“Heart of the City 2” and the Sportsman

Heart of the City2 is the large mixed-use development which is currently taking place in Sheffield City Centre. The scheme aims to provide quality office space, 4/5* hotels, flats, shops, food outlets and more (https://www.heartofcity2.com/). Included in this development is the Sportsman on Cambridge Street, S1 4HP. This pub is located in the area designated, ‘H1,’ a space in which some old buildings are to be retained. The Sportsman dates back to the mid C19th. and is close to the site of the recently demolished Athol Hotel. In the 1975 CAMRA National Good Beer Guide, it was described as, ‘one of the few pleasant and comfortable city-centre pubs selling real ale.’ Electric-pumped Tetley Bitter was the single choice. From 2014, the pub was run by Kelham Island Brewery, as the Tap and Tankard. It closed early in 2018 when surrounded by scaffolding as Heart of the City2 began to gather place. It is now ripe for a planned re-opening. To the rear is the Grade II* listed, ‘Leah’s Yard,’ one of the few remaining examples of the courtyard workshops characteristic of Sheffield. The Leah family after whom the yard is named carried out drop-stamping for the silverware trade. Ideally, we would like to see the Sportsman return to its old name as a traditional outlet. Such a departure would complement both its surroundings and other nearby food outlets. If anyone is aware of future plans for the pub, we would appreciate the detail. Dave Pickersgill – pubheritage@sheffield.camra.org.uk