The Friends of Portland Works

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The Friends of Portland Works Use the sign up button to join & help preserve this historic and architecturally important site

One for your diary 16 sept at Portland worksWednesday 16 September 2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
27/08/2026

One for your diary 16 sept at Portland works

Wednesday 16 September 2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Furnishing a city: Sheffield’s Victorian furniture industry Tickets, Portland Works, Sheffield | TryBooking United Kingdom

This Saturday the 18th you can have a chance to wander round this iconic building and witness the energy created within ...
13/07/2026

This Saturday the 18th you can have a chance to wander round this iconic building and witness the energy created within its wails

The busy bees at Portland Works have been installing and painting the new windows on Randall Street.  One of our volunte...
10/06/2026

The busy bees at Portland Works have been installing and painting the new windows on Randall Street. One of our volunteers nearly got stuck in a tight corner under the grating!

In case you have never been around the cutlers hall you can now take a look inside via the link below
05/06/2026

In case you have never been around the cutlers hall you can now take a look inside via the link below

Cutlers' Hall gives the perfect backdrop for any event by adding an element of grandeur with breath-taking architecture & lavish features.

Ken Patten at Portland WorksTHE MAN WHO RECORDED SHEFFIELD’S SYNTH REVOLUTION — LIVE AT PORTLAND WORKSSheffield’s electr...
04/06/2026

Ken Patten at Portland Works
THE MAN WHO RECORDED SHEFFIELD’S SYNTH REVOLUTION — LIVE AT PORTLAND WORKS

Sheffield’s electronic music story didn’t begin in a glossy studio — it began in a front room on a Handsworth council estate.
And now, for one night only, the man at the centre of it all is telling the story himself.

Join us for an unmissable evening with Ken Patten, creator of the legendary Studio Electrophonique — the tiny home studio where some of Sheffield’s most important bands recorded their earliest demos, long before they became global names.

In that modest semi, Ken captured the first sparks of:

🎛 The Human League
🎛 Heaven 17
🎛 ABC (Vice Versa)
🎛 Clock DVA
🎛 Pulp
🎛 Def Leppard
…and a whole wave of Sheffield’s underground electronic pioneers.

Expect unheard stories, DIY ingenuity, early synth experiments, and a vivid look at the moment Sheffield’s electronic identity was born — all told by the man who soldered the wires, spliced the tape, and opened his front door to a generation of musicians.

📅 Date & Time
Wednesday 17 June 2026
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (UTC+01)

📍 Location
Portland Works Lecture Room (“Makerspace”)
Portland Works, Randall Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S2 4SJ

⚠️ Tickets are going fast
Interest has been huge, and places are already being snapped up.
If you care about Sheffield music, DIY culture, or the roots of synth‑pop, this is the night you cannot afford to miss.

Secure your place now — once it’s full, it’s full.

Tickets at https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/107729?

The golden age of Sheffield pop had its first stirrings in the era of Threads, Thatcher and mass redundancy. Pop music pilgrims arriving today in...

01/06/2026
Put your hands up if you have ever heard of Harry Taylor
25/05/2026

Put your hands up if you have ever heard of Harry Taylor

✨ Sheffield Pocket Knives — Coming Up for Sale ✨We’ve got some very special Sheffield pocket knives about to go on sale ...
23/05/2026

✨ Sheffield Pocket Knives — Coming Up for Sale ✨

We’ve got some very special Sheffield pocket knives about to go on sale to support our “Step Up” appeal for the Friends of Portland Works.

Highlights include:
🔪 Joseph Rodgers phleme — from the world‑famous “Star and Cross” makers
🔪 Brookes & Crookes manicure knife — elegant Sheffield craftsmanship
🔪 Top‑quality Mother of Pearl pieces — classic, collectible, and beautifully made

These are genuine Sheffield originals — small works of art from the city that made cutlery for the world.

All proceeds help preserve and restore Portland Works, the birthplace of stainless steel and a living home for today’s makers.

Keep an eye out — these knives will be coming up for sale very soon.
Own a piece of Sheffield. Support its future.

After the great talk about Sheffields Hospitals we have the task of keeping the high standardsBut this should be goodhtt...
22/05/2026

After the great talk about Sheffields Hospitals we have the task of keeping the high standards

But this should be good

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/107729

Studio Electronique

The golden age of Sheffield pop had its first stirrings in the era of Threads, Thatcher and mass redundancy. Pop music pilgrims arriving today in Sheffield to sniff out the traces of dole-nourished musical manifestos may struggle, however, to locate its landmark sites.

The city’s most elusive and sacred shrine is, perhaps, the Ballifield council semi that housed Studio Electrophonique, the home studio owned by Ken Patten: panel be**er, fly fisherman, water skier, neighbour to Sean Bean, and midwife at the birth of electronic music in the north.

Studio Electrophonique witnessed the birth of bands that became The Human League, ABC, Heaven 17, Def Leppard, Clock DVA and Pulp; not to mention the unheralded sounds of The Electric Armpits, The Naughtiest Girl Was a Monitor and Systematic Annex. Ken’s work shaped British pop but, in true Sheffield style, he never thought to tell anyone about it. This talk, from author Jamie Taylor, will help to tell it for him.
Date
Wednesday 17 June 2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (UTC+01)
Location
Portland Works Lecture Room ("Makerspace").
Portland Works, Randall Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S24SJ

Address

Sheffield
S24SJ

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