What's special about Sheffield? Huge response after viral Instagram video highlights city's charms

An Instagram video highlighting Sheffield's charms has gone viral, generating a huge response.

More than 300,000 people have watched the eight-second clip posted by kisterskaya.ira and asking 'what's so special about this town' before showing the city at its very best.

The video shows Sheffield's Victorian town hall and the Peace Gardens outside, with the fountains in full flow and cherry blossom on the trees behind, as well as the Miller and Carter steakhouse restaurant on nearby Surrey Street.

The clip, shared with a love heart eyes emoji, has been liked more than 7,000 times and sparked over 400 comments.

Some have simply pointed out, correctly, that Sheffield is a city and not a town.

Others have extolled Sheffield's virtues, naming their favourite places within the city.

A fair few people, however, have accused the creator of painting a misleading picture of the city centre by failing to show the litter, graffiti and abandoned buildings.

One person commented: "Oldest football team, easy access to Yorkshire Moors and the Peak District, north enough to say you're northern but south enough for warm summers! The countryside dunt get much better than this!"

'So much love for Sheffield'

Another said Sheffield was 'seriously underrated', adding: "It's the greenest city in Britain, and it has two excellent universities. And the people are really decent."

A third person wrote: "Unlike Leeds or Manchester which get a better rep, it's got the perfect combination of different environments very close together: there are cool bits, and smart bits, and suburban bits, and countryside bits...sure,there are areas you wouldnt visit as a tourist, but which good city doesn't have that?" Another person chimed in: "My city. I have so much love for it and its people. Proud and strong with a great history of musicians along with everything that’s been said."

A fifth person said: "I'm from Argentina, and on my birthday I went to play bingo in Sheffield at night. Epic experience. I know it because of Arctic Monkeys but visit it everytime I can go to England." One of our favourite comments answered the question in local vernacular: "What's so special abaat Shevvild Aw hear yo ax? Well it's its fowk, its history, its industry, its dialect an t'Peeak District next door. Sich a shame it's gettin gentrified into t'grun wi Southerners but hoapfully summat can be undertook to keap t'loacal cultur alive!"

Not everyone was quite so positive.

One person commented: "There are nice buildings and areas around Sheffield. It has a rich and wealthy history, but since the decline in the steel industry and the increase in chicken shop conflicts it's become another English toilet."

Another wrote: "With some slick video editing you can make any city look like utopia."

And a third piped up: "These camera skills are too good. Don't travel here, you’ll be disappointed lol."

The same Instagram user has posted other videos of Sheffield, including one describing Sheffield Botanical Gardens as the 'most beautiful' location in the city, but none have had nearly as many views.