Shootings, supporter protests and Korean supermarkets

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

We hope you all had an enjoyable weekend and managed to stay warm and dry as Storm Amy lashed Sheffield. Dan’s got a bit of a cold (possible Covid?) so stayed in all weekend trying to recuperate, but Mollie did manage to venture out, visiting South Street Kitchen, taking a stroll down the Five Weirs Walk, and watching Emergence Collective's performance at Sensoria festival.

Today we have a round up of several stories, including the latest on the spate of shootings that rocked Sheffield last week, why a massive new Korean supermarket has opened on The Moor, and another (less noticeable) flag blunder. As well as that we have a lovely home in Meersbrook, a slug exhibition opens at Site Gallery, and cult film Tales from a Hard City returns to Sheffield.

In case you missed it

Last week, we published a piece about wallabies, the Tasmanian marsupials that have been part of the Peak District’s folklore for decades now. Either deliberately released into the wild or escapees from Britain’s shuttered zoos during the Second World War, wallabies made the Peaks their home for 70 years, and though there is currently no evidence of their population remaining, some hikers still claim they’ve caught a glimpse of them out in the hills.

Our Friday story was about another South Yorkshire mystery: what on earth happened to Ian Stocks’ pension? After the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority failed to offer him an explanation for why he was missing thousands in retirement income, and why they had no record of him as a member, Stocks stumbled upon a surprising revelation: a floppy disk containing all his pension records had been destroyed years earlier.

Dan’s weekend read was about the Sheffield Wednesday fans suffering with their mental health as they struggle with a dilemma: continue attending home games to support the players, or boycott the matches completely to force a change of ownership. He found that the boycotts themselves are a source of stress and division among fans, with some even bringing back the language of the miners’ strike. Thanks for your thoughtful comments under that story.

Our friends at Now Then tell stories that amplify marginalised voices and explore possibilities for radical change in service of a fairer and more sustainable Sheffield. Check out their in-depth coverage of Doncaster Sheffield Airport for example, or their series that aimed to kickstart honest conversations about the most pressing problems we collectively face. They also regularly write about underground culture in the city, from music and film to food and theatre. You can sign up to their weekly newsletter – it’s free.

The big picture: Singing in the rain ☔️ 

This photo of Tudor Square and the Crucible theatre looking gorgeous in the rain was taken by Dan on his way home from the office on Friday night (via a few pubs, naturally). If you have photos of Sheffield you’d like to share, email us and we’ll try to feature them.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

Shooting spate 🚨 Three shootings in just two days shocked Sheffield last week, with one man dying as a result of an incident in Upperthorpe. 32-year-old Kassim Mohammed was shot on Watery Street on Wednesday evening and died a short time later in hospital. Another shooting had taken place in the early hours of the same day in Pitsmoor, while a third took place in Grimesthorpe on Thursday. Two people arrested in connection with Mr Mohammed's murder have since been released on police bail and police say they are keeping an “open mind” over whether the three shootings are linked. It’s clearly worrying and an indication that organised criminal gangs continue to operate in our city. However, as The Star reported on Saturday, gun crime in Sheffield is actually down. New figures show that South Yorkshire Police recorded 164 firearms offences between April 24 and March 25, a 47% fall on the previous year, when 309 were recorded.

On the pitch ⚽ It was another weekend of woe for Sheffield Wednesday as they lost 5-0 to Coventry City at home. As well as suffering a chastening defeat, after 10 minutes several fans invaded the pitch to protest about the club’s ownership, adding to the sense of crisis surrounding the club. Latest reports suggest that owner Dejphon Chansiri is currently seeking new investment that would see him remain at the club, but that would probably be unacceptable to many fans.

Korean cuisine 🇰🇷 If you were on The Moor on Saturday you would probably have seen a huge crowd of people queuing to get in Sheffield’s main shopping street’s newest store: the Korean and East Asian supermarket Oseyo. Around 500 people are reported to have braved the wind and rain to attend the grand opening of the store which features 13,000 square feet of Asian food, lifestyle and culture spread over three floors. The interest in East Asian food, music and culture has skyrocketed in recent years, partly due to more East Asian students coming to the UK and partly due to Brits’ increasing willingness to try new things. Another Asian supermarket, Hello Japan, is due to open soon on the same street.

Sheffield on screen 📽️ A new exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of documentary Tales from a Hard City will open on Friday. Made in 1995, the film tells the story of four people trying to find stardom in post-industrial Sheffield, with mixed results. Since the documentary was released it has become a cult classic, with celebrity fans including Jarvis Cocker and Badly Drawn Boy. The show, which is on at the Old Post House on Fitzalan Square as part of the No Bounds festival and runs until 25 October, also features the photography of Bill Stephenson, whose photos used to help storyboard and later promote the project. To read Sophie Atkinson’s brilliant piece in The Tribune about Tales from a Hard City from way back in 2021, click here (the piece also contains a link to where you can watch the film).

Flag flop ❌ As part of Black History Month, a string of Caribbean flags has been hoisted in the Winter Garden. Unfortunately, these include the outdated Martinique “snake flag”, which was withdrawn in 2018 due to its associations with the slave trade. No doubt unintentional, but not the best look. Unfortunately, Sheffield Council does have some form when it comes to getting flags wrong. Two years ago they mistakenly flew the Scottish St Andrew’s flag on St David’s Day, while in 2019, they accidentally flew the flag of Wales on St Patrick's Day. Only eight weeks until St Andrew’s Day…

Building bridges 🕍 The heinous terrorist attack in Manchester continued to dominate the headlines over the weekend. As you may know, The Tribune has a sister title in Manchester called The Mill. On Sunday, they published a moving piece about the long history of Jews and Muslims in North Manchester which in our opinion is well worth 15 minutes of your time.

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on our story from last week about a destroyed floppy disk and Ian Stocks’ missing South Yorkshire County Council pension.

Home of the week 🏡

This five bedroom Victorian terrace in Meersbrook has been fully modernised but is still full of period features and character. It also has a sunny, private front garden and a stepped, elevated rear garden complete with a summer house. It is on the market for £325,000. 

Things to do 📆

Art 🐌 On now at Site Gallery is Slime Mother, an immersive exhibition all about the much-maligned slug. The exhibition invites us into an alternate universe in which slugs are celebrated as resilient, queer, more-than-human beings. As well as the film Slime Mother, which is shot in a biodiverse sensory community garden in London, the exhibition also includes stained glass art and a slug disco, whatever that involves. The show is free and runs until February.

Theatre 🎭 Starting on Wednesday at the Drama Studio is Sheffield theatre company The Company’s production of Titus Andronicus. Adapted to a 1960s gangland setting, the Shakespearean tragedy deals with violence, murder, and retribution as the result of a ten-year war. Tickets are priced £13-£15 and the show runs until Saturday. Attendees should be aware the production contains strong violence, references to sexual assault, and racism.

Talk 🇯🇲 On Thursday, join musician Steve Edwards at Weston Park for a talk about the ties between his Jamaican and Yorkshire heritage. As a second-generation immigrant child of Jamaican-born parents, Steve Edwards was raised in the shadows of the disappearing industries of working class Sheffield. The free 45-minute talk, which begins at 1pm, is in association with Sheffield Stories: Caribbean Footsteps, which continues until May 2027.

❓And Tribune members keep your eyes on your inboxes, as we’ve got the details of our next members’ only event landing this week! Spaces are very limited…