sheffield

Kelham Island Museum

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A photo of the Don Valley Engine at the Kelham Island Museum

If I had to guess where the Kelham Island Museum was, I’d probably suggest it was somewhere off the coast of northern England. It’s not – it’s in Sheffield city centre, and it’s a museum of Sheffield’s industrial history.

The Kelham Island Museum has been on my to-do list for several years. I seem to remember that, in the past, it was only open on weekdays, which made visiting difficult. Thankfully, it is now open at weekends, and so we went along last weekend for our first visit.

I like a good industrial museum, and the north of England is full of them. I’ve been to the ones in Manchester, Leeds, Halifax, Bradford, and I suppose the World of Glass in St Helens counts too. And whilst St Helens is known for its glass, Sheffield is know for its steel. So, you’ll find a lot of steel at the Kelham Island Museum – it’s home to the Hawley Tool Collection, which is the world’s largest collection of tools. What’s nice about the tool collection is that, whilst many items are on display, there are also pull-out drawers with plenty more to see if you’re so inclined.

The River Don Engine

If you visit at the right time on Thursdays through to Saturdays, you’ll get to see the River Don Engine powered up – it’s the photo you can see at the top. This is an absolute beast of a steam engine, and is currently the most powerful working steam engine in Europe. During its working life, it was, as you would expect, used for making steel. Its maximum output is around 12,000 horsepower, which is around 9 megawatts or the equivalent of 3 wind turbines at full speed.

Whilst it now lives in the Kelham Island Museum, the River Don Engine used to be elsewhere in Sheffield. Indeed, despite its massive size, it’s been moved twice in its lifetime. It last underwent restoration in 2007, when the museum was flooded, ironically, by the namesake River Don.

Kelham Island

The Kelham Island Museum gets its name from Kelham Island, an artificial island in the River Don dating back to the 12th Century. Back then, a mill race was constructed to power water mills. The museum itself is in what was originally an iron foundry, and later a power station for Sheffield’s first generation electric trams. The museum isn’t the only building on the island – there’s also student accommodation to serve Sheffield’s two large universities, and the Kelham Island Brewery.

It’s also worth noting the museum café, Joni, which does very good food – certainly way above average for a museum of its size. In fact, you may need to phone ahead and book a table on busy days. There’s also a pub, The Millowners Arms.

We visited in an afternoon, which wasn’t quite enough time to get around the whole museum, so it’s probably almost a full day out.

Accessibility

As mentioned above, Kelham Island Museum is in Sheffield city centre. There is limited on-site parking, which you need to pay for at a machine or on the RingGo app. Alternatively, it’s a five minute walk from Shalesmoor tram stop, or a 25 minute walk from Sheffield’s main railway station (so you may wish to consider the aforementioned tram).

Entrance is free, but donations are welcome. The museum shop is also great – especially if you or people you know like the local delicacy, Henderson’s Relish.

If you’re in a wheelchair or can’t handle stairs, then you should still be able to see most of the museum. Not all of the floors are flat. A lift is provided to the upper floors. The River Don Engine, when it’s in steam, is particularly noisy.

National Emergency Services Museum

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A photo of some old fire engines at the National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield

The weekend before Easter, we went to the National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield. It’s a place we’ve been past a few times and so it’s been on our to-do list for a while, but this was our first visit.

The museum is housed in what was originally rare example of a combined police, ambulance and fire station, which opened in 1900. Over time, the various services outgrew the building and by the time it closed in 1965 only the police remained. The museum first opened in the year of my birth, 1984, originally just as fire service museum. It became a fire and police museum in 1991, and adopted its current name of the National Emergency Services Museum in 2015 following an extensive refurbishment.

Whilst the building is rather small, there’s a lot packed in there. It’s spread over three floors, with a yard at the back that houses a full-sized lifeboat and an Embrace ambulance. Inside, there are a number of police vehicles, ambulances and firefighting equipment, and you can also go inside some of the old police cells. Upstairs, there are galleries about the role of the emergency services on the front lines during the First World War, and a history of fire services in the UK.

Steamers and Scallywags

The principal reason that we went when we did was the Steamers and Scallywags event. Many of the staff were dressed up in Steampunk outfits, and there were market stalls in the stables. Upstairs, in the event space, you could try your hand at tea duelling, and there were regular performances from various Steampunk-adjacent acts over the weekend. We specifically went to see Madam Misfit, who we’ve seen before. This was our nine-year-old’s first time seeing her and she put on a great family-inclusive performance.

Elsewhere, there were animal handling sessions where Christine and our nine-year-old got to handle various snakes. I feel like there may be a pet snake in our future.

Commitments in the morning meant that we could only spend an afternoon at the National Emergency Services Museum, and as we prioritised the Steampunk activities, we didn’t get to see all of the rest of the museum. Thankfully, it’s one of those museums where your tickets can become an annual pass at no extra charge, and so we’ll be back soon.

Accessibility

The National Emergency Services Museum is located in Sheffield city centre, and so it’s quite easy to get to by public transport. Car parking is also available nearby – we parked at the NCP car park on Solly Street which is just around the corner.

Being a 125 year old building, accessibility isn’t perfect and there are some uneven surfaces on the ground floor. This is also reflected by a discounted entry fee for wheelchair users. However, there is a lift and most of the doorways are nice and wide to fit wheelchairs through. There is a disabled toilet on site. A sensory map and sensory backpacks are available.

NHS staff (like Christine) and people who work in the emergency services get discounted admission. The museum is normally open Wednesday to Sunday each week, and on Bank Holiday Mondays.