What we are up to
As part of the Heritage Open Days we will take part in the campaign by having a stall in Channing Hall on September 12th and 13th. We'll have four booklets available in exchange for donations:
The City Sculpture Stroll, the Sheaf Sculpture Stroll, Walking through Weston Park and Exploring Sheffield's Cathedral Quarter.
(Picture taken last year before the event opened on Saturday morning. Our table was at the far right, alongside the Dickens Fellowship display.)
Portland Works Open Day
We had a stall at the Portland Works Open Day on July 18th 2026. This year we were outside under a baking sun (eventually). Four booklets were available and the event was useful to raise awareness.
Sheffield Fayre in Norfolk Park
A new venture for us on the August Bank Holiday Monday saw us taking a table in the Heritage Tent at the Sheffield Fayre in Norfolk Park. The event ran from 10 until 5, but most groups were packing up by 4-30. There was interest in our stall and it was a useful opportunity to meet with some local political figures.
Concern over public art on roundabout
There has been talk in the local press regarding the Shalesmoor roundabout which may be converted into three way junction to improve traffic flow. Whether or not this is a good idea for traffic, one facet of this concerns us at SVAG.
Currently on the roundabout there are stone blocks which have cutlery images carved into them.
Our concern is that the proposed juction may see these striking images removed to some storage area, thus depriving the city of viewing them.
The roundabout is close to the Supertram stop
SHEFFIELD City Sculpture Stroll
What was needed was a means to allow the public to take the walk at their own pace, at a time of their own choosing. We had a means; the walk could be described on the website. The walk was part of the “Unseen Scene” illustrated talks given to groups in the past couple of years. We had the pictures and the texts had already been researched.
In addition it was felt that a printed copy would make a useful guide to show the walker what could be seen on the walk. A sub group was set up to design such a printed copy. At the same time access to the website was gained and work could begin updating the website.
The initial design was using a sheet of A3 paper in the upright configuration, folded in half to give a landscape A4 size which was then divided into 3 columns. In effect giving twelve panels. After folding, Panel 12 would become the front.
It was decided to have twelve main points of interest, these being Edward VII in Fitzalan Square, The White Building, Mercury on top of the Lyceum, The Walking Man, Rain (the Stainless Steel balls), the three Fullard artworks in the grounds of the Upper Chapel, Cat and Bird in Barker’s Pool, Horse and Rider, the Covid Memorial, Women of Steel, the War Memorial and finally the James Montgomery statue in the Cathedral grounds. At some time a decision was taken to refer to the walk as a stroll. It’s not a route march, but the hope is the stroller will stop in places and admire the various artworks.
A map was needed and one was produced in a form which recalled the simplification of the famous London Underground map. The map showed the location of the twelve landmarks, using the same colour scheme as on the texts.
Checking through my records I found that nearly all subjects were covered. I knew I had a shot of Rain, it was one of the first digital images I had taken. Only Mercury had to be shot especially, although a later shot proved to be more suitable. It’s the one to be seen on the website and above.
The leaflet was designed using Writer, a word processing program found within the LibreOffice portfolio. Once the texts and images were matched, it was time for a proof copy. There was a lot of text and it was decided that a font size no smaller than 9 point would be used. Anything smaller would make reading difficult; anything larger would spill over on to a second sheet.
A document was created and the file was taken to a local printer to produce a proof. The file had been converted to include small file sizes. Even at this definition the proof looked impressive (See above image)..
After extensive perusal to sort out any typos, we thought it ready for printing. However textual alterations had been made and there was a worry alignment had been changed. A further proof was required, though to save on cost, this was in black and white. This was when we discovered there were severe bumps in the road.
The printer I normally use couldn’t handle the printing and folding necessary, but recommended another business able to handle large paper sizes. However this second place reported more problems, although they did suggest alternatives.
One of these was to go for an A3 sheet folded twice to produce A5 size – eight panels in total. This immediately caused problems. The front page had been designed as a DL sized image. Now we were being asked to increase the size by 50%. The image would not stretch to the new dimension. A further complication was that if the front page increased in size, this would result in less space for the other panels. The images, currently the width of a DL panel would need to be increased in size to fit the A5 format. Larger images would take up more space which would reduce the available space for text. Reducing the text size was out of the question.
The printer used to produce the proof quoted a price which seemed on the high side. The search for a printer continued. Another place was suggested, but when visited, appeared to be closed and the building up for sale.
Yet another was found and the file sent to them.
They rejected it as it had been produced using a word processor rather than their favoured program. After downloading the program, it was not the easiest to come to terms with. Probably after six months it might be easier to use, but at the present time it would not be easy to use.
The second printer visited had suggested that one solution might be to produce an eight page booklet, rather than a flyer. This idea had already been rejected for the same reasons as the A5 flyer. There was a solution to this Gordian Knot – the so-called Plan C. There would not be that much difference in cost between a twelve page booklet, as opposed to the eight page booklet. Images could be larger and more could be used.
The map could be displayed using the full rear cover. This left ten pages to contain twelve subjects. The image of the King Edward VII statue in Fitzalan Square showed the White Building in the background. The Walking Man and Rain were placed together on one page.
What was required was a twelve page pdf which could be sent to Vistaprint. The snag was that a decision needed to be taken imminently if the order were to be delivered in time for the Heritage Fair. The Vistaprint website was talking about a delivery just a few days before the Fair.
There was only one choice; send off the order for the booklet while persevering with the leaflet and hope for the order to arrive in time.
It did!
It had been suggested to us that we contact the J.G.Graves Trust to see if we could secure a donation. We were successful in theis application which covered the printing costs. We acknowledge their valuable contribution in future booklets.
One further point regarding the original booklet was that a couple of days after sending off the order, a better image was seen in the city centre. Subsequent print runs use this more colourful image on page 3. It's the image of Mercury on the Lyceum, seen above.
2026 Heritage Fair
It's fair to say that the 2026 Heritage Fair was a great success from SVAG's viewpoint. Many people were reluctant to give donations, but the presence of three booklets proved a good excuse for donating. - always very welcome.
Image shows Jan on duty on our stall at the 2026 event in the Millennium Galleries.
Numbers were slightly down on the previous year, but it was a useful opportunity for networking and arranging at least one talk to a community group.
On the whole it was an enjoyable couple of days.
One option tried this year was to take the car and park in the Nunnery Square Car Park before catching a tram into the city centre. It's certainly an idea worth continuing for future events in the centre.
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