
There’s only so long you can spend sitting at home, reading threads on Mumsnet;

Honestly, Mumsnet is now nearly as lively as Discourse these days. And more lively than my walk round Grimesthorpe, which Mrs RM hilariously confused with Grimethorpe (of Brassed Off fame) !
Possibly beacuse I missed out the “s”, but don’t let’s quibble over an “s”.

Grimesthorpe is an indistinct area of industrial Sheffield that might be lumped into Burngreave by the time it next sees a pub in the GBG and folk travel over from the Isle of Man to stay in hotels here for £25 a night.

The suburb (of a suburb) appears to consist of a few Asian supermarkets, an industrial estate devoted to auto spares, a mosque and some traces of pub.

Guess who captured the Sheffield Arms before its conversion to “alternative use” ?

Yes, it’s that Will Larter. AGAIN. Perhaps only Will, Alan and me have ever walked these streets. I won’t guess whose shoes those are lining the way.

There’s two things to visit;


The Ball looks gorgeous, albeit scarred by the adverts for the gym round the back, where I headed via Little Lane to get that top shot from a tiny stream. Just for you.

Not much of a walk, so I headed for Brightside, just as the drizzle started.

Stafford Paul will enjoy the next post, anyway.
Here’s one of the Sheffield Arms from when Will and I were in short trousers
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Wow, great pic.
Different pairs, presumably. I know times were tight, but…
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The interweb is a many-splendoured thing.
I’m not sure what used to happen to my short trousers when I wasn’t wearing them, to be honest Martin. I mean, does the light go off when you shut the fridge door?
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Open it and check. NOW !!!
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Those are really great looking pubs. Great shots of derelict ones. Will those slowly decay and be torn down or be turned into housing? They look expensive to restore.
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What a good question (really).
My observation is that a lot of these have looked like this for nearly a decade. Some in rows of houses can be adapted to houses, but the free-standing ones in the industrial estates of Sheffield which used to serve beer lunchtime and evening look very hard to convert.
NB The Ball is only closed during our latest Lockdown, I think.
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Dave – it’s a sad fact that the UK has many derelict period buildings, and although the original construction was first rate – as with most Georgian stuff – without maintenance they will probably end up being demolished, as they will have deteriorated too far.
It some cases this is deliberate on the part of the owners, as a way of ending Listed status and allowing more lucrative development.
Owners can’t easily be compelled to maintain properties – perhaps this should change?
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*In principle councils can require repairs to Listed buildings, but it can be a long-winded and expensive business with appeals and so on, and property companies know that.
Most of this stuff isn’t Listed anyway.
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We’re fine as long as your relocation is to re-enact Brassed Off and not The Full Monty…
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