Call-out: The Story of Sugar in Sheffield

Have you or someone you know worked in the sugar industry?

A new exhibition at Weston Park Museum this autumn will explore the story of sugar – and we'd love you to help shape it.

For centuries sugar has shaped global trade, everyday tastes and the way we live. From the dark history of the industry to changing food fashions, displays will examine our complex relationship with the sweet stuff, past and present.

We will track Sheffield’s role in the sugar trade back to the 1600s and follow the story through the boom periods of the 1800s and 1900s, to the businesses small and large that thrive today. We’ll also examine how sugar affects our health, and innovations in science and technology that could change the way we consume sugar.

Woven through all this are the human stories from people in Sheffield working in the sugar industry. We want to enrich the exhibition with memories, photographs and objects and need your help!

There are a wealth of objects available to help tell the story of sugar in Sheffield, but what we are really lacking are the voices of people from within the industry.

Lucy Cooper, Exhibitions & Displays Curator, Sheffield Museums

Rita Smith (left); Margaret Durnham (centre) and Mrs Ivy Curate (originally from Portland, Jamaica) in her first job at a Sheffield sweet factory, 1958

We’d love to hear from anyone who has worked in sugar manufacturing in the city, from the famous factories such as Bassetts or Thorntons, to the smaller independents thriving today. We are interested in sweet and chocolate making, as well as related industries such as ice cream, desserts and baking.

Whether working on a production line in a big factory or crafting handmade sweet treats for a small business, we'd love to hear about anyone with a sugary story to tell.'

Lucy Cooper, Exhibitions & Displays Curator, Sheffield Museums

Get in touch!

Please email exhibitions@sheffieldmuseums.org.uk or call 0114 278 2644 and leave a message with your name and contact details, and say its regarding the Sugar exhibition. We will be in touch to arrange a chat.