Help to celebrate Rotherham’s proud steelwork heritage

The "Hearts of Steel" project, which was created by Rotherham Council's Community Arts team, has been collated into a DVD and will be officially launched with a very special performance at the Civic Theatre in Rotherham on Monday March 14 with a matinee performance at 2.30pm and an evening performance at 7.30pm.

The performance, which will be compered by celebrated local performer Ray Hearne, will feature extracts from the DVD, which includes rarely seen film footage, both old and new, of Rotherham's steel works, and also include stories, songs and poems by Rotherham people.

The Hearts of Steel DVD builds on the success of the Heritage Lottery Funded "Songs of Steel" oral history project, in which many ex-steel workers and their families recorded their memories of the Rotherham steel industry.

The recordings were included in a travelling exhibition telling the story of the working lives of steelworkers and their families within Rotherham from the 1930s to the present. The website http://www.songsofsteel.com/ features some of the exhibition content.

Tickets for the performance  are  priced at £7 and available from the Rotherham Arts Centre Box Office. There are also a limited amount of free tickets for school and educational groups. To find out more please contact Sam Smith on sam.smith@rotherham.gov.uk

The Hearts of Steel DVD will also be available at a discounted rate of £6 for the performance at the Civic Theatre.