Geography of Sheffield county, from bituminous (ideal for domestic heating) to "Thick Coal", of a semi-anthracitic quality, appropriate for use in iron-smelting and in engine furnaces. Associated with the Upper Coal Measures were valuable iron ore deposits, occurring in the form of nodules. Large quantities of locally occurring fireclay were also exploited, as well as ganister (a clay used to make refractory furnace linings). The city of Sheffield derives its name from the River Sheaf which Until the 17th century was written as "Scheth" or "Sheath". Sidney Oldall Addy equates the origins of this word with the Old English "shed" (as in "water-shed")
Sheffield City Region Combined Authority Sheffield City Region Combined Authority The Sheffield City Region Combined Authority (formally the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority) is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), economic development and regeneration. The combined authority does not formally cover all of the "Sheffield City Region" as it does not include areas of northern Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire which are part of the city region. However the district councils of those areas of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are represented on the combined authority as non-constituent members. The authority's first mayoral election