Tales from the rails
Tales from the Rails is a partnership between Newfield School and WAT, funded by East Midlands Railway Community Fund and the Church Burgesses Educational Foundation. The project celebrates stories from early rail history in Sheffield.
WAT’s creative practitioners, Paul Whitfield & Gertie Whitfield, led the project, which started with training the participants to use British Newspaper Archives to research railway stories from Sheffield between 1899 and 1923.
Paul then guided the group in turning some of the stories into high quality short audio scripts.
The stories include a ghost story; the mysterious death of a variety artiste; a famous diamond robbery at H.L. Brown’s; railway strikes; and an elephant on the streets of Sheffield.
- A Haunting? By Anna McAughtrie
- Diamond Robbery By Freya Rogers, Poppy Stuart, Renee Allen and Katherine Norton
- Did Davis Do It? By Ava Scofield
- Gertie’s Gone By Emma Kchzanovska and Anna Mabbs
- Have you Heard? By Lucia-Elise Nichols
- Mr Brown Goes on Strike 1919 By Katelyn McKeown
- Norman! Norman! By Naomi Baker and Magda Evans
- The Boy in the Box By Pippa Wood and Sofea Mode Shazlan Ameeurundin
- The King Needs Milk By Andrew Speed
- Trunk Tales By Paul Whitfield
The scripts were then performed and recorded. You can listen to rail history brought to life by clicking on the individual tales below.
Donna Lee, Assistant Head at Newfield says: ‘The project weaves so many interesting academic skills into one whilst bringing students who are passionate about history, writing and performance together. The project allows students to learn more about local history and develop their skills as well as offering opportunity for the local community to also get involved. We were excited to be hosting such a fantastic project and loved the quality of the stories as they came to life’.
Tales from the Rails Exhibition Unveiled on Sheffield Station
ArtWorks artists created work inspired by “Tales from the Rails” stories. ArtWorks SY is an organisation that inspires and helps adults with learning disabilities, autism or both to achieve their potential and develop important life skills through creative workshops and placements.
On May 28th 2024 WAT were part of the launch of the exhibition at Sheffield Station. The exhibition ran until the end of August 2024.
On May 28th 2024 WAT were part of the launch of the exhibition at Sheffield Station. The exhibition ran until the end of August 2024.
“The ArtWorks artists have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the “Tales from the Rails” and learning about the unexpected stories of things that have happened in Sheffield’s rail history. We hope that the artwork created in response to the stories will attract lots of people to scan the QR code within the display, taking viewers to a website page where they can listen to the stories themselves”
-Dominika Rojewska, Arts Coordinator, ArtWorks SY
“East Midlands Railway is delighted to have supported ArtWorks SY and Whitworks Adventures in Theatre, along with the teachers and pupils of Newfield School, with funding for this collaborative community project. The results are a fascinating glimpse into the history of Sheffield railway station, brought to life by the dramatic endeavours of Newfield School. Now even more people will be able to learn about and listen to the stories thanks to this unique exhibition.”
-Alexa Stott, Community Ambassador, for East Midlands Railway
-Dominika Rojewska, Arts Coordinator, ArtWorks SY
“East Midlands Railway is delighted to have supported ArtWorks SY and Whitworks Adventures in Theatre, along with the teachers and pupils of Newfield School, with funding for this collaborative community project. The results are a fascinating glimpse into the history of Sheffield railway station, brought to life by the dramatic endeavours of Newfield School. Now even more people will be able to learn about and listen to the stories thanks to this unique exhibition.”
-Alexa Stott, Community Ambassador, for East Midlands Railway
