niki Connolly, events and marketing officer for Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said: “The event is an opportunity to discover for free the local attractions and treasures that we have here on our doorsteps.”
“Abbeydale will be a hive of activity, and the visitors here in Sheffield will join over 1 million other people nationwide to take advantage of a wide range of tours, events and activities across the UK which bring to life local history and culture.”
“The event at Abbeydale is an event for everyone, whatever their background, age and ability. It is free of charge and literally on people’s doorstep and we are encouraging people to join us and get involved with the fun.”
There will be tours of the grade I listed building and the opportunity to find out more about the unique eighteenth century industrial site.
Living history activities and tours are available at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet from 11 am – 4.45 pm.
For more information about Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust events and activities visit www.simt.co.uk or contact 0114 272 2106 or email ask@simt.co.uk.
Sheffield museum celebrates national honour
13 September 2010
Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield has received national recognition for its remarkable recovery from the devastating floods in June 2007.
The commendation, awarded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), has recognised the good governance and management of the museum by senior staff and trustees following the floods.
Kelham Island Museum’s extraordinary recovery is credited to the hard work and determination of all the staff and volunteers that enabled the museum to bounce back and be reopened only two years later.
Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust also achieved full accreditation for both Kelham Island Museum and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet venues, meeting the national standards of management, collections care and visitor services.
John Hamshere, Chief Executive Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust commented “To be awarded both Full Accreditation and get a special Commendation is incredibly important to us as it recognises the quality of what we do but also acknowledges that we have done this during a very difficult time.
At the same time as we were trying to recover from the flood over the summer of 2007 we wrote the bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the new gallery for the Hawley Collection and were successful with a grant of £595,000 towards a £700,000 project. That gallery opened in March this year, so we went straight from rebuilding Kelham to increasing it in size by a third.
Today the work continues and a massive flood defence is being built all around the island. It has been three years of constant change and development – a period of very hard work and great reward.”
Alex Pettifer, Chairman Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said “This is excellent news and yet another achievement for the Trust.
“The Commendation is clear national recognition of the Trust’s resolve to rebuild Kelham and recognises the determination and hard work of all the staff, volunteers and all those who helped to actually make it happen.
“When I recall what it was like full of mud and oil, it is wonderful to see Kelham filled with families and children as it has been this summer”.
Timeline of events at Kelham Island Museum that contributed to the MLA award:
June 2007 – Museum closed due to flood
June – Sept 2007 - A major clean up and rebuilding commences throughout the museum buildings which had all been damaged.
September 2007 – Kelham Island Museum remained committed to its schools programme. A new car park was laid for school coaches and the museum welcoming South Yorkshire children to areas of the museum only two months after all the galleries had been destroyed by four feet of muddy river water
December 2007 – hosting the annual Victorian Christmas Market and carrying out a consultation with the public about what they wanted to see in the empty galleries
January 2008 - final settlement with the insurers and work on the new galleries began
October 2008 - the first phase of the new displays was opened – an incredibly fast turnaround for all the research, writing, collection conservation, new displays to be built and installed
October – May 2009 - phase of the recovery was completed
May 2009 - formal re-opening of the new Kelham by The Duke of Gloucester
March 2010 – Hawley Gallery opens to the public
New appointment for expanding Sizer
16 September 2010
Pelleting solutions company Sizer Limited have appointed Emma Nottingham to its expanding team.
Miss Nottingham, has joined Yorkshire based Sizer to take responsibility for the day to day administration of the company and will work alongside the management team to deliver a range of business projects for the team.
Emma Nottingham’s appointment brings the total number of Sizer employees to 6 since the company was launched in April 2010.
Roger Pearson, Managing Director at Sizer said, “We are delighted to welcome Emma to our team and look forward to developing the business further with her support and experience.
“We have put a great deal of consideration into creating the right team of people here at Sizer, with the right skills and adaptability to grow alongside our business. We have every confidence that Emma is a perfect fit in our focused and dynamic team.”
Sizer are currently working with companies across Yorkshire and the UK to explore the possibilities of pelleting within their organisations. The simple process turns difficult to handle materials into individual pellets that, depending on the waste material, can be used for anything from animal feed and fertiliser to biomass fuel for heating homes.
To date, Sizer has successfully pelleted materials ranging from horse manure to cocoa husks and worked with companies to turn plaster board and cement into fertiliser pellets, shredded waste paper from offices into pellets suitable for fuel, and plastic/PVC powder has been pelleted to reduce handling difficulties and transportation costs.
See www.sizer-pelleting.co.uk for more information.
Down by the Kelham Island Riverside
20 September 2010
South Yorkshire walkers, cyclists and kayakers will be encouraged to venture ‘Down by the Riverside’ and join in the fun at Kelham Island Museum’s increasingly popular family event.
On Saturday 25th September the free annual event, delivered in partnership with the Upper Don Walk Trust, will bring to life the riverside walk in Sheffield - an easily accessible trail along Sheffield’s River Don, from Lady's Bridge at Kelham Island to Beeley Wood, Oughtibridge.
The event will provide information about the pleasant walk and will feature a range of free fun activities. Families will be able to join in with free kayaking on the Kelham Island goit helped out by Sheffield City Kayak Club and cyclists can bring along their bikes and take advantage of a free bike health check with Dr Bike and Pedal Ready.
Other activities include children’s interactive make and take willow crafts with willow artist Rachel Poole. There will also be entertainment from the ‘Anything Goes’ orchestra who will be playing throughout the day.
Helen Gabbitas, Projects Officer for Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said: “We want to ensure that everyone who comes along to this event can enjoy themselves and benefit from our beautiful heritage including walkers, cyclists, anglers, canoeists and many more. We have a lot of different activities taking place and we’re expecting to attract a lot of people to the event”
The Upper Don Walk Trust was formed in 2004 as a registered charity and is a group of people who are passionate about the riverside area in Sheffield. Their aim is to provide a footpath alongside the River Don which will appeal to a wide range of people. The aim is to make the entire route fully accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs and become a pleasant pathway away from the dangers of main roads.
This is the fourth Down by the Riverside event at Kelham Island Museum and guests can expect to find information stalls about many other local organisations and groups. Other Kelham Island Museum attractions will be open including the the new Crucible shop gallery and the Melting Shop, children’s play area . Visitors can join guided walks of Wildlife on the Waterside or find out about the local area on the Furnace Trail.
For more information about the event log onto www.simt.co.uk, email ask@simt.co.uk or call 0114 2722106. Entry is free from 10 am to 4pm.
Full steam ahead for Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet
27 September 2010
Families and steam enthusiasts will gather at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet for an event dedicated to the mighty power of steam on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd October.
The two day ‘Steam Gathering’ celebration will feature a collection of steam powered machines including steam rollers, traction engines, and road locomotives.
Miniature steam engine The Kelham Island Flyer (usually housed at Kelham Island Museum) will be in steam and bring the former industrial hamlet to life with the sights, sounds and smells of a working steam engine. Families can view all the working engines and will be encouraged to ask the owners and drivers all about them.
Ridgeway Forge will demonstrate a range of time-honoured skills and visitors can watch traditional forge work whilst hearing tales of how our ‘steel city’ was built on the vibrant metal work industry. Joining them is Sheffield Antiques, who will have a stall selling vintage items, reminiscent of the era.
Abbeydale’s colourful living history characters will be on hand to entertain the crowds and offer guided tours of the hamlet. The costumed characters will share tales from the past about Sheffield’s nautical links and explain how whale oil was used as lubrication in steel making industries. The characters will entertain youngsters with traditional tales of the sea, and merry sea shanty songs.
Niki Connolly, events and marketing officer for Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said: “Our annual Steam Gathering event looks set to draw-in a huge crowd and once again promises to be the most popular on the Abbeydale calendar. Last year we had an amazing 2800 visitors attend across the weekend and this year we hope to attract even more, including families and steam enthusiasts alike. This is the last in our series of family focused events and we hope it is going to be a hugely popular day. “
The Hamlet will open to visitors at 10 am and close at 5 pm on both days. Refreshments can be purchased in the cafe and the book shop will be open throughout.