Letter: Sheffield welcomes incomers who make an effort

I am sure the people of Sheffield will be devastated to learn that Carol Smith will be leaving them to return south (Letters, 14 December).

Having lived in Sheffield for a number of years in the 1980s, I still return as often as I can to visit happy friends (natives and otherwise) and to enjoy the sort of nights out in restaurants, pubs and clubs which Ms Smith would do well to sample before her departure.

Sheffield is alive, vibrant, full of culture and heritage, and populated by down-to-earth, friendly people who are more than prepared to accept folk from elsewhere, as long as the latter are ready to jettison their preconceptions and make the effort to integrate.

Surely there is more to life than sophisticated lunch parties and a desire to be "within easy reach of London and Oxford".

Ronan J Fitzsimons

Huddersfield

West Yorkshire