Sheffield : Britain

Sheffield : Britain
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in the north of England. The population of the City of Sheffield borough in 2002 was estimated at 512,242. It has grown, from its industrial roots to encompass a wide economic base and is now one of the ten largest cities in England. Sheffield’s unofficial metropolitan area has a population of 1,366,200.
The city boundaries of Sheffield include a significant area of the countryside which surrounds the main urban region. One third of Sheffield is within the Peak District National Park (no other English city has a national park within its boundary), and Sheffield is generally recognized as England’s greenest city, containing 150 woodlands and 50 public parks.
Sheffield is largely unparished, but Bradfield and Ecclesfield have parish councils and Stocksbridge has a town council.
The present boundaries were set in 1974, when the former county borough of Sheffield merged with Stocksbridge urban district and part of Wortley Rural District.
Attractions in Sheffield
Sheffield has two major theatres, the Lyceum Theatre and the Crucible, and four major art galleries, including the modern Millennium Galleries and the Site Gallery which specialises in multimedia.
The city also has a number of other attractions such as the Sheffield Winter Gardens and the Peace Gardens.
The city also has several museums, including the Sheffield City Museum, the Kelham Island Museum, the Sheffield Fire and Police Museum and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.
Music in Sheffield
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, 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 Gate Crasher One and Bed, two of the most popular nightclubs in the north of England.
Sheffield has also seen the birth of Pulp, The Human League, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, The Longpigs and the free improvisors Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. Mercury Music Prize award winners Gomez are also connected to Sheffield as some of the founding members went to the University of Sheffield together.
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. It was announced in February 2003 that the unusual steel-covered building would be given over to the students’ union at Sheffield Hallam University. Live music venues in the city include the Leadmill, the City Hall, the University of Sheffield and the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre
Sheffield is home to the world renowned Lindsay string quartet, who are retiring from the stage in June 2005.
Universities in Sheffield
Sheffield has two universities, Sheffield Hallam University and University of Sheffield. The two combined bring 45,000 students to the city every year, many of them 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.