Yorkshire 5 - Donna Summer, hot stuff, a jobcentre queue, you can keep your hat on, the Full Monty and Steel City

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There are certain songs that make you smile and sing along to. Donna Summers Hot Stuff is one of these . Go on you know you want to sing along....................Sittin' here, eatin' my heart out,
Waitin' for some lover to call, Dialled about a thousand numbers lately, Almost rang the phone off the wall . .....Lookin' for some hot stuff baby this evenin'. I need some hot stuff baby tonight
I want some hot stuff baby this evenin' ........Catchy isn't it. And when you put it together with that iconic scene of grown men standing in a jobcentre queue waiting to sign on and breaking into dance it cannot fail to make you smile. Having worked in the jobcentre for over 30 years I am still waiting for that scene to be reinacted in my office. The Full Monty and its story of unemployed Sheffield steelworkers trying to find a job in the bleak years of the late 1970's has a feel good factor helped along by an excellent story which grips the heart strings. A laugh a minute despite the sorry plight of the characters and the final scene of the wannabe Chippendales stripping off and doing the Full Monty to You can keep your hat on .

So this is Steel City - Sheffield. During the 19th century, Sheffield gained an international reputation for steel production. Everyone knew that Sheffield steel was some of the finest in the world . Sheffield led the way in the production of knives, swords, cutlery and tools. All made to a high standard and sold all over the world . Many innovations were developed locally, including a crucibleand stainless steel fuelling an almost tenfold increase in the population during the Industrial Revolution. The whole of the city was devoted to steelmaking from the huge rolling mills to the workshops of the Little Mesters. - self employed tradesmen who produced the finished articles. However as always Britain led the way in heavy engineering but International competition in iron and steel caused a decline in traditional local industries during the 1970s and 1980s, coinciding with the collapse of coal mining in the area. This collapse left many unemployed joining the dole queues, buildings became derelict and machinery rusted away. There are now only two Little Mesters left in the city and with no apprentices there will be none when the last two give up working.

Sheffield has regenerated with many new buildings being erected around the city, New life has been breathed into some of the derelict buildings and in the middle of all this we found the tiny Kelham Island Museum dedicated to the Sheffield steel industry. Reading about it in Trip Adviser gave us the idea to visit as it is only 12 miles away from where we live.

Sally Sat Nav almost took us to the parking but as it was tucked away to the side of and behind the museum it was not that easy to locate. Having found it we parked up and found ourselves on a man made island in one of Sheffield's eleven designated quarters . Formerly an industrial area, the island itself was created by the building of a mill race, fed from the River Don which served the water wheels powering the workshops of the areas' industrial heyday. The river flooded in 2007 causing extensive damage to the museum and the area in general . Photographs and video in the museum showed the devastation.

The Quarter is roughly diamond in shape, and is bordered by Shalesmoor and Gibraltar Street to the south-west; Corporation Street to the south-east; Mowbray Street, Harvest Lane and Neepsend Lane to the north-east, and Ball Street and Cornish Street to the north-west. It is reported that the island was subsequently named after the Town Armourer, Kellam Homer, who owned a grinding workshop on the neighbouring mill race in 1637.

Having remained meadowland for much of its existence, John Crowley's Iron Foundry was built on the site in 1829 and continued in operation until the 1890s. This building was replaced by a power station, in 1899, to provide electricity for the new fleet of trams in the city. These are the premises now occupied by the museum. Cost for entry was £4 for pensioners which is a bargain. The museum is quite small but contains an eclectic mix of artefacts from the period when Sheffield excelled in steelmaking. The first thing you see are the large iron buckets used to transport white hot metal around the foundry. They are dotted all around the complex. They reminded me of buckets I had seen in the 1960's and 1970's in Brymbo steelworks near my home in Wales. The night sky was lit up orange with the flames from the buckets as they weaved their way around the steelworks complex.

The second thing you see and you cannot miss it is the last Bessemer Converter in the world. The converter revolutionised the process of making steel. A large black structure it stands majestically as you enter the museum complex. The Bessemer process revolutionised the process of making steel and there are none of these left in the world according to the museum blurb.

Inside are a number of rooms, the first the reception with small shop selling all things related to steelmaking. In the others displays of knives, swords, artillery guns, scissors, surgical equipment and large and small presses. In the galleries above the main halls are displayed the only steel car made in Sheffield, large and minature steam engines, all manner of gardening tools. The prize exhibit is the Don River Engine a large and impressive green monster used to press the steel. Housed in its own room it is huge gleaming and set up to steam two or three times a day. Built in 1905 it was used for hot rolling steel armour plate . Not being technical we read the details which told us it was a 3 cylinder simple engine of 40 inches diameter. With all its shiny brass and huge gearings it looked anything but simple. It has a 48" stroke. It develops 12, 000 horsepower. and can reverse from full speed in 2 seconds. This quick turn round was needed to press the steel before it cooled off. The engine worked for over 50 years at another plant until it was moved to The River Don plant where it produced reactor shield plates for nuclear power plants. Last used in the 1970's it must have been an amazing sight to see .

We had time to spare before the engine fired up so headed for the recreated street where the Little Mesters worked. These were the self employed highly skilled professional steelmakers who produced anything from knives to cutlery, from scissors to any manner of metal goods. Only one was working today making wedding rings and anything he is commisioned to make. The smells and the sounds were wonderful, steam , oil and banging and hammering. We still had time on our hands and decided to have a late breakfast/early lunch . The cafe on site Little Mesters served tea, coffee, cold drinks , light snacks and larger lunches. We chose a bacon bap, thickly filled with salty bacon which we ate while waiting for the 12 noon steamup.

We were surprised how few people were there. It is the summer holidays and we expected the museum to be heaving but there were only a handful of what looked like bored children and the rest of the vistors were adults who like us needed a dose of nostalgia. At 11.50 the engineer climbed to the top of the River Don Engine. He walked slowly around it checking it over, making sure it was ready to fire up. Slowly but surely he took a large spanner and opened the large valve which let the steam into the machine. From standstill the machine quickly came to life . Steam escaped and hissed from around the pistons as they moved up and down turning the huge cog wheel. An oily smell , at first she moved one way slowly. Then she reversed. All of a sudden a good deal of clanging and the engine picked up speed, reversed quickly and came to a halt as quickly as it started. What a wonderful five minutes listening and watching the great beast strutting her stuff. It was wonderful to see her in action but still hard to imagine the dust and grime that would have enveloped her as she worked. The noise must have been horrendous as the hammers clanged up and down flattening the metal. The heat unimaginable .

Sheffield has changed and seeing everything in the museum reminded us of what has been lost. The world of the steelworker where Britain ruled the world has long gone and the only reminders a small museum just like this one.



Back to the car and back onto Donna Summer and hot stuff . The thought of that Jobcentre scene going round and round in our heads.

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