Who is new?

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

There is also a new Twitter list of people and organisations in Sheffield in Twitter.

The chimney house – meeting venue and home of @93ft
@TheChimneyHouse

93ft – design agency
@93ft

BNI soaraways – business networking group (on Facebook too)
@BNIsoaraways

Intuitive functionality – creative design
@IfWorks

South Yorkshire filmmakers network
@syfn

Three source – specialist cutlery and crockery supplier
@3Source

Uncut project – church community
@uncutproject

Cornucopia radio show – writers and performers in Sheffield, who make radio shows, podcasts and live shows
@cornucopiaradio

Anjan Sarkar – illustrator
@sarkarsama

Everly pregnant brothers – Pete McKee’s ukulele band
@NorthernUkeBros

Band together – Sheffield’s brand new centre for band musicians
@band_together

Whitley hall – hotel
@WhitleyHall

We love sleep – retailer of sleep products
@welovesleep

Flyshot promotions agency
@Flyshot

Momentum media – mobile marketing
@smssheffield

West one space – accommodation
@WestONEspace

IS property – estate agent
@isproperty

G casino – forthcoming casino
@GSheffield

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Two new blogs

There are now two blogs covering restaurant reviews in Sheffield.

Sheffield restaurant reviews has promised weekly posts reviewing places in and around the city. So far they have reviewed La luna on Ecclesall road and the Chequers inn at Froggat. They are also on Twitter as @SheffRestaurant.

London road clock will work its way up London road on a food odyssey, covering the food outlets that aren’t takeaways. The blog started in August and has since visited Baan Thai, Tin tin, Candytown, Zeugma, Wasabi sabi, La romantica, Aroma and Thai punna.

We’ll have to see how the restaurateurs deal with any negative experiences documented in the blogs.

Filling the Sevenstone void

With the Sevenstone retail quarter on hold for at least the next 2-3 years, there are empty buildings and patches of land in town earmarked for development but currently not being used to their potential.

The latest scheme to try and address this is the proposed Red square retail area which is featured in the latest issue of Exposed magazine.

This idea would see vacant land on Trafalgar street (see the map below) turned into a hub of 35 small units and workspaces for artists, makers and creative independent new retailers. The shipping container units (’ship shops’) would be cheap to rent and let on easy-in/easy-out terms. The focal point is a small, central square with a cafe and gallery.

The people behind the idea are looking for feedback on the proposal and also would like to hear from any potential occupiers. At the time of writing, it doesn’t look like the www.red-square.org website is live, but if you are interested or just want more information then email info@red-square.org.

There are also other schemes trying to find creative and worthwhile uses for the available spaces in the city centre.

The excellent Sheffield Swap shop project aims to take on a vacant shop in Sheffield and turn it into a community swap shop managed by volunteers. People will be able to turn up to exchange skills, services and use it for other community-related activities. It looks like Sunwin house is a venue that Swap shop is considering. If you want to get involved, contact Helen Milner.

University architecture students and the council have got together to work on the Empty quarter action project. They will be publishing a report full of creative ideas for the vacant shops, buildings and streets in the city and need your input for the public consultation that will feed into this. If you are interested in contributing to this then read more and email the project.

In addition, the council has also given the empty shop fronts behind Pinstone street a cosmetic makeover and there is ongoing discussion regarding what to do with the empty fire station on Wellington street.

Walking around some parts of town is a bit depressing at the moment so it is encouraging that people are trying to do something about it. It is good to have a mix of grassroots community schemes to get involved with like Swap shop and also ideas such as Red square that could also give a commercial boost and spawn new, independent businesses in the city centre.

What do people think to these schemes? Are there any more going on that I have missed?

View Larger Map

The location earmarked for Red square

Free booze and art

If you’re not someone who is in the habit of regularly visiting galleries in Sheffield then the Art Sheffield gallery crawl on Friday might just be for you.

It’s a free and easy way to see art and enjoy some complimentary drinks while you take it all in.

I went to the last gallery crawl, which included a visit to the Graves gallery. Even though it is right in the middle of town, I realised that I hadn’t been to the Graves since school. Of course, being tucked away on the top floor of the central library doesn’t help – but it is well worth a visit and I now won’t be waiting that long before I go again.

Friday evening’s event starts at the Site gallery and then you’re invited to move on to the Persistance works before finishing at S1 Artspace. If it is the same as last time then you can enjoy a free drink at each location.

Art Sheffield gallery crawl – book your place

…including a trip to Crookes with the Crookes

Over the last few days, MTV Canada reporter Sharlene Chiu has been visiting Sheffield.

At some stage I expect that her visit will be made into a programme and hopefully be posted online, but in the meantime you can see photos and information about her three days in Sheffield on the MTV Canada website.

Her itinerary included Sheffield FC, the Greedy Greek, the bear pit in the Botanical gardens, Granelli’s sweet shop, Yellow arch studios, the Boardwalk and a couple of pubs. Up-and-coming band the Crookes showed her round on one day – which of course included a trip to Crookes.

MTV Canada tour of Sheffield day one

MTV Canada tour of Sheffield day two

MTV Canada tour of Sheffield day three

The Old Grindstone, Crookes, Sheffield photo by jhcrawshaw and used under the Creative Commons license

Who is new?

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

Music in the round – the UK’s leading promoter of chamber music outside of London
@MusicintheRound

Sheffield Scimitars – ice hockey club
@scims

The black dog – ‘Keeping northern electonic soul burning since Warp went south to drink shandy’
@TheBlackDog

Last Friday folk – Stocksbridge folk club
@lastfridayfolk

Simple websites
@WebsiteHQ

Kelham island museum
@KelhamIsland

TechnoPhobia – specialists in web application development
@WeTechnoPhobia

All cows eat grass music
@acegmusic

Opus independents – a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting art, music and trade
@OpusIndependent

Crown brewery
@Crownbrewery

St Thomas Crookes church
@StThomasCrookes

Yoomee – web agency
@yoomeehq

The Crookes – band
@TheCrookes

Unfortunate incident – band
@unfortunate_inc

BiscuitCase – biscuitmakers
@BiscuitCaseUK

Sheffield Wednesday – unofficial tweets about the club
@THE_OWLS

Hair kandi – Ecclesall road hairdresser
@HairKandi

Dominic Shellard – Chairman of Sheffield theatres and pro-vice chancellor for external affairs at the university of Sheffield
@dominicshellard

Mukless – mobile valeters
@Mukless

Peel and Shaw – management consultant
@PeelandShaw

Life dynamics – clinical hypnotherapist and weight loss specialist
@LifeDynamics

Thornsett – student accommodation
@Thornsett

Capland property – student accommodation
@CaplandProperty

Holmes lettings – accommodation
@HolmesLettings

Smartassess – creators of ‘realsmart’ which builds online learning portfolios
@smartassess

Third angel – makers of theatre, live art, video and photography
@AlexanderKelly

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Which is the best restaurant in Sheffield?

There is one more week to go before the voting closes for this year’s Eat Sheffield awards.

You can vote for your favourites here but be warned, you’ll need to fill in the form each time you cast a vote in each category. Hopefully they can make this a single form before the 2010 voting.

The awards are all part of the drive to raise the profile of Sheffield’s independent restaurants, which have improved a lot over the last few years but still have some way to go.

23 was the main winner in the 2008 awards. Which one deserves to take the top award this time?

Vote now in the 2009 Eat Sheffield restaurant awards

Is this the best £50 you could spend in Sheffield?

At the Tramlines festival I saw a stall selling a book of Charity unleashed vouchers but was a bit sceptical. I’ve since seen a bit of online and press coverage about the book, but it is only since speaking to friends that I’ve realised just what a good deal it is.

Full details are on the website, but the basic premise is that you buy a book of vouchers for £50 that are valid for various shops, restaurants, bars and places in and around Sheffield.

You’d be mistaken for thinking that these vouchers are the kind of free vouchers that regularly crop up online. The Sheffield Charity unleashed vouchers are redeemable for loads of free stuff, with a value totalling £1,052. Here are some of the deals that you are entitled to:

• three separate nights in hotels including Losehill house and the Cutlers
• a spa and hair package at Spa 1877
• food and drinks at the Leopold hotel, Cubana, Sakushi, Aroma, Lounge bar, 23, the Aston hotel, the Olive bar, Bar 360, Dosanj and the Milestone
• family tickets for the Steelers, Eagles, Magna and skiing
• a bungee jump, dive session and photography course

There is no catch – although there are some minor restrictions on when you can use some vouchers: for example, one of the hotels is weekends only and another is midweek only. Plus, some offers can’t be used in the same visit and some are proving so popular that you need to book ahead. Most of the vouchers expire on 31 August 2010.

But generally it looks like a great deal, which can pay for itself after you have used just one of the vouchers.

And the best thing is that Weston park charity gets £15 for every book sold, with the remainder going to the businesses involved and to cover costs. A donation of £21,780 has just been made to Weston park charity.

I wouldn’t usually use this blog for obvious promotion of one particular enterprise, and I have no connection with Charity unleashed, but this does seem to be a good deal so have splashed out.

Has anyone else bought a book and already redeemed any of their vouchers?

Charity unleashed Sheffield voucher book

Charity unleashed Sheffield voucher book

England’s biggest comedy festival (1-31 October 2009)

In a previous post I picked out some of the highlights from this year’s Off the shelf festival of reading and writing. Running during the same month is Grin up north comedy festival, so you are sure to find something to brighten up the autumn evenings as the nights pull in.

Again, I asked a comedy writer friend what they recommend from this year’s festival:

• Rhod Gilbert (Lyceum, Sunday 4 October) is excellent – definitely worth seeing this year’s show (click on the ‘review’ section) as his last one was brilliant
• Alun Cochrane (Lescar, Saturday 31 October, Lescar) is highly recommended (click on the ‘review’ section)
• Lady Garden (City hall Memorial hall, Thursday 8 October) are a entertaining 6-piece female sketch group
• Tom Wrigglesworth (City hall Memorial hall, Thursday 1 October) was nominated for the Edinburgh comedy award and lots of friends who saw him said he was great
• Tim Minchin (City hall Oval hall, Saturday 17 October) is very good musical comedy – a bit Bill Baily-ish
• Also Simon Amstell (City hall Oval hall, Sunday 18 October) and Rich Hall (City hall Memorial hall, Tuesday 13 October) are always very good

From a Sheffield point of view, the legendary John Shuttleworth performing his Southern softies show will be a real treat (Showroom, Wednesday 21 October) and BBC Sheffield’s breakfast show presenter and regular Last laugh/Lescar performer Toby Foster is booked for a show at the City hall Oval hall on Thursday 15 October.

The line-ups for both festivals look good this year and I hope to go to events at each. It did make me wonder whether it would be mutually beneficial to move one of the festivals to November in order to avoid any clash of dates and spread out the entertainment for a full two months?

What should we be known for?

@DarrenBristow from Sheffield design agency Quba tweeted a question yesterday: Sheffield is a rich city , but what is it’s USP? What would you like it to be known for?

I always thought that in terms of money, Sheffield was quite a poor place. But we have plenty of non-monetary wealth. It is hard to avoid the cliches but Sheffield has a strong tradition of creativity and innovation but without being pretentious and unfriendly. We don’t like show offs but most people that live here would agree that there is something special about the place.

Richard Benjamin, the managing director of local creative agency Uber, recently penned a piece for marketing/creative publication The Drum, arguing for Sheffield as one of the most creative cities in the UK. Read a cached version here (you have to register on the site for the original).

It echoes Tom Keeley’s foreward from the Disordered haste Electric works launch booklet.

Whether you have been in the city all your life or just moved here, what do you think? What would you tell Darren in response to his question?