John Harris’s article about Sheffield and the impact of the closure of Debenhams and John Lewis (The death of the department store, 10 February) raised many questions, not least “What are city centres for?” Historically, they were the most accessible locations in a large urban area. The advent of the private car, and free use of roads, has made almost anywhere easy to get to. The cost, however, of sprawl, pollution and energy usage will become limiting as we move towards a zero-carbon economy. As the architect Adam Park said in Harris’s article: “We shouldn’t be demolishing buildings any more.”
The out-of-town Meadowhall shopping centre was approved by the city council to replace a brownfield former steelworks site. Surprisingly, no mention was made of Sheffield’s tram network; prior to the pandemic, this had provided a counter to Meadowhall by carrying passengers parked there into the city centre. There are three other lines, making the centre nearly as well-connected as Manchester through Metrolink. As an acceptable alternative to car travel, this offers a sustainable way to get people into the centre and, learning from the Strong Towns movement, is a good starting point for the reinvention of Sheffield.
Prof Lewis Lesley
Liverpool
• It was obvious from the outset the huge out-of-town shopping centres such as Meadowhall that were promoted in the Thatcher era – often on the sites of old heavy industry – would kill historic town centres. Yet not until the damage had been done did John Major’s government reverse the preference, with hundreds more developments lining up for permission before the axe was due to fall.
A sweetener for Meadowhall was to have been a major artwork, The Ride of Life. Several brilliant and witty automaton makers were to produce a ride-on entertainment, possibly to placate those who saw only raw neoliberalism at work in the mall. Inevitably the developer reneged and the artworks were dispersed. Some resurfaced in Kinetica, a short-lived display in Spitalfields Market, before that too fell to redevelopment.
John Harris says he was struck by the number of places in the centre of Sheffield where people can just sit and pass the time. In places like Meadowhall the pressure is to consume, and much of what appears to be public space is in fact privately owned and controlled.
Sheffield needs to pay greater attention to the two local experts who oppose demolition and “residential towers” for the John Lewis site than to the inevitable external consultants who are the instant resort of any local authority with a few million pounds for “consultation”. Local people are more likely to know what makes the old steel city tick.
Judith Martin
Winchester, Hampshire
• In John Harris’s sensitive and informed article, he mentions the richness of the music that began to emerge in Sheffield in the 70s and 80s, which gave vibrancy to the city. Many of us would add how that cultural richness also included the long residence of The Lindsays, a world-class string quartet who chose to live and play in Sheffield from the early 70s until they retired in 2005. Their legacy has since flourished with Music in the Round, whose home continues to be at the city’s Crucible theatre. Their contribution to classical music playing among the young in their schools is now going from strength to strength.
Jane and Simon Clements
Sheffield
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