
HMS networking weekend Sheffield 3rd and 4th June 2023
Friday 2nd June
7 pm on Pre meeting get together at the Sheffield Tap, Sheffield Railway Station bar.
Saturday 3rd June
10:00am – 12:00pm Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.
Lunch There are plenty of sandwich shops and pubs available.
2:00 – 6:00pm A leisurely guided walk along parts of the River Don and Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, originally developed by HMS Member Brian Bastow.
If the walk is not for you the Shepherds Wheel (not that far from Abbeydale) is well worth a visit, or perhaps Weston Park Museum may be more up your street. Other options are available.
Evening Dinner choose your own venue & companions.
Sunday 4th June
10:00am – 12noon Wortley Top Forge – (£5 entry fee OAPs £3)
12:00 – 2:00pm Lunch, Choose your own venue, the café at Kelham Island Museum would be very suitable. There is time to visit the Cementation Furnace on Hoyle Street before or after lunch.
2:15– 5:00 pm Kelham Island Museum. Housed in a very early Electricity Power Station (1899), this features among many other exhibits a Bessemer converter.
For more information:
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet – (https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/abbeydale-industrial-hamlet/).
Shepherds Wheel – https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/shepherd-wheel-workshop/)
Weston Park Museum – https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/weston-park-museum.
Wortley Top Forge – https://www.topforge.co.uk/
Cementation furnace, Hoyle Street – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cementation_furnace,_Sheffield
Kelham Island Museum. – https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/kelham-island-museum/
Please email us on libertyship.eb@gmail.com with any other enquiries.
Click here to register.

HMS networking weekend
Sheffield 3rd and 4th June 2023
What does everyone miss about “face to face” conferences? It’s not so much the papers, it’s the connections we make!
The first HMS networking event will take place near Sheffield on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June 2023.
Everyone will be responsible for their own travel, accommodation and meals – but we have some suggestions which you can find below.
The event will be free. If you are coming by car and can offer lifts between sites please indicate this on the Registration Form. It’s been some time since we’ve been able to meet in person so offering a lift might be a way to reconnect.
The outline plan is very free and easy and one can do as much or as little as one wants. Apart from Wortley Top Forge, entrance to all sites is free.
The weekend starts with a pre-meeting get together at the Sheffield Tap, Sheffield Railway Station bar from 7 pm on Friday 2nd June.
Saturday has visits to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet (https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/abbeydale-industrial-hamlet/) and a ‘Metal Industry in Sheffield along the Canal & River Don’ walk. For those less keen on a 4 hour (or shorter) walk an alternative might be the Shepherds Wheel (https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/shepherd-wheel-workshop/) , Weston Park Museum (https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/weston-park-museum/) or other alternative family activities.’
Sunday starts at Wortley Top Forge with a site visit: a water powered heavy iron forge whose history can be traced back to at least 1640 and has been used for bloomeries and fineries. (£5 entry fee: this is the bit that is not free. Concessionary rates may be available, but participants must pay at the gate for this element of the event.) https://www.topforge.co.uk/
The Sunday afternoon visit is to Kelham Island Museum https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/visit-us/kelham-island-museum/ which is housed in a very early Electricity Power Station (1899) and features among may many other exhibits a Bessemer converter.
A programme can be found here.
Alternatively contact: secretary@historicalmetallurgy.org.
Suggestions for eating/drinking/accommodation can be found here.
If more information is needed contact Eddie Birch at libertyship.eb@gmail.com .
See you there.

Killarney
Historical Metallurgy Society excursion to Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland (6 to 8 May 2022)
Book here.
Killarney in Co. Kerry is not only located in one of the most scenic areas of Ireland, it also has a varied metal producing history. Famous are the Bronze age copper mines at Ross Island excavated by Prof. W. O’Brien. The same ore bodies were worked again in the Early Medieval period and in the 18th and 19th centuries. Less well-known are 18th century blast furnaces for smelting iron ore, two in the immediate area and more further afield.
The 3-day HMS excursion to Ireland aims to combine visits to these known and some newly discovered sites with talks on local metal production and aspects of prehistoric and medieval metal manufacturing processes. And especially, to meeting each other once again in a beautiful setting with potent Irish after-dinner entertainment.
Accommodation
There are two accommodation options for which we have reduced rates, both are close to each other and the train and bus stations:
- Scott’s Hotel Killarney https://www.scottshotelkillarney.com
- Killarney Railway Hostel https://www.killarneyhostel.com
Each of these has two room type options, see below.
Get there and away
Cork is the obvious airport to fly into to get to Killarney but, with longer travelling times, Dublin and Shannon can be used as well. From Cork Airport, a short bus ride needs to be taken into town to the main bus station where there are regular bus services to Killarney (c. 1h45)
Costs per person (in pounds)
Included: accommodation, breakfast (light in hostel), mid-day lunch, evening meals, transport in and around Killarney, talks
Not included: transport to and from Killarney, drinks.
Accommodation type | Room type | 3 nights (Thu – Sat) | 2 nights (Fri – Sat) |
Hotel | Double/Twin room | 310 | 240 |
Single occupancy | 465 | 355 | |
Hostel | Twin | 205 | 155 |
Dormitory
(6 bed) |
180 | 135 |
These prices are for HMS members and their family/partners. Non-members should add the cost of year’s basic Membership to the above, or better still, join HMS from https://historicalmetallurgy.org/join-or-renew
If you have any questions, please contact Paul (prondelez@yahoo.com)
Book here