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Am I A Sheffielder?


Calvin72

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I have lived here for 10 years. Before then i had never been here before in my life. I live and work here, present a programme on local radio on the side, contribute on this site and the other place. I am at home here and extol it's virtues when back 'down South' (Sussex and London, not Chesterfield!). I stand in council elections and am active in local politics and campaigns.

However...

I have a southern accent, still support my football and cricket teams from back home and extol the virtues of London and the South to people in Sheffield too!

Am i a Sheffielder or still a Southerner in Sheffield? Not sure myself or even sure of what i want the answer to be?

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I thought that to be a Sheffielder you had to be born here.

As well as a birth certificate some younger Sheffielders have a small book for recording babys first year in for posterity. These books, issued by maternity units in the city, had the babys name on the front followed by "MADE IN SHEFFIELD", a phrase more frequently seen on fine steel cutlery, but very apt in this situation.

There are many non Sheffielders that live permanently in Sheffield and genuinely love the place and never wanting to move or live anywhere else. there is nothing wrong with that, it is after all a very cosmopolitan, mixed cultural place which makes it all the better. But a "Sheffielder" surely has to be born here.

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Guest Barbara M

I was born in Sheffield but moved out of the city in 1982 .....only next door to Rotherham at first then farther afield and I have never returned but I still call myself a Sheffielder , what else am I as I was born here 70 years ago ?

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I was born in Sheffield but moved out of the city in 1982 .....only next door to Rotherham at first then farther afield and I have never returned but I still call myself a Sheffielder , what else am I as I was born here 70 years ago ?

That's because you are a Sheffielder!

If outsiders can live in Sheffield without becoming a Sheffielder, then Sheffielders can live elsewhere and still remain Sheffielders.

It's to do with where you were born.

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On this subject I've traced my family in Sheffield back to 1713 I've lived in Sheffield all but a couple of years of my life but was born Barnsley 'cos that's where British Steel sent my Dad to work. I am Barnsley born by accident but I consider myself a Sheffielder through and through.

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Interesting thoughts! Part of my asking was a discussion recently about what Dave is saying - putting it simply,'we are from where we are born'. Well i was born in Hampshire whilst my parents lived there temporarily, i have never been back, have no connection at all and no family there. My family are all from Brighton and Hove and i spent my first 20 years there (bar the first few months), so i always say that is where i am from. Not that i have an identity crisis or anything :unsure:

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On this subject I've traced my family in Sheffield back to 1713 I've lived in Sheffield all but a couple of years of my life but was born Barnsley 'cos that's where British Steel sent my Dad to work. I am Barnsley born by accident but I consider myself a Sheffielder through and through.

Just seen your comment! - yes, thats what i mean too :)

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On this subject I've traced my family in Sheffield back to 1713 I've lived in Sheffield all but a couple of years of my life but was born Barnsley 'cos that's where British Steel sent my Dad to work. I am Barnsley born by accident but I consider myself a Sheffielder through and through.

Oh dear, - born in Barnsley.

How close to Sheffield do you have to be to be a Sheffielder?

Bearing in mind that the city boundaries have altered over the years, - for example, anyone born in Frechville or Mosborough before 1967 would be from Chesterfield RDC / Derbyshire, but after that from Sheffield.

Also, many outlying places now have Sheffield "S" postcodes. When I was growing up, "The City Of Sheffield" only went up to S14, now though we have S20s within the City and S up to 70 odd going out miles. Many of my friends live in Chesterfield / Derbyshire in S40, S41 and S42 areas. Some consider themselves "Sheffielders", especially the ones from Dronfield or Mastin Moor which are very close to the City border while others, mainly from Chesterfield, a good 15 miles away, don't, - they are definitely "Derbyshire"

Barnsley must be in a very similar position, - about 15 miles away from Sheffield (probably a bit less), actually in the same county and having a Sheffield postcode (S70 I think) BUT far enough away and different enough mot to be Sheffield, - a situation Rotherham also finds itself in.

Most people are born in hospital, and there aren't that many maternity units in Sheffield. If you live in suburban Sheffield, near a border and the nearest hospital is over the border in a neighbouring town (like Barnsley or Chesterfield) so you are born there, what happens then?

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Interesting thoughts! Part of my asking was a discussion recently about what Dave is saying - putting it simply,'we are from where we are born'. Well i was born in Hampshire whilst my parents lived there temporarily, i have never been back, have no connection at all and no family there. My family are all from Brighton and Hove and i spent my first 20 years there (bar the first few months), so i always say that is where i am from. Not that i have an identity crisis or anything :unsure:

I have a cousin, a "Sheffielder" (born and bred here) who married someone from Fleet in Hampshire and now lives permanently down there. All her children were born in Hampshire and no doubt they consider themselves "southerners" for want of a better word, but my cousin still sees herself as a "Sheffielder", which of course she is. Seems it works both ways.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with being from the south of England, - its a very nice place.

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Am i a Sheffielder or still a Southerner in Sheffield? Not sure myself or even sure of what i want the answer to be?

I think that you are what you feel yourself to be.

If you decide you want to be known as a Sheffielder, I for one am pleased to hear it. :)

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In 1967 the city boundary was extended to take in areas of Derbyshire and the West Riding. That year I had the (mis)fortune to work for the Council in both of them. You could feel the hostility of many of the locals raise the hair on the back of your neck! I don't know about the old WR bit, but the ex-Derbyshire folk resented the fact their council rates took an upward hike. The counter argument was that most had been enjoying Sheffield services for years while paying lower rates to Derbyshire. Another complaint was that Sheffield wasted money by leaving the street lights on all night instead of turning them off as Derbyshire had done, til it was pointed out that the burglary rate had dropped.

Then in 1974 some more areas were incorporated, mainly from the old West Riding. One was Stannington. The old County Library sign outside the library was replaced with a City Library one, which mysteriously disappeared three times.

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I think that you are what you feel yourself to be.

If you decide you want to be known as a Sheffielder, I for one am pleased to hear it. :)

Cheers :) , but this is the opposite of the earlier argument from DaveH that we are born one or the other. Interesting and pretty much the difference in opinion i was expecting and getting at!

For myself i am proud of my adopted City, but also of my home City too - so arrivals in Sheffield have the best of both worlds sometimes.

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Cheers :) , but this is the opposite of the earlier argument from DaveH that we are born one or the other. Interesting and pretty much the difference in opinion i was expecting and getting at!

For myself i am proud of my adopted City, but also of my home City too - so arrivals in Sheffield have the best of both worlds sometimes.

It does the show the difference in opinions but it is not something we are going to fall out over. Long gone are the days (thankfully)where we judge each other by where we come from (or the colour of our skin, or political allegiance, or religious beliefs etc., etc.). Also, long gone are the days when transport and communications were so poor that people were effectively stuck in one locality and had no contact with other communities. Today the whole World is just one big village and we can choose to live and adopt the cultures of wherever we want. I am very glad of that, and also that so many people, born outside of Sheffield choose to live here. I have worked with many people who live in Sheffield but originate elsewhere. Basically they came here as students to get a degree at Sheffield University or Sheffield Hallam, loved the place and never went home.

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In 1967 the city boundary was extended to take in areas of Derbyshire and the West Riding. You could feel the hostility of many of the locals raise the hair on the back of your neck! I don't know about the old WR bit, but the ex-Derbyshire folk resented the fact their council rates took an upward hike. The counter argument was that most had been enjoying Sheffield services for years while paying lower rates to Derbyshire. Another complaint was that Sheffield wasted money by leaving the street lights on all night instead of turning them off as Derbyshire had done, til it was pointed out that the burglary rate had dropped.

Living where I do in Sheffield I have many friends in Frecheville, Mosborough, Eckington, Killamarsh, Halfway and other places on the Sheffield - Derbyshire border. In 1967, one of them, from Mosborough, went to London to protest to the Government, that Sheffield was taking hem over. Although we frequently mention the fact that he did this in his youth (he was 17 at the time, so not old enough to vote!)we don't fall out over it.

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I was born in the Listerdale nursing home at Wickersley. Mum and Dad were living at Mexborough at the time. When I was 4 or 5 we moved to Hackenthorpe. It was years before I realised I wasn't born in Sheffield and by the time I bothered to read my birth certificate, it was too late.

I was from Sheffield.

Wickersley was an unknown place, Mexborough was where we went on the train to visit Grandma and Grandad.

I was from Sheffield.

Out here people ask me all the time where I'm from. I tell them - I'm from Sheffield. It is Sheffield that gave me that accent, my education, my wife, my sense of humour, my best memories. It is Sheffield that made me who I am.

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I agree with THYLACINE, I had no idea I wasn't born in Sheffield. I have no family in Barnsley, never had and never will and in fact have never been back since I left. I have no memories of the place, everything I am is Sheffield.

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Calvin, you extol the virtues of London and the South in Sheffield, yet you are obviously still alive and have not mentioned any recent visits to Casualty. This says much for Sheffielders' tolerance and sense of humour.

But seriously...

I was born in a nursing home in Chesterfield. However, my parents had already moved to Sheffield before I was born. hard to believe now, but Dad insisted that I be born in Derbyshire so that I would be qualified to play cricket for the county, of which he (born in Chesterfield) was a keen supporter! I think it disappointed him that I never got much further than Saloon bar v. public Bar or Staff v. School in my cricket "career", although I did become quite adept at watching the game.

So, I cannot claim Sheffield as my birthplace but my formative years (from age just over 0 to 13-and-a-half) were spent in Gleadless, and I still have many fond and vivid memories of the city (otherwise I would not have joined this forum). Since then I have lived in seven English counties and one foreign country, but on my occasional trips to Sheffield it's still rather like coming home. So I hope I meet at least some of the qualification criteria.

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My wife's great uncle was sexton at Bradfield Church, and he and his wife lived in the watch house by the gates. Although he was from Bradfield, his wife was from Penistone, which isn't really that far away. She was always annoyed that from the day she was married to the day she died, over sixty years, and lived in Bradfield all that time, she was always referred to as 'that lass from Penistone'.

(It's long out of print, but if you can get hold of a copy, there's a book by Patrick Ryan called 'How I became a Yorkshireman' It's the funny story of how he moved from London to the deepest West Riding, and his efforts to become Yorkshire, including secretly buying a flat cap but only wearing in secret at home, and other failed efforts.

My best friend and best man was a friend from college, who came from Port Talbot in South Wales. Whenever he came to visit I had to interpret between him and my father-in-law who spoke pure Stanni'ton. Despite this they got on very well, and when I in turn was his best man, my father-in-law gave me a flat cap and a yorkshire pud to present to him at the reception to make him an honorary Yorkshireman. The night before the wedding we stayed with his family, and all were sitting round talking when their dog appeared with the yorkshire pud he'd found in our open bag. All were mystified as to where it could have come from, so we had to explain, but he still got the cap at the wedding.

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I am Jessop Hospital born, family living at Birkendale Road at the time. Wandered around for the next 18 years, Walkley, Hillsborough, Walkley again. Then I left, barely returned in the next 33 years, even when I do it's to S36 - am I still a Sheffielder or some Northern wannabe ??

Still support Wednesday from a distance.

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Until they ask you what team you support.

There are a lot of Manchester United fans because most fans love to support the winners, and of course MUFC have an excellent track record and an impressive history of winning. However, so far this Eason both Sheffield teams are doing well. There could be an interesting local United v Wednesday FA cup match coming up.

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There are a lot of Manchester United fans because most fans love to support the winners, and of course MUFC have an excellent track record and an impressive history of winning. However, so far this Eason both Sheffield teams are doing well. There could be an interesting local United v Wednesday FA cup match coming up.

Followed by one of them playing Brighton in the Semi Final ... :)

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Oddly enough, I followed Wednesday as a boy (stood on those Hillsborough terraces a few times) but now, having lived and taught for many years in Sussex, I tend to follow Albion. Your post suggests that you may have followed a similar route.

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I agree with the general concensus here that to be a "Sheffielder" you have to have been born in Sheffield.

The confusing part is the Sheffield postcodes that drift into Chesterfield, Rotherham and Barnsley.

As i see it at the moment, Sheffield stops as follows:-

North - High Green

South:- Lowedges

East:- Attercliffe

West:- Stannington

I might be wrong but in my minds eye i see these areas as the outposts in Sheffield.

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