Crookes and Walkley, Sheffield: a local guide to the hilltop suburbs and what is on

Crookes has just been named one of the UK’s coolest neighbourhoods by Time Out. Here is what they said, and here is our fuller local guide.

Crookes and Walkley are the two hilltop suburbs north-west of the universities, side by side along the ridge above the Rivelin valley. Crookes is the busier of the two, with a long high street of independent shops, cafes and pubs along Crookes Road, Crookes Social Club for live music, comedy and the kind of fancy-dress nights that sell out, and the Bole Hills at the top with views across to the moors. Walkley is quieter and steeper, with its shops and pubs along South Road, a strong community programme and the Walkley Festival each summer. Both have a mix of students and long-standing residents, which keeps the pubs and venues busy all year. This guide covers the venues, the views and what is on now from the live listings. The boundaries, venues and open data are on the Crookes and Walkley area pages.

Crookes

Crookes Road is the spine: a bakery, greengrocers, cafes, a record shop, charity shops and a run of pubs between the Broomhill end and the top of the hill. Crookes Social Club is the venue, a members’ club with a public programme of gigs, tribute nights, comedy and ceilidhs; this October it hosts a Gothic Masquerade Ceilidh on Sunday 25 and a Halloween Spooktacular on Saturday 31. The Bole Hills, at the top of Bole Hill Road, are the local park and the best free view in the north-west of the city, looking over the Rivelin and Loxley valleys. Crookes Valley Park, with its lake, is at the bottom of the hill towards the university.

Walkley

Walkley sits on the next hill along, with South Road as its high street and some of the steepest residential streets in Sheffield dropping towards Rivelin Valley Road. The Walkley Festival, run by volunteers each June and July, brings open gardens, gigs, walks and a carnival to the suburb; outside that, Walkley Library and the community centre carry the regular programme. Rivelin Valley Park, with its mill ponds and the nature trail, is the walk to do from here, starting at Malin Bridge.

Why people love it up here

The hills are the obvious draw, but the real appeal of Crookes and Walkley is that they work as neighbourhoods. You can do your weekly shop, get a haircut, see a gig, walk the dog in a proper park and have a pint without leaving the ridge. The terraced streets are full of people who know their neighbours, community groups are unusually active, and the views turn up at the end of half the streets. In 2026 Time Out put Crookes sixth in its list of the coolest neighbourhoods in the UK, and the only Yorkshire entry. Locals were pleased, if not especially surprised.

For a first visit, take the bus up to Crookes, walk the length of Crookes Road, climb to the Bole Hills for the view, then drop down through Walkley’s steep streets to South Road for a drink before heading back into town. On a clear evening it is one of the best free afternoons in Sheffield.

What is on in Crookes and Walkley now

Getting there

Neither suburb has a tram. Buses from the city centre run up to Crookes along Crookes Road and to Walkley along South Road, and both are a stiff 30 to 40 minute walk from town via the universities. The Rivelin and Loxley valleys below are where the walks are, and the Sheffield outdoors hub has the routes.

Nearby area guides: Broomhill, Hillsborough, Crosspool. For the whole city, start at Sheffield by area.