How this popular Sheffield pub has survived an arson attack and a demolition threat to thrive

The Sheaf View in Heeley is a community pub that has seen tough times recently with the pandemic closure and an arson attack in August.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Regulars rallied round and helped it to reopen earlier this month.

An article in the 2006 CAMRA publication Beer Matters, reproduced on the Sheffield History online forum, said the Sheaf View was a grocer’s shop until William Burley got a licence in 1879. It was a tiny three-roomed pub with a dram shop. “With 20 customers the place would be overflowing,” reckoned writer Nick Lister.

James Birkett, left, and Julian Paul outside the Sheaf View in Heeley in 1999 before renovation work startedJames Birkett, left, and Julian Paul outside the Sheaf View in Heeley in 1999 before renovation work started
James Birkett, left, and Julian Paul outside the Sheaf View in Heeley in 1999 before renovation work started
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nick said that the pub changed breweries many times. It remained a beer house until it got a full licence in the 1960s. The main door was moved to the corner, which is the old dram shop entrance, when it was extended.

The pub closed in the 1990s and was under threat of demolition before it was rescued by James Birkett and reopened in 2000.

Related topics: