Storying Sheffield- Chronicling the memory of a city

by Startacus Admin
We have learned many things since the beginning of our 'Startup Cities’ tour, but what seems most prevalent (no matter where we go) is that a city’s value is so much greater than the mere the sum of its parts.
Stripped back to their bare bones, all cities are basically the same. Whilst geographical locations and superficial details may vary, when it comes down to it, all cities are just a collection of buildings and other man-made structures, clumped together in a higglety-pigglety sort of way… nothing more.
So how then can a city have a particular ‘atmosphere’? Why is it when you step off a train in Glasgow you are immediately enveloped in an undeniable friendliness? And why does Bristol have a surprising aura of creativity and colour?
Of course, the answer is a simple one. A city is not defined by its buildings, roads and bridges… but by the people who live there, the collective cultural memory that they hold and its distinctive power to shape the cities atmosphere.
It’s a concept which is easy to identify, but very difficult to account for...
Storying Sheffield
Storying Sheffield is a project based at the University of Sheffield, which is delving deep into the collective history, memories and experiences of the city.
They are putting together a chronicle of the ‘life’ of Sheffield, through the creation of stories and other creative representations of its people, their lives and their identities.There are many strands to the project, which is bringing together a diverse range of people and allowing them to see their individual story as part of a much wider experience and a contribution to the development of the cities individual and unique culture.
The project is, as their tagline claims, ‘a cloth of woven stories told’ encompassing poetry, prose, video, sketches, paintings and performance- all unapologetically (nay proudly) everyday, commonplace and real. Often they are the ‘untold’ stories – those which are marginalised, repressed, disregarded, ignored, or stigmatised
The Putter- A Story that Saved the Scissors
At Startacus we are firm believers in the power of a good story - a human story told truthfully can move you in a way that defies all sense and reaso n- much like the city itself, a good story is worth eminently more than the sum of its parts.
An excellent illustration of this is the case of Ernest Wright & Sons, the last remaining handmade scissor manufacturers in the UK. They featured in a strand of ‘Storying Sheffield’ called ‘Steel Stories’ which Marked the 100th anniversary of the invention of stainless steel - a pivotal moment in the cities history (for obvious reasons).
So compelling is this video that it received over half a million views on Vimeo, created a flood of thousands of orders, brought this generations old family business back from the brink of closure and helped to maintain the last survival of a once booming British trade. Quite a feat wouldn’t you say?
The Putter
The film documents ' Putter ' Cliff Denton literally a putter togetherer of scissors . This Film is part of Storying Sheffield , part funded by the Arts & Humanities department under Professor Brendan Stone at The University of Sheffield . Music and Sound Design by The Black DogWe doff our caps to the good folks at Storying Sheffield and urge one-and-all to pay a visit to their website and lose yourself in a Sheffield Story.
Did you know that this (September) is our Sheffield Startup month? Why not share your Sheffield startup tale with the world?
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Cambridge-based startup, CardiaTec Biosciences raises investment to support further development of its mission to develop the next generation of cardiovascular disease targets.

Raise Ventures on a mission to empower the next generation of business leaders and founders with the launch of their pioneering Emerging Leaders Summer School.

The recipients of the 2022 Ulster Bank Enterprise Fund are announced, each aiming to promote and encourage entrepreneurship amongst underrepresented groups.

Leading disability-focused organisations join forces to launch the #Access2Funding campaign - calling on the VC and investment community to improve the representation, opportunities presented to and experience of disabled founders.

WeWALK, RNIB, and ICL consortium secures UKRI funding to improve mobility for visually impaired and elderly.

The lowdown on Studeo, the edtech startup that has created a video learning app in order to democratise elite tutoring.

The impact of standards, ethics and conduct on business success and profits - Work.Life has some interesting insights...

The lowdown on Space32 - the startup that wants to help hybrid-working businesses find the working space and solution that's right for them.

Global Tech for Good initiative seeks innovative startups and scaleups that are creating positive social impact and enhancing people's lives through tech.

The lowdown on Bidnamic, the startup that's combining advance machine learning with human expertise to help retailers to maximise revenue and profitability from Google Shopping.
Published on: 11th September 2014
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.







- CardiaTec Biosciences Secures £1.4m to combat cardiovascular diseases using Artificial Intelligence 6th Jul 2022 Cambridge-based startup, CardiaTec Biosciences raises investment to support further development of its mission to develop the next generation of cardiovascular disease targets.
- Raise Ventures pioneer an Emerging Leaders Summer School 6th Jul 2022 Raise Ventures on a mission to empower the next generation of business leaders and founders with the launch of their pioneering Emerging Leaders Summer School.
- Ulster Bank Funds Diverse Entrepreneurship 5th Jul 2022 The recipients of the 2022 Ulster Bank Enterprise Fund are announced, each aiming to promote and encourage entrepreneurship amongst underrepresented groups.
- New campaign launches to address disproportionate lack of support for disabled entrepreneurs. 5th Jul 2022 Leading disability-focused organisations join forces to launch the #Access2Funding campaign - calling on the VC and investment community to improve the representation, opportunities presented to and experience of disabled founders.