Relaxing moments can be few and far between at Christmas - and especially welcome as a result.
For some that could mean lazing on the sofa watching a classic film, but for many the best 'me time' to be had is in a pub with friends, drink in hand.
And where better to escape the modern ills of runaway consumption than in a heritage boozer, surrounded by the fixtures and fittings of yesteryear and with an atmosphere to match?
The Campaign for Real Ale has long appreciated this and produces a special guide called Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs, edited by David Pickersgill.
It highlights original feature such as old carvings, leaded glass, exposed beams and tiled floors, and details historic events, from a murder in 1859 to the Arctic Monkeys first ever gig. These rare pubs offer the perfect blend of heritage and atmosphere.
Here’s our pick of 15 in the city centre including two of ‘exceptional national historic importance’ that give meaning to Christmas.
13. The Church House
Also known as: Gladstones, Ferret and Trouserleg, Priory, Sanctuary) 4 James Street, S1 2EW. Grade II listed June 1973. The first stone was laid, on the site of an old vicarage, on August 19 1859 by the Church of England Educational Institute. Over the next hundred years the site was in use but by the 1980s, it was home to squatters. In 1987, it was sold to Grand Metropolitan and converted into a pub. Features exposed brickwork and original features such as decorative plaster coving, the fireplace and exposed stonework around the ecclesiastical windows at the front. Photo: ,
14. The Big Gun
The Wicker, S3 8HS. A beer house has been on this site since 1796. The present one was built in 1901 and today it includes a bar featuring a rare Victorian draught screen and bar counter. It also has bays of Victorian seating with decorative bench ends that resemble an acanthus leaf. Photo: Alex Moore
15. Sheffield Tap
Platform 1b, Sheffield Railway Station, Sheaf Street S1 2BP. Grade II listed and one of only two ‘three star’ heritage pubs in the city centre due to being ‘wholly or largely intact’ for the last 50 years with rooms and features that are truly rare or exceptional’. It is the old Midland Railway first class refreshment room built in 1905 and featuring Minton tiled walls and fine ornamented bar fittings. The rooms fell into disuse in the 1960s and became a waiting room in the 1970s before closure in 1975. The Tap opened in 2009 following a £180,000 overhaul in which the tiling, terrazzo floor, parts of the bar-fittings and other joinery were beautifully restored. Photo: .