There was a moment at Factory Floor on Thursday, 29 October when I looked around and realised just how many of the people whose stories I’d spent the past year and a half recording were standing together in front of me.
Musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, sporting figures and people whose contribution to Sheffield has sometimes happened away from the spotlight. Different lives, different experiences, but so much shared determination.
It was an extraordinary way to launch Steel City Survivors, the biggest book project I’ve undertaken.
The evening in Neepsend brought together many of its contributors, including Richard Hawley, Pete McKee, Pulp drummer Nick Banks and former sports minister Richard Caborn, alongside friends, supporters and the team from Roundabout, who helped pull the event together.
Profits from the book are supporting Roundabout.
From individual conversations to a shared story
Over 18 months, I conducted one-to-one interviews with around 48 people whose experiences help explain how Sheffield has changed over the past four decades.
Some were people I’d admired for years. Others had stories that deserved to be more widely known. Each conversation brought its own surprises: difficult beginnings, rejected ideas, unexpected opportunities and decisions that changed the course of a life.
The challenge was to bring those individual experiences together into a coherent account of a city finding its way through enormous change.
The result is a 200-page illustrated book about the people who helped Sheffield make itself again after the upheaval of industrial decline.
Seeing so many contributors at the launch was a reminder of the trust involved in this kind of work. People had given me their time and spoken openly about their lives. Having them come along to celebrate the finished publication meant a great deal.
An evening for Sheffield — and its future
There were speeches from project backer David Slater, Roundabout and me, followed by conversations on stage with contributors including former Sheffield Sharks player Adrian Anderson and former international football referee Keith Hackett.
There was plenty of laughter, too. The photographs capture that better than I can.
Pre-orders had already been encouraging, and we nearly ran out of books on the night. With Sheffield recently shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2029, it felt a particularly fitting moment to celebrate some of the people who have helped shape its identity.
My thanks go to David Slater, whose belief in the idea and generous backing made the publication possible; to Roundabout for its support and help organising the evening; and to every contributor who trusted me with their story.
Thank you, too, to everyone who came along or has bought a copy.
Steel City Survivors is available from Dirty Stop Outs and Waterstones in Sheffield city centre and Meadowhall.
Explore the book and order a copy.
If you’re considering a publication, oral-history programme or heritage project, get in touch to discuss how we could bring those stories to a wider audience.