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Sheffield |
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A city and metropolitan borough in the
north of England. The population of the City of Sheffield in
2002 was estimated at 512,242. It has grown, from its
industrial roots to encompass a wide economic base and is
now the third largest city in England, the fourth largest in
Great Britain, and the only one in South Yorkshire.
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.
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People |
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People from Sheffield are called Sheffielders. They are also
colloquially known as "Dee-dars" (which derives from their
pronunciation of the "th" in the dialectal words "thee" and "thou")
although the term is in decline and is not nearly as prevalent as "Scouse"
is for "Liverpudlian" or "Geordie" is for "Novocastrian". In fact,
many Yorkshire dialect words and aspects of pronunciation derive
from old Norse due to the Viking influence in this region.
According to Wikipedia's List of English districts by ethnic
diversity (based on the 2001 UK Census) Sheffield's ethnic diversity
is as follows:
| Rank |
District |
White % |
S. Asian % |
Afro-Carib % |
Chinese & Other % |
| 62 |
Sheffield |
91.2 |
4.6 |
1.8 |
0.8 |
Sheffield also has a large Polish and Somali population.
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Geography |
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The area, is now part of the region known as South Yorkshire, on its
border with the forests of Nottinghamshire and the Derbyshire Dales.
Sheffield was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and, before
this, the Saxon shire of Hallamshire. It is located at 53°23' North, 1°28'
West.
The city nestles in a natural amphitheatre of seven hills, at the confluence
of five rivers; Don , Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter. Directly to the
west is the Peak District National Park and the Pennine hill-range. (The
Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout, which now forms part of the Peak District N.P.,
was a landmark in the campaign for national parks and open access to
moorland in Britain. It became Britain's first National Park on December 28,
1950). |
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History |
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The remains of Britain's earliest known "house", a circle of stones in
the shape of a hut-base (dated to around 8000 BC) were found at what is now
Deepcar, in the north of the city. In fact, evidence of ,Ice Age, middle
Paleolithic cave-dwellers (43,000 to 10,000 BC) has been found in the
region, at nearby Creswell Crags (the western border of the Creswell Crags
Heritage Area overlaps the eastern boundary of Sheffield at the modern M1
motorway).
By the Bronze Age the region which we now call Sheffield was attracting more
and more tribal peoples. In about 1500 BC, the Middle Bronze Age tribes
reached the area. These people (sometimes called the Urn people) were armed
warriors led by fierce chiefs, who subdued the earlier pastoral dwellers.
They built numerous stone circles, both large and small. Examples can be
found on Moscar Moor, Froggat Edge and Hordron Edge. Two Early Bronze Age
urns have been found at Crookes and three Middle Bronze Age barrows found at
Lodge Moor (both suburbs of the modern city).
An Iron Age fort was constructed at Wincobank, in what is now northeastern
Sheffield. The ramparts of this fort stood on the summit of a steep hill
above the River Don. It was built by the Celtic Brigantes tribe in the 1st
century AD, possibly to withstand the northward advance of the Roman
legions. A minor Roman road also ran through the north of the city, but the
settlement which grew into Sheffield is unlikely to have appeared until the
Anglo-Saxon period.
The Saxons founded a settlement beside the River Sheaf, which was called
Scafield or Escafeld (both probably pronounced "Sheffeld"), and it was at
Dore, some six miles south-west, and now a suburb of Sheffield, that King
Egbert of Wessex received the submission of King Eanred of Northumbria in
829 and so became the first Saxon ruler of all England. The Anglo Saxon
Chronicle records; "This year [829] was the moon eclipsed, on mid-winter's
mass- night; and King Egbert, in the course of the same year, conquered the
Mercian kingdom, and all that is south of the Humber".
Areas of Sheffield likely to have existed as settlements in the Anglo-Saxon
period include Attercliffe, Bramley, Brightside, Brincliffe, Darnall,
Fulwood, Gleadless, Handsworth, Heeley, Longley, Norton, Owlerton,
Shirecliffe, Southey, Tinsley, Totley, Wadsley, Walkley and Woodseats. It's
interesting to note how many of these names end in 'ley', which signifies a
clearing in the forest. 'Ton' at the end of a name means 'an enclosed
farmstead', as in Norton and Owlerton.
Sheffield retained its Saxon lord, Waltheof, for some years after the Norman
Conquest of 1066. It was at the time of the Norman Conquest that Sheffield
and the surrounding district was named for the first time as the manor of "Hallun"
or Hallamshire. This is found in the Domesday Book, which William the
Conqueror ordered to be compiled so that the value of the townships and
manors of England could be assessed. The entries in the Domesday Book are
written in a kind of Latin shorthand and the extract for this area begins:
TERRA ROGERII DE BVSLI
[LANDS OF ROGER DE BUSLI]
M. hi Hallvn, cu XVI bereuvitis sunt. XXIX. carucate trae
Ad gld. Ibi hb Walleff com aula. . . etc.
Translated it reads:
'In Hallam, one manor with its sixteen hamlets, there are twenty-nine
carucates [~14 km²] to be taxed. There Earl Waltheof had an "Aula" [hall or
court]. There may have been about twenty ploughs. This land Roger de Busli
holds of the Countess Judith. He has himself there two carucates [~1 km²]
and thirty-three villeins hold twelve carucates and a half [~6 km²]. There
are eight acres [32,000 m²] of meadow, and a pasturable wood, four leuvae in
length and four in breadth [~10 km²]. The whole manor is ten leuvae in
length and eight broad [207 km²]. In the time of Edward the Confessor it was
valued at eight marks of silver [£5.33]; now at forty shillings [£2.00].
In Ateclive and Escafeld [Attercliffe and Sheffield], two manors, Sweyn had
five carucates of land [~2.4 km²] to be taxed. There may have been about
three ploughs. This land is said to have been inland, demesne [domain] land
of the manor of Hallam.'
In fact, by the time the Domesday survey was completed [1086], Waltheof,
Earl of Northumbria, and the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls, still remaining
in England, a full decade after the Norman conquest, had been executed
[1076] for his part in an uprising against William I. His lands had passed
to his wife, Judith of Normandy, niece to William the Conqueror. The lands
were held on her behalf by Roger de Busli who died around the end of the
11th century, and was succeeded by a son, who died without issue. The
family's lands passed to William de Lovetot, the son of a Norman baron who
had come over with the Conqueror, and who had succeeded the powerful Roger
de Builli.
William de Lovetot founded the parish church, which today is the cathedral,
St. Mary's Church at Handsworth, and also built the original wooden
Sheffield Castle around which the city grew. (This was replaced by a
stone-built structure around 1270)
Mary Queen of Scots spent 14 years, from 28th November 1570 onwards,
imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and its dependent buildings. The castle park
once extended beyond the present Manor Lane, where the remains of Manor
Lodge are to be found. Beside them is the Turret House, an Elizabethan
building, which may have been built to accommodate the captive queen. A
room, believed to have been the queen's, has an elaborate plaster ceiling
and overmantle, with heraldic decorations.
During the English Civil War, Sheffield changed hands several times, finally
falling to the Parliamentarians, who demolished the Castle in 1648.
The Industrial Revolution brought large scale steel making to Sheffield in
the 18th. century. Much of the medieval town was swept away to be replaced
in some part by Georgian elegance, but also by Victorian squalor.
Sheffield's city centre has been largely rebuilt in recent years, but among
the concrete and glass of modern buildings, some of the best old buildings
have been retained.
Sheffield's oldest surviving building is Sheffield Cathedral, while other
notable mediaeval buildings include Beauchief Abbey, the Bishops' House, and
the Old Queen's Head pub in Pond Hill, which dates from around 1480, with
its timber frame still intact.
Some Robin Hood legends link the character to the Sheffield region, not
least the association of "Robert of Locksley" to the Sheffield region of
Loxley, and the proximity of the city to the "Barnsdale" Forest.
Parts of the city were devastated by the Great Sheffield Flood, when the
Sheffield Waterworks Company's Dale Dyke dam, which was approaching
completion after five years' construction work, collapsed on Friday 11
March, 1864.
The city's early success in Steel production unfortunately involved long
working hours, in unpleasant conditions which offered little or no safety
protection. It was no coincidence, therefore, that Sheffield became one of
the main centres for trade union organisation and agitation in the UK. By
the 1860s, the inevitable conflict between capital and labour provoked the
so-called 'Sheffield Outrages', which culminated in a series of explosions
and murders carried out by union militants.
The UK Association of Organised Trades was founded in Sheffield in 1866, a
forerunner of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The Sheffield Trades Council,
which is still active today, was founded in 1871.
The Sheffield Coat of Arms were granted to the Sheffield Borough Council on
16th July 1875, and subsequently to the present City Council on 1st
September 1977.
The lion on the crest is taken from the Arms of the Dukes of Norfolk, lords
of the manor of Sheffield; it appeared also in the Arms of the Talbot
family, their predecessors in the lordship.
The sheaf of arrows was the main motif in the seals of the Burgery of
Sheffield and the Twelve Capital Burgesses, the two bodies which bore the
brunt of local government in Sheffield before the creation of the Borough.
The three wheatsheaves on a green field were probably chosen at the College
of Arms as a play upon the name Sheffield.
The two supporters, Vulcan and Thor, were chosen for their aptness to
represent a place whose prosperity was almost entirely founded on the
working of metal. Thor on the left, the smith of the Scandinavian gods has
his hand resting on a hammer, and Vulcan on the right, the smith of the
Greek and Roman gods, is standing in front of an anvil and is holding a pair
of pincers.
The motto (Deo Adjuvante Labor Proficit) may be roughly translated as "With
God's help our labour is successful". |
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Industry |
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By the 14th century, Sheffield was becoming noted for its manufacture
of quality knives, and Chaucer's miller carried a Sheffield knife in the
Canterbury Tales. By the 16th century, the city was producing a wide variety
of cutlery, and it was Thomas Boulsover's invention of Sheffield Plate
(silver-plated copper), in the early 18th century, that made Sheffield world
renowned. Cutlery made of Sheffield steel was regarded highly in 19th
century England.
Sheffield's Assay Office opened in 1773, and stamps precious metals with the
city's crown mark.
Sheffield has an international reputation for steel-making, which dates from
1740, when Benjamin Huntsman discovered the crucible technique for steel
manufacture, at his workshop in the district of Handsworth. This process had
an enormous impact on the quantity and quality of steel producton and was
only made obsolete, a century later, in 1856 by Henry Bessemer's invention
of the Bessemer Convertor which allowed the true mass production of steel.
Bessemer had moved his Bessemer Steel Company to Sheffield to be at the
heart of the industry. A more recent major Sheffield steel invention was
that of stainless steel by Harry Brearley in 1912, and the work of Profs. F.
B. Pickering and T. Gladman throughout the 1960's, 70's and 80's was
fundamental to the development of modern high strength low alloy steels.
While iron and steel have always been the main industries of Sheffield, coal
mining has been a major feature of the outlying areas, and the Palace of
Westminster in London was built using limestone from quarries in the nearby
village of Anston.
The Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, a partnership between Sheffield City
Council, Sheffield Hallam University and The Cutlers' Company of
Hallamshire, has preserved key sites associated with the city's industrial
heritage, some of which actually still operate ancient equipment for the
public, such as the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and the Kelham Island
Museum.
Northwest of the city lies Wortley Top Forge, which was a heavy ironworks of
international renown. It is a site of historical and industrial importance,
contributing to Sheffield's reputation for manufacturing high-quality,
precision steel goods, though actually it is located within the boundaries
of neighbouring Barnsley
The city once spearheaded the knowledge advances which gave it preeminence
in steel and cutlery production, today the transfer of technology from
Sheffield's universities is guaranteeing Sheffield's continuing industrial
and commercial evolution, creating cutting-edge enterprises across the city.
High technology businesses such as the US company Fluent, for example, have
chosen Sheffield as the centre for their international operations and so has
Jennic, specialists in semiconductor design for the Internet.
Large scale investment in Sheffield is currently (2004) maintaining a
particularly high level, and the recent announcements by leading
international companies including Boeing and Insight Enterprises to invest
in the City are further fuelling this interest.
Insight Enterprises will invest £50m in a new European headquarters
resulting in 1700 jobs over the 2005-2008 period, while Boeing, through its
collaboration with the University of Sheffield will be at the centre of an
advanced manufacturing park on the edge of the City, home to a cluster of
businesses in the advanced manufacturing sector.
Sheffield also hosts one of Europe's largest shopping centre complexes,
Meadowhall, with its own transport hub, bringing customers by road, rail and
tram, from the city itself, neighbouring towns and the surrounding regions. |
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Economy & Government |
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Sheffield is governed by an elected City Council. Its Constitution
sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures
which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and
accountable to local people.
Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter
for the Council to choose. The Constitution is divided into 16 articles
which set out the basic rules governing the Council's business. More
detailed procedures and Codes of Practice are provided in separate rules and
protocols.
The city also has a Lord Mayor. In the past, the Office of Mayor had very
considerable authority, and carried with it executive powers over the
finances and affairs of the Corporation. The Mayor carried out many of the
duties later attached to the office of Town Clerk, and as well as presiding
over the meetings of the Corporation, the Mayor also presided over the Bench
of Magistrates as Chief Magistrate of the Borough Court.
The Lord Mayor's position has most recently been laid down by the Local
Government Act 1972. This requires that; he shall be elected annually by the
Council from among the Councillors, his/her term of office is for one year
commencing at the Annual Meeting of Council, on the third Wednesday in May,
during his term of office he shall continue to be a member of the Council,
the Lord Mayor shall have precedence in all places in the district but not
so as to prejudicially affect Her Majesty's Royal prerogative, and the
Council may pay to the Lord Mayor for the purpose of enabling him to meet
the expenses of his office such allowance as they think reasonable.
According to the Sheffield City Council Statement of Accounts 2002/2003 the
Gross Revenue Expenditure of £1,005 million was financed as follows; Council
Tax 13% (£139m) Specific Government Grants 25% (£263m) Council House Rents
11% (£121m) Fees, Charges and Other Income 10% (£106m) Other Financing 2%
(£21m) Central Government Grants 39% (£405m).
In May 2002, Sheffield City Council ran an innovative e-Voting pilot scheme
to increase voter-participation. The project was funded by the UK Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and entailed close cooperation between
Central and Local Government to ensure that the broader benefits of the
pilot extended beyond election day itself via the provision of a strong
launching pad for wider e-Democracy initiatives.
This pilot was extended in 2003 to cover half of the City electorate in what
was the world's biggest online governmental election to date.
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%.
Sheffield is the largest centre of the civil service outside of London with
practically all the major departments represented. |
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Sport |
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Sheffield has a long sporting heritage. In 1855, a collective of
cricketers joined with pupils from Collingswood School to form the world's
first ever official football club: Sheffield F.C., and by 1860 there were 15
football clubs in Sheffield. There are now only two local clubs in the
Football League: Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.
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. It also
boasts the Sheffield Eagles rugby league, Sheffield Sharks basketball and
Sheffield Steelers ice hockey teams.
The Sheffield Ski Village is the largest artificial ski resort in Europe.
The city also has two indoor climbing centres and is the home of climber Joe
Simpson.
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, 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) ice-skating arena.
In 2004 Sheffield hosted the Eighth World Firefighter Games.
Sheffield is one of the UK's National Cities of Sport and is now home to the
English Institute of Sport (EIS). |
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Culture |
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7.2% of Sheffield's working population are employed in the creative
industries, well above the national average of 4% (Sheffield City Council
Statistics, 2004) 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, 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
One of Europe's largest shopping centres Meadowhall lies in the Meadowhall
area of the city just off the M1 motorway.
Other famous Sheffielders include the actor Sean Bean and the ex-Monty
Python member, Michael Palin along with clinical psychologist Richard
Bentall and boxer Naseem Hamed.
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 several museums, including the Sheffield City Museum, the
Kelham Island Museum, the Sheffield Fire and Police Museum and Abbeydale
Industrial Hamlet.
The films The Full Monty, Threads, and Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
were based in the city (indeed, Threads depicted it being destroyed in a
thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union!); F.I.S.T. also included several
scenes filmed in Sheffield.
Sheffield's daily newspaper is the Sheffield Star, complemented by the
weekly Sheffield Telegraph. The BBC's Radio Sheffield, and the independent
Hallam FM and sister station Magic AM broadcast to the city.
Sheffield is twinned with Bochum in Germany, and with the cities of Anshan
in China, Donetsk in Ukraine and Esteli in Nicaragua. Sheffield also has
close links Pittsburgh, USA and Kawasaki, Japan. |
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Transport |
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Motorways and Roads:
The M1 motorway links Sheffield to London, while the A57 and A61 roads run
east-west and north-south through the city centre. An outer ring road
relieves congestion in the east of the city, and an inner ring road due to
finally be completed over the next few years will allow traffic to avoid the
city centre. Congestion is a problem, particularly during rush hours in the
west of the city.
Metro:
The city has a tram system, known as the "Sheffield Supertram", operated by
Stagecoach.
Bus:
There is also a sizable bus infrastructure, the hub of which is the Pond
Street bus station and Archway Centre and one at Meadowhall Shopping Centre.
Train and Rail:
Sheffield once had two mainline railway stations, Sheffield Victoria station
on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, and Sheffield Midland
station on the Midland Main Line. The former is now demolished, but the
latter is still a major station on the British rail network. There is
another major rail station at Meadowhall and more smaller ones in three
Sheffield Suburbs.
Air:
Sheffield City Airport opened in 1997, although it does not now have any
scheduled services. A new International airport Robin Hood Airport Doncaster
Sheffield located 18km from Sheffield is due to open in early 2005.
Manchester International Airport, Leeds Bradford International Airport and
Nottingham East Midlands Airport all lie within one hours drive from
Sheffield. |
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Buildings, Landmarks and Institutions |
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Notable buildings, landmarks and institutions in Sheffield include:
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Attercliffe Chapel, Beauchief Abbey, Birley
Spa, Bramall Lane, Broomhill Church, Cathedral Church of St Marie, Cobweb
Bridge, Crucible Theatre, Cutlers Hall, Don Valley Stadium, Hallam FM Arena,
Hillsborough Stadium, Hell Mary Hill, Lady's Bridge, Lyceum Theatre,
Millennium Galleries, Park Hill Flats, Peace Gardens, Ponds Forge, Sheffield
Arena, Sheffield Botanical Gardens, Sheffield Castle, Sheffield Cathedral,
Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield College, Sheffield General Cemetery,
Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Manor, Sheffield Star, Sheffield Town
Hall, Sheffield Winter Gardens, Shepherd Wheel, St. Mary's Parish Church,
Tinsley Viaduct and The University of Sheffield. |
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Localities |
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Settlements in the borough include:
Abbeydale, Arbourthorne, Attercliffe, Base Green, Batemoor, Beauchief,
Beighton, Bents Green, Birley, Birley Carr, Bolsterstone, Bradfield,
Bradway, Brightside, Brincliffe, Broomhall, Broomhill, Burncross, Burngreave,
Carbrook, Carter Knowle, Chapeltown, Charnock Hall, Coal Aston, Crookes,
Crookesmoor, Crosspool, Crystal Peaks, Darnall, Deepcar, Dore, Ecclesfield,
Ecclesall, Endcliffe, Firth Park, Fir Vale, Foxhill, Frecheville, Fulwood,
Gleadless, Gleadless Townend, Greenhill, Grenoside, Greystones, Grimesthorpe,
Hackenthorpe, Halfway, Handsworth, Heeley, Hemsworth, Herdings, Highfield,
High Green, Hillsborough, Holbrook, Hollins End, Hurlfield, Intake,
Jordanthorpe, Lightwood, Lodge Moor, Longley, Low Edges, Lowfield, Loxley,
Malin Bridge, Manor, Manor Park, Meadowhall, Meersbrook, Middlewood,
Millhouses, Mosborough, Neepsend, Nether Edge, Netherthorpe, Newfield Green,
Norfolk Park, Normanton Spring, Norton, Norton Woodseats,Orgreave,
Oughtibridge, Owlerton, Page Hall, Parkhead, Park Hill, Parkwood Springs,
Parson Cross, Pitsmoor, Ranmoor, Richmond, Ringinglow, Rivelin, Sandygate,
Sharrow, Shirecliffe, Shiregreen, Sothall, Southey, Stannington,
Stocksbridge, Strines, Swallownest, Tapton, Tinsley, Totley, Upperthorpe,
Wadsley, Wadsley Bridge, Waleswood, Walkley, Waterthorpe, Westfield,
Wharncliffe Side, Whirlow, Wincobank, Wisewood, Woodhouse, Woodseats,
Woodside, Worrall, Wybourn. |
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