The Sunday Times names Kelham Island one of the best places to live in the UK

"Why Kelham Island, Sheffield is one of the best places to live in 2023"

*Words by Jayne Dowle for The Sunday Times (published 24 March 2023) original source article here.*

"Kelham Island is at the cutting edge of Sheffield's recent revival. This magnetic field of reimagined industrial-chic - historic steelworks, workshops and warehouses stretching for a mile along the River Don - blazes with hip hangouts such as the Fat Cat pub or the Cutlery Works, voted best food hall in the UK at the 2022 British Street Food Awards, frequented by the renters, first-time buyers and funky young families who have been swept along by the S3 current.

Entrepreneurial indie businesses have helped to set Kelham Island's cool reputation in cast-iron, such as Luke French's acclaimed Jöro (eight-course tasting menu, £75), housed in the Krynkl shipping contain-ers.

Yellow Arch, the recording studio and live venue where Arctic Monkeys practised their first album, has long been frequented by Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley, whose musical Standing at The Sky's Edge, about the residents of the Park Hill flats next to Sheffield railway station, premiered at the Crucible Theatre and has transferred to the National Theatre in London.

Andy Woolley, 34, a bar manager, relocated to Kelham Island from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in 2013. "The neighbourhood has such a great vibe and I'm proud to be part of such an amazing and edgy place," he says. "There are around 15 to 20 independent bars and cafés within a ten-minute walk of my Citu apartment."

"I've lived in several places over the years where you would not know who even lived next door. I know all of my neighbours so well, some of who are now very close friends who I socialise and go on holiday with often. Never for one minute does living alone feel daunting."

Keep an eye on No 1 West Bar Square, a new office/retail/leisure building designed to put this end of the city centre on the map including two towers of build-to-rent. Elsewhere in S3, Capital & Centric, the developer behind the Crusader Mills (where investors were banned) and the canalside rentals Kampus in Manchester, is turning the red-brick 1852 grade II listed Eyewitness Works building and the adjacent Ceylon Works on Milton Street into 97 loft apartments and newbuild townhouses, plus commercial space including a café and bar.

Although well-connected to the rest of the city (it's a 15-minute walk to the centre), Kelham Island proper, created more than 900 years ago when a stream was diverted to power a mill, feels separate from the hurly-burly - and traffic. Good news for cyclists and pedestrians. Kelham is included in the new Sheffield Clean Air Zone, a class C chargeable zone for the most polluting heavy goods vehicles, light goods vehicles, vans, buses, coaches and taxis; it skirts Kel-ham Island to the east, then runs along the A61 as far as Shalesmoor.

What are the best shops and restaurants in Sheffield?

It's wonderful for browsing, and we can't knock the number of independent businesses, but don't expect a full roster of high street essentials such as a chemist (Wicker Pharmacy is a good ten-minute walk) or post office - Ellesmere Road and Upperthorpe post offices are about 20 minutes on foot.

There are some practical shops in S3, such as Russell's Bicycle Shed, the Deli Kelham and a bustling bakery/cafe the Depot, selling sourdough loaves for £3.50, but it's more quirky ateliers than convenience stores - the Kelham Flea is a treasure house.

The Kelham Island Brewery, and its award-winning Pale Rider beer, was saved from closure last year in a campaign led by James O'Hara, the founder of the Sheffield music festival Tramlines. The shops Kelham Island Books and Music, and Reyt Good Illustration up the artsy ante. The Peddler Market, held one weekend a month, offers street food, music, arts and crafts and rocks until 11pm.

For those other late-night emergencies, there's a Tesco Express at Central Quay and, across the A61 Penistone Road, a Tesco Superstore and Aldi."

Written by journalist Jayne Dowle for The Sunday Times (published 24 March 2023). Original source article available here.