![\"Eric,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Eric-Jean-Yeardley-Stocksbridge.jpg\")
Eric, right, and Jean Yeardley have lived in the Stocksbridge area for nearly 60 years(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell \/ YorkshireLive)<\/p>\n‘When I was a child it was absolutely buzzing’Eric, right, and Jean Yeardley have lived in the Stocksbridge area for nearly 60 years(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell \/ YorkshireLive)<\/p>\n
Residents in a South Yorkshire town have warned of declining living standards, closing shops and fewer jobs as more people move and settle elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Stocksbridge, a town in the north of Sheffield<\/a>, used to be a hustling, bustling steelwork town. Samuel Fox first opened a wire works in 1842. More than 180 years later, Liberty Speciality Steel still runs a steel mill in the area, but residents say it no longer brings in business to the town like it used to.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was a child it was absolutely buzzing,\u201d said one resident, who did not want to be named. \u201cWe used to have buses coming in three times a day with workers from Barnsley<\/a>, Penistone and other places. They were rammed.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the town has been overlooked by investment in recent years, with shops closing and business dragged away. \u201cThere were shops all down here,\u201d she said, pointing to the high street. \u201cThere were bakers, green grocers, butchers. Now it\u2019s just a lot of takeaways. It\u2019s sad to have seen it decline like that.\u201d<\/p>\n She said workers, including her husband, used to collect their wages on Thursdays, before doing their shopping for the week on Fridays. Much of the money earned was spent in the local economy.<\/p>\n Stocksbridge is one of only 25 areas in South Yorkshire<\/a> to see its population fall over the last 20 years. As of the 2021 census, the population has fallen by 3.8 per cent over the previous 20 years. Meanwhile, South Yorkshire\u2019s overall population has risen by nine per cent. As of 2021, 7,263 people lived in the town, down from nearly 7,500 in 2001.<\/p>\n The decline of the steel works and subsequent loss of jobs for many in the area was repeatedly mentioned as a key reason for the town\u2019s declining population. Janet Pillkington was born and bred in Stocksbridge. She has either lived or regularly visited the town all her life, and the 60-year-old said she misses the sound of a thriving steel works.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can sometimes hear the clink of metal,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lovely sound as I remember it from my childhood, but you don\u2019t hear it very often anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n However, many are surprised when they are told the population of the town is declining. \u201cWe like it here,\u201d Eric, 82, and Jean Yeardley, 78, said. The couple, who have lived in the Stocksbridge region for most of their 61-year marriage, said they love the walking around the area. \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of walks around here,\u201d Eric said. \u201cBolsterstone and the moors. It\u2019s lovely.\u201d<\/p>\n Email and online newsletter, The Sheffield Drop, highlights the very best news across the Steel City, regardless of the source.<\/p>\n Edited by Yorkshire Live’s Sheffield reporter Andrew Dowdeswell, the free bulletin has no adverts and features the city’s most important news, all curated in an easy-to-read, digestible format.<\/p>\n You can read The Sheffield Drop in two places – on our website, here<\/a>, or delivered straight to your email inbox by subscribing using this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jean admitted the town has been overlooked in recent years, and feels it needs sprucing up. \u201cIt\u2019s never had the investment,” she said. “There\u2019s a lot of money that needs putting into it.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s not been helped because it\u2019s so old. They have not updated anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Walking along the high street, there are closed shops, lots of takeaways, and some tired-looking signs. But there is also the Fox Valley Shopping Centre, a \u00a350 million development that opened in 2018 and is \u201calways busy\u201d, according to residents.<\/p>\n Pride of place is something another resident who wished remain anonymous feels has gone missing. \u201cEverybody had pride outside their houses,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople used to sweep and clean and be proud of it. But new people are coming in and they are turning it into an area that\u2019s not well kept.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are throwing litter on the floor. They stand around shops, smoking. It used to be lovely here, but they do drag it down.\u201d<\/p>\n The people who are moving to Stocksbridge also likely don\u2019t work in the local area. Residents said many people travel away for work, and there are fewer people moving to Stocksbridge to work in the town itself. Janet said: \u201cMy family came to work in the steel works. My friends dad came from Ireland to find work in the steel industry. He came to the area looking for Fox Valley Steelworks.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople came to the area because they knew it was a place they could get work. I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s the case anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Stocksbridge has an index of multiple deprivation score of 18.03. This is significantly below the national average of 21.81 and Sheffield\u2019s score of 27.57. This score uses seven areas of deprivation, including income, health and other factors to generate an overall deprivation grade. It means the area is viewed as substantially more deprived than others in Sheffield or across the country.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Liberty Speciality Steel, which has sites in Stocksbridge, Rotherham<\/a> and Wednesbury, was taken under government control earlier this year and has an uncertain future. The government is trying to find a buyer for the company, but a government-approved liquidator admitted if a buyer is not found, the sites will have to be closed. Chris McDonald MP, minister for industry, has said he is hopeful a deal can be completed.<\/p>\n The feeling of uncertainly, economic downturn and being left behind led to Stocksbridge and Don becoming the first Sheffield ward to elect a Reform <\/a>councillor. John Booker won a by-election in June this year, edging out the Liberal Democrats. Labour, who had controlled the ward, fell to third.<\/p>\n When elected, Booker said his party had \u201cgalvanised public opinion\u201d. He said he \u201cbelieves in common sense\u201d and will provide an \u201calternative voice\u201d in Sheffield City Council<\/a>. Given the feelings of many in Stocksbridge that they have been left behind, overlooked and have received a lack of investment, it is easy to see why they turned to Booker.<\/p>\n![\"Janet](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Janet-Pilkington-Stocksbridge.jpg\")
Janet Pilkington was born and bred in Stocksbridge(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell \/ YorkshireLive)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_Sheffield-Drop-Logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
Subscribe to The Sheffield Drop for all things Sheffield<\/p>\n![\"Fox](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Fox-Valley.jpg\")
Fox Valley Shopping Centre opened in 2018(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell \/ YorkshireLive)<\/p>\n