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Sheffield

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                                                         City of Sheffield
                                                                 Sheffield
                                                                 Geography
                                 Status: Metropolitan borough, City (1893)
                                          Region: Yorkshire and the Humber
                                        Ceremonial County: South Yorkshire
                                                                     Area:
                                                      - Total Ranked 129th
                                                 367.94 km² (142  sq. mi)
                                                      Admin. HQ: Sheffield
                                                            ONS code: 00CG
                                                              Demographics
                                                               Population:
                                                       - Total (2005 est.)
                                                      - Density Ranked 3rd
                                                                   520,700
                                                              1,415 / km²
                                                    Ethnicity: 91.2% White
                                                              4.6% S.Asian
                                                       3.4% Black or Mixed
                                                     0.8% Chinese or Other
                                                                  Politics

                                                    Sheffield City Council
                                              http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/
                                              Leadership: Leader & Cabinet
                                                         Executive: Labour
   MPs: Clive Betts, David Blunkett, Richard Caborn, Nick Clegg, Meg Munn,
                                                              Angela Smith

   Sheffield is a major city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire
   in the north of 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), and it is one of the eight largest English cities outside
   London that form the English Core Cities Group.

   Eurostat figures show that Sheffield is the UK's fifth biggest
   Metropolitan area with a population of 1,811,700 (2003).

   The city became world famous in the nineteenth century for its
   production of steel. Many innovations in the industry were developed
   locally, including crucible and stainless steel. This fuelled an almost
   tenfold increase in the population during the Industrial Revolution. It
   gained its city 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 national
   coal industry collapsed, affecting Sheffield's population. In recent
   years the city has attempted to reinvent itself as a sporting and
   technology city; there are signs that this is reversing its fortunes.

Geography

   Sheffield is located at 53°23′N 1°28′W. It lies directly beside
   Rotherham, from which it is separated by the M1 motorway. Although
   Barnsley Metropolitan Borough also borders Sheffield to the north, the
   town itself is a few miles further. 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. Directly to the west of the city is the Peak
   District National Park and the Pennine hill range.

   Sheffield is a geographically diverse city. The city nestles in a
   natural amphitheatre created by several hills and the confluence of
   five rivers: Don, Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter. 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 10 m above sea
   level, while some parts of the city are at over 500 metres (1,640  ft).
   However, 89% of the housing in the city is between 100 and 200 metres
   (330 & 660 ft) above sea level.
   View of Sheffield City Centre from Norfolk Park Enlarge
   View of Sheffield City Centre from Norfolk Park

   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  mi²) 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, 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 sites of special
   scientific interest including several urban areas.

   The present city boundaries were set in 1974, 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 is officially Europe's greenest city, having
   won the 2005 Entente Florale competition. This was helped by the fact
   that Sheffield contains over 150 woodland spaces and 50 public parks.

People

   People from Sheffield are called Sheffielders. 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 words and aspects of pronunciation
   derive from old Norse due to the Viking influence in this region.

                                                           Year Population
                                                           1801     60,095
                                                           1851    161,475
                                                           1901    451,195
                                                           1921    543,336
                                                           1941    569,884
                                                           1951    577,050
                                                           1961    574,915
                                                           1971    572,794
                                                           1981    530,844
                                                           1991    528,708
                                                           2001    513,234

   At the time of the 2001 UK census, the ethnic make-up of Sheffield's
   population was 91.2% White, 4.6% Asian, 1.6 mixed and 1.8% Black.
   Sheffield also has large Polish, Somali, Slovak, Yemeni and Kosovar
   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 (9.2%), mainly because of the large
   university population (45,000+).

Districts

   Sheffield is made up of numerous districts that vary widely in size and
   history. Many of these districts developed from villages or hamlets
   that were absorbed into Sheffield as the city grew The districts are
   largely ignored by the administrative and political divisions of the
   city; instead it is divided into 28 electoral wards, with each ward
   generally covering 4–6 districts. The electoral wards are grouped into
   six parliamentary constituencies, although because of a different
   review cycle, the ward and constituency boundaries are currently not
   all conterminous. Sheffield is largely unparished, but Bradfield and
   Ecclesfield have parish councils, and Stocksbridge has a town council.
   Panorama from Meersbrook Park. Note the new Heeley Mosque (centre), and
   the Arts Tower and Royal Hallamshire Hospital in the background (left)
   Enlarge
   Panorama from Meersbrook Park. Note the new Heeley Mosque (centre), and
   the Arts Tower and Royal Hallamshire Hospital in the background (left)

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-Saxon
   and Danish origin. In Anglo-Saxon times the Sheffield area straddled
   the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The
   Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that King Eanred of Northumbria submitted
   to King Egbert of Wessex at the hamlet of Dore (now a suburb of
   Sheffield) in 829. 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, 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 ("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 The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. From 1570 to 1584 Mary, Queen
   of Scots was held as a prisoner in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield
   Manor.
   Portrait of Chaucer as a Canterbury pilgrim in the Ellesmere manuscript
   of The Canterbury Tales
   Enlarge
   Portrait of Chaucer as a Canterbury pilgrim in the Ellesmere manuscript
   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 charter 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 the 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.
   A flight of Stuka dive-bombers prepares to attack.
   Enlarge
   A flight of Stuka dive-bombers prepares to attack.

   Following the war, in the 1950s and 1960s, many of the slums were
   demolished and replaced with housing schemes such as the Park Hill
   flats. 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), culminating in the 1984/5 miners' strike. 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 World Student
   Games, 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
   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
   Peace Gardens were renovated in 1998, the Millennium Galleries opened
   in April 2001, the Winter Gardens were opened on 22 May 2003, and most
   recently a public space to link these two areas, the Millennium Square,
   was opened in May 2006. A number of other projects grouped under the
   title Sheffield One aim to regenerate the whole of the city centre,
   with ambitious plans for a split-level high street shopping area due to
   be finalised at the end of 2006.

Economy and industry

                     Labour Profile
   Total employee jobs                    239,941
   Full-time                              156,407 65.2%
   Part-time                              83,533  34.8%
   Manufacturing                          33,568  14.0%
   Construction                           9,239   3.9%
   Services                               196,646 82.0%
   Distribution, hotels & restaurants     57,924  24.1%
   Transport & communications             11,575  4.8%
   Finance, IT, other business activities 43,694  18.2%
   Public admin, education & health       70,442  29.4%
   Other services                         13,011  5.4%
   Tourism-related                        18,146  7.6%

   After many years of decline, there are now signs that the Sheffield
   economy is seeing a revival. The 2004 Barclays Bank Financial Planning
   study revealed that, in 2003, the Sheffield district of Hallam 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 has also been 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 City Lofts Tower and accompanying St. Pauls Place,
   Velocity Living, and the Moor redevelopment, the forthcoming NRQ and
   the recently completed Winter Gardens, Peace Gardens, Millennium
   Galleries, many project under the Sheffield One redevelopment agency.

   Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and
   steel-making. Many innovations in these fields have been made in
   Sheffield. Benjamin Huntsman discovered the crucible technique in the
   1740s at his workshop in Handsworth. 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 F. B. Pickering and T. Gladman throughout the 1960s,
   '70s, and '80s was fundamental to the development of modern
   high-strength low-alloy steels.

   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 quarries 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.
   High Street, Central Sheffield.
   Enlarge
   High Street, Central Sheffield.

   Sheffield is also a major retail centre, although it compares
   unfavourably with other major cities, it is 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, Marks and Spencer, Atkinsons, Castle House Co-op
   and Debenhams. 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, Hillsborough and the Crystal Peaks shopping centre. There
   are also several retail parks around Crystal Peaks.
   Orchard Square
   Enlarge
   Orchard Square

   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. In both cases Sheffield
   is unique in being the only major city to have a shopping centre above
   the city centre in the lists. It is hoped that this problem can be
   rectified by the creation of the £500 million New Retail Quarter
   project.

Government and politics

   Sheffield Town Hall and the Peace Gardens
   Sheffield Town Hall and the Peace Gardens

   Sheffield is governed by the elected Sheffield City Council. For most
   of the council's history it has been controlled by the Labour Party.
   There was, however, a brief period of Liberal Democrat control at the
   turn of the 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 Lord Mayor is Jackie
   Drayton.

   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 and the Crucible Theatre.

   In 2004/5, the Gross Revenue Expenditure of £1,229 million was
   distributed as follows:
     * Education 33%
     * Housing 25%
     * Social Services 17%
     * Other Services 11%
     * Highways, Transportation and Planning 6%
     * Leisure and Tourism 5%
     * Refuse Collection and Disposal 2%
     * Environmental Health 1%

   The city currently returns six Members of Parliament to the House of
   Commons, but this will be reduced to five at the next election as one
   constituency is shared with Barnsley.

International links

   Sheffield is formally twinned with:
     * People's Republic of China Anshan, China
     * Germany Bochum, Germany
     * Ukraine Donetsk, Ukraine
     * Nicaragua Esteli, Nicaragua

   There are more informal links with:
     * Japan Kawasaki, Japan
     * Zambia Kitwe, Zambia
     * United States Pittsburgh, United States.

   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.

Sport

   Sheffield has a long sporting heritage. In 1857 a collective of
   cricketers formed the world's first-ever official football club,
   Sheffield F.C., and by 1860 there were 15 football clubs in Sheffield.
   There are now two local clubs in the Football League: Sheffield United
   and Sheffield Wednesday, 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 the what has become known as the Sheffield derby, whilst United
   and Wednesday contest the Steel City derby.
   Don Valley Stadium during the World Student Games in 1991
   Enlarge
   Don Valley Stadium during the World Student Games in 1991

   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 open is also held there every year.
   The International Open Bowls tournament is held in Sheffield at Ponds
   Forge.

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

   Many of Sheffield's extensive sporting facilities were built for the
   World Student Games, which the city hosted in 1991. They include the
   Don Valley International Athletics Stadium which is the largest
   athletics stadium in the UK with a capacity of 50,500, Sheffield Arena,
   and Ponds Forge international diving and swimming complex, where
   Olympic 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 two 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.

Culture and attractions

   7.2% 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
   outfits hailing from there. These include the Human League, Heaven 17,
   ABC, the Thompson Twins, Wavestar and the more industrially inclined
   Cabaret Voltaire. This electronic tradition has continued: techno 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. The city is also home to a number of nightclubs including
   Gatecrasher One, one of the most popular nightclubs in the north of
   England.

   Sheffield has also seen the birth of Pulp, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, The
   Longpigs and the free improvisers Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. The
   highly influential post-punk group the Comsat Angels hail from
   Sheffield. 1998 Mercury Music Prize award winners Gomez are also
   connected to Sheffield, as some of the founding members went to
   Sheffield University. The Arctic Monkeys, who have recently exploded
   onto the UK music scene with their Mercury Music Prize-winning fastest
   selling debut album of all time, Milburn, the Long Blondes, The
   Dodgems, the math rock band 65daysofstatic, and classic rockers
   Firegarden are amongst recent additions to the list. The city is also
   the base for a well developed and thriving unsigned music scene.
   Former National Centre for Popular Music
   Enlarge
   Former National Centre for Popular Music

   Sheffield also has a small Hip/Hop and R'n'B music scene and is home to
   artists such as NoXcuse, Hoodz Underground, The Red Eye Knights and
   Constant Creation, it is part of the Yorkshire Hip Hop scene.

   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, the Boardwalk, the City Hall, the University of Sheffield
   and the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre. Smaller venues
   supporting the local scene include Under the Boardwalk on Snig Hill,
   The Grapes, D 'n' R Live now relocated to Arundel Gate, approximately
   opposite The Crucible) and The Cricketers. Sheffield also 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. There are also
   many choirs within Sheffield including Sheffield Cathedral Choir, The
   University of Sheffield Singers' Society, Hallam Choral Society,
   Sheffield Bach Society and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus.

Attractions

   Sheffield Winter Gardens
   Enlarge
   Sheffield Winter Gardens

   Sheffield has two major theatres, the Lyceum Theatre and the Crucible
   Theatre, which together with the smaller Studio Theatre make up the
   largest theatre complex outside London. There are four major art
   galleries, including the modern Millennium Galleries and the Site
   Gallery, which specialises in multimedia. The Sheffield Walk of Fame in
   the 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 Peace Gardens. The Botanical Gardens are
   currently undergoing a £6.7-million-pound restoration. There is also a
   city farm at Heeley City Farm and a second animal collection in Graves
   Park 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.
   The Glass Houses, Sheffield Botanical Gardens
   Enlarge
   The Glass Houses, Sheffield Botanical Gardens

   There are about 1,000 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 26 Grade I 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.

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

   Large parts of the city are designated as sites of special scientific
   interest (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.

Education

   Sheffield has two universities, the University of Sheffield and
   Sheffield Hallam University. The two combined bring 45,000 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 only two colleges: Longley Park Sixth Form College,
   opened in 2004, and Sheffield College, created from the merger of six
   colleges around the city, since reduced to just three: Castle College
   in the city centre, Hillsborough College and Norton College. There are
   also 141 primary schools and 27 secondary schools, of which seven have
   sixth forms, namely High Storrs School, Silverdale School, Tapton
   School, King Edward VII School, King Ecgbert School, All Saints
   Catholic High School and Notre Dame High School, all lying in the south
   or west of Sheffield. There are also seven private schools, most
   notably Birkdale School and the Sheffield High School for Girls.

Transport

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

National and international travel

National and regional roads

   Sheffield is linked into the national motorway network via the M1 and
   M18 motorways. The M1 skirts the north-east of the city, linking
   Sheffield with London to the south and Leeds to the north; 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 and A61 roads are the major trunk roads through Sheffield, linking
   Sheffield with Manchester, Worksop, Barnsley, and Chesterfield.

National rail

   The main line 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 Sheffied 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. The main station for all these services is Sheffield
   Station on the south-eastern edge of the city centre. The station at
   Meadowhall 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.

Coaches

   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.

Air

   The closest international airport to Sheffield is Doncaster Sheffield,
   which is located 18 miles from the city centre. The Airport opened on
   April 28, 2005 and is served mainly by budget airlines and 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 International Airport, Leeds Bradford International Airport
   and Nottingham East Midlands Airport all lie within a one hour's drive
   of the city. Manchester International Airport is connected to Sheffield
   by a direct train every hour.

Local travel

Local roads

   The A57 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 (2006) being extended to form a complete ring, 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.
   Sheffield Supertram at Castle Square.
   Enlarge
   Sheffield Supertram at Castle Square.

Local rail

   The famously hilly topography of Sheffield and its nature in times gone
   by 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, bringing
   workers from all over South Yorkshire as well as from the closer parts
   of 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;
   Sheffield Midland and Meadowhall, there are four suburban stations at
   Chapeltown, Darnall, Woodhouse and near Dore.

Light rail

   The light rail system Sheffield Supertram, opened in 1994, serves the
   city. Its network consists of three lines that run from the city centre
   out to Hillsborough, Halfway, and Meadowhall.

Local buses

   A sizeable bus infrastructure operates from a main hub at Pond Street
   bus station. Other bus stations lie at Meadowhall and Hillsborough. A
   flurry of new operators were created after deregulation in 1986,
   including Caldaire-owned Sheffield & District, and independents like
   Yorkshire Terrier, Sheaf Line, Andrew's, Sheffield Omnibus and Northern
   Bus. The majority of these gradually amalgamated, Andrew's, Terrier,
   Sheaf Line and Sheffield Ominibus ending up with the Traction Group (or
   Yorkshire Traction), Sheffield & District and Sheffield United Travel
   ending up with Mainline and Northern Bus with successor First Mainline,
   leaving First South Yorkshire (formerly First Mainline), owned by
   FirstGroup plc, as by far the largest bus operator. Stagecoach
   Sheffield (formerly Yorkshire Traction's Sheffield operation, Yorkshire
   Terrier), Stagecoach East Midlands, TM Travel and Arriva Yorkshire also
   run bus routes in the city. In recent years a series of price rises and
   service cuts, by Mainline and First, has seen bus ridership drop and
   has prompted angry commuters to start a campaign called We Want Our
   Buses Back.

Cycling

   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, 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.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield"
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