There’s a perfect balance struck in Sheffield between indoor and outdoor, in a city that never quite sits still. Where else can you leave a lecture at eleven o’clock and plant your boots on the summit of Mam Tor in time for lunch? The city’s magic lies within the edges, where pub and peak entwine. It’s not about choosing between countryside and city life, because for students in Sheffield, you get both.
Follow the Porter Brook Trail outwards from Endcliffe Park. The sound of the buses starts to fade, replaced by gushing water over sandstone. Runners and dog walkers alike funnel towards Forge Dam, and by the time you’ve encircled the murky reservoir, it already feels like you’ve crossed into somewhere completely different. The air changes, and the pace does too.
No sooner than another few kilometres, and the city gives way to its infamous gritstone. Burbage Edge and Stanage Edge sit only a bus ride away, but they feel almost otherworldly. Heather and peat make the ground springy. The wind is constant, but it doesn’t howl- it exists. Fading into the background as something you fail to notice after a while. The city is still visible way down below: grey roofs, smoke, and maybe a faint glimpse of the Arts Tower. It reinforces the idea that you can live between both worlds, without making a permanent choice. In the other direction: Hathersage, Hope Valley, Bamford and Eyam to name a few, but from where you’re stood, nothing but rolling hills, leaving you ever curious as to what lies beyond.
Turning back, boots thick with mud, you make a beeline for Sharrow Vale or Ecclesall Road, where a vibrant hubbub of community, blended with the smell of chips and beer hits you. That’s the Sheffield rhythm. There’s a pub for every occasion and mood. Pensive autumnal evenings that send a biting wind through the city will prompt any student to search for a toasty pub in proximity. Fortunately for us, there are plenty, and a list that will last you far longer than three years to cover.
Only a short trudge through Broomhill for many is the Nottingham House, putting pie and pint in hand. A student staple, where the heating will have you sweating in minutes, but the board games from 1998 will keep you. In the heights of Crookes, Hallamshire House (not to be confused with the ever-funky Hallamshire Hotel on West Street) is a community spot with a rotating pint line up, all hinging around a classic full sized snooker table. Sofas in the beer garden cement its popularity.
Descend onto Crookes Valley road and towards West Street (bear with me), The Bath Hotel is conveniently overlooked despite the encrypted ‘Turkish Baths’ sign plastered on the industrial red brick up the street, where some Sherlock Holmes of the group might solve the riddle. Rustic, Cosy, and equipped with an award-winning line up, the only thing left to do is knuckle down in the one of the hundred-year-old corners and listen to the old boys play their resonators with the dogs to keep you company.
Then again, it’s only six in the evening now. Where does this night end? If you’re new to Sheffield: adventure is out there. For everyone else, disregard this article. Cheers!
