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June 2021
Edition
Here we are, halfway
through 2021 with
glimmers of hope on the
horizon for expanded
social contacts and
increased economic
activity. The phased
easing of restrictions
since March has
certainly seen a
resurgence in the
numbers of people around
the building and visible
evidence of the amazing
of the work of everyone
involved, especially the
volunteers. There’s lots
to report on in this
issue. And what’s more,
the sun has been
shining!
Margo Huxley, Editor (click
to email) |
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New Chair of
Portland Works Board
Dr Chris Corker
elected Chair of
Portland Works
Portland Works is
delighted to announce
that Dr Chris Corker,
business historian and
lecturer in management
at the University of
York, has been elected
Chair of the Works’
Board of Directors. He
takes over from John
Rouse, who has resigned
after more than three
years in the role.
Dr Corker is Sheffield
born and bred and
several generations of
his family have lived
here. He has researched
the steel and armaments
industry in Sheffield
for over a decade and
completed his PhD in
business history at
Sheffield Hallam
University 2016.
He has been a Director
on the Board since 2020
and has been closely
involved in activities
at the Works for several
years, providing
historical expertise and
presenting several of
its heritage lecture
series. He has given
numerous talks on local
history to groups in
Sheffield and the
surrounding area and
hopes to use his
connection to Portland
Works to continue to
celebrate and champion
this important landmark
in the history of
Sheffield and global
technological
development.
“I’m honoured to have
been elected as Chair of
Portland Works, which is
such a vital part of our
industrial heritage,” he
says. “Since being saved
from residential
conversion in 2013 it
has been reborn as a
centre for small
manufacturing,
independent artists and
craftspeople, housing
more than 30 small
businesses.
“Now we want to build on
that work, complete the
renovation of the
building and ensure
Portland Works is a
relevant and important
community heritage
location. We’ll need to
adapt and change to meet
the challenges of a
post-pandemic world and
ensure that we thrive in
future.”
“I’d like to pass on
special thanks from all
the Board to John for
his years of dedication
to the role and I’m
delighted that he will
continue his involvement
as a volunteer.” |
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Outreach and
Education
By Stella Howe, Outreach
and Education Officer (click
to email)
Open Weekend at
Portland Works
We’re delighted that so
many people joined us
for our virtual Open
Weekend from May 21-24.
Stella Howe, Portland
Works’ education and
outreach officer who
organised the Weekend,
said: “Of course, we
really missed welcoming
people into the Works
this year, but I’m
thrilled that there were
more than 1,200 visits
to the website to see
the events, exhibitions,
mini-talks and
commentary we put
together to give people
a flavour of all the
exciting things that are
happening at the Works.”
There, you will find an
update on the dramatic
completion of our famous
tall chimney and an
exhibition of previously
unseen images of the
Works, with a look back
to our Open Day in 2019.
The series of
fascinating mini-talks
includes insights into
Sheffield's industrial
history; virtual reality
in the performing arts;
and the family history
of Ernest Stuart, the
factory manager at R.F
Mosley.
Thanks to students from
the University of
Sheffield Architecture
Department, who kindly
gave their permission to
share their work, we
have included the
digital magazine and
film they produced after
visiting and surveying
spaces at the Works. It
provides a unique
snapshot and record of
the building.
If you haven’t yet had
chance to check them
out, all the events are
still
available at our
website. The Open
Weekend also saw the
launch of our global
search for cutlery made
at Portland Works in the
last century.
Do you have a
piece of Sheffield
cutlery?
Portland Works has
launched an
international search for
cutlery made here in the
last century. In 1914,
Portland Works (then
known as Mosley’s)
became the first place
to make stainless steel
cutlery. Its
“Rusnorstain” cutlery
became famous, was
exported from Sheffield
around the world,
featured in
international trade
shows and was probably
carried by families
emigrating to the New
World. It continued to
be made at the Works
until the 1960s.
Now we want to track
those pieces and create
a map showing their
locations and the
journey they have made
from the “City of
Steel”.
“We’d love people to
search their cupboards,
drawers and lofts to see
if they have any items
made by R.F. Mosley or
other manufacturers at
the time including
Alexander Clark (marked
“Welbeck”), George Gill,
William H. Green, John
Thomas, Johnsons &
Sons, W. Mammatt or E.
Atkinson & Sons,”
said Dr Chris Corker the
new Chair of the PW
Board.
“We’re asking for
photographs along with
any relevant details,
such as a name stamp,
silver or EPNS marks and
anything else about the
item’s history. It will
be so exciting to see
where items made on
Randall Street in
Sheffield have ended up
around the world.”
Please use the form at
the link below to upload
details of your finds
and images of them.
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Spreading the
Cultural Heritage of
Sheffield
One of Portland Works’
key objectives is to
build an accessible
educational resource for
the community and we
work closely with both
Sheffield universities
to welcome their
students from across the
world. They often become
volunteers while here in
Sheffield and several
have taken the
opportunity to gain
practical experience of
heritage management
through work placements
at our Grade 2* listed
building.
“The students provide us
with lots of practical
support and we’re
thrilled when they take
the knowledge and skills
they gained here back to
their home countries,”
says Stella Howe,
Outreach and Education
Officer at Portland
Works.
While working on her PhD
at the University of
Sheffield, Jooyoung Lee
volunteered to archive
our materials. She
visited every week to
scan, digitally store
and index the paper
records of the Works.
When she returned to
South Korea, she was
able to pass on her
knowledge of heritage
preservation.
Students from the
Department of
Archaeology at the
University of Sheffield
visit Portland Works as
part of their Cultural
Heritage Management MA
course. Erica Poot
Paredes, Saraah Ahmed
and Mohammed Saqib
Idrees were recently
part of this cohort.
“They were also very
keen to become
volunteers and support
our Open Day in May. It
was an excellent
learning experience for
them. They were able to
meet and interact with
the public and acted as
volunteer stewards,
facilitated the use of
QR codes, photographed
the day, helped with
refreshments and brought
along many of their
friends to introduce
them to the Works,” said
Stella.
“Some of the group
continued to provide
support right up to
September 2020 and the
end of their one-year
course. They were a
fantastic help with the
afternoon tea lecture in
June as part of the
Great Get Together event
inspired by Jo Cox MP.
They also gained
experience of managing
events, engaging with
the public and for some,
practising their
language skills.”
Erica shot a most
wonderful series of
images of the Works
which exhibited at our
2021 Open Day in May.
She now teaches at the
Autonomous University of
Mexico in Mexico City
and keeps in touch to
tell us how she draws on
her experience at
Portland Works in her
teaching.
“I started to teach in
two courses at the
Autonomous University of
Mexico in a BA called
Intercultural
Management,” said Erica
in a recent letter.
“This week, I talked and
showed some photos of
Portland Works in my
course and the students
were very interested
about it. I want to let
you know that I promote
Portland Works and all
your job on this side of
the world. I just want
to say thank you again.
I had a great time at
Sheffield and I would
never forget it.”
For further information
about Portland Works’
Outreach and Education
activities, contact our
Outreach and Education
Officer, Stella Howe: outr...@portlandworks.co.uk.
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Building Update
By Donna Bate, Manager (click
to email)
With the volunteers back
and working hard, tasks
are being crossed off
the list at a pace! We
have been focussing on
completing jobs which
have been around for a
while, mainly due to
COVID.
Repairs to the top of
the tall chimney are now
complete and the
scaffolding will soon be
gone.
The mess room is now
complete and in use. The
volunteers have done a
great job and its
location in the corner
of the small yard means
that it is easily
accessible for our
tenants. We held a
launch party, which some
of the people who had
donated towards the work
were able to attend.
Along with the
volunteers we would like
to thank the Friends of
Portland Works for
funding, and Philip
Skinner (Psalter
Foundation) and Howdens
Joinery for their
contributions. The
volunteers are taking
turns to be on mess
duties on Tuesdays (some
being more willing than
others!)
We have picked up the
work renovating a unit
in C Block, installing a
fire-resistant wall, new
doors and frames and a
repairing the windows.
This unit will require a
full rewiring which
unfortunately, will eat
into our budget for the
year.
Following the
replacement of the Forge
Roof for which the
Friends of PW donated
£6769, we have roofers
coming in the next
couple of weeks to make
repairs to the roof of D
Block and then the
volunteers will replace
the guttering and down
pipes and start the
mammoth job of restoring
the windows.
We’ve had issues with
water ingress off the
flat roof and are now
tackling the parapet
walls, removing
crumbling bricks and
repointing. Plenty to
keep us going and if you
fancy joining us feel
free to contact me: https://www.portlandworks.co.uk/volunteering/
We are hoping to expand
out volunteering team as
Stella has a number of
projects we would like
to get going, so look
out for further
opportunities on our
website and via social
media. |
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Volunteers’
Week
Celebrating our
Volunteers
Volunteers’ Week from
1-7 June is a national
celebration of the
fantastic contribution
that volunteers around
the UK make every year.
We wanted to say thank
you to our own
volunteers who support
Portland Works in so
many ways - from
restoring the fabric of
the building to giving
talks and tours on the
history of the factory,
helping out at events,
writing our newsletter
and much more.
For those volunteers who
felt able to visit the
building, we organised a
small get together to
say Thank You - complete
with a wonderful cake
made for us by Kezwink
Cakes. The following day
we held a Zoom party
when our volunteers
opened a thank you
letter from the Chair of
our Board of Directors,
Dr Chris Corker, watched
a video we’d made of
them at work and heard
recorded messages from
the Lord Mayor of
Sheffield, Councillor
Gail Smith and Nancy
Fielder, editor of the
Sheffield Star. |
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The Lord
Mayor said she’d been
impressed to hear about
the renovation of
Portland Works, one of
the UK’s most important
historical industrial
buildings and such a
Sheffield landmark. “I
know you give your time
regularly and are happy
to take on any challenge
- including recently
climbing all the way up
the tall chimney to
repair the brickwork and
make it safe.” She added
that she would like to
visit the Works in
person to see the
progress the volunteers
had made, and
arrangements are now
being made to welcome
her.
The Star’s Nancy Fielder
also paid tribute to our
volunteers. “I am a
great fan of Portland
Works because of people
like you who keep it
going and have
transformed it from a
historical wreck, I
think it’s fair to say,
into something everyone
in the city is proud
of,” she said.
The Portland Works
Gazette also got a
mention! “One of the
most important things is
to record everything
you’re doing and I know
Margo works really hard
at the Portland Works
Gazette to do just that.
We are kindred spirits!”
You can read our
interview with volunteer
Stephen Ward here about
what makes volunteering
at Portland Works so
special here.
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Only Lucky Dogs
in the Makerspace
Only Lucky Dogs Theatre
was formed in January
2018 to make unusual,
absurd and entertaining
original theatre. Since
then, this innovative
company has created
several shows, attended
the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe and performed in
venues across Sheffield.
Each show involves the
skills of creatives and
technicians from
Sheffield and across the
UK. Together, they make
theatre to intrigue
audiences and
investigate something
new about humanity,
mining the depths of
characters that are, on
the surface, ordinary.
The Makerspace at
Portland Works is the
result of a long-term
collaboration between
Only Lucky Dogs and
Portland Works staff and
volunteers. After
postponing their launch
several times due to the
pandemic, the Makerspace
team are helping to
bring live theatre back
to the heart of
Sheffield,
Opening on 18 June, the
venue, funded in-part by
the Arts Council, will
host a mix of exciting
performers from across
the UK who are at the
dawn of their careers.
Productions will be
broadcast online and to
in-house audiences,
which the company very
much hopes will be at
full capacity with no
social distancing after
21 June (fingers
crossed).
“Theatre has been stuck
online for much longer
than we expected,” said
Pippa Le Grand, producer
of Only Lucky Dogs and
member of Portland Works
Board of Directors.
“I’ve seen some amazing
performances online, but
nothing quite compares
to the audience and
actors being together in
a theatre. We can’t wait
to finally get started.”
The Makerspace will host
performers from across
the north of England,
including a comedy-drama
about conspiracy
theories, Radio 2
award-winning folk
musician Rowan
Rheingans, and an LGBT+
scratch night.
“It’s been frustrating
to keep postponing,
especially for our
fantastic performers who
have been preparing
their shows for so long.
But it’ll be worth it to
create a really exciting
programme for the
audience,” said James
Huxtable, artistic
director. “We’ve been
able to organise a
programme of workshops
to introduce people to
different aspects of
making theatre too.”
For theatre performers
who have been trying to
build their careers
during the pandemic,
small, intimate venues
like the Makerspace are
crucial to their
survival. Larger venues,
which have suffered
heavy financial losses
during the pandemic,
might not be willing to
take a risk on booking
little-known artists.
The chance to perform in
venues like the
Makerspace can help
emerging performers stay
in the industry and
develop their careers.
Only Lucky Dogs say that
their venue will become
a go-to for every
Sheffield theatre-lover
keen to support emerging
artists and enjoy new
shows in a beautiful,
historic venue. Portland
Works already supports
more than 30 artists and
craftspeople, and the
team hope to add the
theatre-makers of
tomorrow to their
roster.
Pippa tells us more
about the rollercoaster
ride that Only Lucky
Dogs has experienced
over the last 18 months
in an interview
with Julia Shipston.
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May Heritage
Lecture Report
by Callum Sangster
'A Sheffield Art
Craftsman': Charles
Green (1834-1916),
designer, sculptor,
modeller Presented by Dr
Sylvia Dunkley.
On 12 May, we were lucky
to be joined by Dr
Sylvia Dunkley for
another of her wonderful
heritage lectures, this
time about Charles
Green, a well-known
Sheffield arts craftsman
in his lifetime, but who
fell into obscurity
after his death in 1916.
Charles Green studied at
the Sheffield Government
School of Design (later
the Sheffield School of
Art) but, unlike most of
his fellow students,
stayed in Sheffield for
most of his life. He was
articled to the
sculptor, Edwin Smith,
and found employment at
Henry Hooles’ Green Lane
Works and later for a
few years at the
Effingham Iron and Brass
Foundry in Rotherham.
From early in his
career, he had his own
studio in Sheffield and
for a while, one in
London.
Dr Dunkley presented an
array of different
Charles Green designs,
including the Lord Mayor
of Sheffield’s chain
which was designed after
an incident at the
opening of the Paris
Exhibition in 1855. The
then Mayor of Sheffield
was refused a seat near
Queen Victoria with the
other prestigious
representatives of the
British Empire because
he didn’t have a badge
of office. As a result,
a competition was held
for designers to create
a suitably impressive
piece of jewellery.
Money was raised by
public subscription and
the chain was purchased
in 1856, designed by the
winner, Charles Green.
Thanks to our guest
speaker this month, we
were able to hear about
the wonderful work
Charles Green undertook
and the prestigious
accolades he received at
the time, and hopefully
he will now receive the
recognition he deserves.
Dr Dunkley also
mentioned Godfrey Sykes,
another Sheffield based
designer, who she hopes
will be the subject of a
future talk. |
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Tenant Profile:
Wilebore Handmade
Leather Goods
"One day I saw an advert
about spaces to rent at
Portland Works. I went
to have a look, was
truly inspired by the
fantastic craftsmen and
women working there –
and most importantly,
found I could afford the
rent. That was the start
of Wilebore Hand Made
Leather Goods.”
The rest of our
interview with Kevin
Wilebore can
be found here.
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Dates for your
Diary
Heritage
Lectures
These will both be
popular events, so
please book early.
Wednesday 21 July: The
inaugural presentation
by Robin Hughes of his
new research on the
history of Cambridge
Street, Sheffield.
Tickets go on sale from
the beginning of July.
Wednesday 18 August:
John Chapman, "The
history of the Census
and what it can tell us
about families involved
in Portland Works"
Advance notice
of Creative Workshops
in August
Our tenants are running
an Art Taster Workshop
on Saturday 14 August.
There are two sessions:
one in the morning and
one in the afternoon,
and can be booked
through Eventbrite.
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forwarded this copy of
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