Len's visit to Kelham is "Strictly the Best!"

Len pictured above with the Sheffield Industrial Museum Trust team

The team at Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust received a surprise visit today from BBC's Strictly Come Dancing favourite Len Goodman. The popular TV show's judge popped by to catch a glimpse of Sheffield's industrial heritage ahead of tonight's Strictly Come Dancing tour at Sheffield's Motorpoint Arena.

Lovely to see you Len!

Skates of Steel

Ever wanted to know how they get two edges on a skate blade?

Visit the Hawley Gallery here at Kelham Island Museum and enjoy free admission on Mon 21 February when Peter Gribbon, a local hand grinder of skate blades for ice dancers, will be talking about sharpening skate blades by hand as part of our exciting new temporary exhibition - Sheffield's Got the Edge! Skate blades through the ages (Dec 2010 - March 2011).

Peter's talks will take place at 10.30am and 11.30am followed by a talk by Lloyd Gibson, Assistant Captain of Sheffield Steeldogs Ice Hockey team at 12.30pm, when Lloyd will explain what makes a great skate!

Home to the Steeldogs, Sheffield is well known for its love of ice hockey but did you know Sheffield has a long history of making skates and skate blades?

This new exhibition features Victorian skates from the Hawley Collection and investigates how skates were made in the past, discovering how skate blades were sharpened, or ground, by hand and now by machine - literally how they get their edge!

Our thanks to Peter Gribbon and Puck Stop at Ice Sheffield for their advice on grinding and the Sheffield Steeldogs for their generosity in providing an ice hockey kit taking pride of place in the exhibition.

For details of all activities available as part of the temporary exhibitions programme visit the Hawley Collection 

Record breaking spade arrives at the Hawley Gallery

The world's largest spade, built by British manufacturer Bulldog Tools to celebrate its 230 year anniversary, has arrived at Kelham Island Museum. 

Originally due to arrive in Dec 2010 as part of a countrywide tour, the giant spade's arrival was delayed due to heavy snowfall but will now stay until the end of January 2011.

The spade weighs approximately 180KG (28st 4.8lb), stands at 3.610 metres (11'8'') high, has a blade of 598 mm (23½") wide and took 160 man hours to put together. It beats the former world's largest spade by 500mm in height and has been verified by Guinness World Records^TM.

Assembled in Wigan, the spade is a testament to the capabilities of those who work at the Rollins Bulldog Tools factory, the last working forge in the UK which has manufactured spades and fork of outstanding quality for 230 years.

Fred Foot, Marketing Manager at Bulldog Tools says: "This project was all about celebrating British manufacturing and showcasing our heritage. The giant spade marks 230 years of trading for Bulldog Tools, an achievement of which we are all very proud."

The giant spade will be appearing at Kelham Island Museum throughout January 2011. Don't miss it!

For more information see the Hawley Collection Newsletter

Factsheet

How Bulldog Built the Biggest Spade

World's Biggest Spade Blog

The world's largest spade is set to arrive at Kelham Island Museum this week, two weeks later than planned due to the bad weather that has swept across the UK.

Later this month, the Guinness World Record breaking spade will be on display in the new Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum for everyone to enjoy - more updates on it's arrival coming soon!

It's a new year and there's never a better time to take a fresh look at our website.

Last year, we introduced a new look site complete with our new branding and over the coming months we'll be working on stage two of our development, to update the content of our website pages, from conferencing to collections, adding more images along the way!

In the meanwhile don't forget to register to receive updates on SIMT news and events