Each year we do something different for our Christmas bash. This year we decided to stay (and support) local, by going just 5 minutes down the road from our Head Office, with a tour of Kelham Island.

Kelham Island has experienced the biggest and most amazing change in Sheffield in recent years. Originally an industrial area (like most of Sheffield!), the island itself was created by the building of a goit, or mill race, fed from the River Don to serve the water wheels powering the workshops of the area’s industrial heyday. The quarter was named after the island, however, the boundaries extend beyond the physical island created by the river and goit (Wiki).

Now the area is a cornucopia of contemporary small businesses offering artisanal food, drink, craftwares and more. You still walk past the industry, but intermingled you find little gems of creative Sheffield types all striving to make individual products and experiences.

We chose Kelham Island Tours for our tour. Our guide Sophie was brilliant - very knowledgeable and passionate (she gave us little tips and info about Kelham Island as we were walking around) - and she organised the whole thing of course, meaning we didn’t have to! We would highly recommend a tour with Sophie - or grab a gift voucher as a gift. kelhamislandfoodtours.co.uk

To start the tour we went to Sheffield Cheesemasters, where we donned our H&S outfits and went into the cheese making room, where the process was explained. We tried Little Mester, Sheffield Blue and poutine curds. sheffieldcheesemasters.co.uk

We then moved on to Bullion Chocolate in Cutlery Works. Here Max the chocolate man explained the ‘bean to bar’ chocolate making process and we tried his three different chocolates; ‘70% Haiti, Acul Du Nord’, ‘70% Bolivia, Alto Beni’ and ‘70% Guatemala, Lanquin’. bullionchocolate.com cutleryworks.co.uk

The Sheffield Brewery Co. came next, where armed with a half-pint, we were given a tour of the brewing facilities and the process was explained (including how they filter the sediments – using fish swim bladders!). Then we enjoyed a second half while digesting the information. sheffieldbrewery.com

Finally, the meal to end all meals - a fabulous feast at Domo, a family-run Sardinian restaurant, bar and deli. domorestaurant.co.uk

Merry Christmas to one and all!