Can Castlegate turn itself around?

Dear readers — Today we are starting a new series in The Tribune: Sheffield’s big questions. This is where we take big questions about what’s going on in the city, and try to get an answer. Today we take an in-depth look at Castlegate. The historic area was once Sheffield’s bustling heart but over the last 20 years it has become one of the city’s thorniest problems. Since the Castle Market closed just over 10 years ago, the area has declined rapidly, with shops moving out and anti-social behaviour moving in. And just last week, we reported on the new foodhall Department's failure to launch. We dug into the latest plans to ask if Castlegate can be reborn — and how should it be done?

We want to hear the questions you have, to use in future editions. It could be about anything: what’s happening with that building, why is my bus always late, where did that money go, who is making this decision, etc. We might throw in the odd light-hearted one as well — we are, after all, going into what in news circles is famously known as the silly season…

So get your questions to us here (or if you’re a member feel free to put it in the comments).

But first your news briefing, featuring an unusual type of zebra crossing, a new restaurant from the people behind Bench, and more rail woe for Sheffield.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🚆 The electrification of the Midland Mainline linking Sheffield with London has been paused yet again, meaning we will remain the only major UK city without electrified rail services for years to come. Electrification of the line was first proposed in the 1970s, but over the last 50 years has been delayed time and again. Reacting to the government’s announcement, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said there was “frustration” in the region. “After decades of national underinvestment in our transport network, we’re having to wait longer for vital rail improvements that would create jobs, opportunities and economic growth,” he said. “It feels like one step forward and two steps back.”

🦓 Sheffield is to become the UK’s biggest city to trial new side road zebra crossings, report Now Then. These are black-and-white crossings installed on residential side streets that don’t feature the flashing yellow Belisha beacons and zig-zag markings that traditionally signpost zebra crossings in the UK. As a result they are a hundred times cheaper than regular zebra crossings to install but have similarly beneficial effects on both active travel and road safety. Now Then say they understand that councillors in Sheffield want to see them up and running in the city by May 2026.

🍽️ Two prolific restaurant entrepreneurs behind successful the Sheffield venues Public, Bench and The Pearl at Park Hill are to open another new restaurant in the Heart of the City development. Tom Aronica and Jack Wakelin have applied for a licence to open a restaurant named Maria in the former Henry’s wine bar on Wellington Street. If approved it will join a cluster of hospitality venues in the area including the Cambridge Street Collective food hall, Marmaduke’s cafe and the new Kapital beer hall.

⭐ We were surprised to read in The Star today that Jon Perry, former owner of the recently-deceased Department foodhall, had “spoken out for the first time following its sudden shutdown” — not because of any particularly shocking revelations, mind, but because it’s been a full week since he actually spoke out for the first time, to The Tribune. You can read his version of events (and those of others involved) in our article here.

Sheffield’s big questions: Can Castlegate turn itself around?

What are the problems at Castlegate? 

Castlegate experiences some of the highest levels of deprivation and poverty in the city centre. The 2021 Census found that one in ten residents experienced at least three out of the four “domains” of deprivation (education, employment, health and housing).

When The Tribune visited it wasn’t hard to spot the issues: on Angel Street, a man has collapsed outside Greggs. Further down the street is the Department foodhall which opened to great fanfare in May but lasted just seven weeks. Over the other side of the road, Poundland is also gone as is Wilko around the corner on Haymarket. As well as the Castle Market which closed in 2013, Castlegate also lost the Coop department store at Castle House in 2008, and the Coop food store in 2023. What is still open are multiple betting shops, arcades, pawnshops and discount supermarkets, and “Super Pound World” has recently arrived in the area. It doesn’t suggest an area in the best economic health.

Why have things become so bad?

Opened in 1959, the Castle Market was once where everyone in Sheffield shopped. Before Meadowhall and the dominance of supermarkets, tens of thousands of people used to stream through its doors every week. But changing shopping habits cut footfall and by the 2000s the building had begun to show its age. It finally closed in 2013 to be replaced by the Moor Market.

Ever since, Castlegate has struggled. Regeneration projects have focused on the Heart of the City and Sheffield’s retail centre has shifted, first to Fargate and more recently to The Moor. Meanwhile, the Old Town Hall, a glorious heritage building that could be Castlegate's bustling centre, looks worse than ever, with vegetation sprouting out of the facade.

What are the plans to make things better?

The council has been talking about regenerating Castlegate for years, but now it’s finally happening. Three major projects are currently underway: a new park with 500-capacity events space on the site of the former Castle Market, a new music education centre named Harmony Works in the giant Canada House building on Commercial Street, and a new home for S1 Artspace in the former Yorkshire Bank Chambers on the corner of Commercial Street and Haymarket.

These new attractions are intended to build on the leisure and culture which is already there including Yorkshire Artspace's Exchange Place Studios and Sheffield Hallam University’s Creative Industries Institute on Fitzalan Square. The concentration of cultural and artistic organisations has led some to suggest that Castlegate could become Sheffield’s “new creative quarter”.

In April, the Sheffield Civic Trust and the Sheffield Society of Architects hosted a conference at the now closed Department to discuss the future of Castlegate. On the agenda was whether the model that had been used in the Heart of the City development could work in Sheffield’s historic heart.

Can Castlegate become Heart of the City 3? 

Given the broadly recognised success of the Heart of the City model, it would be tempting to follow the same approach here. But Castlegate is a very different place to the Cambridge Street area, with fewer offices and more of a “DIY” art scene. This includes not only Exchange Place Studios and the Creative Industries Institute but also a cluster of music venues, recording studios and rehearsal spaces on Exchange Street including Delicious Clam, Plot 22 and Panke Social (formerly Bal Fashions). 

Sheffield City Trust chair Peter Marsh told The Tribune that their idea was to create a feeling of “safe edginess” in Castlegate by leaning into its artistic side. To get there, Marsh said it would need less anti-social behaviour to make it a more enjoyable place to spend time in. However, they felt that its current DIY feel should remain and temporary uses of buildings should continue to be encouraged.

When will any of this actually get done?

The park was originally meant to open in early 2026. However, after a fresh archaeological dig in 2024 uncovered more than was expected, the plans had to be redesigned and this has now been put back to the end of the year (we hear they are aiming for December 2026). Martin Gorman from the Friends of Sheffield Castle said they were “hugely encouraged” by the latest plans but acknowledged that the project has “taken longer than any of us wanted it to” (Gorman thinks realistically it is more likely to open in early 2027).

Harmony Works is planned to open in autumn 2027. However, just this week they posted a picture on Facebook of the finished floor in the main room, meaning they will be able to start holding some one-off events soon. S1 Artspace will be opening up part of the ground floor for a programme of exhibitions and events this year. They are aiming to reintroduce studio spaces by late 2026/early 2027, with full completion expected in early 2028.

How much difference will a park make?

It should make a big difference to the feel. The new green space will build on the hugely successful Grey to Green project which now runs from West Bar to Castlegate. As well as a centrepiece for the area, the park will also feature a newly “daylighted” section of the River Sheaf which has lain hidden for the last century. Such interventions to bring in green space and “blue space” have been shown to revive neighbourhoods and improve health.

But it’s not a silver bullet. It will take time for the area to shed its reputation for anti-social behavior and there is still no plan for what to do with the crumbling Old Town Hall.

Top-down or bottom-up?

Of course, if Castlegate undergoes a big council-led regeneration effort, there’s a risk of squeezing out some of the alternative types who have moved in due to the very low rents in the area. 

RiteTrax is a social enterprise based at Plot 22 on Exchange Street that hosts club nights and gigs, and works with young people who are not in mainstream schooling and vulnerable adults. Founding co-director Mike Thompson, 33, tells me that when they were invited to the area by Sheffield council in 2017, Plot 22, Delicious Clam and Bal Fashions (now Panke Social) were “seen as a way of injecting some kind of vibrancy into the area and stopping it from slipping into further decline”. Thompson says the Exchange Street Collective (as the three venues are informally known) have “kept the area going” over the last eight years. As well as helping to organise the annual Castlegate Festival, they have encouraged talented graffiti artists to work in the area and have contributed to the creation and upkeep of the Marioland skatepark.

Because so much of the conversation centres around the “big, front page projects” like the new park, S1 Artspace and Harmony Works, Thompson understands that there may be pressure to squeeze the grassroots venues out as the area develops. But he believes the people that have sustained Castlegate in its hard times have a right to be recognised in its future. “There was a map of arts organisations in the area and none of us were on it,” he says. “I started thinking ‘do people even know what we do down here’, but grassroots organisations have paved the way for this redevelopment. We want to make sure there is recognition of the work we have done.”

Things to do 📆

Thursday

It’s going to be a hot one today, so many of you will no doubt be looking for a place to cool off. Hathersage pool will be rammed, but there are a number of wild swimming spots that you can try. The best in Sheffield is probably the Rivelin plunge pools, although they fill up quickly on a hot day. Then there is Crookes Valley Park (although swimming there is not council approved). Other than that it’s Agden reservoir, but please make sure to take your rubbish away with you!

Friday

Taking place at Persistence Works on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is Selected Space Sheffield 2025. Formed in 2020 to offer makers and artists affordable events, with a focus on excellence, this year’s showcase will feature over 30 artists, makers and craftspeople from across from the region working in jewellery, silver, ceramics, fine art, print, homeware and textiles, for you to browse, support and enjoy. Tickets can be bought on the door for £5 (under 16s are free).

Saturday

On Saturday, Sheffield General Cemetery comes alive with the Back to the Bones festival. The festival will feature two stages from 12pm-8pm, with ska favourites Jungle Lion headlining the main stage on the large green and eight hours of folk and acoustic music in the historic Samuel Worth Chapel. Between bands there will be some of the best world music DJs in the city. It’s all free, but there will be collections for donations towards the cost of next year’s Sharrow Festival.

Sunday

On Sunday, enjoy the beautiful gardens of Norfolk Park at the neighborhood's annual open gardens event. From 11am-4pm, visit the best gardens, green spaces and allotments the area has to offer. Everything is within a 10-minute walk of Victoria Church on Stafford Road where refreshments and toilet facilities are also available. This year for the first time Park Hill’s gardens are included, which are looked after by Manor-based social enterprise Green Estate.