JUHS bi-monthly meetings

For our upcoming bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday 31st March at 10:30am we are very happy to be visiting the Handsworth Museum for the first time.

The Handsworth Museum and Dovecote is housed upstairs in the adjoining eighteenth century Grade II listed stable range of St Mary’s Parish Centre, Handsworth Main Road, Sheffield S13 9BZ. The Parish Centre is behind the Church of St. Mary, and a narrow drive leads to the small car park. Bus nos. 30, 30a, 52, 52a, 70, 70a, 95 and X5 run along the main road.

Our guest speaker will be Boz Davison who will tell us about the museum’s diverse collection of local history and memorabilia.

This meeting will be in person only – there will be no option to attend online. We very much hope that everyone who is able will take the opportunity to visit. We also love to meet people who are interested in our work and that of Sheffield’s heritage groups, so please do come along if you can. Read the agenda here.

Don't miss highlights from previous bi-monthly meetings. January featured outreach work from Sheffield Castle excavations, the Council's new Heritage Development Officer and an updated on the Central Library and Graves Gallery. Watch a recording, read the chat or read AI generated notes. Rhiannon Thomas's beautiful stitched "Mapping Meersbrook" artworks from September's meeting are on the JUHS YouTube channel, or see her slides and notes on the JUHS website. And earlier this month we learned about plans to restore Sheffield's Grade I-listed Victorian Town Hall in Pinstone Street, described in this presentation by FCB Studios, the building's significance captured in the collected stories and memories in this storybook.

National Recognition for Sheffield's Very Own 999 Museum

Joined Up Heritage Sheffield is delighted to hear that the National Emergency Services Museum in West Bar, Sheffield has been awarded National Museum Accreditation by Arts Council England, recognising it as a nationally trusted institution responsible for the care and interpretation of the country’s national collection relating to the 999 services.

This major achievement, under the very capable leadership of the museum's Chief Executive, Matt Wakefield, and with the support of of his hardworking and dedicated team, is another boost for the city's rich offering of heritage. Read all about it in their Press Release.

Matt says: “Receiving Accreditation is an incredibly important milestone for us. The museum has been working towards this standard for many years, and it recognises the dedication of our staff, volunteers and supporters both past and present who care for this nationally important collection. It is also a huge step forward for the museum's future and the historic building we call home.

“This remarkable building is not simply where the museum is located. It is one of the most important objects in the collection itself and tells a powerful story about how our emergency services once lived and worked together. Accreditation will allow us to unlock new partnerships, investment and funding opportunities that will help us restore and protect this extraordinary building while continuing to share the stories of the people behind the uniform.”

Sheffield longlisted for City of Culture 2029

Joined Up Heritage Sheffield very much welcomes the good news that Sheffield is on the longlist for City of Culture 2029. This is a great opportunity, and brings an immediate £60,000 boost so that a bid can be developed. There will be hot competition amongst the nine places on the list, so the city will really need to work together and show a united front if we are to bring this celebration of everything about what makes the city and its people so very special.

Although the headline says "culture", the DCMS announcement explicitly includes heritage, and three of the longlisted places (Wrexham, Milton Keynes and Swindon) feature heritage in their statements. Sheffield needs to do the same, and JUHS has already engaged with Council officers, members and others to ensure that our heritage in all its forms is placed prominently alongside the very strong creative culture that we enjoy here.

Read the Council's press release here. One of our first tasks will be to push for all future announcements, wherever they come from, to put heritage in the spotlight. That is then the springboard for letting our culture-defining heritage, tangible and intangible, shine as a major part of our showcase to the world. The more imaginative and inclusive our approach to the detailed bid, the better our chance of success.

New framework set to safeguard Sheffield's library heritage

Sheffield City Council has approved a framework that will allow them to modernise way in which some of Sheffield’s historic collectables are managed and made accessible to the public. This collection has grown over 90 years, but material can be difficult to access and much is not yet catalogued digitally. This means that while Sheffield holds a wealth of heritage material, much of it is hidden from public view. The aims are to:

Improve public access;
Prioritise digitisation;
Enhance use of material that tells Sheffield’s story;
Clarify the process for curating older and out-of-date non lending stock;
Engage experts and stakeholders in future decision-making.

Getting the framework approved is really just the start of an ongoing conversation, so if you have comments please email info@joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk and we will pass them on.

SAVE Britain's Heritage visits Sheffield

Following the very successful event last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of SAVE Britain's Heritage hosted last year by our friends at Sheffield Historic Buildings Trust, SAVE's Engagement Manager Amy Popham visited Sheffield earlier this month and took the opportunity to meet with JUHS, SHBT and other local groups to understand the risks faced by historic buildings in Sheffield.

We were able to share a list of buildings at risk compiled by Hallamshire Historic Buildings and are confident that some of these will appear on SAVE's national list, bringing their plight to wider notice.

SAVE Britain’s Heritage campaigns to bring new life to threatened historic buildings of all types and ages, through the media, the planning system and where necessary the courts – in collaboration with local groups and others across the UK. If you would like to be kept up to date with their work it is well worth subscribing to their free monthly bulletin.

Positive News on Meersbrook Hall

Good news for campaigners trying to reopen the Grade II-listed Meersbrook Hall in Meersbrook Park, following their first public meeting on February 13th.

Sheffield City Council has agreed in principle to enable access for ‘meanwhile uses’ which could include campaign group meetings, Heritage Open Day tours and other public events. Thanks to Meersbrook Park Users Trust the £5m Public Liability Insurance cover required by the Council is in place. Next steps are to create risk assessments and method statements for the group's activities, and they will meet Council officers on 7th April to discuss details and conditions.

A similar access and use agreement is in place at the Grade II Birley Spa Bath House which is frequently used for public events by the Birley Spa Preservation Trust, a local volunteer-led charity which is fundraising for its full restoration.

At their meeting on March 10th, the Meersbrook group agreed to revive the dormant ‘Friends of Meersbrook Hall’, which organised numerous events in the hall up to 2022, and to hold an extraordinary general meeting to elect new officers and agree a plan for the activities in the hall.

Please join them at their next open meeting on Tuesday April 21st at 6.00pm in St. Paul’s Church in Norton Lees. Anyone interested in helping to secure the future of this beautiful heritage building is welcome to attend.

For more information email mputmembersmail@gmail.com.

www.joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk
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