‘A Sheffield icon reborn’

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.

When The Tribune broke the news that Cole Brothers was to be Grade II-listed three years ago, the decision wasn’t universally welcomed. Some felt the building was "too ugly" to be saved from the wrecking ball, while others felt Barker’s Pool would be better utilised as a large civic square rather than the home for an ageing department store. 

The listing made demolition impossible, and, a year later, the responsibility for reimagining it for the 21st century was handed to the Mancunian developer Urban Splash. Last week they finally published their proposals. So, what have they got planned for a building that still holds a special place in many Sheffielders’ hearts? That’s today’s big story.

As well as that, we have a lovely home in Meersbrook, the latest news on Your Party in Sheffield, and a free talk about “modern mesters” at Kelham Island Museum.

In case you missed it

For our weekend read, Matt Barton reviewed Dancing at Lughnasa at The Crucible, Brian Friel's 1990 play about a rural family in the fictional Irish town of Ballybeg, which is also the theatre's first under its new artistic director Elizabeth Newman. Not everyone agreed with Barton’s critique of the production — “as an opening statement,” he wrote, “it doesn’t leave you convinced of a shrewd ability to distinguish between a classic play and a great one” — but it was great to see those with differing takes share their thoughts. As Tribune member Antony commented: “Always nice to read critique and discussion of theatre in the Tribune, both in articles and comments. That's the point, I think — go see plays, think about them, talk about what you thought. Keep it coming, everyone!” 

Last week was a great one for the theatre-lovers among our members, since we also had a wonderful piece from regular contributor Holly Williams on the city’s oldest — and smallest — theatre: The Lantern.

Praise for The Tribune: A big thanks to top environment journalist George Monbiot who gave us a name-check in the Guardian at the weekend. In a piece about what he had learned from 40 years in journalism, he said The Tribune and other pioneering local news outlets like us were bright points in an otherwise bleak picture for local media. Monbiot's piece got us a flurry of new members and helped further spread the word about The Tribune's mission to reinvent local journalism.

Editor’s note: On Saturday, we introduced readers to our new staff writer, Mollie Simpson – she’s come all the way from Manchester, she’s energetic, she’s fun, and she definitely didn’t write this briefing section. Many thanks to those of you who sent in your tips on what she should eat Hendos with, how she should bond with her housemates’ anxious cats (“leave them a clear line of escape”) and where she should be drinking – if you’d like to reach out to her with any burning story ideas, she’s on mollie@sheffieldtribune.co.uk.

The big picture: Night at the museum 🏛️

Sheffield-born Hollywood megastar Sean Bean visited Weston Park last week to celebrate the museum’s 150th birthday. Also present were Pete McKee, whose exhibition The Boy with a Leg Named Brian is currently on at Weston Park, and Richard Hawley, who played an intimate acoustic set. All proceeds from the evening will go to Sheffield Museum’s Double the Donation, Double the Difference campaign, which supports the museum’s work with children, young people, families and communities. Photo: Sheffield Museums/Andy Brown.

The big story: ‘A Sheffield icon reborn’

Top line: In 2023, Manchester-based developer Urban Splash won the contract to renovate the former Cole Brothers building on Barker’s Pool (the former John Lewis to more recent arrivals). Two years later they have finally unveiled their blueprint for the site, saying they “want to restore this icon to its rightful place as a centrepiece and focal point of city life”.

What are they proposing? Urban Splash wants to turn the former department store into a mixed-use development, hopefully ensuring it will be used throughout the day and into the evening. Both the upper and lower ground floors will be filled with retail and food and drink outlets, while the upper floors will be filled with office space.

• Perhaps the biggest change to the building will be the removal of the famous escalators to make way for a central atrium, allowing light to fill the middle of the building.
• A bar and restaurant with an outside terrace will also be built in the plant room on the roof, while the basement will be opened up for gyms, leisure, music or nightlife.
• The car park at the back will be reduced from 480 spaces to 190, with the freed up space being made available for new retail, leisure, cultural, or community uses.

A missed opportunity? When John Lewis pulled out in 2021, it led to a lot of discussion about what the massive building could be used for. One of those who waded into the debate was Tom Hunt, then a University of Sheffield academic and now the leader of Sheffield City Council. Writing in the Sheffield Telegraph, he said that as well as restaurants, bars and cafes, the building could also be home to galleries, libraries, and performing arts spaces.

• Hunt thought that the building could become a new home for the Central Library and Graves Gallery, which are well-known to be in desperate need of investment.
• And he also suggested that the building could be used for residential development, including new social housing, with new modular homes and gardens on the roof.

Urban Splash’s plans for retail, food and beverage are noticeably safer and less radical than Tom Hunt’s ideas. However, the firm does make clear that they want the building to be flexible and to develop over time, so who knows how it will evolve in the future.

The big frieze: One interesting subplot to the Cole Brothers story is the fate of a large frieze by the legendary modernist sculptor William Mitchell. The frieze was once attached to Barkers Pool House on Burgess Street but was removed when that building was demolished to make way for the Radisson Blu hotel. It’s been in council storage ever since, but Urban Splash say they hope to reinstall the frieze on the new Cole Brothers, opposite where it once stood.

How long will it take? Urban Splash say they want to get people back into the building “as soon as they can”, which is why they plan to start with the ground floors first before moving on to the upper floors and basement. However, it probably won’t have escaped you that Urban Splash are the same company that have been renovating Park Hill flats for the last two decades. That project was meant to have been finished within 10 years, but is still only 60% complete. Hopefully the problems that have plagued Park Hill won’t be replicated here.

Bottom line: It’s felt like a long two years while we have been waiting to see what Urban Splash’s plans for Cole Brothers are. Now, they are finally here. But the planning application they have lodged with Sheffield council isn’t the final word. The public can comment on the proposals on the council’s planning portal or by emailing consultation@urbansplash.co.uk. The final decision will be taken by the council’s planning committee later this year.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🗳️ The weekend papers were full of news about the chaotic start of Your Party, the fledgling, as-yet-unnamed party set up by Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn as a challenge to Labour and Reform UK. Last week, Sultana sent out a paid membership launch, which Corbyn disowned as an “unauthorised email”, telling X he was taking legal advice over its launch. Sultana publicly condemned Corbyn's leadership as a “sexist boys club” and instructed specialist defamation lawyers, but she has now said she is “determined to reconcile and move forward” and has dropped all legal action against Corbyn. On Sunday, the Sheffield branch of Your Party issued a statement on its Facebook page calling for the warring parties to meet in public to discuss their differences, and to continue to “build a national network of Your Party groups, to fight for a new mass socialist party”. Sultana will be speaking about Your Party at SADACCA this Wednesday at 7pm. Tickets are free, but donations are encouraged to help Sheffield Trades Council cover the costs of the event.

🏡 Major developer Capital & Centric will submit plans in October for 192 apartments on Fitzwilliam Street, which would see the motor repair company FW Wallace relocate to allow development to proceed. Capital & Centric managing director Tom Wilmot said: “We’re taking a patch of weeds and giving it back to Sheffield as somewhere people actually want to be.”

🏥 NHS workers in Rotherham faced 270 instances of physical assault, 166 instances of verbal abuse and 15 racially-motivated incidents in a 19 month period, according to new data. Bob Kirton, managing director of Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust said the trust was introducing new measures, including body-worn cameras and warnings on patient records to alert hospital staff to people with a history of abuse.

🚲 The eternal saga of the bike hub renovation at Sheffield station has taken another twist. Earlier this year, large sections were closed for weeks on end to install some larger bike racks and repaint the hub a slightly grim shade of grey. But the paint on the floor has “failed” according to a contractor who spoke to The Tribune this morning — and big cracks are opening up to reveal the old, nicer, blue paint. Which means that, yet again, large sections of the hub are closed, bikes are being carted out and racks dismantled to paint over it. For your correspondent, who regularly arrives at the station with only minutes to spare, it’s a nightmare.

🍺 Calling all pub landlords — we’ve been thinking about how to get the word out about The Tribune. Given our aim is to influence the city’s conversation, we’ve hit upon the idea of beer mats. Would you, or someone you know, be up for using them in your pub? Please get in touch — we’ll be eternally grateful!

This week’s weather 🌦️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say it will be a much more settled and serene week, as high pressure brings sunshine, lighter winds and chilly nights.

Monday ⛅ Good spells of sunshine and just some patchy cloud later. Dry with light north-northwest winds and highs of 16C.

Tuesday ⛅ A chilly start with further spells of pleasant autumn sunshine. Light northeast winds and highs again of 16C.

Wednesday ⛅ Another cool start, especially rurally, with the fine and dry weather continuing. Highs a pleasant 17C by the afternoon.

Thursday ⛅ Breezier from the east, but staying predominantly dry and fine with sunny spells and highs of 18C.

Friday ⛅ Sunshine and patchy cloud. Many places staying dry throughout, with southeasterly breezes and highs of 18C.

Outlook: Ex-hurricane Gabrielle throws an uncertain spanner in the works by the weekend, with less settled weather threatening from the west. 

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Editor’s note: We’re very sorry to inform readers that this will be the last forecast Steel City Skies does for The Tribune, as founder Stephen Vincent reluctantly chooses to hang up his thermometer to concentrate on other things. It’s now been four years since we first spoke to him for this piece about his fight against the scourge of clickbait weather stories, meaning he will have done almost 200 forecasts for us. I’d like to publicly thank him for all the work he has done for The Tribune and the wonder that is Steel City Skies. All the best Stephen.

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on the return of students to Sheffield.

Home of the week 🏡

This three-bedroom end terrace in Meersbrook has been adapted with numerous additional windows which really flood the property with natural light. It also has a private sunny garden to the rear and is just a stone’s throw from Meersbrook Park. It’s on the market for £230,000.

Things to do 📆

Cinema 🍿 Tonight at Crookes Social Club, join Reel Cult for a screening of the Coen Brothers’ neon soaked noir, Blood Simple. Made on a shoestring budget with a crew largely made up of friends, the Coen Brothers’ debut film went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival and set the stage for two of the most celebrated careers in modern Hollywood. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Tickets are priced just £4.50.

Crafts 🧵 Join The Bare Project this week for the Common Threads Festival, a celebration of weaving and textile practices from all over the world. Taking place in a specially designed “woven living room”, the festival features activities including sewing and repair workshops, natural fabric dying and weaving. The festival is completely free and runs from Wednesday to Saturday at Live Works at Moorfoot. Pay-what-you-feel lunches will be on offer each day.

History ⚒️ On Wednesday, join Sheffield Museums to learn about the “modern mesters” who have recently moved into Kelham Island Museum. The free talk will look at the legacy of great Sheffield knife makers Joseph Rodgers and George Wostenholm, to show how the skills of the Little Mesters are alive today. Pocketknives bearing the *+ trademark, which has been in use since 1682, will also be on sale. The talk lasts 45 minutes and starts at 1pm.