There’s nowhere quite like Sheffield
There’s something about Sheffield that wins people’s hearts, no matter where they come from. An ambitious modern city that’s walkable, affordable, and doesn’t swallow you up. Banging nightlife, a close-knit community of 60,000 students. Abundant greenery, more trees per person than any other European city, five rivers and a National Park. We might be biassed, but we think there’s nowhere quite like it.
The Welcome to Sheffield campaign is our way of sharing this wonderful ‘Sheffieldness’ with prospective students. Launched in partnership with the City Council and Hallam University, the campaign explores why Sheffield is one of the best places to live and study in the UK.
Alumni memories of life in Sheffield
The film explores what people love best about Sheffield. That got us thinking about all the memories alumni have shared with us over the years. Looking back at these funny and touching anecdotes, we see that – though much has changed – the pure heart of the city remains the same.
“While on a stroll around the Students’ Union during my third year, a friend of mine had the idea to spontaneously go to Rivelin before our last lecture of the day. As a nature lover, my breath was taken away – a beautiful tall waterfall in the clear freshwater surrounded by so many trees. I will never forget the first time I saw that place.”
Marwa Ihsan
(LLB Law with Criminology 2022)
“When I visited Sheffield on the open day I knew it was the place I wanted to go. It was the mixture of new and old, urban and rural, far away (but not so far away), integration of students and local population, and change and opportunity. It was the heyday of the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire. It had cheap bus fares on bendy buses, the ‘Hole in the Road’, Castle Market and the World Snooker Championships.”
Raymond Cansick
(BA Accounting & Financial Management and Economics 1983)
“We returned to Sheffield in January 1984 to thick snow. One neighbour had a pair of climbing boots with him, and another had a pair of skis but no boots. However, the boots fitted on the skis, so we flattened down the snow on the lawns of Crewe Flats on Oakholme Road, then all had a go at skiing on our ‘piste’.”
Alastair Inglis-Talyor
(BA Latin 1986)
“Me and my fellow nursing students went sledging when everything was closed (Broomhill area), I think it may have been the winter of 94/95. Snow so deep, we had to dig ourselves out of the house and my car was buried!”
Clare Birschel
(Bsc Nursing 1996)
“Unlike some of the other University accommodation, Crewe Flats were experimental as there were no ‘grown-ups’ on site, only students who, among other things, ran the bar. This bar rapidly became legendary in that the licensing hours were only very loosely adhered to, often staying open until the early hours.”
David Wilson
(BEng Automatic and Control Systems Engineering 1975)
“Like most student accommodation at the time, the flat was rather damp with only electric bar heaters for warmth. It had one tremendous advantage: a cellar. The room was a brilliant venue for parties and we made good use of it during the year. Some extension leads, baked spuds, a cassette player and plenty of beer – what more did you need?!”
Sarah Caffyn
(BA History 1982)
“At the end of term, my housemate Paul had a party in his first floor room that literally brought the house down. There’d been a slow leak from his radiator, so the ceiling just relocated in one piece to cover up the dreadful 1970s carpet below! We’d all done our finals by then, and so we just picked our way round the rubble for the next couple of weeks.”
Sara Cox (née Cowan)
(BSc Zoology 1989)
“For Rag Week, we participated in the Annual Boat Race down the River Don. We made our own boats. Mine was a coracle from a lorry inner tube and a gunny sack – I won the novelty class. The end of the race was at the main sewer outfall into the Don and I had to work very hard to stop circling in the current of sewage. As we climbed out a battle-hardened nurse had us ‘drop ‘em’ and receive our tetanus shots!”
Bryan Douglas Cook
(BA Geography 1968)
“The first Rag after the war, the VC decreed there should be ‘no indecent vulgarity’ and would inspect the entire procession before it set off. We decided to commemorate The Society for the Preservation of Old Sheffield Tools … The sides of the lorry were decorated by planks with acceptable wording. After the lorry set off, the planks were rotated to reveal the hidden side. A prominent medical issue in 1945–46 was the prevalence of venereal disease, so the new sign read: ‘Do you suffer from tool trouble? Free & confidential advice here’. And the crew rapidly adopted suitable medical gear.”
Mr Roger A Day
(BMet Metallurgy 1947)
“I set off with a friend on Friday lunchtime and we hitch-hiked all the way to Paris and back over a weekend as part of RAG week. We had to stop off at official places like bus stations etc to get our card stamped to prove that we actually made it. The winner was the person who covered the most miles.”
Jo Kearsley (née Mace)
(BDS Clinical Dentistry 1987)
“A group called The Beatles came to play at the City Hall in Sheffield and stayed next door. We went to see what was happening, and we walked straight through the crowd into the hotel reception. Sitting in the lobby area was Gerry Marsden, Roy Orbison, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon! We were totally unfazed by them, and just sat down and had a long chat. We finally left when John Lennon wanted to come back to our digs for a party. We explained that we could be slung out of the rooms – but looking back, maybe it was a small risk to take!”
Stuart Woolf
(BDS Dentistry 1967)
“I remember seeing the as yet relatively unknown David Bowie perform in the refectory. As the evening folded over and darkness came through from the tall glass wall, someone from our lights’ team targeted a spotlight on him. From the moment he sat down on a laminated chair in the middle of the stage, all the hubbub of people going to take showers, passing through the refectory to the Union building, ceased.”
Dr Jurij Paraszczak
(BSc Chemistry 1973, PhD Chemistry 1977)
“Climb on a bus and for 10p you could head over to the Students’ Union. Maybe go and see Kraftwerk or Blondie or The Boomtown Rats. NowSoc in the Union bar on Monday nights showcased local talent. To be in Sheffield in the ensuing years and stand in the audience to see Vice Versa (me included), The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Artery, ClockDVA, I’m So Hollow or countless other incredible local bands was something that influenced me for the rest of my life.”
Dr Martin Fry
(BA English Literature 1979, Hon DMus 2012). Lead singer of ABC.
“I have fond memories of nights in Corp with our dedicated ‘corp shoes’ getting covered in the sticky ‘corp juice’ that covered the floor. I hold Corp responsible for how I met my husband, and we’re still living in Sheffield all these years later.”
Heather Clement
(BA Modern Languages with Interpreting 2012)
“Wednesdays were students’ nights at Shades club on Ecclesall Road, proud of its reputation as one of the country’s first multi-racial dance venues. Then there was the Penny Farthing on The Moor. Here you could mingle with ‘real’ people from the city and soak up your beer with portions of chicken in a basket. It was difficult to work out where the basket ended and the chicken began!”
Richard Posner
(BA Economics 1969)
