Surrey St is one of my favourite streets in the city centre. It has a nice feel about it and some fantastic architecture.

It's seems unfortunate that there are some very average shops along there and was thinking how great it would be to see a long run of high quality restaurants and bars.

Anyone else agree?

I think the City Centre needs more shops not less! We don't want the place overtaken by chain place leave that to West Street!

That said, if the likes of boho, the runaway girl etc were to relocated to a nice central location it'd be pretty smart. I'm sure that's what you've got in mind for Surrey Street and I'd be all for that. It is one of the nicest streets in Sheffield, and if they pedestrianised the place we could have a nice bit of cafe culture going on!

Surrey St is one of my favourite streets in the city centre. It has a nice feel about it and some fantastic architecture.

It's seems unfortunate that there are some very average shops along there and was thinking how great it would be to see a long run of high quality restaurants and bars.

Anyone else agree?

Got a mental block at the moment, but is Surrey St the one that runs from the big Yorkshire Bank to the main Library?

If it is, it's one of my favourite streets too.

It does seem a bit dull, mind you, I never had a reason to use any of the shops on that strip (apart from the bank).

Got a mental block at the moment, but is Surrey St the one that runs from the big Yorkshire Bank to the main Library?

If it is, it's one of my favourite streets too.

It does seem a bit dull, mind you, I never had a reason to use any of the shops on that strip (apart from the bank).

That's right! There's a lovely Sheffield shop on there, I think it's called Sheffield Scene. I think that's the only one I've ever been in, apart from Taylor Taylor! :)

theres cafe nova there now, good food if a little clostraphobic

Oooh yeah Surrey st is lovely, used to go in the surrey & fringe ages ago all the time! Nice buildings, not been down town in yonks though!

That Sheffield shop must have been there donkeys years if it's the same one i'm thinking of, I bought some prints from there 20 odd years ago , theres no shops on the opposite side , right ?

You're right Poppins it faces the side of the town hall. If you like home made cakes, try Lynn's Pantry - but be warned its always busy at lunch time. I also like the pen shop, bought a couple of presents there as they do some unusual stuff, and Wicker Herbalists just down the road is handy.

I think the City Centre needs more shops not less! We don't want the place overtaken by chain place leave that to West Street!



I agree we need more shops but in the right place.

Surrey St would be great with a few very high quality restaurants. Maybe even bars on street level with basement restaurants.

These would be served well, especially with the theatres and the City Hall being in such close proximity.

I don't mind the Sheffield Scene, Taylor Taylor, the florist etc as they are pretty in-keeping but GT NEWS etc drag it down.

Never been in Cafe Nova but i'm sure the premises could be put to better use.

Shame the art shop disappeared from the Surrey Street/Norfolk Street corner. I love art shop window displays.

The Sheffield Scene shop has indeed been there donkey's years - far longer than 20 years. Lynne's Pantry has been there forever too. Does it still have a little sticker by the door showing an ice cream with a face? Just one of those things that sticks in my mind from when I was a kid!!

Do we really need more city centre bars and restaurants? Surrey Street properties are very small and hardly lend themselves to being turned into bars and eating houses. I work nearby and don't find it run down at all unlike Chapel Walk that has completely lost the mystique that it had in the 1960's.

I can only think that it is the ambition of some to turn every useful shop into food and drink houses, not to mention mobile phone shops . What is wrong with a pen shop, a sweet shop, a jewellers, a flower shop, a sandwich and tea shop, the Sheffield Shop and a very busy and well established hairdressers? :confused:

Agreed - if there was ever to be a cafe culture in central Sheffield Surrey Street would be one of the best candidates for it.

Do we really need more city centre bars and restaurants? Surrey Street properties are very small and hardly lend themselves to being turned into bars and eating houses. I work nearby and don't find it run down at all unlike Chapel Walk that has completely lost the mystique that it had in the 1960's.

I can only think that it is the ambition of some to turn every useful shop into food and drink houses, not to mention mobile phone shops . What is wrong with a pen shop, a sweet shop, a jewellers, a flower shop, a sandwich and tea shop, the Sheffield Shop and a very busy and well established hairdressers? :confused:

This happens very rarely so get ready .......... crookesey, I completely agree with you.

Do we really need more city centre bars and restaurants? Surrey Street properties are very small and hardly lend themselves to being turned into bars and eating houses. I work nearby and don't find it run down at all unlike Chapel Walk that has completely lost the mystique that it had in the 1960's.

I can only think that it is the ambition of some to turn every useful shop into food and drink houses, not to mention mobile phone shops . What is wrong with a pen shop, a sweet shop, a jewellers, a flower shop, a sandwich and tea shop, the Sheffield Shop and a very busy and well established hairdressers? :confused:

I understand where you're coming from (sort of) and agree that Sheffield isn't short of eateries etc but what Sheffield lacks (badly) is high quality, classy restaurants. In fact i can count them on one hand - Zucca/boho/Crystal(closed?)/Bar23 and maybe Antibo at a push.

Absolutely pathetic state of affairs!

I have an idea then - let's close down half a dozen crappy eateries around the city centre, change them all into GT News's and create a fine dining district around the Town Hall/Tudor Sq areas. That would balance everything out nicely and we would have an upmarket area for wining/dining.

As things are now, how would visitors to the city identify a certain area for quality dining? The answer is they couldn't. They'd have to ask around and listen to allsorts of random directions.

^^But we've got Leopold square being built, which will contain all bar's and eateries (not sure how good quality though), and all the unit's in St. Paul's Place are going to be for cafe's/bars, although probably chain ones.

I think the best place for a bit of cafe culture would be along pinstone stree infront of the peace gardens, although I can see that surry street would also be good for having cafe's on.

That's right! There's a lovely Sheffield shop on there, I think it's called Sheffield Scene. I think that's the only one I've ever been in, apart from Taylor Taylor! :)


Cheers Hook for refreshing my memory. :cool:

Why this obsession with "cafe culture"? This is Yorkshire - however much the planners try to convince us that sitting outside pretentious continental cafes is what we should be doing in our leisure time, it's simply foreign to our culture (not least because the weather is rarely suitable for outdoor eating and drinking).

If I'm in town and I want to meet a friend or sit and read a paper, I go in a pub; there's pubs that cater for most people's requirements and some of them even serve coffee!

Shame the art shop disappeared from the Surrey Street/Norfolk Street corner. I love art shop window displays.

The Sheffield Scene shop has indeed been there donkey's years - far longer than 20 years. Lynne's Pantry has been there forever too. Does it still have a little sticker by the door showing an ice cream with a face? Just one of those things that sticks in my mind from when I was a kid!!

What a shame that frame shops not there anymore, the staff were so helpfull in there, I remember my Moms friend use to drop off her embroidery to get framed, they had to wait till the boss came in because they couldn't tell the back from the front of her sewing,it was so neat, you don't see people doing that kind of embroidery now a days. There frames were great, and all those lovely pictures as you went upsatirs, some Sheffield talent in the window too.

Why this obsession with "cafe culture"? This is Yorkshire - however much the planners try to convince us that sitting outside pretentious continental cafes is what we should be doing in our leisure time, it's simply foreign to our culture (not least because the weather is rarely suitable for outdoor eating and drinking).

If I'm in town and I want to meet a friend or sit and read a paper, I go in a pub; there's pubs that cater for most people's requirements and some of them even serve coffee!

I wasn't really referring to cafés. I was trying to point out that Sheffield lacks high quality restaurants and that Surrey St would lend itself very well to a few.

Paulmat is correct regarding Leopold Square (very looking forward to it's completion) but i fear the St Pauls will be giving way to the chains - let's face it Café Rouge is pretty dire isn't it.

I just think it's a huge shame that there are no really lavish restaurants in our city centre. There must be the custom, a third of Sheffield's population is bloody minted!

This happens very rarely so get ready .......... crookesey, I completely agree with you.

Which means that you have finally abandoned the dark side and have stepped into the light. ;)

Surrey St used to have the left-wing bookshop (now a cafe) on the corner by Tudor Square. It was a great place for meeting people and having a good argument. The street is very tame now.

^ The Independent Bookshop - during the seventies and early eighties it was a fixture on Glossop Road near the West End pub, and always seemed a little incongruous when it moved onto Surrey Street. Saved a lot of shoe leather though!

Indie bookshops like that don't really stand a chance these days - though now I think about it, the 'News From Nowhere' (http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/index.php)bookshop in Liverpool still appears to be going strong.