Kelham Island Walks update - July 2021

With Covid restrictions lifting and walking tours finally getting underway on 17th July, it felt like a good time for an update on some of the things that Kelham Island Walks has been doing over the last year.

The first walk dates were unveiled in April. As with any new enterprise it can take a while to get established and so I gave it a few months from the first lifting of Covid restrictions before the first walk just to be sure that things were opening up as planned and to give them a chance to be publicised properly. The first of these dates are already fully booked (thanks to a brilliant and unexpected boost from Sheffield City Council who included Kelham Island Walks in its SheffNews email newsletter) and some of the other walks only have a few spaces left. If you haven't booked a slot yet, then you need to get in quick. It'll be great to finally be able to take people round Kelham Island and show it off to visitors.

Anders Hanson, founder of Kelham Island Walks, appears on BBC Look North

Kelham Island Walks also had an unexpected appearance in a few other places. Last year ago I was invited on to BBC Look North to talk about Mary Anne Rawson, a great anti-slavery campaigner and philanthropist who was born on Green Lane and is one of the local heroes included in the walks. The appearance on the BBC coincided with the unveiling of a mural by local artist Katy Sett on the wall of Cutlery Works to commemorate the time when Mary Anne Rawson met former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass at her home in Wincobank. Sheffield's community magazine Steelmekker also included a feature on Kelham Island Walks in its April 2021 edition, and I loved participating in the Help Sheffield podcast who wanted to know more about the walks and are really enthusiastic themselves about showing off all that is great about the city.

Kelham Island almshouses, Alma Street (formerly part of the cotton mill and then workhouse)

Kelham Island had its very own heritage month in April. This was organised by the Kelham Island and Neepsend Neighbourhood Forum (KINNF) which was set up to develop a neighbourhood plan that will shape the way the area develops in the future. It's a really good way for a community to influence planning decisions instead of simply leaving it to council or government policies. Kelham Heritage Month asked people to suggest their favourite buildings in the area (you can see the submissions on KINNF's website) and mine was the building known as 'the almshouses' or 'the cottages' on Alma Street. They're not the most obvious building to pick, but they're the oldest buildings still standing in the area and started life as part of a cotton mill in the 1800s and later formed part of the workhouse. Thanks are also due to the owners of Perry Glossop & Co who have run their traditional silversmith business from the building for the past 20 years and as a result of my nomination gave me a chance to have a nosy inside their premises so can I tell people on the walk more about how its used today.

Katie leading one of the excellent Look Up London walking tours

Finally, it probably won't be any surprise to discover that as the founder of walking tours in Sheffield, I also love going on them myself. Seeing other people's tours is what made me want to lead my own. On a short break to London I went on my first tour from Look Up London around The City of London and it was brilliant. I highly recommend them. The guide Katie is incredibly engaging and always has some new little known facts and bits of history that are worth hearing about. She was also very enthusiastic about me running my own tours. If you're not going to be in London anytime soon though, both her blog and her YouTube channel are definitely worth a look.

Anders Hanson
Founder, Kelham Island Walks

P.S. Don't forget that Kelham Island Museum is now free entry which means it’s even easier to see more of Sheffield's industrial heritage!