Sheffield has long been recognised for its iconic steel industry and its vital role in the war effort during both World Wars.
During World Wars I and II, whilst the men of Sheffield fought for their country, thousands of women were conscripted into the steel factories of Sheffield. The women, often in their twenties, left behind their normal lives of running homes and raising children in order to contribute to the war effort and keep the factories running.
In the noisy, challenging and often dangerous surroundings the young women worked tirelessly under the …

Former steel worker Steve Medhi is to submit plans for a forty metre ‘Man of Steel’ sculpture to be built, overlooking the city of Sheffield. The piece is planned for a former landfill site near to the M1 Motorway and Meadowhall Shopping Centre, close to where the Tinsley Towers used to stand. This ambitious proposal is for the first of three giant sculptures which could stretch across the Don Valley. It is hopeful that this sculpture (which is twice the height of the Angel of the North in Gateshead) will …

The Sheffield Steel industry is famous around the world, with its factories being vital to Britain’s wartime success. During both World Wars, women were drafted in to keep the steel works running, doing jobs which had previously been carried out by men. When the men of Sheffield were called up to fight it fell to the women of the city to keep the steel mills working, with thousands balancing family life with working in heavy industry. The work they undertook was both back breaking and dangerous, and many women risked …

The inventor of Stainless Steel, Harry Brearley was born in Sheffield in 1871. He was the son of a steel melter, and left school at the age of twelve to begin work in a laboratory washing bottles. In his own time he undertook private study and attended night school, becoming an expert in the analysis of steel and its production. After establishing a reputation for solving metallurgical problems, Brearley was given an opportunity to set up the Brown Firth Laboratories in 1908. This was financed by two leading Sheffield steel …