After returned north to study a museum qualification in Durham, Emma moved to Sheffield five years ago to become registrar at Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust.

Currently working as librarian/curator at the Sheffield Assay Office in Hillsborough, she is responsible for the historic silver collection, archive and specialist library.

She is also co-ordinating a programme of activity for young people to teach them about manufacturing in the city today, called Living Metal, and is joint festival manager for Galvanize Sheffield, the annual festival of contemporary metal design and innovation.

The festival, now in its second year, runs from today until December 14, hosting 50 events, exhibitions, talks and tours in more than 30 venues across the city and region.

See www.galvanizesheffield.com

Metal workshops and factories

Since moving to the city I have been very privileged to be able to meet and observe some extremely talented individuals and companies working in a range of metals. I have witnessed casting, forging in large- scale engineering firms to the careful chasing on jewellery and one-off bespoke pieces of silver tableware.

I have learnt a huge amount from these individuals from their small workshops to the large production areas in factories. Many of these elements we have tried to capture as part of the Galvanize Sheffield festival to celebrate the diversity that metalworking has to offer in the city.

Rivelin Valley

This is a lovely place to go for a walk. There are host of things to see from early industrial archaeology, plants, flowers and lots of blackberries to pick in the autumn. And the allotments. I have a really nice garden at home but I aspire to one day having the time to have my own allotment along the Rivelin and being able to look down the valley from it on nice sunny days.

Zooby's & Quench toasted tea cakes and smoothies

Since working in the city centre I have become rather partial to a toasted tea cake from Zooby's and a smoothie from Quench. A tea cake and a smoothie has been most welcome to sustain energy levels whilst installing the numerous Galvanize Sheffield exhibitions in the Winter Garden.

Real ale pubs

Sheffield has a host of great pubs serving real ale. I am known to frequent a number of the Camra-recommended pubs and open to trying any new beers. I particularly like The Fat Cat, The Hillsborough Hotel and the The New Barrack Tavern. It would be great to work with one of the local breweries to create a Galvanize Sheffield beer for 2009!

Eating Italian

Near where we live in Hillsborough we are lucky to have at least three Italian restaurants we like – Sette Colli on Bradfield Road, Roberto's on Middlewood Road and La Vida Loca on Langsett Road.

Sheffield Yoga Centre

I took up iyengar yoga earlier in the year at the new Walkley Yoga Centre and can highly recommend it.

Yoga not only keeps me calm when stress levels rise but I have met some lovely people too.

Marathon course

This year I set myself a challenge to run my first 10k, so I signed up to the Bupa Great Yorkshire Run. The run was a great experience; people were so friendly and cheered me on all the way. I was very proud to receive my medal at the end and know that it had been designed and made in Sheffield!

Sheffield Assay Office

This sounds an obvious choice, but working in a new purpose-built premises (five minutes walk from my front door) is a great privilege and continuing the work started in 1773 gives me a lot of satisfaction. They have an outstanding collection which I get to work with.

There's a particular piece I really like by Sheffield designer Keith Tyssen which was made for the bicentenary of the Sheffield Assay Office in 1973.

It's like a rose bowl with all the dates in letters of the 200 years.

When Galvanize finishes, Junko Mori's new commission, White Rose, will be following me up to Hillsborough on Beulah Road to adorn the wall.

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