Sheffield City Hall

City Hall was only eight years old when the Sheffield Blitz struck. On the night of 12 December 1940, a dance was underway in the downstairs ballroom.

As the bombs fell nearby and chandeliers rattled, the dancers used the ballroom’s location as an underground shelter.

Outside, explosions in Barker’s Pool left the shrapnel scars you can still see today on the columns.

The blast from one bomb was cushioned by an emergency water tank, saving the building from certain destruction.

In the aftermath, the ballroom became a ‘British Restaurant’, serving hot meals to those who had lost their homes.