With green fingers and hearts

The year is 15,000 BC. The nomadic tribespeople of the Urn stand and admire their finished showpiece, a stone circle in Crookes. It has taken a month, but now all that hard handcraft has paid off. It stands etched in the landscape, giving Sheffield one of its first symbols of civilization. Utus, the head of his clan, has seen his dream realised. He has built his talisman, constructed to acknowledge and ward off the spirits of nature and provide a place of ceremony for his bloodline. His work is now complete, his family are now settled and they will continue to live and hunt in the land for generations to come.

This ancient Bronze Age tribe is long gone from our midst, but still ingrained in Sheffield is its serene natural landscape setting in the heart of The Peak District. It has seen industry and commerce take over, but still shines though as the greenest city in Europe. Nowadays, our lovely landscape is in part tended to by the careful hands of the people at Sheffield Wildlife Trust. As part of a network of 47 trusts, they have one core mission – to help local people and wildlife. They are the single largest conservation and environmental group operating in the region and have created 11 sites within the boundaries of the seven hills. They also run a trading arm known as Wildscapes, which provides a high quality landscape and ecology consultancy service. Various training opportunities are on offer, with a wide range of NVQs in conservation, wild food and geographical information systems.

They reassuringly have a strong backbone behind them and are more than well equipped, with support from the national Wildlife Trusts network and from Sheffield Council and Sheffield regeneration agencies on home turf.

In a society that has been condemned to an impending carbon death by scientists – not a day goes by that we don’t hear damning news reports of melting ice caps and the increasing temperature of the Earth – nature and our ecology are slowly disappearing into a swamp of nothingness. While politicians argue what can be done on a national level, Sheffield Wildlife Trust makes a valuable contribution right here and now. Their 50 dedicated employees work all out and there are no less than 4,000 members, always leaving an open door for others to play a part.

For those of you who have a David Attenborough edge to their sword, there is more voluntary work than you can shake an oak branch at. The charity provides environmental training and food & health living development, offering an excellent range of opportunities on a casual or regular basis for people who are looking for work in the environmental sector or just want to lend a hand. From backroom media and marketing representatives to in-the-field outdoor volunteers helping on participation projects at the nature reserves, there is something for everyone.

Regular events held by Sheffield Wildlife Trust aim to involve the public in their work, with a particular importance placed on involving families in play activities, practical conservation days and watch groups.

With green fingers and hearts, you can help preserve this city, which has remained picturesque for thousands of years.

An insight into the high-octane sport on roller skates that is gripping Sheffield

SHE receives a hefty shouder charge but yet stays on her feet.She is tripped as she tries again, the crowd shrieks and draws a breath, it's only a momentary wobble though, this girl isn’t phased. Onwards again, this time she spots a gap and bolts past the pack .The Clash’s White Riot is her victorious anthem. 4 points for the team!. She is queen of the track.
What we are talking about here is a women’s sport on the ascendency. it has began to root itself in society with it’s intense core values of high-speed contact, action on wheels, merged with a brassy gloss of punk and pop culture.

Imagine a setting of an oval track of a sports hall, the skaters line up in a formation roller skating shape and a battle for points is led by two members from each team called the ‘jammers’ who lap members of their opposition team scoring a point for each one they pass. Of course it isn’t so straight forward and there always is a snarling bruising bout that always ensues in what becomes a high speed meleebattle of wits and tact; taking place in fast paced two minute rounds .Rough offenders will find themselves in the sin bin as a mass of umpires keep check with hawk-eyes. Imagine girls with names like Iron Maven, Girlzilla and Jenny Rotten all of this accompanied by a booming punk-pop soundtracks from Cyndie Lauper to The Ramones bellowing out of the arena speakers. These girls are fast, tough and sexy; the sport is Roller Derby.

A little history on it then for those of you feeling puzzled right now. First rearing its head in 1922 in America, the term Roller Derby was know to describe fast-track roller skating. Promoters Leo Seltzer and sports writer Damon Runyon took up the baton and crafted the sport, adding more endurance competitions in the 1930’s and adding more physical contact and teamwork elements. Seltzer himself reserved the name for himself, claiming it for his clan of professional skaters. Alongside the likes of baseball and football it became a national icon with teams being formed and matches being played in all major US cities. Eventually by the 1960s the sport had branched out into other monopolies such as ‘The Roller Games’ which endured rapid growth with many major cities in the US having their own sides as well as attracting international attention from Australia and Canada. It went through many booms and slides in the 1970s with many short running TV features never picking it up. In the 1980s it again tried to revive itself. Roller Games came back in the format of a WWE style gameshow where ex-Roller Derby girls made a come back to battle it out in a figure of eight style track complete with snarling Alligator pits. Alas, the derby flame eventually died and it lay in its coffin for several years but for a few one off charity matches by ex-competitors.

In the early 2000s it saw a mini-revival back in the US by a new generation of young women who wanted to breath lifeblood into the sport who created a new branch of it known as ‘Neo Roller Derby’. Leagues have since been set up in the length and breadth of America, Canada and Europe - Belgians, Dutch and finish alike now are all happily getting their skates on in Roller Derby spirit. And now teams and leagues have sprouted up all over our country in recent years from North to South. The bug is spreading!


First played competitively in London four years ago it has grown and grown in the UK and now In our very own steel city you can now get a piece of the pie.Two years ago Pauline Chalmers stumbled across the sport on the internet and decided to form her own team The Sheffield Steel Roller Girls.The team shapes itself in the mould of Neo Roller Derby and two short years on and the team has developed into a 30-plus strong squad. Recently having their opening bout in July at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. There is several recruitment drives for the team happening in the next year the latest being opened after the summer - you can now get involved yourself. I caught up with training co-ordinator Emma aka ‘Miss D’ who gave me the low down,“Over next year or so,we're hoping to host 3 or 4 games in Sheffield. In the late Autumn we are expecting a new intake of skaters, Get in contact with us and join in, there are plenty of skating and non-skating roles within the team so send us a email and come along. What we need is people with enthusiasm and resillence,” She said.
So whether you want to get involved or just watch, Roller Derby is something different. Giving something, fast entertaining and exciting for you to see and will give you a refreshing change from the typical Owls V Blades derby match you ordinarily encounter .This is definitely anti-Crucible snooker .Get your skates on and indulge yourself.


http://wftda.com/
www.sheffieldsteelrollergirls.co.uk