Sheffield is set on seven hills above the River Don. It is known as the Steel City as it was here that iron was first transformed into crucible steel in the 1740's.

Sheffield has responded to the decline of traditional coal and steel industries in the 1980's by reinventing itself as a sports and technology city. In addition to the 520,000 population, there are 55,000 students at its two universities who contribute to keeping the city at the forefront of innovative metallurgy on the Advanced Manufacturing Park.

The central shops and leisure amenities around the high street are served by the Sheffield Supertram, opened in 1994, in a network of three lines that run from the city centre out to Hillsborough, Halfway, and Meadowhall - one of Britain's busiest self-contained retail centres.

With 78 parks and 10 public gardens, Sheffield has more trees per head than any other city in Europe. Immediately to the west of the city limits lies the 555 square mile Peak District National Park in the Pennine mountain range.

The closest international airport is Doncaster/Sheffield, located 18 miles from the city centre. Manchester Airport, Leeds/Bradford International Airport and Nottingham's East Midlands Airport all lie within one hour's drive of the city and Manchester Airport is connected to Sheffield by a direct train every hour.

Sheffield is two hours from London by train, and has good connections to neighbouring towns and cities by road and rail.