Secret South Yorkshire

Explore fascinating stories from South Yorkshire.To share ideas or stories with the team, email secretsouthyorkshire@bbc.co.uk

Radio Sheffield,117 episodes

Episodes

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The Rotherham lion that inspired a London landmark
Rotherham museum’s famous lion linked to Trafalgar Square story
07 Jun 2026,4 mins
The Mucky Duck: From the rubble to the ritz
Sheffield’s Mucky Duck: iconic venue where punk and local music history was made
31 May 2026,6 mins
Sheffield pioneer who shaped early cinema
Sheffield born pioneer who helped invent animation and build early American cinema
24 May 2026,5 mins
Rise and Fall of the Heeley Queen
Fall of Sheffield’s Heeley Queen after fatal supper plot
17 May 2026,9 mins
Iron Hague: The legend of Rotherham’s hardest man
Iron Hague: a working class life shaped near Rotherham
10 May 2026,5 mins
Sheffield’s hidden wooden ladder-makers
Sheffield’s oldest ladder firm still crafting with timber
03 May 2026,6 mins
Walkley clog maker who is one of UK's last
One of the UK’s last clog makers, working from a small Sheffield workshop
26 Apr 2026,5 mins
Sheffield gang wars: Echoes from West Bar
A time when West Bar meant power on Sheffield’s streets
19 Apr 2026,7 mins
The celeb rescue helicopter at a Doncaster museum
Maddi Fearn finds out about the helicopter which saved Richard Branson's life.
12 Apr 2026,6 mins
Sheffield’s unlikely war worker
Maddi Fearn investigates the story of Lizzie the elephant who worked in Sheffield.
05 Apr 2026,5 mins
Sheffield city centre building’s WW2 secrets
Canada House in Sheffield holds a long history from its 1875 gas company origins.
29 Mar 2026,5 mins
Sheffield doctor who became detective fiction hit
Sheffield-born Staniforth created detective Nelson Lee, shaping early crime fiction
22 Mar 2026,4 mins
Sheffield’s hidden fig forest thrives
Inside Sheffield’s hidden fig forest growing on the River Don’s industrial banks
15 Mar 2026,5 mins
Sheffield's Titanic secret
A light fitting from RMS Olympic is in the Cutlers’ Hall and has a link to the Titanic
08 Mar 2026,4 mins
Inside a true Sheffield screen classic
Sheffield celebrates film ‘When Saturday Comes’
28 Feb 2026,9 mins
Doncaster's darkest day: Hexthorpe rail disaster
Remembering the rail disaster of 1887 which resulted in 25 deaths.
22 Feb 2026,4 mins
Secrets of Sheffield’s plague-struck past
A 19th century smallpox wave spread from Sheffield, striking nearby towns and villages
15 Feb 2026,5 mins
Norton housing estate's incredible secret
Painted Fabrics in Norton helped injured WW1 servicemen rebuild lives through design
08 Feb 2026,6 mins
Rother Valley’s hidden slopes
Historic grass ski contests at Rother Valley saw UK racers compete for national titles
04 Feb 2026,8 mins
South Yorkshire's forgotten genius
Barnsley-born Nicholas Saunderson rose to Cambridge fame as a pioneering mathematician
01 Feb 2026,5 mins
South Yorkshire’s most haunted bedroom?
Rumours of Paranormal activity in the old Earls bedroom at Wentworth Woodhouse
25 Jan 2026,6 mins
The album that changed Sheffield forever
Story behind the Arctic Monkey's debut album "Whatever People Say I Am"
23 Jan 2026,9 mins
Secret streets: history beneath Sheffielders' feet
Discover Sheffield’s hidden street history through rare drain and gulley covers.
18 Jan 2026,4 mins
Was Florence Nightingale a Sheffielder?
The lady of the lamp Florence Nightingale had strong family connections to Sheffield
11 Jan 2026,5 mins
Barnsley’s ping pong diplomat
From South Yorkshire roots to world stage, a table tennis champion made sporting history
04 Jan 2026,6 mins
Barnsley marathon made history in 1975
Historic Barnsley Marathon 1975 saw women run full 26.2 miles for the first time in UK.
28 Dec 2025,6 mins
Sheffield pubs keeping festive tradition alive
Jack Hadaway-Weller finds out about the history of Sheffield carols at the Blue Ball Inn.
21 Dec 2025,7 mins
The 200-year-old Sheffield sword dancing tradition
Jack Hadaway-Weller visits a Grenoside sword dancer practice session.
14 Dec 2025,6 mins
Sheffield’s nightclub exorcism
Jack Hadaway-Weller chats to Adrian Finney about the old Cavendish club on Bank Street
07 Dec 2025,6 mins
From pub to forge: Sheffield's Vulcan Inn
Historic Vulcan Inn reborn as Vulcan Studios, a forge and creative space.
30 Nov 2025,8 mins