There’s Metal in Those Hills

Sheffield was once the iron, steel and cutlery capital of the world. The hills around Sheffield and Rotherham were full of raw materials like coal and iron ore that could be used in cutlery and blade production.

Before we were Famous Sheffield and Rotherham became famous for manufacturing and production for four main reasons: crucible steel, stainless steel, electroplating and cutlery.

Crucible Steel Benjamin Huntsman invented the crucible steel process. Before this process was invented, the quality of the steel was unreliable and slow to produce. Benjamin Huntsman’s invention allowed people to produce tougher, high-quality steel in larger quantities.

Stainless Steel Harry Brearley began testing why rifles rusted and exploring ways to stop steel from rusting. He developed Stainless Steel which was much more rust resistant than the steel that had been used previously.

Cutlery Sheffield and Rotherham have been connected to the production of cutlery since the 1600s. Sheffield was the main center of cutlery production in England outside of London. Sheffield became world famous for its production of high-quality cutlery.

The moving story of Sheffield’s remarkable Women of Steel Yorkshire Post article 13th June 2020

The story of Kathleen, one of the last surviving Sheffield steelworkers from the war. When war broke out, the lives of the young women of Sheffield were turned upside down. With the men sent away to fight they had no choice but to step into their shoes and became the backbone of the city’s steel industry. Through hard graft and companionship in the gruelling, and often dangerous world of factory work, they vowed to keep the foundry fires burning. Lots of the men who still worked in the factories resented them being there to begin with, but as time went on and the number of men working there dropped, they relied on the women who came in. It isn’t known exactly how many women worked in the city’s steelworks during the war, but they number in the hundreds, possibly thousands. And they came from all manner of backgrounds, working as everything from heavy machine operators to crane drivers. There was a real mix, there were the old buffer girls who’d been in the steel polishing industry, but you also had women who worked as nannies or in sweet shops. They all felt compelled to come and do their bit. Sheffield’s steelworks were a vital cog in the nation’s war effort, producing everything from crankshafts for Spitfires and Hurricanes, to artillery shells, camouflage nets and tank treads. There were a lot of awful injuries in the factories, but these women kept on working because they knew how important it was. They did eight to 12-hour shifts and worked six days a week, and that was their life for six years. The women replaced the men who’d gone into the Forces and were doing all the things people thought that women couldn’t do. Though these women proved themselves as being equals of their male counterparts, they only got paid a fraction of what the men did. And when the men returned in 1945, the women were simply pushed aside as the men returned to their old jobs. Not only did most women lose their jobs, but many also had to care for their returning husbands who had often been injured or left traumatised by the war. The female steelworkers were told not to tell anyone about their roles and so there was no mention of it in the history books and most people didn’t know what these women had been through. In 2016, after four of the elderly women of steel campaigned to bring their story to life, the Women of Steel statue was unveiled in Sheffield City Centre to commemorate these women who took on many roles during both the First and Second World Wars.

 Video on inside the steelworks https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0115l27