A Year In Archives: Collection Highlights

Each year the document collection at Sheffield City Archives grows in size.  Last year we received around 250 boxes of archival material dating from the 1780s to the present day including photographs, architectural plans, ledgers, illustrated manuscripts, minute books and digital files.  Each item reveals a bit more to us about Sheffield’s history.  Here is a brief look at some of the collection highlights from the past year…

Wartime postcard, Sheffield

Joy Stratford as a child, illustrated by Rev. Kennedy, Sheffield, 1917

One of the most surprising items that came to light was a volume of 300 hand-illustrated postcards dating from 1916-1917 belonging to Joy Stratford of Sheffield.  On first glance this appears to be a collection of children’s bedtime stories, but on closer inspection, a picture of family life in Sheffield during World War One is played out across the pages.  It is believed that that the illustrations were created by the Reverend Hugh Fortescue for young Joy when the Stratford family were living with him at his home in Cemetery Road.  The postcards depict Joy in domestic and street scenes in Sheffield and most feature her with her cuddly toys which ‘participate’ in mischief and games.  The Rev. Kennedy appears in some of the illustrations with Joy and her mother, Clara Stratford.  Occasionally, the figure of a younger man, thought to be Joy's father, Charles Lionel Stratford (junior), is depicted; several of the postcards feature this younger man wearing a First World War uniform and it is understood that Charles Lionel Stratford (junior) spent much of this period away on active service.  In his absence, Rev. Kennedy helped Clara care for Joy during which time he created this book of imaginative postcards for her.  The album includes several street scenes featuring illustrations of unnamed First World War servicemen, including a street parade and the First World War is clearly a prominent backdrop to the compilation of the album.

Pilgrims Progress, Library Theatre, 1988

Scene from 1979 production

Staying on an artistic theme, the records of Sheffield Youth Theatre (SYT) were also donated to the archives last year.  SYT was established in 1977 by Meg Jepson (formerly head of drama at Hurlfield Secondary School, Sheffield).  The theatre group was open to young people and, under Meg's direction, the group was noted for its experimental, cutting-edge approach to theatre, creating a highly inclusive environment, where 'everyone was encouraged to play every part' in rehearsals, and take a turn at lead roles. ‘You have complete freedom’ Jepson told the children, ‘there are no restrictions except those you put on yourselves’.   Each year the theatre group staged two plays; one was always a Shakespeare play which was toured round different venues, and the second often specially written for the group by local writers including Rex Doyle and Rony Robinson.  A number of alumni of SYT went on to have professional careers as actors, playwrights and screen-writers. 

Flyers from the 1980s/90s, Sheffield Ice Rink

A name that will be familiar to many in Sheffield is Silver Blades Ice Rink (later Sheffield Ice Rink) which opened on 30^th November 1965 on Queens Road.  It was the place where generations of Sheffield youngsters learned to ice skate and a much loved venue, so much so patrons staged a protest outside the rink when it was threatened with closure in the 1970s. The rink was home to Sheffield Ice Hockey Club; Sheffield's first ice hockey teams were formed in 1975: the Sheffield Lancers (later to relocate to Nottingham to become the Nottingham Panthers) and the Sheffield Knights.  The rink later became home to the Sheffield Saracens, the re-named Sheffield Sabres and Rapiers, the Sheffield Scimitars, the Steelhawks and the Shadows. By the late 1980s, the ice rink had fallen into financial difficulties and the then owners, Rank Company, closed it in April 1991. The business was resurrected shortly after by two local businessmen and ice skating enthusiasts: Cecil Gifford Macintosh and Thomas William Shipstone who kept the rink open until 2003 when Ice Sheffield became the new ‘go to’ ice-skating rink in Sheffield.  Five boxes of records relating to the old ice rink were donated to the archives last year.  These include, among other things, some tremendous photographs and flyers from the 1970s - 1990s which show how the rink was a real social hub for people in Sheffield during this period.

Torvill and Dean at Sheffield Ice Rink

Finally, records were also donated to us relating to Woodcraft Folk, a youth movement founded in 1925.  Steeped in an ethos of peace, cooperation and equality, in its early days the Woodcraft Folk had close ties to Co-operative Societies and to Labour, pacifist, feminist and trade union movements, where it recruited many of its members.  A Sheffield branch of the Woodcraft Folk was formed in April 1929 following a meeting of like-minded individuals which took place at a rock at Stanage, Derbyshire, which its members named the ‘Rock of Resolution’.  A federation of Sheffield Woodcraft Folk groups was formed, holding a common festival of the Sheffield-based groups in spring 1930, featuring a ‘demonstration’ at the Carver Street Institute which included ‘supple limb games, folk dancing, savage dances, charades and a popular camp fire hour’ (according to the Sheffield Independent).  In April 1932, many members of the Sheffield Woodcraft Folk groups joined in the mass trespass at Kinder in support of opening up walkers' rights to greater access to the Peak District moorlands, and in 1937/1938, they supported Basque refugee children, fleeing the Spanish Civil War.  The photographs and scrapbooks we received relate to the latter part of the 20^th century when the Woodcraft Folk groups in Sheffield shifted away from the working class city centre and industrial eastern parts of the city and were generally concentrated in the north western and southern suburbs in areas such as Crookes, Walkley, Hillsborough, Meersbrook and the Porter Valley. 

Woodcraft Folk's logo

A full list of archives received by Sheffield City Archives (and other archives around the country) is published by The National Archives each year:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/accessions/


You can also search our online catalogue here for all the latest additions to Sheffield City Archives’ collections: http://www.calmview.eu/SheffieldArchives/CalmView/Default.aspx?