Volunteers at Portland Works, Sheffield, take a break to toast the 140th anniversary of the opening of the famous cutlery factory on Randall Street where the first stainless steel products were manufactured in 1914.
A special ‘Anniversary Ale’ has been produced by the Neepsend Brewery in Sheffield and is now on tap in pubs around the city and further afield.
The works, purpose-built between 1877 and 1879 for Robert Fead Mosley, is now owned by a community benefit society that rents workshops to around 40 businesses including knife-making, silver plating, metal-working, jewellery, wood-working, magazine publishing, a distillery, and photography and art studios.
Virtually every Tuesday since the works were bought from the previous owner in 2013, a team of volunteers has met to renovate the building. So far they have racked up around 20,000 hours, repairing and painting windows, pointing brickwork and updating workshops to modern standards. The building also houses a multi-purpose events room that was almost entirely renovated by the volunteers.
Portland Works is open to the public on Saturday 11 May as part of the Sheffield Open Up Studios event. There will be tours, talks, workshop visits, stalls, food and drink from 11am to 4pm.
