Surrounded by historical villages and woodlands, numerous historical sites and ancient monuments, the town centre is a bustling shopping district, with three recommended restaurants and a superclub. There is an impressive range of sporting and leisure facilities, with exciting days out for the family only a short distance from the interchange.
A significant amount of funding is coming in to Rotherham, and plans to renovate the main market and shopping streets are currently being drawn up. The town is well connected by transport links, and within easy reach of Meadowhall, Sheffield and Doncaster.
History
began its transition to a busy market town during the Saxon era; and earned a reputation as a modern and fashionable town with the creation of a college to rival those of Oxbridge. The town's fortunes dipped during the sixteenth century, until coal seams were discovered in the area that provided employment for thousands of men. Steel and iron also provided work, and Templeborough steelworks alone employed 10,000 men.
Clifton Park Museum has been nominated for 'Museum of the Year' on two occasions, and documents the social history of the area. The York and Lancaster Regimental Museum has exhibits from the last 200 years of military history. The Magna Science Adventure Centre is housed in the old Templeborough steelworks, and explores industrial history in the area.
Art Galleries is located in Rotherham Arts Centre and comprises three exhibition spaces. The gallery showcases large and small collections, with space available to hire by local artists and a regularly alternating programme of temporary exhibitions. Included in the permanent collection are Victorian paintings, photographs and Modern Art. Rotherham College of Art frequently hosts exhibitions of its students' work, and there are numerous art competitions aimed at artists (including young people) who live in and around the area.
Theatres comprises a small, 200-seater theatre that regularly hosts small-scale drama productions of touring shows. Large-scale productions are rarely shown, but previous shows have received critical acclaim and proved popular with theatregoers. Rotherham Civic Theatre is based in a desanctified church, and has been open since 1960. The theatre stages a programme of professional and amateur shows, with an ever-popular annual Christmas pantomime
There are a variety of dance and drama schools in the area, and Rotherham Youth Theatre stages regular performances at Rotherham Arts Centre. There is an annual production by Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.
Restaurants The Crown Restaurant is located inside The Consort Hotel, and serves British and international cuisine; the restaurant is one of three recommended by Good Restaurant Guide. The Regency Restaurant is another; serving modern European dishes, and based in The Carlton Park Hotel. The third is The Swallow Hotel, serving English cuisine at reasonable rates.
Cafe Thai serves authentic Thai dishes and offers a takeaway service. China Town is a restaurant, with takeaway and delivery service.
Cafe Noor is a popular Halal sandwich shop, offering a catering service and takeaway.
Pubs/Bars Rotherham CAMRA voted The Bluecoat its 'Pub of the Year' in 2006. The bar's prices are low, and a wide selection of drinks offered, with a resident jazz band performing on Monday evenings and other live music throughout the week. Other recommended pubs include Hare and Hounds, Masons Arms and Effingham Arms.
Fubar-Snafu is a pub and live music venue, serving beer, wine and a range of cocktails. The bar hosts live bands, and an annual Battle of the Bands competition. A catering and buffet service is available.
The Sitwell Arms comprises a large restaurant and carvery, comfortable beer garden and children's play area. The bar is located in a semi-rural area, just outside of the town centre.
Nightclubs Liquid and Diva is open four nights a week, and presents the latest chart, dance and r'n'b from resident and visiting DJs. The club has been recently refurbished and boasts unique and stylish décor. Clubbers must be over 25 to be admitted into Diva.
Escape Bar and Nightclub comprises three rooms, and presents commercial dance and pop. The club is currently open four nights a week, with plans in the pipeline to make it five. Drinks are cheap and special offers are plentiful.
The Underground Nightclub offers speed garage and funky house four nights a week from four resident DJs and one guest. Entry is free on Friday and Saturday nights.
Club Envy is open four nights a week, and presents pop, dance, retro and r'n'b.
Shopping is home to all the main high street stores, and All Saints Square ? a town square surrounded by shops and cafes, with a large BBC screen in the centre. Most of the shopping streets are pedestrianised, and the development of more units for large retailers is planned.
Rotherham is home to five markets; including The Centenary Market, with 88 units, and an outdoor market, with 115. The town centre market comprises 40 stalls. There are more markets in nearby Wath and Rawmarsh.
Parkgate Retail World contains 34 major chain stores and restaurants, and offers free parking. There are antiques and bric a brac retailers located on Parkgate High Street.
Sports Brampton Leisure Centre is one of more than a dozen in the town, and offers sports and athletics facilities and a fitness studio. There are also a range of activities for families and children throughout the year.
Avago Indoor Carting Centre provides go-karting facilities every day of the week, and offers a licensed bar, family lounge and buffet. The Brampton Raceway is located just outside the town centre and offers motor racing.
Rotherham Superbowl has ten-pin bowling facilities and a fast food restaurant, and is open seven days a week.
Sitwell Park is regarded as one of the best , and Lindrick Park is of an international standard. Membership is not required to play on either course.
Sheffield's significance as the steel manufacturing centre of the UK declined dramatically over the decades leading up to the 80s, but the city has been rejuvenated and now stands as the fourth largest in the country, with a bustling creative industry and affectionately dubbed as 'the biggest village in the country'.
The city centre is separated into four sections: Cultural Quarter, the Shopping Quarter, the Business Quarter and the Devonshire Quarter. Each of the city's sections offers a different slice of city life, and comes equipped with shops, caf's, restaurants and bars that befit the quarter's unique atmosphere.
Home to the World Student Games of 1991, and officially named the National City of Sport, Sheffield has all the sporting facilities one could wish for! And with 150 woodland areas, 50 public parks, and the Peak District minutes away, Sheffield has much to offer for a weekend break.
History
A market town has existed in the area now Sheffield since the ninth century. In the seven centuries that followed, the area pioneered developments in the steel industry and Sheffield became known as the UK centre of steel production.
The collapse of the British mining and manufacturing industries had a devastating effect on the city, but the area has recovered well and been officially named the National City of Sport.
Weston Park Museum features exhibits and displays documenting Sheffield's long and significant history and is located across the road from the Sheffield Children's Hospital. Important historical buildings include Bishops' House, boasting many of its original fifteenth and sixteenth century fixtures, and The Old Queen's Head, a fifteenth century pub in the city centre.
Art Galleries
There are two art galleries in Sheffield city centre: The Graves Art Gallery and the Millenium Galleries.
The Graves Art Gallery is based inside the 1930s central library, and houses an extensive collection of nineteenth and twentieth century art from around Britain and Europe. The permanent displays include works by Picasso and Pierre Bonnard, and attempt to document the significant art movements of the period.
The Millenium Galleries is a complex comprising four separate galleries: The Special Exhibition Gallery, home to temporary exhibitions; the Metalwork Gallery, displaying Sheffield's historical steel products; the Craft and Design Gallery, home to craft and design works; and the Ruskin Gallery, a donation of art from the nineteenth century artist and writer John Ruskin.
Theatres
The Sheffield Theatres complex is the largest of its kind outside of the capital, and comprises three separate theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Studio Theatre.
The Crucible is the main producing theatre in the complex, and plays host to the annual World Snooker Championships. The auditorium is large, seating just less than a thousand people, and stages an impressive variety of drama, musicals and amateur theatre.
The Lyceum is the main receiving venue for large-scale touring productions in Sheffield, and seats more than eleven hundred people. Located in a listed building, the theatre hosts a range of productions, including opera, ballet and dance.
The Studio Theatre is the newest and smallest of the Sheffield Theatres venues, and tends to stage critically acclaimed, small-scale performances by touring companies and local groups.
Restaurants
Restaurants in Sheffield are plentiful, and the majority of these restaurants and caf's can be found located around the west of the city, in West:One and on West Street, and further out in the south, on London Road.
West:One is a complex in the city centre, comprising a number of stylish and modern restaurants. Las Iguanas is one of these; serving authentic Latin American cuisine and a range of cocktails.
Alaturka, regarded as Sheffield's finest Turkish restaurant, is based on London Road. Further along is Vietnamese Noodle Bar, a cheap and high quality establishment with an incredibly varied clientele.
For fine dining, Thyme has two restaurants in the city and Nether Green is home to a Rafters restaurant.
Pubs/Bars
Pubs popular with the large student population in Sheffield include The Cavendish on West Street, a 'Scream' pub, and Walkabout, an Australian-themed bar just around the corner. The Sheffield University union pub, Bar One, is one of the most successful union bars in the country and is only open to students and their friends in the evenings. Hubs in the Sheffield Hallam University bar and located in the building that was once the National Centre for Popular Music.
Sheffield has plenty to offer real ale drinkers, and the largest range can be found in The Devonshire Cat in the city centre. The Sheaf View Inn in Heeley is incredibly popular with real ale connoisseurs, and is listed in The Good Beer Guide.
The Showroom is based in the Cultural Quarter, and is frequented by many of the media professionals who work in the area.
Nightclubs
Corporation nightclub is a rock club, rated highly by Kerrang!. The club is open four nights a week and offers a variety of ska-punk, metal, indie, hardcore, punk and emo sounds.
The Leadmill has been open since the 80s, and functions as a nightclub and live music venue. There are gigs most evenings, and those attending the gigs are usually admitted to the club free of charge.
Gatecrasher One is one of the north's most popular clubs, and is open five nights a week, offering house, hip-hop, r'n'b, classic pop, and more.
Kingdom nightclub comprises four rooms, including a private members' bar, and plays pop, disco anthems and r'n'b. The Plug, also in the city centre, presents live music, rave and techno; and is located around the corner from Niche, a speed garage and funky house venue.
Shopping
Sheffield City Centre is separated into four clearly labelled zones, and is gradually being pedestrianised, making city centre shopping a more enjoyable and rewarding experience.
The Devonshire Quarter, in the west, is home to a range of designer boutiques and unusual or bohemian retailers, and a small shopping centre known as The Forum. Budget stores and supermarkets are located on the Moor, in the south, along with fresh fruit and vegetable outdoor markets. The city's indoor market is based in the north of the city centre, Castle Market, and comprises hundreds of units.
Meadowhall Shopping Centre is located a short drive from the city centre, and is home to nearly three hundred retailers. Unlike many shopping centres, Meadowhall is home to both major chain stores and independent retailers, offering a range to suit everybody. There is a large multi-kiosk food court, a cr?che and twelve thousand free parking spaces.
Sports
Sheffield hosted the World Student Games in 1991 and has been officially named as the National City of Sport.
The primary leisure centre, of the thirteen in the city, is Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. Ponds Forge comprises a regional size leisure pool, the Great Britain Diving Squad's diving pool and the Olympic swimming pool. There are also three fully equipped gyms, a large sports hall and numerous sports coaching facilities.
Don Valley Stadium, the largest athletics stadium in the UK, boasts an eight-lane all-weather track, six long-jump pits, an eighty-five-metre indoor track, and much more.
Ice Sheffield is an Olympic-sized ice rink, with lessons and development sessions for skaters of all abilities. Climbing facilities are available at The Edge, in the city centre; and there are numerous golf courses located around the city.
Author: Leisha Greenfield Having spent 10 years working as a visitor guide at various top London tourist attractions, Leisha Greenfield has now writes articles on UK tourism. http://www.ukcityguide.info.
Leisha Greenfield has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Manchester Travel and Travel and Leisure. Author: Leisha GreenfieldHaving spent 10 years working as a visitor guide at various top Londontourist attractions, Leisha Greenfield has now writes articles on