Sheffield has built its worldwide reputation on steelmaking. For centuries the area was renowned for its cutlery and tools and from the mid-eighteenth century Sheffield began to build a reputation for the production of high-quality steels. A hundred years later the city’s name was synonymous with steel and today ‘made in Sheffield’ still guarantees the highest quality. In the Photographic History of Sheffield Steel, author Geoffrey Howse has chosen a wide cross-section of photographs of steel and cutlery production in and around the city, primarily from the fascinating collections at Kelham Island Museum. Many famous companies are featured, as are different production methods, a wide range of products from the vast numbers of items manufactured there (including gun barrels, shell cases and armour-plate), the steelworkers themselves and individual ‘Little Masters’. This book is essential reading for everyone who knows Sheffield, residents and visitors alike, while anyone connected with the steel and cutlery industries will find that these pictures stimulate memories of days one by.
