It’s The Tribune Christmas Quiz!

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing. It’s almost Christmas, and most of you have probably already clocked off for the festive season, so we thought we’d lob some entertainment into the mix: our exclusive Christmas quiz. How much were you paying attention to the year’s Sheffield news?

As well as that we have a charity choir concert at the cathedral, some much needed positive financial news for Sheffield council, and the ultimate “do-er upper” in Heeley.

We’ll be running a slightly quieter schedule over the next couple of weeks while the team takes a break to rest and recuperate. Thanks for your support over the last year, and may we take the opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year.

In case you missed it

On Wednesday, we had a fascinating piece from Jessica Bradley about the rise in popularity of psychics and mediums in working-class parts of Sheffield. For the piece she visited the Woodhouse West End working men’s club to take part in medium Tracy Lycett's weekly “open circle”, and also spoke to experts about why they have become so popular. “Another brilliantly written, and balanced, piece of reporting,” said Tribune member Helen Dyson.

On Friday, Dan visited Roots Allotments’ site in the tiny hamlet of Butterthwaite near Ecclesfield to find out why the firm has been dubbed the UK’s “most controversial” allotment company. The piece provoked a spirited debate in the comments section, with a few of you saying we had been too easy on the company. Our take is that while allotments are a good thing and there is nothing wrong with a firm exploiting a gap in the market, riding roughshod over the planning system is a different kettle of fish. Read the story and decide for yourself. 

And on Sunday we published a difficult piece after speaking to a number of independent businesses in Crookes, who are struggling to deal with a growing number of clearly vulnerable men behaving badly in their shops. “These are men who slip through the cracks and feel like the world is against them,” Kate, the owner of the bookshop Novel, told us. At the same time, after a number of stressful experiences this year, she plans to scale back her opening hours in 2026. 

The big picture: Hawley homecoming 🎸

Sheffield legend Richard Hawley played a three night residency at Sheffield City Hall last week. Dan was fortunate enough to see him on Wednesday night (the best audience, as Mr Hawley himself said) and enjoyed it immensely. If you weren’t lucky enough to get a ticket, you can get a good idea of what the evening was like from this excellent review in Far Out.

It’s The Tribune’s Christmas Quiz!

Were you paying attention to the many twists and turns of Sheffield in 2025? Test yourself and family and friends over a mince pie. Answers are at the bottom.

1. In February, the Park Square siege saw residents evacuated and have to stay the night on the floor of the Ponds Forge leisure centre. How long (roughly) did the siege last?
   1. 12 hours
   2. 24 hours
   3. 36 hours
   4. 48 hours
2. This year Ten24, a Sheffield company, offered to buy your face. They would take an incredibly detailed 3D photo with 71 cameras for use in video games. How much would they pay you for handing over your “biometric data”?
   1. £40
   2. £50
   3. £60
   4. £70

3. In April, Carter Knowle Avenue, a sleepy street in S11, hit the headlines. Why?
   1. A mystery pooer was defecating on it
   2. A sinkhole opened up, swallowing three cars and a postbox
   3. A wallaby was spotted on the road
   4. The street declared itself independent from Sheffield, setting up its own council in number 18
4. In July, The Tribune revealed that the University of Sheffield’s AMRC was working on the top-secret government to develop the UK’s new nuclear warhead, Astraea. We managed to identify the exact building this was taking place in after spotting a gas tank containing what?
   1. Radon
   2. Argon
   3. Krypton
   4. Xenon
5. Michael Beecroft, the man who played the traffic warden in Threads, turned up at BBC Radio Sheffield this year to identify himself. What had been his real-life job?
   1. Bus driver
   2. Primary school teacher
   3. Accountant
   4. Traffic warden
6. In September, we interviewed Dave Walker. What is Dave’s job?
   1. He is Sheffield’s last lockkeeper
   2. He is Sheffield’s last scissors maker
   3. He is Sheffield’s last piano builder
   4. He is Sheffield’s last town cryer
7. In October, James Holmes hung up a 100ft wide Union Jack on the side of a building in Chesterfield. But what happened to the earlier (merely 30ft wide) flag that it replaced?
   1. It disintegrated, due to being made from low-quality polyester
   2. It was ripped down in the night by anti-flag protestors
   3. It was blown away in a storm
   4. Holmes himself took it down after someone pointed out the Union Jack had been misprinted

8. Ian Stocks worked at the South Yorkshire County Council as a photographer in the 1980s before it was wound up in 1986. 40 years on, he believes he’s not being paid his full pension after key information was lost. What happened to the information?
   1. The information was password protected, and no-one knows the password
   2. The information was on a floppy disc, that was binned when it couldn’t be read
   3. The information was kept on paper records, which were accidentally shredded
   4. Thatcher herself personally arranged for its destruction
9. In December, which South Yorkshire celebrity donated to the campaign to prevent building on the Green Belt?
   1. Jarvis Cocker
   2. Richard Hawley
   3. Sean Bean
   4. Paul Chuckle
10. Also in December, we finally managed to catch up with Andrew Milne – the solicitor who bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds – in a Costa in Stratford. But during a tour of the Stratford shopping centre with our reporter Daniel Timms, which other food outlet did Milne consider before thinking better of it?
    1. KFC
    2. McDonalds
    3. Pret a Manger
    4. Greggs

For the answers, see the bottom of the newsletter, and please let us know how you did in the comments section.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🪧 The statue of Queen Victoria in Endcliffe Park has been vandalised with red paint and graffiti. Residents woke up on Sunday to find the statue daubed with red paint and the phrase “Free The Hunger” written on the plinth. The Star reported that a group called “Justice For The Hunger Strikers” contacted them claiming responsibility for the stunt and another in Edinburgh, adding it was in support of six prisoners who have now been on hunger strike for 50 days in support of the proscribed organisation Palestine Action.

📄 Will the real Paul Heaton please stand up? After our sister newspaper, The Mill, published a story about Andrew Milne’s antics in Bolton, we received a message from Dean Unsworth, a former leaseholder who bought a freehold from Milne. When signing the execution of the deed, Unsworth noticed a curious detail. The witness to a signature on the deed was a man named Paul Heaton, who stated he lived in a flat above a record shop on Wilbraham Road. On Friday, Lucy McLaughlin, our new staff writer in Manchester, paid a visit to the flat where she encountered some friendly but very baffled tenants who said no one by that name had ever lived there, and Land Registry documents returned a different name for the owner of the property. As a good journalist is wont to do, we tried to exhaust every possible line of enquiry by emailing the manager of the singer-songwriter Paul Heaton to ask about any possible connection to Milne. Is there any chance the witness to a freehold transaction between Milne and a Bolton resident could be the lyricist behind The Beautiful South’s hit single Rotterdam, or Anywhere? Heaton's manager returned a two-word verdict: “Definitely not”. So who is Paul Heaton? And why is his handwriting so curiously similar to Andrew Milne’s? If you know any more, get in touch with Mollie.

💷 Sheffield council’s leader has welcomed news that the authority will benefit from an uplift in funding — its first significant rise after a decade and a half of austerity. Tom Hunt said the new local government finance settlement, which will cover the next three-years, was “a significant step forward in the right direction”. Data released on the government’s website show Sheffield council’s budget rising to £412.5 million for the 2026-27 financial year, which they say equates to an increase of 18.6% in core spending power from 2024-25 to 2026-27. As The Tribune has written several times, the council’s finances have grown increasingly precarious in recent years, with some even suggesting that they may be forced to issue a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy. However, these increases should put them in a stronger financial position over the next four years.

⚔️ The annual Grenoside Boxing Day sword dance is only a few days away and the BBC have a nice piece about its history and traditions. The dance dates back around 200 years, and some current members including 59-year-old Steve Mettam can trace his family’s association with the tradition to the 1880s. The participants wear special noisy clogs to announce their arrival in the village and even perform a mock decapitation of the team’s captain. The dance begins at 11am on Main Street in Grenoside outside the Old Harrow Inn.

🎵 It’s always nice when the national newspapers visit Sheffield, as the Guardian did for this piece about our wonderful local carol tradition. Top reporter Robyn Vinter visits the carolling hotspot of Dungworth to take part in one sing. And she also speaks to the composer of The Crucible’s current production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which has been adapted to include our local carols. Our piece about the Sheffield carols from 2023 is here.

Home of the week 🏡

Are you looking for a project to get your teeth into in the New Year? If so, this might be the ideal opportunity. These two brick built semi-detached houses with adjoining land on Maxey Place and Gregory Road in Heeley will be available at auction in January with a reserve price of just £75,000. However, the listing makes clear that the properties are “in need of complete renovation” and interested parties are advised to “exercise caution whilst on site”. 

Things to do 📆

Music 🎤 On Monday evening, join the Choir with no Name Sheffield at Sheffield Cathedral for their first ever Christmas performance. The Choir with No Name run choirs for people who are or have been affected by homelessness. Choir with No Name Sheffield opened its doors in January and, with a few well received gigs now under their belt, they can't wait to share something festive with you. Tickets are priced £8-£12.50 and doors open at 7pm.

Tour 👻 On Tuesday, join storyteller Adrian Finney for ‘Twas the Strange Sheffield City Centre Ghost Tours before Christmas. Embark on a chilling yuletide journey through Sheffield's haunted history, where ghosts of Christmas past come to life. Uncover the eerie tales of local spirits and wander through the shadows of ancient streets adorned with the festive spirit. Tickets are priced £8-£12.50 and the tour starts at Leah’s Yard at 7.30pm.

Gaming 🎮 This Christmas at the National Videogames Museum, immerse yourself in the calm, dreamlike world of Monument Valley at a special showcase celebrating one of the most iconic puzzle game series of the last decade. The showcase explores how Monument Valley blends impossible architecture, beautiful visuals, and emotive storytelling to create a truly unique gaming experience. Tickets are £11-£14 and the exhibition runs until 4 January.

‘I’m very proud of my association with Park Hill’

Sad news reached us over the weekend that Sheffield photographer Mick Jones had died. Mick grew up at Park Hill flats in the 60s, and took hundreds of images of Park Hill and Sheffield when he was at art college in the early 70s. His photos were collected in several books, as well as being shown at both the Crucible and the National Theatre during the runs of the Richard Hawley-penned Park Hill musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge.

We featured Mick’s photographs several times in The Tribune, and Dan spoke to him for our piece about the pubs of Park Hill when The Pearl opened in 2023. As someone who remembered what the complex was like in its early days, he was keen to defend Park Hill and its four legendary pubs from accusations that it and they had always been crime-ridden dens of iniquity. “I’m very proud of my association with Park Hill,” he told me.

To see more of Mick Jones’ brilliant photos of Park Hill and Sheffield, see the British Culture Archive website.

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Answers:

1. C — 36 hours. Residents in pyjamas recalled having to take part in a “bizarre conga line” to get to the leisure centre
2. A — £40, so long as you don’t have a beard. 
3. A — the mystery pooer. Dan tried to get to the bottom of things. Elsewhere we covered the ongoing mystery of the Peak District wallabies.
4. B — “Liquid Pure Argon”, which was needed for the argon glovebox, where items made from uranium appeared to be being created.
5. D — he was actually a traffic warden
6. A — Walker is Sheffield’s last lockkeeper. When he retires, the Canal and River Trust say he won’t be replaced.
7. C — it was blown away in Storm Amy
8. B — as an e-mail that Stocks got access to stated: “We no longer have the disc. It wasn’t compatible with our systems”.
9. C — it was Sean Bean, who donated £5,000 to the campaign
10.  B — it was McDonalds, but nothing seemed to take his fancy